vosdpodcastnetwork201707

San Diego's homeless crisis isn't new. Swift action directed at addressing the homeless crisis, though — that is new. For a long time, there was a lot of talk about solving homelessness by our elected leaders, but not a lot of action. Committees were formed, speeches were made, plans were proposed. But then came hepatitis A — in particular, the revelation that officials were fumbling with bureaucracy as people were dying — and things changed. Local leaders have deployed hand-washing stations and placed public bathrooms across the city, there are solid plans to open a city-run homeless camp in Golden Hill and three temporary tents are coming online soon. On this week's podcast, Voice of San Diego's Sara Libby, Scott Lewis and Andrew Keatts talk about how the urgency to address San Diego's homelessness crisis should have come well before the hep A outbreak forced elected leaders' hands. "Hepatitis A did what nothing else could do over the last several years," Lewis said. Also on the podcast, the VOSD crew breaks down the legal issues surrounding a leaked SoccerCity memo after Councilman Chris Cate admitted to being the culprit earlier this week. Hero of the Week The hero this week is Councilwoman Lorie Zapf, who opened up about her mother's struggles with homelessness and mental illness, and how the experience has shaped her policy-making. Goat of the Week Our goat this week goes out to San Diego County government. Rather than keeping its nice, new Waterfront Park bathrooms open for 24 hours in the midst of the hepatitis A outbreak, the county instead decided to install a port-a-potty right next to the bathrooms.

It's hard to imagine, I know, but there was a time when San Diego wasn't so sure about fish tacos. When Ralph Rubio opened the inaugural Rubio's on Mission Bay Drive in Pacific Beach, people still expected a taco to have a crunchy shell and contain...

The future of the former Qualcomm Stadium site is taking up a lot of bandwidth these days, but there could be another big sports arena proposal on the table soon. Earlier this week, Voice of San Diego's Scott Lewis got a polling call filled with questions about the coastal height limit and other zoning issues. The big question on the poll, though, was a potential proposal to build a new, privately funded arena in place of the Valley View Casino Center, which most people still refer to as the San Diego Sports Arena. The lease is up in 2020, and it's on public land, so San Diego voters could be looking at a vote in coming years to change height requirements and do other things that would clear the way for a new development project there. On this week's podcast, Lewis, Andrew Keatts and Sara Libby speculate about who's behind the potential project and the various ways in which it could move forward. Also on the podcast, Keatts sits down with Colin Parent, a member of the La Mesa City Council and interim director of Circulate San Diego, to talk about the future of autonomous vehicles and what it means for city planning, public transportation and infrastructure. "If we keep things status quo and you add autonomous vehicles, yeah, you're going to see more vehicle miles travel," he said. "That's all the more reason to be thinking critically about whether or not we should be spending as much money on, say, roads, or instead dedicating more funds to non-car infrastructure for public transit." Hero of the Week Our hero this week goes to the hospitals in the region that are providing nurses to give out hepatitis A vaccinations amid the deadly outbreak. Goat of the Week The San Diego Water Authority gets goated this week. The water agency lost a major legal battle against the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which it says charges too much to deliver water to San Diego. The state Supreme Court declined to take up the case, leaving a lower court ruling siding with Metropolitan in place.

New Village Arts started as an idea Kristianne Kurner had for a theater company back in the late 1990s. At the time, Kurner was a member of the first graduating class of  – an intense program led by James Lipton. When...

San Diego's lack of affordable housing has been looming over the region for quite some time. That's why Sen. Toni Atkins introduced SB 2, a bill that would raise funds for affordable housing by adding a $75 fee to certain real estate documents. Last week, the bill passed the state Legislature with the help of Assemblyman Brian Maienschein, a Republican who previously served as the commissioner on homelessness in San Diego. On this week's podcast, Voice of San Diego's Sara Libby and Scott Lewis sat down with Maienschein to discuss his crucial vote on the bill. "I didn't go up there to vote for a political party," Maienschein said. "I went up there to represent my constituents and do what was right." Also on the podcast, Lewis, Libby and Andrew Keatts go over the new vacation rental proposal backed by City Councilmen Chris Ward, Mark Kersey, Scott Sherman and David Alvarez. Hero of the Week Our hero this week is Fernando Hernandez, principal of Perkins K-8. Teachers and staff at the Barrio Logan school are adapting their teaching strategies as they face a surge of students struggling with homelessness. Goat of the Week The long-simmering feud between San Diego lifeguards and the San Diego Fire Department gets goated this week. The latest dispute between the two groups managed to politicize the national tragedy of Hurricane Harvey.

