Two years after bird bodies washed up on Mission Bay shores following a barrage of fireworks shows, SeaWorld San Diego says it will switch to using mostly drones instead.

Voice of San Diego first reported that elegant tern adults, chicks and damaged eggs had washed ashore Kendall-Frost Marsh Reserve days after SeaWorld and Discover Mission Bay set off over 500 pounds of explosives on July 4, 2024. Upon taking over as San Diego City Council president, Joe LaCava declared war on pyrotechnics. 

“When I became council president I realized I had a louder voice to make that change,” LaCava told Environment Reporter MacKenzie Elmer during a Friday interview. “You were really the first one to hear me say this and made a big deal about it.”

On Thursday, SeaWorld and LaCava announced that the marine life entertainment business filed a permit application with the California Coastal Commission to launch large-scale drone shows for two years. The commission votes on the application April 15.

Under the permit, SeaWorld would be able to do 110, 15-minute-long drone shows with up to 1,000 illuminated drones above Mission Bay in a year. Right now SeaWorld is permitted to put on up to 150 fireworks shows per year lasting between 6 and 20 minutes. 

The company wouldn’t be allowed to do any more drone or firework shows up to its permitted amount of 150. For example, if SeaWorld launched its maximum permitted number of 110 drone shows in one year, it could still do 40 fireworks shows, according to SeaWorld’s application to the Coastal Commission.

But those fireworks shows leave a lot of debris and other pollution in the water afterward, a lot of which doesn’t get cleaned up despite requirements the company do so. A number of environmental groups sued SeaWorld San Diego over its fireworks pollution under the Clean Water Act. The parties were in settlement talks as of April 7 and the judge issued a stay on the case until July, federal court records show. 

LaCava said he’s interested in working with SeaWorld to limit the number of drone or fireworks that the company could do overall under proposed changes to the company’s masterplan. 

“We want to have an option to go at something greatly reduced from what they’re allowed now,” LaCava said. 

The councilmember also attributed a change in SeaWorld San Diego’s leadership to progress toward limiting pyrotechnics. He didn’t know who managed the park before Tyler Carter, the new park president, called him up about the issue. 

“The new leadership at SeaWorld has been such a game changer,” LaCava said.

The post We Helped Defuse SeaWorld’s Fireworks. You’re Welcome. appeared first on Voice of San Diego.

San Diego County Supervisor Terra Lawson Remer wants to stay in office longer and wants other reforms that would “improve transparency.” On this week’s show, our podcast hosts explain the whole package she plans to propose to San Diego voters.

It’s all coming at a time when county officials continue to fight us on the release of public records. We are suing the county and our hosts offer more details about our fight to get records released.

Also on the show: Could the city of San Diego lose Liberty Station? There is a real possibility this could happen. We talk about the potential outcomes.

Plus, believe it or not we have more news on the Midway district saga.

Finally, South County reporter Jim Hinch joins us to update us on Chula Vista politics!

Listen Here Now

Listen: Apple | Spotify | PodLink

The post VOSD Podcast: So Not Transparent appeared first on Voice of San Diego.

HOUSTON (AP) — Their dramatic grand finale fast approaching, Artemis II’s astronauts aimed for a splashdown in San Diego on Friday to close out humanity’s first voyage to the moon in more than half a century.

The tension in Mission Control mounted as the miles melted away between the four returning astronauts and Earth.

All eyes were on the capsule’s life-protecting heat shield that has to withstand thousands of degrees during reentry. On the only other test flight of the spacecraft — in 2022, with no one on board — the shield’s charred exterior came back looking as pockmarked as the moon.

Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canada’s Jeremy Hansen were on track to hit the atmosphere traveling Mach 32 — or 32 times the speed of sound — a blistering blur not seen since NASA’s Apollo moonshots of the 1960s and 1970s.

They didn’t plan on taking manual control except in an emergency. Their Orion capsule, dubbed Integrity, is completely self-flying.

Like so many others, lead flight director Jeff Radigan anticipated feeling some of that “irrational fear that is human nature,” especially during the six minutes of communication blackout preceding the opening of the parachutes. The recovery ship USS John P. Murtha awaited the crew’s arrival, along with a squadron of military planes and helicopters.

The last time NASA and the Defense Department teamed up for a lunar crew’s reentry was Apollo 17 in 1972. Artemis II was projected to come screaming back at 34,965 feet (10,657 meters) per second — or 23,840 mph (38,367 kph) — not a record but still mind-bogglingly fast before slowing to a 19 mph (30 kph) splashdown.

Artemis II’s Record Flyby and Lunar Views

Launched from Florida on April 1, the astronauts racked up one win after another as they deftly navigated NASA’s long-awaited lunar comeback, the first major step in establishing a sustainable moon base.

Artemis II didn’t land on the moon or even orbit it. But it broke Apollo 13’s distance record, making Wiseman and his crew the farthest that humans have ever journeyed from Earth when they reached 252,756 miles (406,771 kilometers). Then in the mission’s most heart-tugging scene, the teary astronauts asked permission to name a pair of craters after their moonship and Wiseman’s late wife, Carroll.

During the record-breaking flyby, they documented scenes of the lunar far side never seen before by the naked eye and savored a total solar eclipse courtesy of the cosmos thanks to their launch date. The eclipse, in particular, “just blew all of us away,” Glover said.

Their sense of wonder and love awed everyone, as did their breathtaking pictures of the moon and Earth. The Artemis II crew channeled Apollo 8’s first lunar explorers with Earthset, showing our blue marble setting behind the gray moon. It was reminiscent of Apollo 8’s famous Earthrise shot from 1968.

“It just makes you want to continue to go back,” Radigan said on the eve of splashdown. “It’s the first of many trips and we just need to continue on because there’s so much” more to learn about the moon.

