San Diego News Fix

Hundreds of San Diegans have received a COVID-19 treatment that arms those battling the disease with the defenses of past survivors — though it’s still not clear how well it works.What is clear is that more people will likely get the treatment, known as convalescent patient plasma, which the Food and Drug Administration authorized on Aug. 23 as an emergency treatment for COVID-19.Scientists and doctors in San Diego County and nationwide have good reason to believe that plasma therapy is safe. And with about 6 million COVID-19 cases and 180,000 deaths in the United States, the need for new COVID-19 treatments could not be more painfully clear.Read the story: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/business/biotech/story/2020-08-30/hundreds-of-san-diegans-with-covid-19-have-already-been-treated-with-plasma-but-does-it-workTrack the outbreak: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/tracking-coronavirus-cases-san-diego-county

Working families in San Diego are bracing for distance learning at K-12 schools to start next week. With the pandemic still raging, most students in the region will be logging on rather than sitting in classrooms. That means many parents will now have to juggle their jobs with overseeing their children’s studies. Reporter Phillip Molnar recently reached out to local economists to find out whether this could result in many people dropping out of the workforce.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Wednesday that the state has contracted with a diagnostics company to conduct up to 150,000 more COVID-19 tests a day.Under the contract, the state will build a testing laboratory and provide some testing equipment, such as supplies to collect and transport specimens, according to Health and Human Services Agency Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly.The company, PerkinElmer, will process and report back test results within 48 hours, but the company will not collect the actual nasal swabs. That will happen at state testing sites.Dr. Wilma Wooten, San Diego County’s public health officer, welcomed the deal, set to begin in eight to 10 weeks

Northbound border lanes into San Ysidro were nearly empty Tuesday morning after nightmarish 10-hour traffic jams clogged Tijuana’s streets and freeways Sunday through Monday.Customs and Border Protection increased its enforcement of COVID-19 restrictions on non-essential travel over the weekend, which snarled traffic citywide.Essential workers, such as health care and food service employees, are allowed to cross daily into the U.S. for work, whereas people who want to visit family or shop have been asked to refrain from crossing the border.https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/border-baja-california/story/2020-08-25/border-crackdown-travelhttps://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/border-baja-california/story/2020-08-24/border-traffic-coronavirushttps://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/border-baja-california/story/2020-08-16/baja-coronavirus-hospitals*** Subscribe to our flash briefinghttps://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/podcasts/morning-headlines

Years after a criminal conspiracy was discovered by the Union-Tribune, former Congressman Duncan Hunter and his wife Margaret, are now felons.Margaret’s sentence is 3 years probation with 8 months of home arrest, for being part of a scheme that mis-spent a quarter million dollars of campaign finance funds on everything from Italian vacations to oral surgery.

The second part in series that takes a deep dive into the U.S. asylum system to help readers understand what the system was meant to do, how it previously functioned and what it has become. Immigration reporter Kate Morrissey discusses the project.The series: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/returnedThe simulation: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/immigration/story/2020-08-23/asylum-system-interactive-experience***Subscribe to our daily morning news briefing: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/podcasts/morning-headlines

The San Diego Union-Tribune partnered with the National Conflict Resolution Center to hold a discussion on race and equity.It’s part of the NCRC's “A Path Forward” series, and it featured three voices that have been driving the conversation following the death of George Floyd and the subsequent protests.The panel includes: Ibram X. Kendi, author of "How to be an Antiracist". Robin DiAngelo, author of "White Fragility: Why it's so hard for white people to talk about racism", and Wesley Lowery, a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist who came to prominence following his coverage of Ferguson, Mo. for the Washington Post.

Home prices in San Diego hit an all-time high last month. The median price tag for a home in July: $634,000. That’s a whopping 9 percent jump over this time last year. That trend extends across much of Southern California, as homes for sale have all but evaporated from the market. Some people were hoping the pandemic would be a good time to invest. As it turns out, homeowners aren't selling. But will it last? Or is this just a COVID-induced housing bubble.

Over the past decade, North County restaurant owners Roddy and Aaron Browning have looked upon Yelp, the high-profile crowd-sourced reviews platform, as something of a necessary evil. A diner's positive 5-star review will make their day, but a negative 1- or 2-star review will ruin their week. But since the pandemic began in March, the Brownings and many other local restaurateurs say recent bad reviews on Yelp — many of them for county-ordered safety and service requirements beyond their control — are making the struggle to survive even harder. Some owners' classy, clever and angry written responses to recent low-starred reviews have gone viral. Meanwhile, Yelp says it has stepped up efforts to remove unfair reviews and it is encouraging its diner-members to show compassion for restaurant owners before they push the publish button.

