Lisa Halverstadt had one of the hottest seats in the house at our SeaWorld discussion – the one between SeaWorld vet Todd Robeck and Naomi Rose, a marine mammal scientist. The two had the night’s most heated exchanges on everything from whales’ family bonds to droopy dorsal fins.
Halverstadt recaps the five most memorable moments of the night. (Warning: There’s orca poop involved.)
Tales from a Drone Amateur
She’s kind of a Renaissance woman – when Halverstadt’s not refereeing SeaWorld debates, she’s apparently learning to fly this small drone.
OK, so she crash landed a few times. Several times, really. And there was that time she went outside and spun around in circles when it turns out she didn’t need to. The lesson: It’s not as easy as it looks. And with amateur flyers and even pros, there are some considerable risks to the public.
D Is for Dead
You’ve heard a lot about Propositions B and C, which tossed out Barrio Logan’s community plan. Prop. A sailed through with wide support.
Then there’s Prop. D.
Haven’t heard of it? That’s not too surprising, considering the measure got no votes. As in, no votes in favor or against.
Randy Dotinga explains how that happened – and why it’s not totally unheard of for an election to come down to a coin-flip. (Really.)
The 25th Hour for Project 25
Several years ago, Brian Maienschein was working as commissioner of the Plan to End Chronic Homelessness, and envisioned a project that would help vulnerable residents and help save taxpayers some money.
Project 25 found housing for the county’s most frequent users of emergency services. Now it’s facing extinction if it doesn’t get new funding fast.
Maienschein, now a state Assembly member, says we can’t afford to see the program fail. He writes in a new VOSD op-ed:
“In its absence, I’m very concerned about what would happen to these people and the many others who could benefit from its services.
We cannot afford to allow these people to go back to the streets. If that happens, all of us will see increased costs, both monetarily and in medical resources.”
What We Learned This Week
• Local Republicans easily kept up their winning streak in non-presidential elections. That includes DA Bonnie Dumanis, whose rough week didn’t stop her from cruising to re-election.
• Barrio Logan’s community plan update is dead.
• Most San Diego law enforcement agencies don’t own any drones, but the Sheriff’s Department and SDPD have at least thought about acquiring some.
• The real outrage over CEQA, California’s big environmental law, comes from cases that have seemingly nothing to do with the environment.
Quick News Hits
• An SDPD officer who was arrested on drug charges this week along with her husband (also an SDPD officer) suggested she was arrested because of “competition between” SDPD and the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, which conducted the investigation.
• Planning to replace Terminal 1 at the airport has begun.
Quote of the Week I
“The animals have the choice either to participate or not to participate.” – SeaWorld trainer Kristi Burtis, at our SeaWorld panel discussion.
Quote of the Week II
“This doesn’t feel right. I feel like I’m getting away with something.” – County Supervisor Ron Roberts, on running for re-election unopposed.