Their moonshot drew global attention as well as star power, earning props from President Donald Trump; Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney; Britain’s King Charles III; Ryan Gosling, star of the latest space flick “Project Hail Mary”; Scarlett Johansson of the Marvel Cinematic Universe; and even Captain Kirk himself, William Shatner of TV’s original “Star Trek.”

Artemis II Was a Test Flight for Future Moon Missions

Despite its rich scientific yield, the nearly 10-day flight was not without technical issues. Both the capsule’s drinking water and propellant systems were hit with valve problems. In perhaps the most high-profile predicament, toilet trouble prevented the crew from using it for No. 1 most of the trip, forcing them to resort to old-time bags and funnels.

The astronauts shrugged it all off.

“We can’t explore deeper unless we are doing a few things that are inconvenient,” Koch said, “unless we’re making a few sacrifices, unless we’re taking a few risks, and those things are all worth it.”

Added Hansen: “You do a lot of testing on the ground, but your final test is when you get this hardware to space and it’s a doozy.”

Under the revamped Artemis program, next year’s Artemis III will see astronauts practice docking their capsule with a lunar lander or two in orbit around Earth. Artemis IV will attempt to land a crew of two near the moon’s south pole in 2028.

The Artemis II crew’s allegiance was to those next Artemis crews, Wiseman said.

“But we really hoped in our soul is that we could for just for a moment have the world pause and remember that this is a beautiful planet and a very special place in our universe, and we should all cherish what we have been gifted,” he said.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

This story was originally published by The Associated Press and distributed through a partnership.

The post Artemis II’s Grand Moon Finale Is Almost Here with a San Diego Splashdown appeared first on Voice of San Diego.

Fourteen years ago, San Diego Unified School District’s approval of bond Measure Z seemed destined to upgrade plumbing at the School of Creative and Performing Arts in Paradise Hills.

Yet 14 years and two more school bonds later, plumbing issues continue at the magnet school. Our Jakob McWhinney reports the school faced a half dozen full or partial water shutoffs in February and March, requiring the district to cart in porta-potties and bottled water.

So what’s the deal? Though the school’s plumbing issues have been cited in multiple successful campaigns to raise taxes, the district doesn’t plan to do comprehensive work on the school’s plumbing until at least late 2028, when the school is set for a full renovation. Officials told McWhinney that uncertainty over whether to move the high school downtown and the long list of schools in need of a full renovation have contributed to the wait.

Oh, and did we mention the district is eyeing another possible bond measure this November?

Read the full story here.

San Diego Sells More Water to Riverside County

Nearly three years after two water districts in Northern San Diego county left the San Diego County Water Authority, the agency they signed up with has agreed to buy water from the San Diego County Water Authority.

The Riverside County-based Eastern Municipal Water District signed a deal Thursday with its San Diego counterpart to purchase water for 21 years — enough to serve about 25,000 homes per year.

In 2023, the Rainbow Municipal Water District and Fallbrook Public Utility District left the Water Authority because its rates were too high. But now Eastern, the district that welcomed them, is buying some of that water. Those high rates are mostly due to the massive investments San Diego leaders made in water supplies over the last 25 years and it all led to us having more water than we use. The Water Authority’s leaders have been under intense pressure to relieve the burden on local rate payers and they promise deals like this will provide some relief.

How much relief: The deal will deliver about $14 million to San Diego every year and, with other payments, about $74 million over the first five years. It’s not clear if it will prevent future rate increases for San Diegans or just keep them in check a bit.

South County Report: A Mall Overhaul

The Chula Vista Center is likely getting a makeover.

In his latest South County Report, our Jim Hinch previews the plans for the 32-acre mall, which was purchased by a Los Angeles firm last year.

Among them: a grocery store, a redeveloped east side, restaurants and fixes to a theater escalator that’s often broken (finally).

A spokesperson for new owner/developer Primestor says the firm’s goal is to match Chula Vista’s community needs and noted it’s already started hosting community events such as the Gran Posada celebration in December.

Read the South County Report here. 

After Issa Bails, Dems Duel

Some Democrats who cheered after Republican Rep. Darrell Issa decided not to run for re-election are now worried about their prospects in a district that covers northern and eastern parts of the county.

Our Nadia Lathan and Deborah Brennan with CalMatters write that some political insiders view challenger Jim Desmond, now a county supervisor, as a tougher challenger than Issa – and there’s a crowded Democratic field competing for one of two general election slots. Desmond’s expected to secure one of them, leaving Dems to duke it out.

Read the full story here.

In Other News

• A Superior Court judge ruled Thursday that a lawsuit challenging city trash fees must go on, The Union-Tribune reports.
• KPBS reports that the county has appointed two new leaders for its embattled Animal Services Department after a series of stories highlighted issues at county-run shelters.
• Amid criticism of a spike in middle managers as the city faces a budget crisis, The Union-Tribune reports that the city’s chief financial officer is arguing concerns about those posts are overblown. Not sure what a middle manager does? The mayor explained in a video on social media. (He’s coming for your crown, Bella Ross.)
• A controversial proposed Escondido battery storage facility is now off, City News Service and KPBS report. 
• The Union-Tribune reports that the Oceanside City Council voted earlier this week to give itself a raise.
• Times of San Diego reports that a prominent preservationist group is legally challenging the city’s recent approval of reforms to its historic preservation program.

The Morning Report was written by Lisa Halverstadt. It was edited by Andrea Sanchez-Villafaña. 

The post Morning Report: Despite Promises, Tax Hikes and Bonds, Plumbing Problems Plague School appeared first on Voice of San Diego.

On a crisp spring morning, three boys sat on a cinderblock wall in front of the School of Creative and Performing Arts in Paradise Hills. Staff and students at the magnet school, often referred to as SCPA, have been grappling with recurring plumbing failures. Those failures required porta-potties and bottled water to be shipped to the campus. 

“It’s been temporarily fixed, but the problems always come back,” one boy said in between bites of Jack in the Box french fries. “They should just fix it already. People here need water.”  

