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Big changes are ahead for San Diego's waterfront. On this week's podcast, VOSD's Sara Libby sits in for Scott Lewis and joins Andrew Keatts for a discussion of the big development decisions under way at the Port of San Diego. Keatts went to this week's public hearing about the proposals to redevelop Seaport Village, and said both the Port and the public clearly favored one proposal. The frontrunner is an idea by Protea Waterfront Development that includes a public beach, a 500-foot observation tower, an aquarium, a micro hotel, a youth hostel and more. Keatts and Libby also discuss an interesting debate that played out between Councilman Chris Cate and Jeff Marston of the Independent Voter Project at a City Council meeting this week. Cate and Marston sparred over a ballot measure that proposes big changes to the way city elections work. "This is obviously rushed," Cate said of the proposal. "Anyone who thinks this is not a political process is either naive or doesn't understand what is happening right now. ... This is politics pure and simple." I also sit in Lewis' seat this week for the second half of the show to talk about VOSD's latest installment of Meeting of the Minds, where we rounded up some of the city's arts leaders for a night of presentations about the work they're doing. Also on the podcast, Libby and Keatts talk about Proposition 57 and Mayor Kevin Faulconer's role leading the charge against the measure that, if adopted, would result in one of the biggest changes to sentencing in decades. Plus, Keatts talks to Nicholas McCann, host of VOSD Podcast Network show "The Kept Faith," about how San Diego handled the All-Star Game. Hero of the Week Dalouge Smith, president and CEO of the San Diego Youth Symphony and Conservancy, gets a nod for his organization's work expanding music education to Chula Vista and other elementary schools in the region. Goat of the Week Former Poway Unified Superintendent John Collins gets goated after he was fired Sunday by the district school board for allegedly taking more than $300,000 in extra pay. Collins' attorney says they'll be fighting the claims.

Fewer young Americans are working summer jobs than in decades past, and fewer of those jobs are going to the teens who need them most. is a nonprofit organization that funds and operates youth employment programs. On this week’s podcast,...

Data geeks are stoked. That’s because the city of San Diego just launched its new open data portal. The site provides access to 44 different data sets that people can play with, including information about solar panel permits, street sweeping schedules, water-quality testing results, parking meter stats and more. “And this is just the beginning,” said Almis Udrys, the director of performance and analytics for the city of San Diego. Udrys joined hosts Scott Lewis and Andrew Keatts this week to talk about the new portal and the opportunities it affords residents, software developers who might use the data to create useful apps and city staff, which now has a more efficient way to access information and put it to use. Udrys said the site is more accessible than similar municipal portals across the country. “What we want to do that’s a little bit different than some other portals you might see out there is we want to actually understand all the data we’re publishing,” he said. “We don’t just want to take a dump from every department, put it out there and [make it] a free-for-all that could be wrong.” He said his team understands the data and is ready to answer any questions that come up. Also on this week’s podcast, the story behind McKinley Elementary‘s turnaround and the role money and parents have played, what voters seem to want when it comes to cash for the Chargers’ convadium, some thoughts on the revived Balboa Park plan and its relationship to parking and more. Hero of the Week Rep. Scott Peters took the shortest path to our heart by letting his wonk flag fly, and made a recommendation of “The High Cost of Free Parking” by Donald Shoup. It’s always refreshing to see elected officials who are boned up on the latest and greatest in urban planning theory. Goat of the Week VOSD has been doing some work on sea-level rise. The latest story is on Coronado, a city whose leadership acknowledges that rising waters could be a big problem but admits that it’s yet to address the issue.

Scott Lewis and Andy Keatts talk about major developments around ballot measures and the future of Balboa Park plus a discussion with Jeff Marston, from the Independent Voter Project.

Most days, at least a couple of tour groups can be spotted making their way through Chicano Park, the park tucked under the San Diego-Coronado Bridge in Barrio Logan. Folks stop to snap selfies in front of the colorful, Mexican-themed murals as they...

Most days, at least a couple of tour groups can be spotted making their way through Chicano Park, the park tucked under the San Diego-Coronado Bridge in Barrio Logan. Folks stop to snap selfies in front of the colorful, Mexican-themed murals as they learn about the park's history and significance. Each mural has a story. Each artist who helped paint the murals has a story. And of course, the park itself has a story that's packed with politics, turmoil and community pride. For now, volunteer tour guides - local educators, historians, longtime neighborhood residents and the Chicano Park muralists themselves – are the keepers of the park's history. But those guides are getting older and some have already passed away. That's part of what's behind the push to turn a currently vacant, city-owned building that borders the park into a museum where the park's narrative can be stored and accessed by the public for decades to come. In episode three of Culturecast, VOSD's new podcast covering the intersection of art and gentrification in Barrio Logan, I dig deep into the movement to open the Chicano Park Museum and Cultural Center.

Four stories of the week and a talk with two locals who went to the national Yimby conference in Colorado.

Teacher evaluations are crucial, but also controversial. The Poway Unified School District, though, has a new approach to its teacher evaluations. On this week's podcast, Candy Smiley, president of Poway Federation of Teachers, and...

Scott Lewis speaks with Dr. Jeff Severinghaus, a professor of geosciences at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, about the realities of climate change. Lewis and Severinghaus also discuss some of the more contentious claims made by ResMed founder Peter Farrell in a previous episode.

Sara and Ry recap what happened on Election Day in San Diego and what races are still going into the fall.