As expected, state officials announced that they removed San Diego County from the state’s COVID-19 watchlist Tuesday, a move that was telegraphed one day earlier by local leaders.The action, which came as local doctors were adjusting to new testing guidance from the county, starts a 14-day countdown during which the region must avoid crossing any of six thresholds that, if they persisted for three days in a row, would land the region back on the list.Provided San Diego’s daily COVID-19 numbers remain below state-set maximums for two weeks, K-12 schools would be able to resume in-person instruction at the discretion of local school boards.Read more: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/health/story/2020-08-18/san-diego-removed-from-state-covid-watch-listFollow our COVID-19 tracker: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/tracking-coronavirus-cases-san-diego-county

The bad old days — and nights — of rotating power outages in California are back for the first time in nearly 20 years. And they could be back in a big way for the next few days.But unlike 2001 when market manipulation from rogue entities like Enron were at the root of rolling blackouts, grid operators blame these outages on a combination of reasons that include finding sources to back up energy sources that compose the current grid in the state and a heatwave that not only affected all of California but its neighboring states as well.“We are scouring every corner of our world to find additional load reductions and generation,” said Steve Berberich, the CEO of the California Independent System Operator, known as CAISO for short. The scale of the outages statewide could be in the millions, Berberich acknowledged.Read more: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/business/energy-green/story/2020-08-17/california-experiences-first-rotating-power-outages-in-19-years-what-happened****The San Diego Festival of Books is right around the corner. Check out the details here: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdfestivalofbooks

A Facebook group that organized after a Black Lives Matter protest in La Mesa turned destructive has ballooned to more than 20,000 members.Called Defend East County, it has become an active online community of people who say they want to protect their cities, but it’s also a place where conspiracy theories, racist banter and calls for violence persist.Recently, videos of self-styled “patriots” in other cities punching and kicking Black Lives Matter protesters received hundreds of “likes” on the Defend East County page, as did a video of a car running over protesters.Some people affiliated with this and other East County community Facebook groups have counterprotested at area Black Lives Matter marches and, in at least five recent cases, have engaged in verbal and physical altercations. The latest verbal conflict occurred Tuesday at a march in La Mesa.Read more: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/watchdog/story/2020-08-16/inside-the-20-000-strong-defend-east-county-facebook-page-grown-as-a-reaction-to

San Diego rents are falling for the first time since the Great Recession.The average rent throughout the region was about $1,850 between April and June.That’s less than a percentage point decrease over the previous quarter, but the downward trend is notable.Rents in San Diego have been on a seemingly unstoppable upward climb in recent years.Now COVID-19 has, at least for now, changed that.

In the days after he became the first San Diego County business owner criminally charged for defying coronavirus-related health orders, Ramona gym owner Peter San Nicolas took to Facebook to decry the “Covid police” treating business owners “like common criminals.”On Tuesday night, San Nicolas held an informal town hall-style meeting outside the Ramona Fitness Center for himself and other business owners to voice their frustrations with state and local shutdown orders.The meeting came eight days after San Nicolas learned that San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan had charged him with five misdemeanors — each punishable by up to six months in jail and a fine up to $1,000 — for refusing to shut down his gym.Read more: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/public-safety/story/2020-08-12/gym-owner-charged-criminally-rallies-ramona-against-covid-19-police

For months, authorities have treated the Public Health Order with a somewhat lasseiz-faire attitude.While some egregious violations have been prosecuted, county leaders now plan a more intense crackdown, just as quarantine fatigue and economic stress are deepening.***Register for A Path Forward: https://events.handbid.com/auctions/a-path-forwardBuy their books: https://www.warwicks.com/event/a-path-forward-2020

Scientists are carefully monitoring a swarm of small earthquakes that erupted on Monday in the Salton Sea below the southern tip of the dangerous San Andreas fault.They are concerned about the possibility that the swarm could trigger a larger event, a phenomenon that has occurred in that region in the past.Scientists said Monday afternoon that there’s a less than 1 percent chance that the swarm will produce a 6.0 or larger quake within the next month. But the location of the swarm is worrisome due to its closeness to the San Andreas.