“It’s nasty,” another boy said, referring to the porta-potties. “There’s pee all over them,” he said with a laugh.  

For some, though, the plumbing situation is no laughing matter. From February to March, the district fully or partially shut off water at the campus about a half dozen times due to infrastructure failures.  

Emails obtained by Voice of San Diego underscore the frustration felt by staff members. One teacher named Will Carter described a “pattern of repeated infrastructure failure that the district has failed to permanently resolve.” 

“Three months of recurring outages — at a school with a documented history of plumbing failures — is not a temporary emergency,” Carter wrote. “A sewage backup through concrete pipes on school grounds — in front of occupied buildings — constitutes a direct biohazard exposure event.” 

District spokesperson Samer Naji disputed that characterization. In an email, he wrote that SCPA’s leaks were of water lines, not wastewater or sewer systems.  

“There has been no biohazard exposure,” Naji wrote. 

But district spokespeople acknowledge the plumbing situation hasn’t been ideal, and that a comprehensive renovation is years off. 

Many at SCPA are struggling to understand why any of this is happening in the first place. After all voters approved a nearly $3 billion bond in 2012 that promised a fix. In the years since, voters approved two more bonds that district leaders said would tackle the issue. Those three bond measures gave the district nearly $10 billion to spend on construction.  

A decade and a half later, though, SCPA is still waiting for its plumbing fix. And now, district leaders are gearing up to put another bond measure on the ballot later this year.  

Bonds, Bonds, Bonds 

The district’s $2.8 billion bond measure in 2012 promised to “repair or replace aged/deteriorated plumbing and sewer systems” at nearly every single San Diego Unified school. It specifically cited SCPA as a school where the plumbing would be updated. 

Six years after that, the district copied and pasted that exact language into Measure YY, a $3.5 billion bond. Once again, officials specifically promised a fix at SCPA. That November, 65 percent of San Diego voters approved the measure. 

Four years after that, voters approved another bond, the $3.2 billion Measure U. The district once again promised to “repair or replace deteriorating plumbing and underground sewer systems.” 

Despite those promises, a fix never came. 

The Long Wait for a Big Fix 

District officials don’t plan to do comprehensive work on SCPA’s plumbing until late 2028 or early 2029, when the school is slated to be fully renovated. 

For some staff at SCPA, though, that timeline doesn’t seem quick enough.  

In one email, Carter wrote that the coming modernization does not excuse the district from “its legal and contractual obligation to address the current, active safety and environmental maintenance needs in a timely manner.” 

“Staff and students cannot wait through a multi-year modernization planning and construction timeline while operating in conditions that do not meet basic health, safety, and sanitation standards today,” Carter continued.  

Jamie Ries, another spokesperson for San Diego Unified, wrote in an email that all but one “small leak” has been repaired by district maintenance staff. The only negative impact of that ongoing leak was “a small wet area on the lawn,” she continued.  

But she admitted that scheduling fixes for the multiple leaks has been challenging.  

Renovated plumbing is far from the only unfulfilled promise at SCPA. In 2012’s Measure Z, the district listed nearly 20 renovations the bond would bring to SCPA. Measure YY, passed six years later, duplicated much of that project list and added a couple more priorities. 

Nearly 14 years later, only a handful of those projects have been completed, according to district officials. Of the 20 projects listed on Measure YY (a dozen of which carried over from a previous bond) less than half have been completed. Those included installing a new emergency communications system, electrical upgrades, solar energy systems and a renovation of the school’s performing arts facilities. 

While public entities are usually required to spend bond money on the types of projects they listed as priorities while pitching their measures, they aren’t required to complete every project listed in their proposals. 

A big reason for the neglect at SCPA has been uncertainty. For years, district officials have been considering moving the high school campus downtown. That effort was ultimately abandoned after district leaders deemed it unrealistic. Staff at SCPA also backed a full renovation rather than wait to see if the relocation dream materialized.  

With the San Diego Community College District stepping into the civic core redevelopment void left by city officials, though, talks may start again.  

Another Bond on the Horizon

Even as staff and students wait for the long-promised renovation, some cosmetic fixes have been going forward. According to multiple SCPA staff members, district maintenance workers have been painting buildings. The choice to touch up coats of paint before doing the hard work of infrastructure fixes doesn’t sit well with some staff members. 

This is far from the first time San Diego Unified’s spending priorities have raised eyebrows. During the 2010s, the district consistently directed its multi-billion-dollar treasure chest of bond money toward upgrades of athletic facilities, like new football fields, rather than rotting infrastructure at some schools. Between 2009 and 2015, nearly half of the bond money spent went toward athletic facilities. And despite repeated promises to fix and install air conditioning at all schools, some district students have still dealt with hot classrooms in recent years.  

Last year, a San Diego County grand jury report substantiated many of the frustrations expressed by the district’s critics over the years. The report found that measures duplicated previous funding priorities and commingled funds from various bond programs in ways that may have confused voters. 

Still, San Diego Unified officials don’t seem to be sweating. Longtime San Diego Unified Trustee Richard Barrera said district officials are putting together a plan for a new bond measure – despite still having nearly $4 billion in untapped revenue from previous bond measures, according to one report. 

It’s not certain, but Barrera said the “odds are high” a new bond will appear on the ballot in November. And while a new measure may allow the district to speed up work on previous bond priorities, Barrera said nothing much will change.  

The focus would still be on school-specific projects and site modernizations, which will never run out. Schools start aging the second the last brick is laid, so even those that were completely remodeled 25 years ago with funds from 1998’s Proposition MM may be in need of a renovation. 

“The conversation is always about the state of our facilities, so the basic message would be what it has been for the last several bond campaigns, that our schools continue to have needs,” Barrera said. 

That’s why, despite frustrations about unfulfilled promises, Barrera is confident that, like every bond measure in the 21^st century, this one will also pass. In fact, he thinks leaks like SCPA’s may increase the likelihood voters approve a new measure. 

