The public has finally gotten a chance to look at a report that the Poway school district commissioned to look into its wildly controversial borrowing scheme. The report lets the district off the hook by concluding that it acted responsibly, but has holes when it comes to explaining the evidence behinds findings and how it came up with its conclusions.
Our story offers details about the report and explains the issues that it doesn’t explore.
San Ysidro’s Sidewalk Nightmare
If you’re a teenager going to public school in San Ysidro and want to walk home, you’ve got to stroll down a half-mile stretch of road that has no sidewalk and is next to a drop into a canyon. “It’s an obvious problem,” a student tells us. “You can just fall off and die.”
So why not build a sidewalk? The city of San Diego, perhaps unnerved by a hefty price tag, has dragged its feet so far.
“San Ysidro’s missing sidewalk reveals more opacity in the city’s sidewalk policies,” our Liam Dillon reports in our latest story about our shoddy sidewalks. “It’s rarely clear whose job it is to build sidewalks, and evolving responsibilities and neighborhood characters have created illogical and dangerous conditions.”
Mayor’s Stuck in Peanut Gallery
Our Scott Lewis raps city government for making the mayor look like an ordinary citizen through his physical placement at the Council chambers at City Hall. “When he argues with Council, in public, it should be obvious that he’s more than just a guy from the peanut gallery,” Lewis writes. “He’s the mayor.”
Behind the Big Port Scuffle
The fight at City Council over appointments to the agency that oversees the port is still causing quite the buzz in City Hall’s insider circles.
The latest edition of VOSD Radio takes a look at the port issue and dings a ridiculous local radio host for expressing horror as Internet hipsters would say — that the mayor spoke in Spanish at the State of the City address. ¡Escandalo! (He also spoke in French. Sacre bleu!)
Seau’s Family Sues NFL
The family of the late Chargers star Junior Seau, who committed suicide, is suing the NFL over his alleged brain injuries, the AP reports. The AP earlier found that more than 3,800 NFL players have sued the NFL over head injuries.
The New York Times has more.
For background, check the Reader’s Guide we published last year on brain trauma and football.
Newest Rep Says No to Big Debt Deal
Rep. Juan Vargas, who replaced Bob Filner as congressman for a large swath of South County and Imperial County, did not support a bill that postpones the federal debt limit fight for a few months. Vargas was one of 111 of 200 Democrats to vote no; the wide majority of Republicans voted yes. Local Democratic Rep. Susan Davis also voted no. (NYT)
• Rep. Scott Peters, who vanquished longtime Rep. Brian Bilbray in the November election, is unique in Congress for more than his ability to knock off an incumbent. With an estimated wealth of somewhere between $33 million and $206 million (now there’s a range for you), he’s the second-richest new congressperson. (businessinsider.com)
About that loan, Mr. Peters …
Government Roundup
• CityBeat begins its profiles of candidates to replace Councilman Tony Young, who resigned, with an extensive look at Dwayne Crenshaw. He’s gay, which could spell trouble in a Council district that overwhelmingly opposed gay marriage just four years ago.
Crenshaw has been on the ballot six times in 14 years, but hasn’t won anything, according to CityBeat.
• A possible land swap is afoot that could leave the county with open space in the Camp Elliott area and the San Diego district with a chunk of change. Check our story for background and this tweet for what’s happening now.
Quick News Hits
• The county’s $9.1 billion pension fund is changing its mix of investments, moving to what the U-T calls “less traditional assets.” Another tidbit: “The outside strategist managing the pool, Salient Partners of Houston, just received a new contract that could pay $45 million over the next five years.”
• CityBeat checks in on Judge Gary Kreep, the iconoclast conservative legal activist and leading “birther” who won an election to the bench last year. He has a low-level court assignment that mainly deals with minor crimes and probation violations, says CityBeat. “It’s not the type of department where a person’s political leanings, be they far right or far left, are really going to enter into the decision-making for a judge,” a local attorney told the paper.
• “What’s that smell on 78?” asked a U-T headline this week. My answer: Despair?
No, it was compost. But that did get me to thinking about how the North County highway’s stretch through Vista and San Marcos is my least favorite in the county, a wasteland of ugliness. Much better are parts of I-15 and I-5 in North County (this I-15 bridge is wonderful), Highway 52 through University City, and Highway 163 through Balboa Park.
What are your favorite and least favorite stretches of highway? Drop me a line. I’ll publish responses when I return next week from a few days off. (I’m heading up to San Francisco for a film noir festival. It’s BYOFF: Bring your Own Femme Fatale.)
Up in the Bay Area, the highways smell like sandalwood and jasmine. Or maybe that’s just my friend’s car air freshener.
Correction: An earlier version of this story misidentified Rep. Juan Vargas as the sole local member of Congress to vote no on a three-month debt-limit extension. Rep. Susan Davis also voted no.
Please contact Randy Dotinga directly at randydotinga@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter: twitter.com/rdotinga.
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