Midday Edition

Monday is Indigenous People’s Day, a commemoration of the perseverance that Indigenous people embody in the face of past and present injustice.

Then, the pork industry is challenging California animal welfare law before the U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday. We’ll hear more about what the case is about. And, October is fire prevention month, a critical time for fire danger and preparedness. Cal Fire officials describe what they’re facing in fire-prone areas of San Diego county and what you should know to stay safe. Next, San Diego city planners want to rename and restructure the plan to pack more housing into areas of the city near transit. But the change from “transit priority area” to “sustainable development area” could be more than just fiddling with terminology. And writer Caroline Hatano brings us an ode to the Japanese American community that once farmed all over Southern California. Finally, The Comic-Con Museum in Balboa Park recently opened “Hemingway in Comics.” It's an exhibit that explores what it means to be an icon and how that image can change over time.

A man incarcerated at the George Bailey detention center died this week. Social justice advocates say 19 inmates have died in 2022, surpassing the 2021 death toll. Then, a candidate for the 76th Assembly District in San Diego has sued two six-year-old boys who she claims were bullying her son at school. KPBS investigative reporter Claire Trageser looks into the unusual case. And, we’re doing something a little different for our weekend preview: talking about TwitchCon. Organizers say they expect 30,000 people to attend each day of the three-day conference dedicated to the livestream platform, Twitch.

San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria talks about homelessness, and how the city’s efforts to increase affordable housing play a role in that fight. Next, a federal court ruling on the legality of the DACA program has real life implications for thousands of San Diego residents. Then, the number of migrants hospitalized after falling from the border wall is at a record high. But who picks up the bill when they leave the hospital? Next, a new report from Circulate San Diego finds the region could save time and money, and help a lot more people, by investing in rapid bus services. Finally, best-selling writer Shilpi Somaya Gowda will be appearing at the San Diego Writers Festival this weekend to talk about her work and approach to writing.

The San Diego non-profit Environmental Health Coalition is launching a petition asking the San Diego Air Pollution Control District to stop the company New Leaf Biofuel from producing hazardous odors that it says are making Barrio Logan residents sick. Then, we stay in Barrio Logan to talk about the long-awaited opening of the Chicano Park Museum and Cultural Center. Next, details on an emergency plan to repair a portion of train tracks connecting San Diego and Orange counties that have been closed since Friday. And, starting next year, jaywalking is less likely to get you a ticket in California. What the new law will and won’t do. Next, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance researchers are celebrating their first successful breeding of an endangered Indian narrow-headed soft-shell turtle. Finally, local author Amy Wallen will be appearing at the San Diego Writers Festival this weekend to talk about her new book, "How to Write a Novel in 20 Pies."

On Monday the San Diego City Council passed an ordinance further defining who is eligible to serve on the city’s Commission on Police Practices. The 25-member commission is expected to investigate shootings by police officers and deaths in police custody. Next, more details on the commitment by San Diego city and county leaders to build more affordable housing. Also, California is experiencing the driest three years ever recorded and we’re on track for a fourth year. The implications of a La Niña this winter for the state. And, a new book takes a look at the science of “belonging” during a time of polarization, how it plays a role in our mental and physical health, and how it can help lead to a society based on inclusiveness and human connection. Plus, Common Ground Theatre has been around since the Civil Rights era; now it starts a new era as the theatre in residence at La Jolla Playhouse. KPBS attended a rehearsal last week to find out how Common Ground is using the residency program to reach a larger audience. Finally, a conversation with Keith Corbin who traces his path as a former gang member who learned to cook in prison to a celebrated chef in a new memoir.

Local leaders react to Governor’s jail death bill veto

A sailor accused of setting a fire that destroyed a $1.2 billion naval warship in 2020 has been acquitted. Then, San Diego Congressman Scott Peters is co-sponsoring a bill that would set a national research agenda for studying marijuana. And finally in our weekend preview, we have powerful classical music, installation art, experimental music and a bike tour.

The San Diego City Council and County Board of Supervisors want to set a goal of building 10,000 affordable homes on publicly owned land by 2030. Then, emergency COVID-19 tenant protections are set to end Friday in the city of San Diego and some renters are worried their housing situations could be in jeopardy. Next, a new report from the San Diego Hunger Coalition finds nearly 40 percent of Black and Latino San Diegans are experiencing food insecurity. Then, questions are being raised about why the California Department of Education has not yet released its statewide school test results from the spring. Finally, what can California’s Reparations Task Force learn from the Japanese American movement for redress?

Gun rights advocates have filed a lawsuit challenging a California law that would allow private citizens to sue manufacturers of illegal firearms. Then, a federal appeals court found a California law that sought to ban private, for-profit prisons in the state unconstitutional. It's a major setback for immigration activists who have been fighting the government's reliance on private detention centers to hold migrants. Later, San Diego’s COVID-19 numbers have been trending downward over the past several weeks, and after its latest omicron surge, the county entered the CDC’s lowest warning tier earlier this month; about the same time that President Biden declared that the coronavirus pandemic was over. We talk about whether the pandemic is actually over. And finally, PEN America recently announced the winners of their 2022 Prison Writing Awards, which recognize exceptional works from incarcerated writers that will be published in a forthcoming anthology. The first place winner for both the fiction and nonfiction categories is San Diegan Frank Kensaku Saragosa.

The San Diego Board of Supervisors today declared homelessness a public health emergency. While the move won’t release additional funds to address homelessness, it will allow the county to focus resources on the health issues plaguing unhoused individuals. Plus, an update on the fight over a San Diego County program that gives motel vouchers to unhoused people seeking shelter in El Cajon. Then, a new investigation from inewsource found that Imperial County’s use of psychiatric holds may be more than just inadequate - in many cases it may be illegal. Also, 20 states have mandatory kindergarten, why California won’t be one of them, for now. Then, last week the city of San Diego apologized for supporting the removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans by rescinding a 1942 resolution. The daughter of two San Diegans who imprisoned in an internment camp in Arizona talks about what the apology means to her. And finally, "The Little Book of Joy" is a new children's book by two of the most significant spiritual leaders of the last century, His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu with illustrations by San Diego artist and muralist Rafael López.