“Bond measures pass or fail… based on how much voters believe that there’s a need,” Barrera said. “The fact that there are unmet needs makes it more likely that they’re going to want to vote to continue the bond program.” 

The post San Diego Unified Promised to Fix a School’s Plumbing 14 Years Ago. It’s Still Leaking  appeared first on Voice of San Diego.

In Chula Vista, everybody has a story about the mall. 

Even Mayor John McCann frequently recalls dreaded childhood trips to the Sears department store that once anchored the 64-year-old Chula Vista Center on the city’s urbanizing west side. 

McCann, who grew up in Chula Vista, says he remembers his mom saying after church on Sundays, “I need to pop into Sears a few minutes.” Hours later, McCann still would be dragging along as his mother browsed the store’s seemingly endless aisles. 

Today, the Sears store is long gone. And Chula Vista Center, like many malls across America, is looking for a new direction. 

Last year, Los Angeles-based retail and office developer Primestor bought the 32-acre mall for $86 million. 

The company, which specializes in serving majority-Latino communities, has been making cosmetic changes and conducting market research. 

Now, the company is finalizing plans for a major overhaul, said mall marketing manager Patricia Sobue. 

Plans include what Sobue called a “redeveloped” east side of the mall, including areas surrounding the movie theater. Sobue declined to detail plans but said they would be “structural in terms of the layout of the center.” 

(Yes, she said, renovation will include the theater escalator, which frequently breaks down.) 

Sobue said a major feature of the new design will be a full-service grocery store that will help fill a need on Chula Vista’s west side, where grocery offerings are sparse. She declined to name two companies in talks for the grocery spot but described both as “similar to Vons or Ralphs.” 

Negotiations also are underway to fill the vacant 7,000-square-foot former home of Las Tres Catrinas Mexican restaurant on the mall’s northeast side. Sobue said other eateries also are looking to lease space at the mall. 

The proposed renovation will join other changes already underway at the mall – and indeed throughout Chula Vista’s rapidly evolving west side. 

At the site of the former Sears, construction crews are building roughly 700 new medium-density homes for sale, some priced below $600,000 to attract entry-level homebuyers.  

A few blocks away, a 135-unit high-rise apartment complex completed in 2020 at 3rd Avenue and H Street will be joined soon by a 208-unit complex under construction next door, said David Graham, Chula Vista’s economic development director. 

Graham said the intersection of 3rd Avenue and H Street is becoming a kind of mini-downtown for Chula Vista, with a recently opened 75,000-square-foot SHARP Rees-Stealy medical complex on H Street and a new San Diego Workforce Partnership regional resource center across the street. 

Graham said Primestor officials have not submitted development plans to the city for approval yet. 

“But they have started conversations,” he said, including meetings with Graham himself and with the city’s development services director, who oversees planning and building. 

Taken together, Graham said, and combined with other completed or greenlighted developments along the Chula Vista bayfront, the city’s west side is on track to become a regional business, tourist and retail hub. 

“When you begin to think about what’s happening on the west side, there’s revitalization around Chula Vista Center, vibrancy and reactivation on 3rd Avenue, more dense residential complementing a business district [plus] job-serving uses attracting businesses such as technology, advanced manufacturing [and] medical device [development],” Graham said. 

“You have a balance of jobs and retail that’s all coming together,” he said. 

The development push accords with wider city ambitions to become a major regional economic player. 

Most residents seem on board with the developments. But some elected officials are sounding a cautionary note. 

City Councilmember Jose Preciado, whose district includes the Chula Vista Center, said he supports the work Graham and other city officials are doing to expand economic and residential opportunities in west Chula Vista. 

But he said he worries that, if new development focuses too much on high-end businesses and tourists, ordinary westside residents will get left behind. 

“I’m very concerned for west Chula Vista,” Preciado said. “I’m worried that convention business [from the recently opened Gaylord Pacific Resort and Convention Center, along with other planned hotels, will] gentrify our community eateries.” 

“The Gaslamp Quarter used to be community-serving but then it shifted over to serving conventions,” Preciado said. “When that happens, everything gets expensive: $30 burritos, $17 beer.” 

Preciado recently joined fellow City Councilmember Cesar Fernandez in spearheading an economic development plan for the west side. 

The plan, approved by the Council last year, includes raising hotel taxes citywide, sprucing up key business corridors and promoting what Preciado called “sports tourism,” by which he meant hotels and restaurants geared toward youth sports tournaments. 

The goal, Preciado said, would be to build sports facilities that serve city residents while also drawing youth travel teams, which have become a major source of hotel and sales tax revenue in some cities. 

“I’m talking about a strategy to use the bayfront and [other key sites in the city to focus] on sports activity or sports tourism,” he said. “[We want] city businesses to thrive and residents to thrive.” 

At Chula Vista Center, Sobue said Primestor already is seeking to harmonize its development efforts with Chula Vista’s evolving community needs. 

Since buying the mall, she said, the company has staged outdoor gatherings geared toward Mexican holidays and exhibited artworks by local artists. 

The events, Sobue said, have become a regional draw. 

County Supervisor Paloma Aguirre was among 3,000 visitors who attended a Sunday afternoon Gran Posada celebration in December, Sobue said. The event included giveaways of Mexican desserts and tamales, music performances and a dance area where Aguirre “danced with the public,” Sobue said. 

“She had a blast,” Sobue said of Aguirre. 

If Sobue is to be believed, the mall’s new approach already is attracting the kind of boldfaced names Chula Vista’s development efforts are chasing. 

Voice of San Diego was unable to verify one particularly juicy story Sobue told about the mall’s new, more chic clientele. 

“I actually learned that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle actually came here [last year],” she said. “It was very low-key. It was in the morning. Just the staff saw it. They came here to watch a movie.” 

Hopefully, the escalator was working that day. If it wasn’t, the mall is on track to take care of it. 