Later this week, a COVID-19 testing site will open up just outside PedEast, where tens of thousands of pedestrians cross into the United States from Mexico every day.The location is thought to be the closest testing location to the U.S.-Mexico border in any state, and is the result, the county says, of a data-driven, community-led strategy that aims to slow the spread of COVID-19 in South Bay communities.Officials have long known that the pandemic has disproportionately affected the South County region, where cases continue to climb. Factors that contribute to these increases include long-standing disparities in access to health care, a large population of essential workers and a lack of affordable housing.Proximity to the border also plays a role, county officials said.Read more: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/health/story/2020-08-09/new-testing-site-at-pedeast-crossing-first-of-its-kind-along-u-s-mexico-borderContact the reporters: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-lyndsay-winkley-staff.htmlhttps://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-gustavo-solis-staff.htmlCheck out our COVID-19 tracker: uniontrib.com/coronavirus-data

City leaders are hotly debating who should provide gas and electric services to San Diegans. The city’s so-called franchise agreement with San Diego Gas & Electric is expiring in January after 50 years.Now, it seems just about everyone wants a say in what the next long-term deal looks like. Should the city renew its contract with SDG&E? Or go with another company? How long should the new agreement be? And how much money should the city ask for?Or should the city simply explore running its own electric and gas system, like they do in Los Angeles and Sacramento?

Reporter Brittany Meiling discusses her column about why she leased out commercial office space during the pandemic: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/business/story/2020-08-04/wfh-is-not-working-why-im-paying-for-a-office-space-outside-my-apartment

Cybele Thompson, the career real estate professional San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer recruited in 2014 to manage the city’s portfolio of property and leases, has become the latest official to leave her job after a report about the troubled acquisition of a downtown high rise.Thompson will leave Wednesday, one week after an independent review found serious deficiencies in the city’s 2016 plan to acquire the former Sempra Energy headquarters at 101 Ash Street, according to her letter of resignation dated Monday.The departure is the second for a high-profile city official involved in the Ash Street transaction. Earlier this year, former Deputy Chief Operating Officer Ronald Villa retired amid questions of how the property was handled.A report from the Mayor’s Office last week said it could cost $115 million or more to rehabilitate the Ash Street office tower to a condition that would be safe for city employees to occupy — a stunning amount for a building appraised at $72 million a few years ago.

The nine service members killed in a sinking amphibious transport near San Clemente Island Thursday were young men, ages 18 to 23, junior in rank and assigned to the same unit, the Marines said.Cpl. Wesley Rodd, 23, of Harris, TX, was the oldest. Pfc. Bryan Baltierra, 18, of Corona, the youngest.All were attached to Bravo Company, Battalion Landing Team 1/4 at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton. Baltierra had just completed his first year in the Corps, having reported to boot camp in San Diego on July 29, 2019.On Thursday the 16 troops were returning from training on San Clemente Island, about 70 miles west of San Diego, when their 26-ton assault amphibious vehicle began taking on water. Two other AAVs also had been returning and helped with the rescue.Read the story: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/military/story/2020-08-03/9-troops-killed-in-marine-amphibious-transport-sinking-ranged-in-age-from-18-23Latest update: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/military/story/2020-08-04/sunken-marine-amphibious-vehicle-human-remains-found-on-sea-floor-off-san-clemente-islandContact the reporter: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sd-andrew-dyer-20180708-staff.html

We’re about one week away from “Shark Week” but, as it turns out, it’s always Shark Week along the San Diego County coast. It’s been a fact of life that these creatures live here, but now we’re starting to learn more about the lifestyles of younger sharks, who until now, may have gone unnoticed.This research not only deepens our understanding of these animals, but also may be key in finding out ways to prevent shark attacks.Read the story: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/environment/story/2020-08-01/white-sharks-swim-among-us-at-san-diego-beachesContact the reporter: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-deborah-sullivan-brennan-staff.html

Shopping malls and other retail centers badly impacted the ongoing coronavirus pandemic are taking a cue from the restaurant industry — moving operations outdoors wherever possible. Empty parking lots are being converted into drive-in movie theaters, lawns into art studios, and street corners into outdoor markets.

Throughout the entire pandemic, there was optimism that things would go back to normal in the fallWith the fall semester weeks away for colleges and universities, it’s clear that things aren’t normal. While schools elsewhere have decided to risk in-person instruction: California hasn’tHere’s what the fall 2020 semester will look like.

