The city of San Diego has decided the Sports Arena be demolished and a new arena should arise.

And the three bidders who want to take over the redevelopment of that spot want to build a new one. The lead bidder, Midway Rising, wants to make a big new arena — but not big enough for the NHL or NBA. Such arenas require about 18,000 seats minimum.

And an important caveat with this project is the city's decision not to subsidize the project.

As host Scott Lewis found in his new story, bidders decided the way to pay for the crazy expense of such a project is not sports. It's concerts.

Enter: The San Diego Rock arena?!

This week, we discuss the current state of that major redevelopment project. Plus: OMG those Padres, the “how about nah” campaign and more dirty water politics.

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The San Diego City Council this week decided — with the mayor's urging and the city attorney's opposition — to settle its lawsuit against Cisterra and CGA Capital.

This $132-million-dollar decision paves the way for the city to buy its two most problematic buildings that were caught up in the suit and kick off what could be its most ambitious development project ever.

This week, we discuss what went down in the council meeting ahead of the decision and all of the lofty ideas that are getting packed into this project.

Plus: New COVID notes. South Bay politics. Andrea's fear of flying.

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San Diego is the first in the nation to deploy a new technology to test the safety of our ocean water. And Imperial Beach and Coronado are grappling with the results. 

The tests use a new method to count the amount of bacteria found in the gut of warm-blooded mammals, including humans (e.g., feces).

The word poop is funny, obviously, but this is deadly serious for local beach cities — which may not only face economic hardship from having their beaches closed, but the test results suggest beachgoers could get seriously sick. This week, we discuss the rollout of these new tests and a lot of confusion that followed.

Plus: A viral interview with a local school leader. A new documentary about Barrio Logan's pollution struggles.

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This week, NBC San Diego’s Alexis Rivas shares her story on a local woman's murder.

The real story was the phone calls from across the street

As Rivas reported, the victim’s neighbors called 911 for nearly two hours — begging for help and relaying what they saw. Rivas discusses the details of that June night, the San Diego Police Department's response to the scrutiny, and what seems a systemic lack of police capacity and slow response times to critical calls.

Plus: New trends in old military suicide data, San Diego's other housing failure, Kevin Faulconer's next election plan.

See the full NBC story at NBC7.com/policescrutiny

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The doldrums of summer are upon us.

To combat the summertime blues, we’re hitting you with summertime news! This week, our hosts share a few stories they're watching in the summer months.

Talking points: how to colonize Mars, the great resignation of the San Diego Police Department, who's going to fill those new downtown office buildings.

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San Diego Unified leaders announced they would offer $10,000 dollar signing bonuses for new special education teachers and nurses.

This is a new effort by the district to combat a massive labor shortage happening right now. It may seem totally logical: The district has a lot of COVID relief money and needs more staff. But the move also signals a significant shift in policy from unions and union-backed leaders. Pay incentives of any kind, for years, have been totally taboo.

This week, we discuss teacher pay and how it could impact schools.

Plus: Andy's got the emails that led up to a big housing development decision. And the 101 Ash St. settlement that never was.

See all our school stories at vosd.org/education

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Four months ago, Voice of San Diego reporter Lisa Halverstadt got an email.

A local woman, Natalie Raschke, asked Halverstadt to tell her family's story. “My kids matter, they have faces, they deserve to be heard and seen. I’m hoping you can help me achieve that,” she wrote.

This week, we share that story.

Plus: San Diego's next strategy for 101 Ash St. New street vendor rules. And OMG  the Assembly Select Committee on Gasoline Supply and Pricing is here.

Keep up with all of Lisa's stories at vosd.org/lisa

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Over the next eight years, the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) needed to pass three different tax increases. These increases would fund the grandest of their plans to improve transportation for the whole region and update the ways we get around, large and small.

But this week, the first of those three initiatives failed. And it failed fast. We review what happened and why.

Plus: Graduations. Big hopes for big buildings on the coast. And the latest election results.

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We're coming at you live from Novo Brazil Brewing in Chula Vista with special guests and an awesome audience.

Talking points: primary election results, "South County" vs. "South Bay," Chula Vista politics, special interests, miniature schnauzers.

Guests:

Chula Vista City Councilmember Andrea Cardenas
Steve Garcia, host of the Emo Brown podcast

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The Primary is nigh!

Though it’s not the blockbuster 2020 election that melted our faces and dominated every inch of social media, our next major democratic exercise is nearly here. (Get those ballots in by June 7 with the help of our Election Guide: vosd.org/ballot.)

This week, we check in on the main races we've been watching in the region and the stories behind them.

County Sheriff, Chula Vista Mayor, Assembly District 80 and San Diego City Council District 2 are the four horsemen of this non-apocalypse. But rest assured, there's plenty of intrigue to unfurl. Let's get to it.

Check out all our election coverage at vosd.org/2022

Follow our homelessness reporting at vosd.org/homeless

See you at the live show! Tickets at vosd.org/events

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