Journalism won’t die if you donate. Support Voice of San Diego today!
It’s getting down to the wire for the vote in District 4. Next week, residents will decide who will represent southeastern San Diego in the City Council (or at least who will head to a runoff).
We put the district under a microscope this month and profiled several of the major candidates vying for the seat. Today we take on the district itself in our latest San Diego Explained segment with NBC 7 San Diego.
Despite its rough reputation, D4 actually has the third lowest crime rate in the city. Violent crime is still a problem, but the major concerns across the district aren’t that different than the rest of the city — jobs and development are leading every conversation.
District residents will go to the polls Tuesday, March 26.
National Attention for The Stumblr
Have you been hankering for an easier way to submit your photos of San Diego’s busted and broken sidewalks to The Stumblr photo blog? Have no fear, dear reader. There’s an app for that.
We are now partnered with a national website called SeeClickFix that tracks broken sidewalks nationwide (yes, this is an issue all across the United States) and the mobile app allows yet another method for documenting our failing pedestrian infrastructure.
All of the old methods are still in effect and we’re happy to take any and all submissions so we can continue building our map of the city’s problem. See the full story for more details on our new relationship with SeeClickFix.
Local Grocers Make Bold Decision to Bar GMO Salmon
The debate over genetically modified foods seems to be growing more complicated every day and a group of nationwide grocers, including Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s, has decided to ban the sale of new genetically modified salmon in their stores — more than 2,000 locations nationwide.
Active Voice contributor Clare Leschin-Hoar has been following the labeling dispute surrounding GMO foods over the past few weeks and explains some of the back story on this recent decision in her latest post.
Candidate Dwayne Crenshaw Responds to Anti-Gay Editorial
District 4 City Council candidate Dwayne Crenshaw wrote a response in the San Diego Gay & Lesbian News to a recent editorial published by the Voice & Viewpoint —a local publication that covers black issues — that claimed “Crenshaw has a tremendous amount of baggage” related to his openly gay lifestyle that it said puts him at odds with the needs of the District 4 community.
Crenshaw’s responded in detail, condemning the editorial as a “message of hate and discrimination.”
Outside VOSD
• Chalk one up in the win column for Mayor Bob Filner in the TMD standoff with the local hotel industry, reports U-T San Diego. A judge has tentatively ruled in favor of the city by denying a demand from the industry to force the mayor to sign an operating agreement passed last year that would allow hotels to collect a 2 percent tax on hotel rooms to fund tourism marketing campaigns. A final hearing is scheduled for today. Our San Diego Explained will fill you in on the backstory of this protracted disagreement.
• Fox 5 San Diego reports that SDSU student body president Josh Morse spent most of his childhood in flux, living on couches and the kindness of near-strangers beginning at age 11. His story is not uncommon in San Diego, as we discovered during our focus on homelessness over the past few months.
• In related news, KPBS reports that the County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously for changes in the federal guidelines that have created a major imbalance in funds for the homeless received by the city of San Diego. The vote follows a story by Kelly Bennett that revealed San Diego ranks 18th in funding for homeless services despite the fact that its homeless population ranks No. 3 in the nation.
• An attempt to replace a steam generator at the San Onofre nuclear power plant created new problems that necessitated the closure of the facility, reports the Los Angeles Times. The manufacturer defended the decision, saying that the problem “had not been seen at any other plant before.” This news arrives just as a report published by the Public Utilities commission announced that restarting the plant is not cost-effective and it may remain closed through the summer.
• USA Today food critic Larry Olmstead visited the Tin Fish for the Great American Bites series and tried the fish tacos, which are apparently still an oddity in the rest of the country. His review was generally favorable, as it’s hard to screw up the greatest dish on planet Earth. It’s obvious that nobody told him San Diego’s best are found a little further north. Don’t agree? I’m happy to take your suggestions.
Colin Weatherby is a freelance writer. You can reach him at colin.weatherby@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter at @CCWeatherby.
Voice of San Diego is a nonprofit that depends on you, our readers. Please donate to keep the service strong. Click here to find out more about our supporters and how we operate independently.