With 14 additional COVID-19-related deaths announced Tuesday, July became the deadliest month for the coronavirus pandemic in San Diego County since it started in mid-February. The news came amid fresh requests for deeper information on how local communities of color are being disproportionately affected by the disease.According to county records, 161 of the region’s 547 total COVID-19 deaths occurred in July, 12 more than were reported in May, the previous month with the most fatalities. The median age of those who have died of the disease is 78 with the vast majority having other health problems that made them more susceptible to severe illness.Read more: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/health/story/2020-07-28/july-is-now-deadliest-month-of-pandemicContact the reporter here: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-paul-sisson-staff.html

It started as an issue with parking on a Logan Heights block.Now tensions between a largely Latino neighborhood and a long-standing, Latin-only Catholic Church have spilled over into social media conflicts, threats and calls for police intervention, evidence of a disconnect between a church and its neighbors.Logan Heights is a predominantly residential single-family home neighborhood where Latino residents make up more than half the population. It’s bordered by the Barrio Logan community and Interstate-15. About 74 percent of households there earn less than $60,000 a year, according to the San Diego Association of Governments, or SANDAG.St. Anne Catholic Church holds Mass in Latin there seven days a week and has a large following of parishioners, mostly from outside the neighborhood. The church belongs to the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter and, before pandemic restrictions stopped indoor Masses earlier this month, its attendance averaged more than 200 people, the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego said. Now the church celebrates Mass in its courtyard.Got a neighborhood story you want to share? Contact the reporter: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/people/andrea-lopez-villafanahttps://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/communities/san-diego/story/2020-07-26/tensions-grow-between-a-san-diego-church-st-anne-and-the-neighborhood-around-it

More people viewed parts of the online-only Comic-Con International this weekend than are normally allowed in the crowded San Diego Convention Center.San Diego’s biggest event was forced to go fully on the Internet for its 51st year because of COVID-19. More than 300 panels, which would normally be spread out throughout the center and parts of downtown, were uploaded steadily on YouTube over five days. All were free to view.

San Diego businesswoman Gina Champion-Cain, charged a year ago with securities fraud in a civil case, pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday to criminal charges of conspiracy, securities fraud and obstruction of justice in connection with a $400 million Ponzi scheme.Champion-Cain, who will be sentenced Oct. 13, declined to comment to the Union-Tribune as she walked out of the courtroom, her attorney by her side. The maximum prison time for the three charges is 15 years, although Champion-Cain has agreed to cooperate with the probe into the scheme she orchestrated, which investigators are still unravelling, and that could earn her a reduction in her sentence.Champion-Cain remains free on $100,000 bond.

San Diego’s Comic-Con International isn’t happening this year … at least not in person. After the convention’s 51st edition was canceled earlier this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, organizers decided to bring it back as the entirely digital Comic-Con @ Home.Between Wednesday and Sunday, this year’s SDCC features more than 350 (mostly prerecorded) panels highlighting upcoming television shows and movies with the help of their stars and filmmakers. Panels will stream for free on YouTube and are open to all.In addition, the convention’s regular merchandise exclusives will be available, with a virtual convention floor accessible via their website. More than 700 vendors will be a part of the virtual convention floor. It opens Wednesday at 9 a.m. Pacific.

A proposal to strip professors of their emeritus status if they do anything to harm the reputation of San Diego State University is causing a backlash among faculty who say the policy would suppress free speech and stoke the “cancel culture” movement sweeping the country.This is the second major free speech controversy to roil the campus since last winter, and the new policy raises the possibility that a professor could be penalized for comments that he or she made in the past.The proposal says that SDSU’s president, on the advice of the University Senate, would have the right to revoke a professor’s emeritus status based on conduct that occurred before or after they were granted the honorary title. Such conduct would have to harm the university’s reputation. The committee did not specify what that means.

The state has barred all public and private schools in San Diego County and most other California counties from holding in-person classes until the counties do a better job of containing the coronavirus.The decision announced by Gov. Gavin Newsom Friday disrupts the plans of many local school systems that were forging ahead with reopening next month despite the recent surge in COVID-19 cases.https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/education/story/2020-07-17/all-san-diego-county-schools-are-banned-from-reopening-until-covid-19-measures-improvehttps://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/education/story/2020-07-18/some-parents-lament-school-closure-order-even-as-they-understand-why-it-was-given

Host Joshua Emerson Smith talks with Union-Tribune reporter Brittany Meiling about local businesses flouting the coronavirus shutdown orders and the response from government authorities. San Diego News Fix is also available wherever you get your podcasts.

