Some of the most interesting impacts of a major increase in the city of San Diego’s minimum age will be seen in restaurants. While it will affect some employees paid minimum wage, it will also increase the wages of those who make minimum wage but sometimes much more in tips.
Restaurant owners are cringing and City Council President Todd Gloria believes his hands are tied and he’s determined to go forward.
Scott Lewis has the full story.
Project 25 Claims Success But Is Running Out of Time
Crunch time has come for one of San Diego’s most successful programs to help the homeless.
Yes, Project 25 boasts success in its mission to save the government millions a year by helping chronically ill homeless people get regular care so they aren’t such a burden on paramedics, jails and emergency rooms. But the program is on the road to oblivion as of next month.
We talk to the head of Project 25 about its impact, the funding challenges and the fate of people who are in the program.
SD Opera Under Investigation by the State
The state attorney general’s office is investigating the troubled San Diego Opera, KPBS reports, and the opera management is cooperating.
KPBS says officials are “asking the opera to turn over documents related to accounting and billing matters and preserve electronic data, including information about the ‘transfer or use of charitable assets.’”
Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez said she and others complained to the AG about whether the opera’s leaders misled public officials about their financial viability when asking for public funds.
Commentary: Drones Should Be Able to Fly High
In a new VOSD commentary, aviation attorney Michael Curran takes aim at the FAA, which isn’t a fan of non-military drones.
The FAA is targeting entrepreneurs, he writes, claiming that it’s worried about safety with all those drone flying around above people. “But that feigned explanation is undermined by the fact that the exact same model can be flown recreationally by a 12-year-old for the exact same purposes. If a certificated operator charges a fee, though, the FAA claims the flight violates its ban.”
Water Rates Expected to Jump Again
Officials expect to boost local water rates by as much as 4 percent next year, KPBS and City News Service report. The rate hikes for water at home will depend on where you live.
Here’s a twist: the rates now account for water from the Carlsbad plant that pulls drinkable water out of the ocean. But that water is twice as expensive as water that’s imported from elsewhere.
Report: Bad Cop Sent Back to Work
“One of San Diego’s most corrupt cops was put back on patrol before an internal affairs investigation into his conduct concluded,” 10News reports, basing its conclusion on internal police department emails regarding now-convicted officer Anthony Arevalos.
Rising Number of Reported Assaults on Cops
A report from a coalition of local governments says statistics show that “the number of officers killed or assaulted in the County has varied over the past few years, but has increased 11 percent most recently from the five-year low of 555 in 2011 to 616 in 2013.” No killings were reported in 2013.
U-T Publisher’s Compatriot Pleads Guilty
• Conservative superstar scholar Dinesh D’Souza, a San Diego-area resident who directed the slashing documentary “2016: Obama’s America” with financial support from U-T publisher Doug Manchester, “pleaded guilty Tuesday to making illegal campaign contributions to a U.S. Senate candidate in New York,” the AP reports.
Quick News Hits
• The Culture Report recaps this week’s news about the resurrection of the San Diego Opera along with tidbits about a Chicano version of Shakespeare’s “Henry IV” at the La Jolla Playhouse, trouble at the Art Pulse news organization and an experimental music performance featuring someone with the awesome name of Aedwyrrde Lancsaubre Al-Hazred.
• The city believes it has $12 million more coming in than it previously thought, and the mayor wants to spend it on parks — including a new one in the City Heights neighborhood — and other services. NBC 7 reports there were smiles in City Heights.
• The county may spend $75,000 to study building a pedestrian and bike tube under the Coronado bridge. (U-T)
• Depending on the spin you put on their size, the branch libraries in Mission Hills and University Heights are either “intimate and cozy” or “really, really teeny.” There’s long been talk of a new library branch in Hillcrest, which sits between the existing libraries.
Now, $10 million in private donations is expected to pick up the pace toward the construction of a new branch — maybe. As the U-T reports, a lawsuit could postpone the completion of construction past the goal of early 2017.
• Meanwhile, Deborah Barrow, the library director for the city of San Diego, surprised many by deciding to retire in July. (Times of San Diego)
• Last year, the urologists came to town to hold a convention. Then the American Laughing Championships dropped by and — not making this up — they gave then-Mayor Filner a special award honoring his “crazy smile” and fondness for jokes. Um. Har!
So now what? Well, as the NY Times reports, we just played hosts to the first Extreme Memory Tournament, featuring “one-minute matches between 16 world-class ‘memory athletes’ from all over the world as they met in a World Cup-like elimination format.”
If there’s an obvious where’d-I-put-my-keys joke, I haven’t found it. But never fear: The search continues. The joke’s gotta be here somewhere.
Randy Dotinga is a freelance contributor to Voice of San Diego and president-elect of the American Society of Journalists & Authors. Please contact him directly at randydotinga@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter: twitter.com/rdotinga.
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