In Other News 

The San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board on Wednesday voted to clear the way for a federal international wastewater treatment plant near the Tijuana River to expand its operations to treat 35 million gallons of river-borne sewage per day, up from 25 million gallons. The plant expansion is a key step in multipronged efforts to solve the river’s ongoing sewage crisis. 

A coalition of environmental activists and South County residents on Thursday afternoon planned to protest at a meeting of the San Diego Air Pollution Control District, demanding that the district adopt rules to curb air pollution from large warehouses near the Port of San Diego and the U.S.-Mexico border. 

The post South County Report: Chula Vista Mall Joins Westside Development Push appeared first on Voice of San Diego.

This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters.

When Republican Rep. Darrell Issa quit his reelection campaign last month, Democrats celebrated. Now, some are worried.

Issa’s exit is seen as a mixed blessing among Democratic officials who have eyed flipping his San Diego House seat for years. While demonstrators at a No Kings rally last weekend were exultant to see him leave the race, local Democratic organizers are more guarded. The Republican who took his place, San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond, is a longtime local official with name recognition, fundraising connections and community relationships — without Issa’s close ties to President Donald Trump. 

“If anything, Jim Desmond is a slightly better candidate than Darrell Issa in some regards,” because he is not as closely affiliated with Trump, said Dan Rottenstreich, a spokesperson for Marni von Wilpert, one of two leading Democrats in the race. 

The new hotly contested district covers most of East and North County San Diego and parts of Riverside County, including Palm Springs. Its voter makeup shifted from deep red to slightly blue when California voters approved a redistricting plan to try to give the state five more Democratic congressmembers after Texas created five extra Republican seats. 

San Diego Democrats, including council member Marni von Wilpert, and former Obama official Ammar Campa-Najjar, are competing with Desmond in a crowded field. The top two vote-getters in the June primary will face off in the November general election, regardless of their party. Given the district makeup, Desmond is expected to secure one of those spots.

With a local background in nonpartisan office, Desmond is a “formidable opponent” to Democrats, said Ross Pike, parliamentarian for the Democratic Club of Fallbrook. Desmond raised nearly $1.4 million by the end of last year and the main GOP re-election campaign arm, the National Republican Congressional Committee, says it’s optimistic about the district as Desmond aims to cast himself as a moderate focused on affordability and immigration. 

“He appears more approachable, less polarizing, and he has given grants to different areas, and people know him for that, so it’s going to be tough,” said Amalia Martinez, vice president of communications for the Escondido Democratic Club, which endorsed von Wilpert. 

And in a race with many Democrats, party support is divided. In the regional stage of California Democrats’ endorsement process, von Wilpert fell short by a single vote. During the state convention she won more than half of delegates’ votes, but didn’t meet a 60 percent threshold. Campa-Najjar received 18 percent of delegates’ support.

Another Democrat, Palm Springs businessman Brandon Riker, is also gaining ground in the Coachella Valley. He raised $1.5 million by the end of the year and was the only other candidate besides von Wilpert and Campa-Najjar to win some votes at the California Democratic Party convention.

“The more Democrats that are on this ballot in the primary, that’s less votes for Marni to get,” Martinez said. 

Leading Democrats have responded to Issa’s departure by comparing Desmond to Issa and framing him as a “MAGA extremist,” revisiting his controversial comments downplaying COVID-19 deaths and spotlighting his votes against the county policy that limits ICE agents’ access to county facilities.

Campa-Najjar, a former Obama public affairs official trying to win a San Diego congressional seat for the third time, said he welcomes Desmond to the race. 

“Democrats need to be the opposition party to Trump. But we also have to be the opportunity party. We have to have an affirmative message to bring down costs, raise wages, rein in the cost of health care, and make sure that this president abides by the law,” Campa-Najjar said in an interview.

A spokesperson for Desmond said he is focused on public safety and affordability issues. “While Democrats fight among themselves, their crowded field is a reminder of how out of touch they are,” spokesperson Sam Oh said. His campaign declined to make him available for an interview.

Campa-Najjar had raised about $823,000 at the end of last year and has received the most endorsements from members of Congress, including his partner, Democratic Rep. Sara Jacobs. But support has waned locally after two previous unsuccessful congressional campaigns, and some Democrats have criticized him for shifting his policy positions on gun control. 

Von Wilpert had raised $520,000 at the end of last year and is endorsed by the state’s labor unions and local San Diego Democratic clubs.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee does not plan to endorse a candidate before the primary.

Democrats Turn on Each Other

A party endorsement would give the winner campaign funding and support from the party. Without it, local organizers and volunteers must try harder to get their preferred candidate’s name out.

“I’m very frustrated, because I will have to knock on more doors,” said Martinez, of the Escondido Democratic Club.

No party endorsement could also weaken Democratic candidates during the primary if they tear each other down and exhaust their campaign funds before the general election. In addition to attacking Desmond, Democrats are turning on each other. Republicans are gleefully highlighting the spat between von Wilpert and Campa-Najjar; she called him anti-LGBTQ for questioning whether she could win voters outside the gay-friendly city of Palm Springs; he accused her of racism for questioning his name changes and residence.

Opponents have also criticized Campa-Najjar for allegedly misrepresenting his military service and allegedly making racist and sexist remarks on MySpace in 2009. 

But a tough primary battle could also harden the Democratic front-runners ahead of a November contest with Desmond.

“The advantage of a competitive primary is that it’s forcing Democrats to build their name ID with voters throughout the district, which will only benefit them in the general election,” Pike said.

They have their work cut out. At the No Kings protest, many demonstrators said they weren’t sure who was running in the 48th District, or weren’t following the race closely.

“It’s a little confused,” said John Boyers, a protester at the Escondido rally last weekend. “The herd needs to thin a little.” 

The swiftly shifting race has made it tough for voters and candidates to weigh their options. Issa built a reputation as a firebrand conservative 10 years ago when he oversaw several high-profile investigations into the Obama administration.

