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Lincoln High is a . A string of and  at Lincoln continues to prompt many families to send their kids to schools outside their neighborhood. But Karly Van Holten saw something she liked about Lincoln. Despite having other high school options, she...

"Is this a trial?" That was Bonnie Dumanis at one point in our interview for this week's podcast. We were asking questions we've long had about the biggest campaign finance scandal we've seen in the last five years in San Diego. We've long wondered what Jose Susumo Azano Matsura, who was convicted of illegally funneling hundreds of thousands of dollars in support of local candidates, was trying to achieve here. We came the closest with this investigation. He had long been at war with Sempra. It seemed clear he wanted San Diego officials, particularly law enforcement and federally connected politicians, to press his case that Sempra should be investigated. But we wanted to know just what Dumanis had talked about with him, and why we got pieces of revelations about their relationship, or lack thereof, dribbled out over two years. "I never hid anything. I'm not going to go over every single line and explain it to you," she said. The whole interview is something — and the tension did ease. Dumanis explained that part of the reason why she decided to step down from her job as district attorney is that she was diagnosed with breast cancer, and it made her re-think her career. But she tried to keep the information close. "I didn't talk much about it at the time because I didn't want my troops to worry and they were already worried enough as it was," she said. She decided she had too long been on the side of dealing with people who had already gotten on the bad side of the law. She wanted to work on issues to help people before that happened. She also apologized for pursuing prosecutions of alleged gang members for crimes other gang members committed. She has learned a lot about race since then, she said. "In history and in time, the black community has [had] a big, huge net cast over them to find ways to prosecute and put them in jail or prison for reasons that no one can really explain," she said.

The two candidates vying to be San Diego's next district attorney went after each other in a fiery debate Sunday. There were many tense moments at the recent forum with Democrat Geneviéve Jones-Wright, a public defender, and appointed District Attorney Summer Stephan, a Republican. On this week's podcast, hosts Sara Libby, Scott Lewis and Andrew Keatts talk about some of the issues behind the friction in the DA race. One of the tensest exchanges happened when Lewis, who moderated the event, brought up a controversial comment Stephan made in an interview with the Union-Tribune's editorial board. Stephan suggested that Jones-Wright should remain a public defender and work her way up through that office's chain of command. She used the term "Kardashian effect," to suggest Jones-Wright doesn't have the right experience or leadership skills to run the DA's office. Jones-Wright explained the "Kardashian effect" comment another way. "It is completely demeaning and is utterly appalling that another professional woman who professes to stand with women would compare another professional woman to a person who leaked a sex tape," she said. Also on the show: San Diego is awash in proposed designs for new NFL stadiums now that San Diego State University just released a rendering of a potential stadium in Mission Valley that could fit a professional team; and the June 5 primary isn't far off, so folks should start seeing their sample ballots followed by an onslaught of campaign mailers and digital ads (take photos of the mailers and send them to us, please). Omar Passons joins the second half of the show to talk about his campaign for county supervisor. The North Park lawyer called the all-Republican Board of Supervisors' recent vote  to join the Trump administration's lawsuit against California's sanctuary policies "bald politics" and "a bad call." He also talked about his priorities, including providing kids and young adults in the region with more support through new county programs. "I've called for fully subsidized transportation for a youth aged 14 to 21 so they can get to work and get to school," he said. He also said he wants every 3-year-old in the county to have access to free preschool. Passons also explained parts of his plan to improve the county's approach to housing the homeless, his ideas on growing the region's housing supply and more. Hero of the Week The hero this week is Superior Court judge Ronald F. Frazier. Voice of San Diego is going to court with local school districts that are attempting to withhold records related to educators accused of misconduct. In a tentative ruling, Frazier recently said VOSD should get records in certain cases. Goat of the Week The goat goes to everyone in town who patted themselves on the back and celebrated the news that San Diego is getting $311 million in funds from Senate Bill 1, better known as the "gas tax." That number should have been put into context, because $311 million is below what a region our size should get, and about 70 percent of those funds are earmarked for roadways even though the region's made commitments to fight climate change by spending more on public transportation and less on freeways.

Voice of San Diego education reporter Mario Koran is leaving his post. His reporting on San Diego schools over the past five years has pulled back the curtain on several policies and practices that affect local families. He’s tackled everything from...

San Diego leaders really want to expand the Convention Center. But there's a coveted piece of bayfront land the city needs, and right now there's a plan to build a hotel on it. The property is owned by the state of California, managed by the Port of San Diego and currently leased by a private development firm, Fifth Avenue Landing. On this week's podcast, hosts Sara Libby, Andrew Keatts and Scott Lewis talk about how the Port may be moving forward with a plan to help the city get back control of the piece of land that's crucial for the Convention Center's bayfront expansion. Also on the show: disingenuous claims by local Republican politicians who say SB 54, one of California's so-called sanctuary state policies, has prompted federal agents to go into neighborhoods to arrest non-criminal undocumented immigrants; why Mark Arabo, the longtime leader of a trade group that represents hundreds of regional corner stores, is still fuming after a harsh Superior Court ruling that found he abused his role; and the San Diego Police Department's massive database that uses license plate scanning technology to track where cars go in the region, and how the department may not be following state privacy policies. Tommy Hough makes an appearance in the second half of the show to talk about his run to represent District 6 on the City Council. The former radio host said that as a City Council member, he'd push for more infill development. "We've got to find a way to get people out of their cars and undo the need for these lengthy commutes," he said. He said other issues central to his campaign include improving public transit, finding more effective solutions to homelessness and implementing strict regulations on short-term regulations. Hero of the Week Mario Koran is the hero this week. After a five-year run, our education reporter is leaving Voice of San Diego and the city to relocate with his family to Wisconsin. His coverage of the San Diego Unified School District has shed light on graduation rates, revealed scandals by a board trustee and more. Goat of the Week Karel Spikes is the goat this week. The San Diego entertainer has filed nine civil rights lawsuits against properties hosting unlicensed cannabis dispensaries. Owners of unpermitted marijuana storefronts have a high incentive to settle the suits instead of going to court. The system itself is also a bit of a goat: There aren't enough permitted dispensaries to meet demand, so unpermitted ones abound, which creates weird situations like these.

