Imperial Beach has a looming underwater real estate problem — but not the kind you might think.
Major chunks of it could literally be underwater or regularly flooded by 2100 if predictions come true.
IB, one of the poorest coastal communities in the state, is thus faced with a complicated conundrum.
“The city will need to decide whether to prioritize the economic benefits of tourism and beach recreation over maintaining the ecological value of beach and preserving existing flora and fauna, versus simply protecting buildings and property along the coast,” our Maya Srikrishnan writes.
And it must weigh competing environmental problems and invest in both long-term and short-term solutions, some of which conflict with one another.
“Eventually we’ll have to have the conversation of whether [Bayside Elementary] is going to have a playground or a salt marsh,” said the city’s mayor, Serge Dedina.
Border Report: ‘There’s So Much Suffering’
A group of Honduran migrants, each of whom ended up dismembered after hopping on a treacherous freight train headed north, headline this week’s Border Report.
Brooke Binkowski reports the four men are visiting San Diego in hopes of putting the spotlight on hazards those fleeing the so-called “Northern Triangle” face on the way to the U.S. and eight fellow Hondurans who have been held for weeks without access to an attorney.
Also in the Border Report: Tijuana (maybe?) has a new mayor, why residents weren’t afraid of the blood-soaked horde of people who shut down Tijuana’s Avenida Revolución and a new “knowledge farm” is helping quell violence in one Tijuana neighborhood.
• The Los Angeles Times checked in with victims of past mass shootings, including a San Diego woman who says she’s never recovered from what she saw in the 1984 shooting at a San Ysidro McDonald’s.
Voters May Weigh in on New Funding Pot
San Diego Councilman Mark Kersey opposes the legalization of marijuana but he’s interested in getting some green for the city if voters decriminalize it this November.
Kersey on Monday proposed at least an 8 percent business tax on marijuana dispensaries to help cover city costs should a ballot measure pass. A City Council committee signed off on the idea Monday and the Union-Tribune reports it’s now headed for a July 11 City Council vote — and perhaps the November ballot.
As the Union-Tribune has previously reported, the owners of some of the city’s marijuana dispensaries are concerned Kersey’s initial proposal could aid the black market and put pressure on those operating legally. Other large California cities already tax medical marijuana.
• The Times of San Diego reports the California Democratic Party will back the measure to legalize marijuana.
News Nuggets
• Evacuations continued Monday as the Border Fire burned through 1,900 acres east of San Diego, NBC 7 San Diego reported.
• San Diego exceeded heat records on Monday. City News Service says those temperatures are expected to fall today.
• The Union-Tribune reports that the Tourism Marketing District, led by San Diego hoteliers, will spend $30,000 to study whether the convadium proposed by the Chargers would draw more hotel tax money.
• San Diego High School, the county’s oldest public school, is in Balboa Park and it appears voters will be deciding whether it stays there. The Union-Tribune details the debate over the school’s future.
• inewsource finds San Diego’s collecting a greater percentage of child support payments than other big counties in the state.
• Now, for the bad news: NBC News has declared San Diego “the new home of sports futility” in the wake of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ victory Sunday night.