Desmond, who terms out as county supervisor this year, was previously running for the 49th District and quickly received Issa’s endorsement when he moved to the more competitive 48th District.

Before his exit, Issa was boosted by years of name recognition and relationships. Yet, just three months after telling voters he’d stay in California after briefly considering a run in Texas, Issa announced he was retiring for good. It harkened to the last time he called it quits, in 2018, after his coastal San Diego district at the time, the 49th, became increasingly liberal.

The fact that Issa, one of the wealthiest members in Congress, left the race after 25 years in office is a warning sign for Republicans, strategists say.

“If he looked at it and said ‘no,’ it’s encouraging for Democrats,” political consultant Mason Herron said.

This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.

The post Democrats Are Eager to Flip Issa’s Seat. But His Republican Successor Is a ‘Formidable Opponent’ appeared first on Voice of San Diego.

Wednesday, San Diego County Board of Supervisors Chair Terra Lawson-Remer officially proposed an overhaul of county government that would give her and other supervisors an additional term in office and shift some power to new oversight officials appointed by supervisors.

Flanked by a coalition of labor leaders, activists, environmentalists and other supporters, Lawson-Remer said the proposed changes are intended to bring  “accountability, transparency and change that will benefit everyone.”

If it goes on the ballot and voters approve it, the proposal would:

• Give supervisors a maximum of three terms in office, effective immediately. The new limit would replace a two-term limit approved by 68 percent of county voters in 2010.
• Give supervisors the power to confirm appointments to senior government positions and fire department heads. Currently, the chief administrative officer — the county’s top bureaucrat — hires and fires senior leaders.
• Give supervisors the power to hire their own independent analyst and auditor to evaluate county budgets and audit county programs. 
• Establish an independent volunteer ethics commission. Supervisors would appointed the commissioners along with the county counsel.

The proposed measure faces several hurdles. Lawson-Remer said she plans to present the proposal to fellow supervisors on April 21. If the Board of Supervisors approve it, the proposed measure will go before San Diego County voters in November.

Birds in the Sky

Recently, Voice intern Rami Alarian reported on San Diego police helicopters breaking up college parties.

That led us to wonder: Why are there so many police helicopters flying around San Diego? What do they do up there?

Alarian looked into it.

Turns out, the most common activity for police helicopters is… watching stuff.

“San Diego’s police helicopters are equipped to fly around and look at things,” Alarian writes. “Inside are two police officers, one flying the helicopter and one looking through a variety of cameras to scan the ground.”

The department has four helicopters. Usually only one at a time is in the air, a police department spokesperson said. The monitoring they do supports officers on the ground.

Read the full story here.

Coastal Cities Struggle on Home Building

Our Tigist Layne has recently been tracking North County cities’ progress toward meeting their housing goals. She recently wrote about how San Marcos, in particular, is crushing its goals. 

But San Marcos is very unlike most other cities. 

In her latest North County Report, Tigist provided updates on Del Mar, Encinitas and Oceanside. 

Each city is required to permit a certain number of homes for people in four income categories: very low, low, moderate and above moderate. No city is hitting every target.

Encinitas, one of the most housing-resistant cities in California, is actually on track to hit its overall number, although most of the houses have been permitted in the above-moderate category. 

Read the full North County Report here.  

In Other News

• The Imperial County Board of Supervisors late Tuesday voted 4-1 to clear the way for a massive data center complex that would bring jobs and revenue but could strain the county’s power and water supply. (KPBS)
• The data center has inspired a whole crop of activists in Imperial Valley who believe the project may under-deliver on its promises and ultimately harm residents. (inewsource)
• An early investor in the company behind a 1.7-million-square-foot San Diego biotech research hub is suing developer IQHQ for alleged fraud and breach of contract. The investor, a Denver-based housing company, says it gave IQHQ millions based on false promises and gained little. The research hub remains mostly empty. (Union-Tribune)
• Lord love an osprey — unless it’s trying to poop on your tennis game, that is. Two ospreys have taken up residence on a light pole at a La Jolla tennis court. Tennis players are staring up in wonder at the protected species, while also trying to avoid their droppings. (CBS 8)
• San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan testified before a state legislative committee in support of a proposal that would close a sentencing loophole defendants have used to reduce or eliminate prison sentences for crimes committed as a juvenile. (KPBS)
• At least eight San Diego County surfers are gearing up to compete in the World Surf League’s World Tour, which kicks off this week in Australia. “I love being terrified and I love being taught by the ocean,” said Oceanside’s Caitlin Simmers of competing among the world’s elite. (Union-Tribune)
• What’s next for a multi-story AT&T telecommunications hub in the heart of San Diego’s Hillcrest neighborhood? Times of San Diego sent a reporter inside to find out. Neighbors mostly think it’s an eyesore. But did you know it has a bomb shelter?

The Morning Report was written by Jim Hinch and Will Huntsberry. It was edited by Will Huntsberry.  

The post Morning Report: Supe Chair Pitches Extra Term, Other Reforms appeared first on Voice of San Diego.

This story has been updated.

The roar of a police helicopter overhead is an all too familiar sound to most San Diegans.  

But recently they’ve been spotted breaking up college parties. Witnesses wondered how police helicopters became such a fixture in city airspace; what they’re doing up there; and how much it costs the taxpayer? 

Voice of San Diego endeavored to find out.  

Helicopters Are Mostly Just Watching 

San Diego’s police helicopters are equipped to fly around and look at things. The airborne vehicles are not armed, and they don’t land to arrest people. Inside are two police officers, one flying the helicopter and one looking through the variety of cameras to scan the ground.  

They provide air support to police patrols on the ground as well as surveillance for investigations, according to the San Diego Police Department’s Airborne Law Enforcement Manual. Police helicopters also fly “photographic missions” to gather evidence, search for lost people or even assist as a scout helicopter during a wildfire. 

Ashley Nicholes, a spokesperson for the police department, said surveillance doesn’t mean police helicopters are flying over someone’s house to watch them.  