The federal government’s classification of marijuana as a schedule one narcotic has prohibited widespread and rigorous clinical studies on how the drug affects people. That’s left open the door to all sorts of strange ideas and assumptions about what the components of marijuana actually do — what one might call “herban legends.” For instance, the evidence showing that CBD, a non-psychoactive compound made from cannabis, can alleviate pain is weak, and the distinctions between marijuana strains indica and sativa are likely not nearly as pronounced or important as dispensaries claim. In this episode of the Voice San Diego Potcast, Kinsee Morlan and I sat down with researchers and consultants Michelle Sexton and Jamie Corroon and talked about what the medical literature actually shows and where the research might be headed. “I don’t want to suggest that a person’s subjective experience is not important, because at the end of the day we don’t care as long as they’re experiencing the outcome they want to experience,” said Corroon. “But if we want to make claims about what we think this thing does or that thing doesn't do, then we need to have a little bit more scientific scrutiny.” Sexton is also an assistant adjunct professor in the department of anesthesiology at UC San Diego, where the work of the medical center, as KPBS reported recently, suggests there’s a tipping point to using THC, a psychoactive ingredient in cannabis, for pain management. Funding still remains a problem and getting products through the FDA isn’t easy, but there’s growing interest in the scientific world. “Researchers who 10 years ago wouldn't have considered looking into this now want to be in the middle of it,” Sexton said. Ours was a fairly wide-ranging conversation, and it followed a series of quick reports offered by the hosts. Also in the podcast, we caught up with some of the cannabis vendors at the EarthFair in Balboa Park and witnessed a group of Christian activists disrupting the weed-friendly celebration. We also sent our friend and photojournalist Vito Di Stefano to San Diego’s “Bayked by the Bay,” a music and food festival held, of course, on 4/20. Email us your ideas for future episodes.

San Diego County Board of Supervisors made national news this week. The supervisors voted Tuesday to join the Trump administration in challenging California’s so-called sanctuary policies. In a tweet, Trump thanked the supervisors for their support. Much of the discussion around the vote, and the policies being challenged, has been completely untethered from reality. In this week's podcast, hosts Sara Libby, Scott Lewis and Andrew Keatts break down what the county's decision really means, and clear up some of the confusion around it. For one, the significance of the vote was wildly overblown. The supervisors insist it was more than a symbolic move, but the vote came too late for them to join the actual lawsuit. Board chair Kristin Gaspar said they expect the Trump administration to prevail in the lawsuit, and they expect to jump in when California appeals. Media reports also skimmed over what California laws the Trump administration's lawsuit is actually going after. The biggie, and the one most everyone focused on, is SB 54, which limits how local law enforcement and federal immigration official can interact. But the suit also challenges two other laws, including one that prohibits private employers from granting Immigration and Customs Enforcement workers access to worksites or documents without a judicial warrant, and AB 103, which created a state inspection system for immigration detention facilities. People are also claiming California’s so-called sanctuary policies are far more powerful and impactful than they actually are. Gaspar, for instance, said SB 54 means local law enforcement can't participate in joint task forces with federal officials. But that's just not true. For the most part, the perceived separation between local police and federal agencies is a myth, and local law enforcement does often cooperate with agencies that enforce immigration law. One of the biggest impacts of SB 54 was its elimination of the permanent space ICE agents had in local jails. But even that change turns out to be not so impactful, because the sheriff's office confirmed to us that ICE agents are still in and out of local jails all the time. "So even the most significant change that we saw from this law is not that big of a deal and the sheriff's not worried about it," Lewis said. Also on the podcast, Lewis discusses a stunning moment in a forum he moderated for the 49th District congressional candidates, and the hosts explain the big philosophical divide the district attorney candidates have when it comes to sex work. Hero of the Week De Linden, the Chula Vista native who won the Boston Marathon, is our hero this week. She's the first American woman to win the Boston Marathon since 1985. Goat of the Week National City Mayor Ron Morrison is the goat. Morrison has been National City’s mayor since 2006. Under the current law, he’s termed out and can’t run for re-election in November, but he's now supporting a ballot measure to repeal and replace his own term limits, he told the Union-Tribune. But back in 2004, Morrison told the U-T he supported a 2004 initiative that limited the mayor to three four-year terms, saying term limits for the mayor are appropriate because the person holding the position should have a finite amount of time to get things done, otherwise the person is just "perpetuating the job."

If you listen to local music, then you’ve heard of .   Mays is the cofounder and co-owner of San Diego’s mythic music venue .   On this episode of "I Made it in San Diego," Voice of San Diego's podcast about local businesses and the...

A quick announcement about the future of Culturecast.

A quick announcement about the future of Culturecast.