San Diegans are closer to getting a say in how they might be watched.A City Council committee on Wednesday unanimously approved two proposed ordinances geared at governing surveillance technologies in the city, an action sparked by sustained pushback from activists and others who were surprised and upset last year when it was revealed that San Diego had quietly installed cameras on streetlights throughout the city.“Today’s action is a promising step that will protect both the safety and civil liberties of our communities,” Councilwoman Monica Montgomery said before she and three fellow councilmembers on the Public Safety & Livable Neighborhoods Committee voted to support the proposals.Read more: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/public-safety/story/2020-07-15/san-diego-council-committee-unanimously-approves-ordinances-targeting-surveillance-technology

Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein, who one year ago had part of his hand shot off in a lethal attack by a gunman at the Poway synagogue he founded and received an outpouring of support that included meeting President Donald Trump, pleaded guilty to federal charges of tax fraud and wire fraud Tuesday.Goldstein, 58, pleaded guilty to his role in several long-running, multimillion-dollar schemes involving tax, real estate, insurance and grant frauds, some of which stretched back to the 1980s. Omar Meisel, the acting head of the FBI in San Diego, said the investigation uncovered $18 million in “complex financial schemes” by Goldstein and co-defendants, with the rabbi “at the center of illegal activity” that went on for years.Read more: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/courts/story/2020-07-14/rabbi-injured-in-poway-synagogue-shooting-pleads-guilty-to-tax-chargeOur previous coverage: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/topic/shootingSpecial episode on the shooting: https://art19.com/shows/the-san-diego-news-fix/episodes/4128cb9e-6b51-4fb9-8534-ffd049c6ae85

A former sheriff’s deputy who shot an unarmed detainee in May as the man ran from authorities outside the downtown San Diego jail has been charged with murder, a rare move by prosecutors that makes him the first member of local law enforcement to face a murder charge in the shooting death of a suspect.The District Attorney’s Office announced Monday that it is charging former detentions deputy Aaron Russell, 23, with second-degree murder in the May 1 death of Nicholas Peter Bils, 36.Russell, who resigned from the county Sheriff’s Department in the days after the shooting, is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday morning in San Diego Superior Court. He is charged under a theory of second-degree murder, which carries a potential sentence of 15 years to life in prison. He also faces an allegation that he used a gun in the killing, which could add up to 10 years to his sentence if he is convicted.Read more: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/courts/story/2020-07-13/da-files-murder-charge-against-officer-who-shot-fleeing-suspectAlso: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/courts/story/2020-07-14/former-sheriffs-deputy-arraigned-on-murder-charge-in-shooting-death-of-fleeing-suspect

Navy officials said Monday that the fire ravaging the amphibious assault ship Bonhomme Richard for a second day has reached temperatures as high as 1,000 degrees, and it is still burning in various portions of the ship.Smoke and fumes continued to affect the skyline and air throughout San Diego.Rear Adm. Philip Sobeck, the commander of Expeditionary Strike Group 3, said Monday that the fire is in the superstructure of the ship and its upper decks and that the ship’s forward mast has collapsed.“There’s obviously burn damage all the way through the skin of the ship, and we are assessing that as we kind of go through each compartment,” he said. “Right now the priority is to get the fire out so that we can take a complete assessment.”

State data shows that a South Bay skilled nursing facility is coping with what appears to be the largest COVID-19 outbreak among nursing homes in the state.Early Thursday evening, Reo Vista Healthcare Center in San Diego’s Paradise Hills neighborhood updated a short statement on its website, indicating that it had 100 COVID-19 patients, 15 more than it had Wednesday. The total is significantly higher than the next-highest total listed in a database run by the California Department of Public Health, though figures listed in that resource reflect totals from Wednesday, not Thursday.Though the facility with an estimated 135-bed capacity does appear to currently house the most COVID-19 patients among the state’s 1,223 nursing homes, that has not been the case until quite recently. Though it now has 100 COVID-19 patients, the total for the entire pandemic is 112. The record for the whole pandemic, according to state records, is 205 at a convalescent hospital in Los Angeles.Read more: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/health/story/2020-07-09/covid-19-outbreak-at-south-bay-nursing-home-is-states-largest