“They’re patrolling and assisting with radio calls and responses as needed,” Nicholes said. She added that the helicopter’s cameras are “only activated when they are on a call.” 

Their helicopters have no weapons aboard except for officers’ on-person handguns and police aren’t permitted to fire weapons from the helicopter, Nicholes confirmed.   

San Diego Police say their helicopters’ other purpose is de-escalation. One could be called to hover over a college party, or a petty theft or reports of people shooting guns in the park. Police said the helicopter can sometimes arrive at a 911 call faster than a squad car and let the department know the level of the emergency.   

“We can get on scene to about one third of the calls that we go to before any ground officers get there,” said Matthew Zdunich, a San Diego Police sergeant in charge of the department’s Airborne Law Enforcement Unit. “We can assess what’s going on … and (suggest) how urgently they need to get to this call.”  

When asked what determines whether one is sent, Zdunich answered with a question: “Will the safety of officers and citizens be enhanced by our presence?” 

Zdunich gave an example of a call he took to Kate Sessions Park to check out a report that masked suspects with guns were in the area. Once the helicopter arrived, Zdunich could confirm it was just some kids playing with toy weapons and Nerf guns.  

“If (helicopter support) hadn’t got there first to assess that information, the response from officers would have been much different,” Zdunich said. 

Nicholes elaborated that on the ground officers likely would have arrived to a call like that with their weapons drawn as well. 

How Often Are They Flying?  

San Diego Police have four helicopters staffed to fly 20 hours a day, but only one helicopter is operational at a time unless there’s a very large emergency. Nicholes wouldn’t say when the helicopters typically fly, citing that information as an “operational security risk.”  

“If a criminal was reading Voice of San Diego, they’d know when we don’t have a helicopter up… and do criminal activity during that time,” she said.  

While San Diego police said they could and would send a helicopter to just about any type of 911 call, Nicholes said that in 2025, police helicopters responded to only .48 percent of them.  

“They’re really selective in the calls they’re assisting with,” Nicholes said. “Some of the calls they’re going to are some of the worst, so we need that perspective.” 

The San Diego County Sheriff’s Office, on the other hand, shared its seven helicopters are on call from 7 a.m. to 3 a.m. with typically only one fire/rescue and one patrol helicopter up in the air at a time. The Sheriff’s Office also recently sent a helicopter to help break up a high school party in Rancho Santa Fe on March 14.  

Nicholes said San Diego Police helicopters logged over 2,600 flight hours in 2025. That means a police helicopter is hovering in city airspace at least 30 percent of the year. Helicopters won’t fly if there is severe weather, she added. 

What’s Inside a Police Helicopter 

San Diego Police gave Voice a tour of one of their helicopters. Just about everything in the front of the aircraft that isn’t a window is lined with buttons. Stashed next to the passenger seat is a long pair of binoculars. The officers also have a pair of night vision goggles aboard, Nicholes said.  

On the underbelly of each helicopter, near the nose, is a camera around the size of a basketball with infrared capabilities able to display video by sensing heat instead of just light. One of the two officers in the helicopter mans the camera while the other pilots. 

The camera on the helicopter can display and record anything on the ground. Nicholes said police only record and cameras are only activated when a helicopter is responding to a call. 

There’s also a huge spotlight, near the back of the helicopter, which can be seen shining down in videos of helicopters breaking up the recent college and high school parties. Police call this the “TrakkaBeam.” This light also is used for illuminating pursuits and low-light situations, Sgt. Zdunich said.  

Helicopters Prioritize Certain Neighborhoods 

Police helicopters visit certain neighborhoods more than others, police said. Mid-City, which stretches from Burlingame to Normal Heights to Rolando Park, is one of the police department’s busiest divisions. The department’s central division, which includes the downtown Gaslamp District, Little Italy and Barrio Logan, as well as the northern division, which includes Mission and Pacific beaches through Clairemont, are also areas more likely to see helicopter assistance, police said.  

That concerns Khalid Alexander, president of Pillars of the Community, a social justice organization based in southeastern San Diego. Alexander says helicopters are a part of daily life in East and Southeast San Diego and he questioned their cost.  

“It’s the idea (that) ‘we’re always watching you, we’re always there, we can always catch you,’” Alexander said. “To make sure that folks in Logan, East San Diego and South San Diego know that they are there.”  

Alexander was one of hundreds of activists and residents that flooded City Council meetings back in 2020 calling on lawmakers to defund the police department. The Black Lives Matter movement had swept through the country the prior summer and cities across the country heard calls from residents for less police spending. Alexander’s sentiment hasn’t changed. 

“Police want as many toys as possible and the matter of cost efficiency is not part of their calculations,” Alexander said. “Taxpayers are the last thing that SDPD considers ever.”   

Nicholes, with San Diego Police, acknowledged uncertainty from residents about the importance of police helicopter use. 

“We understand that some may not feel the helicopters provide value to the community; however, they serve a vital public safety function and operate with caution, including how low they fly, how long they stay in one area, and any announcements they make,” Nicholes said.   

Helicopter Unit Costs Unclear 

The San Diego Police Department’s aviation unit was born in 1987 after police seized a helicopter during a drug bust on a methamphetamine czar.  

According a 1988 article in the Los Angeles Times, city of San Diego leaders had been reluctant to purchase a helicopter but after the bust, the police department kept one of the aircrafts. Since then, the ABLE unit has owned two planes and multiple other helicopters.  

Now, the department has retired its planes and replaced four helicopters they purchased in 2006 with newer, leased models. 

The leases are expected to cost nearly $19 million over the next 10 years. According to city documents, the city is selling back the older helicopters to the company they’re buying the new ones from to save money.  

In 2025, according to records provided by the San Diego Police Department, the city spent more than $7.3 million on police helicopter personnel and non-personnel expenses, and more $370,000 on fuel. These yearly expenses are roughly a $1 million increase since 2021.  