San Diego's recent hepatitis A outbreak gave the city a rude awakening, and now local officials are scrambling to combat the public health crisis. Earlier this week, Mayor Kevin Faulconer pushed forward a homeless shelter plan that's languished for months. It involves pitching three temporary tents – in Barrio Logan, Midway and East Village. The tents, though, are just a temporary fix, and details about how the region plans on finding permanent sources of housing remain hazy. On this week's podcast, City Councilman Chris Ward sits down with hosts Scott Lewis and Sara Libby to explain the city's new shelter plan and what officials mean when they call the tents "bridge structures." "Buildings don't build themselves overnight, so what do you do in the meantime?" Ward said. "We need to do something more immediate, and this is one of those solutions." Also on the podcast, Libby and Lewis take a look at the city's new marijuana supply chain regulations. Plus, several people, including Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, have been trolling the Chargers as the team starts its first season sans San Diego, and it's hilarious. Hero of the Week Longtime Union-Tribune columnist Dan McSwain, who recently announced his departure from journalism altogether, is our hero. McSwain was a voice San Diego most definitely needed, one that was willing to call for accountability. The VOSD family wishes him the best. Goat of the Week This week's goat goes to the San Diego Unified School District. Again. The district's communications director Maureen Magee bragged on Twitter that the district has been improving its response rate to pending public records request. But there are still many requests that haven't been answered — including some of our own that are approaching 200 days with no answer.

ate last week, San Diego County health officials declared a local state of emergency on the recent outbreak of hepatitis A. The disease, which has already claimed the lives of 15 people, has predominately affected the homeless community. A lack of access to public restrooms and sanitizing areas has left many exposed to the virus. Local officials recently began deploying hand-washing stations across the city after Voice of San Diego revealed that the response to the crisis for months had been mostly hand-wringing and bureaucracy. So how exactly is Hepatitis A passed around? It all has to do with poop. On this week's podcast, Scott Lewis and Andrew Keatts are joined by Sara Libby to discuss how the Hepatitis A outbreak spread throughout the city. Also on the podcast, the group takes a look at the marijuana regulations up for consideration at the Sept. 11 City Council meeting. Although lawmakers won't be discussing issues associated with storefront business, decisions are set to be made on whether to allow the manufacturing, cultivation, testing and distribution of pot. Hero of the Week Our hero this week goes to the Los Angeles Unified School District for providing basic data about their staffing numbers. San Diego Unified still hasn't provided the same information six months after Voice of San Diego first made the request. It took L.A. Unified just under two weeks. Goat of the Week This week, Iftin Charter School gets goatted. The school faces a series of accusations ranging from issues with special education to improper hiring practices, as Maya Srikrishnan reported this week.

There aren't any slick commercials or campaigns advertising . And yet, you've probably heard of the product. The soap is different – some might say a little weird. The most memorable feature isn't the soap itself; it's the , which are...

A recent state Supreme Court ruling just made passing local tax hikes a whole lot easier. If a tax increase is proposed by a citizens' group instead of local government, it might now require only a simple majority to pass, not two-thirds. It's hard to get support from two-thirds of voters, so many tax hike proposals over the years have been stymied by the requirement. On this week’s podcast, Scott Lewis and Andrew Keatts discuss Monday’s bombshell ruling and the impact it could have on some of the city's biggest issues — from the proposed Convention Center expansion to the the future of the Qualcomm Stadium site. Also on the podcast, Keatts sits down with Steve Govett, president of a new professional lacrosse franchise in San Diego. They talk about how the departure of the San Diego Chargers has opened up opportunities for other professional sports teams and more. "For those people that are pissed off that they lost something in their lives, give us a shot," Govette said. "You may get something else." Keatts also listens to a band I told him about, and admits that Japanese pop music mixed with hardcore metal is good. Hero of the Week This week’s hero goes to the firefighters from San Diego County who were sent to Texas to help victims of Hurricane Harvey. Goat of the Week Local city and county officials get the goat this week for their lackluster response to the current Hepatitis A outbreak. So far, 15 people have died in San Diego.