San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer’s office has come up with four key recommendations for negotiating a new agreement that allows one utility the exclusive right to use the city’s public right-of-ways for transmission and distribution as well as installing wires, poles, power lines, and underground gas and electric lines.San Diego Gas & Electric currently holds what is called the franchise agreement, which has been in place since 1970. But the deal expires in January and city officials are counting on fielding competitive bids from a number of different companies — not just SDG&E — before deciding who should win the new agreement.With that in mind, Faulconer’s staff, working with an energy consulting firm, proposes:a new franchise agreement that lasts 20 yearsa provision calling for third-party reviews to make sure the company that wins the bid is keeping its promises and doing a good jobmaking adjustments to the franchise fees that would lead to a projected net benefit to San Diego ratepayers of $85 million over the course of the recommended 20-year contract, andan upfront payment by the winning bidder of $62 million.“San Diego is making it clear — this is not your grandfather’s franchise agreement,” Faulconer said in a statement. “A lot has changed over the last 50 years and this process ensures residents get a franchise agreement that aligns with their needs for today and shapes a vision for tomorrow.”Read more: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/business/story/2020-07-09/franchise-agreement

She doesn’t think of herself as a risk-taker. But April Simpkins of San Diego says she’s willing to help test a COVID-19 vaccine by allowing herself to be directly exposed to the novel coronavirus, which has killed more than 130,000 people nationally since February.“I’m young and healthy and don’t see that much danger,” said Simpkins, 29. “The coronavirus has really been surging lately and a trial like this could help develop a vaccine sooner.”Simpkins is one of 30,000 people globally — and about 100 in San Diego — who have volunteered to participate in a controversial type of medical study known as a human challenge trial, or HCT, if such a trial gains federal approval.

With per-capita infection rates above state thresholds for seven straight days, public health officials confirmed Monday that a fresh set of sure-to-be-unpopular restrictions will start Tuesday.As has occurred in other counties across the state that have ended up on the governor’s monitoring list, some businesses not considered essential must cease indoor activities for the next three weeks, shutting down or moving their operations outside where, statistics show, the coronavirus is less likely to be transmitted.Starting at midnight, local restaurants, family entertainment locations such as bowling alleys and batting cages, wineries, movie theaters, zoos and museums must cease all indoor activities, according to the governor’s order which was announced last week.Grocery stores, medical offices and other businesses deemed essential when the first stay-at-home orders appeared in March will be able to continue serving customers, patients and clients indoors. And some enterprises that were initially deemed “nonessential” will be able to continue operating. Salons, whether they do hair, nails or both, will stay open for indoor business as will retail establishments and gyms.Read more: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/health/story/2020-07-06/san-diego-enters-governors-covid-penalty-box

South Bay communities, particularly those that are low income and with large Latino populations, continue to be the hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic, according to an analysis of COVID-19 deaths by ZIP code.The most recent data provided by the county confirms trends previously reported by health officials and underscores the sometimes fatal consequences that stem from longstanding health disparities, doctors say.Deaths in these hard-hit communities, they said, are likely the result of social factors that have long been known to impact health, such as poverty, access to health care and the availability of affordable housing. Barriers to testing and a high population of essential workers are also likely contributing to higher numbers.Read more: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/health/story/2020-07-05/new-data-showing-covid-19-deaths-by-zip-code-further-highlight-health-disparities-across-county

Ahead of Independence Day weekend, many indoor activities and businesses were shuttered across the state. While San Diego was not among those counties initially closed, current COVID-19 trends show that we will likely have to shut down as well on Monday.Governor Gavin Newsom’s actions drew criticism, as many argue that the George Floyd protests were the cause of the region’s spike, but contact tracers have found that isn’t the case

Ten San Diego beaches scored perfect marks, while one Mission Bay location failed to make the grade, on the 30th annual “Beach Report Card” by the nonprofit Heal the Bay.The annual report assigns letter grades to beaches, based on bacteria levels found in water samples throughout the year. Those grades represent an effort to translate scientific test results into readily understandable information for beachgoers.“California’s beaches are iconic and essential to our economy here in California,” said Shelley Luce, president and CEO of Heal the Bay. “But, unfortunately, they are not always clean and not always safe.”Read more: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/environment/story/2020-06-30/ten-north-county-san-diego-beaches-earn-high-grades-on-annual-beach-report-card