The city spent $637 million on the police department last year, at 31 percent of the total budget, it takes up the largest share of taxpayer dollars than any other city service. That’s up from $568 million back in 2020.  

Update: This story has been updated to add additional information about the cost of fuel.

The post What Are San Diego Police Helicopters Doing Up There? appeared first on Voice of San Diego.

When it comes to housing, North County’s coastal cities have a reputation that precedes them. 

Historically, coastal, more affluent cities have been the most resistant to new development and the state’s housing laws that mandate more housing. 

Over the past couple of weeks, we’ve been looking at how much, or how little, progress North County cities are making toward their state-mandated housing targets. And today, we’re looking at the coast. 

Some background: State housing laws require cities to make way for a certain amount of housing for people in four different income categories: very low, low, moderate and above moderate.  

The state housing department, in consultation with SANDAG, determines the housing goal for the entire county. Then, SANDAG allocates specific numbers to each city.    

Cities in San Diego County have until 2029 to permit enough homes to meet their goals. And each year, they must release their Housing Element Progress Reports to show how they’re progressing toward their targets. 

Del Mar 

In Del Mar, the issue of affordable housing has been a hot topic for the past few years, and here’s why. 

The city is required to make way for 175 total units to meet its overall housing target—a much smaller number than some of the larger cities I recently reported on like Escondido or San Marcos. 

As of 2025, Del Mar has permitted 127 units. It has so far exceeded its goals in the moderate-income and above-moderate-income categories, but the city hasn’t permitted any homes for low-income or very low-income families since the housing cycle started in 2021. 

The city still has to make way for 76 homes for low-income families and 37 homes for very low-income families. According to the city’s progress report, there are eight housing units in the low-income category and four units in the very low-income category that have pending permits. 

This is where it gets interesting: Del Mar is facing immense pressure to build affordable housing and it’s unclear where that housing will go. 

Del Mar officials want to build affordable housing at the Del Mar Fairgrounds.   

In 2024, the 22nd District Agricultural Association (22nd DAA), a state agency that runs the Del Mar Fairgrounds, entered into an Exclusive Negotiating Rights Agreement with the city to study whether and where 61 affordable housing units could be built at the Fairgrounds.  

But twice now, that agreement has almost fallen apart over disagreements between Del Mar leaders and officials at the 22nd DAA.  

A few weeks ago, 22nd DAA board members said at a meeting that it may actually take years for the project to come to fruition, which would be well past a November deadline set by the state’s housing department requiring Del Mar to secure a site at the Fairgrounds and finalize a lease with the 22nd DAA. 

If Del Mar misses that deadline, the city will likely have to move forward with a proposed affordable housing project called Seaside Ridge, which is currently suing the city for repeatedly rejecting the project. You can read more about that saga here. 

Encinitas 

Encinitas’ housing targets are significantly higher than Del Mar’s, totaling 1,554 total housing units for this housing cycle. 

So far, city leaders have permitted 1,566 homes, but the majority of those are in the above-moderate category. In fact, Encinitas has exceeded its above-moderate target by almost 800 homes. 

It still has a lot of ground to cover in the other three categories. The city is about halfway toward meeting its target for homes for moderate-income families. Ideally, cities should be a little past the halfway point in all categories by now. 

But it has fallen behind in the low- and very-low-income categories. In the low-income category, Encinitas has permitted only 76 homes out of its goal of 369. In the very-low-income category, it has permitted 137 homes out of its goal of 469. 

Remember: Encinitas has had a complicated history with state housing laws. I previously reported that, for decades, much of the city’s leadership and a large part of the city’s population were hostile to new development.    

In the past, city leaders have tried multiple times to get around the state’s density bonus law, which allows developers to increase the size of their developments if they include affordable housing units. Encinitas was also six years late in approving its previous Housing Element, a state-required housing plan.  

This earned the small coastal city a few lawsuits from developers and threats of legal action from state officials. 

Lately, city leaders have resigned to complying with the state’s housing policies to avoid repercussions from the state, but the majority of city councilmembers are strong advocates for a proposed ballot initiative that aims to change state housing law in favor of more local control.  

Oceanside 

Oceanside, North County’s largest city, is required to permit 5,443 new units total during this housing cycle, and at the halfway point, it still needs to add 3,117 additional homes to meet its goal. 

The city has permitted more than half of its target in the above-moderate-income category, but has around 955 housing units to go. It’s also halfway toward its moderate-income goal, permitting 485 units as of 2025, with 398 units remaining. 

And like most other cities in the county, Oceanside’s low- and very-low-income categories are lagging the most. 

The city has only issued 88 permits for homes for low-income families, which is about 12 percent of the required number. And in the very-low-income category, the city has issued just 134 permits, which is roughly 10 percent of the goal.  

What happens if cities don’t meet their quotas? If a city doesn’t meet its goals by the end of the housing cycle in 2029, state law says it could face severe penalties. 

Cities who fail to meet their goals will be deemed noncompliant and could face loss of zoning control, steep fines, reduced eligibility for grants, potential lawsuits from the state attorney general’s office, as well as from housing advocates, and more. 

In Other News 

• ICYMI: I recently wrote about how San Marcos made significant progress toward meeting its housing goals, becoming one of the only cities in the county to be on track in most of its categories. Read that story here. (Voice of San Diego) 
• The Del Mar City Council on Tuesday approved the 22nd DAA’s amendments to an exclusivity agreement they entered into in 2024. The agreement now ensures that the potential affordable housing project would align with state housing law and gives the 22nd DAA the final say on if the project will move forward. (Coast News) 
• A report by the Citizens’ Law Enforcement Review Board found that two Sheriff’s deputies were criminally negligent in the death of a male inmate at the Vista Jail in 2024. (Coast News) 
• Oceanside Deputy Mayor Eric Joyce has announced his re-election campaign for the City Council’s District 1 seat. (Coast News) 

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