Just 17 days after they were allowed to reopen on June 12, San Diego County bars, breweries and wineries learned Monday that they will not be allowed to operate, at least not in the traditional sense, starting Wednesday at 12:01 a.m. While restaurants will still be allowed to serve drinks with meals, no one will be allowed to stand around with drinks in their hands after the stroke of midnight Tuesday.Announced Monday afternoon by county Supervisor Nathan Fletcher, the decision follows a mandate from Gov. Gavin Newsom, released over the weekend, that asks bars to close in some California counties due to increasing rates of novel coronavirus transmission.Read more: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/health/story/2020-06-29/bars-to-close-wednesday-as-county-health-department-responds-to-local-covid-surgeFollow COVID-19 trends here: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/tracking-coronavirus-cases-san-diego-county

Within 24 hours of a police shooting that critically wounded a man in downtown San Diego, police on Sunday released footage of the encounter as protesters took to the streets and local elected leaders demanded transparency.The man, who police identified as Leonardo Hurtado Ibarra, 25, of San Diego, suffered life-threatening injuries. He was hospitalized in an intensive care unit Sunday, police said.Police released four video clips, captured by the body-worn cameras of two officers who shot Ibarra, a streetlight camera and a security camera. The video shows that the 5:47 p.m. shooting on Sixth Avenue occurred about 10 seconds after the officers got out of their patrol car.Read more: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/public-safety/story/2020-06-28/protesters-take-to-streets-after-police-shoot-critically-injure-man-in-downtown

After roughly 100 days camped out at dining room tables or propped up on pillows while Zooming from their beds, many white-collar workers across San Diego are slowly coming to a realization: working from home might actually be permanent.Some think it’s because a post-pandemic world will never exist, and workers must be protected from health threats. Others say it’s more to do with business accounting, as saving money on rent is wise for any company in a shaky economy.Either way, many businesses in San Diego are in the midst of difficult conversations about how and when they will return to the office — or whether they’ll permanently say goodbye to their office-centric lifestyle.Some are already downsizing their square footage, while others have negotiated their way out of leases entirely.Read more: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/business/story/2020-06-26/work-from-home-san-diego-offices

San Diego police now have standalone policy calling for officers to attempt to de-escalate encounters when they can, and a new imperative that officers intervene if they see another officer using unreasonable force, the mayor and police chief announced Wednesday.De-escalation “is important, because de-escalation tactics help officers to defuse a situation, enhance the officer’s — and the public’s — safety, and lessens unintended consequences,"Mayor Kevin Faulconer said at a midday news conference at police headquarters. “And as a result, of course, results in lives saved.”The department has long taught de-escalation techniques. The change here is that the officers are now required to use them if safe and reasonable in the situation — and that requirement is among the demands from those pushing for policing reform, from activists to police advisory and review boards in San Diego.Read more: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/public-safety/story/2020-06-24/sdpd-to-require-officers-to-intervene-if-other-officers-use-unreasonable-force

The San Diego City Council Tuesday unanimously endorsed plans for a new police review board that would have the power to launch independent misconduct investigations and subpoena witnesses. A formal vote to place it on the November ballot is set for July 7.“It is time to shift power into the hands of the community and to have a more transparent board,” said Councilwoman Monica Montgomery, the City Council’s only Black member. “I’m happy that we’re moving this forward as part of a comprehensive plan for police reform.”Other recent reform efforts in San Diego include a ban on police officers using carotid restraints, new Police Department de-escalation procedures and creation of an Office on Race and Equity.Read more: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/politics/story/2020-06-23/san-diego-council-unanimously-endorses-police-reform-ballot-measure

A state fiscal agency found “significant evidence” that current and former employees with the Sweetwater Union High School District may have committed fraud, misappropriation of funds or other illegal practices, according to the results of a long-awaited audit report announced Monday night by the San Diego County superintendent of schools.The report also found violations of board policy, education and government code, and securities laws, San Diego County Superintendent Paul Gothold said.Sweetwater Superintendent Karen Janney and district finance staff violated their fiduciary duties, the report found. District staff intentionally misrepresented the district’s finances and left out and delayed information when presenting the district’s finances to the school board and to bond market participants, the report said.Some financial staff referenced in the report are no longer with the district, including the chief financial officer. Janney has led the district since 2015.