These were the most popular Voice of San Diego stories for the week of Aug 13-Aug 19.
1. What I Learned Helping My Sister Use California’s New Law to End Her Life
Less than two months after the state’s new aid-in-dying measure went into effect, my sister used the law to obtain a lethal dose of drugs. “I’d rather be free than entombed in my body,” she told me. (Kelly Davis)
2. Scathing Audit Bolsters Critics’ Fears About Secretive State Gang Database
An explosive state audit confirms many of the fears that San Diego Assemblywoman Shirley Weber and others have long expressed about the state’s gang database: that it cannot ensure individuals’ privacy, that people can be entered in the database without proper substantiation and that people are kept in the database long after their names should have been purged. (Sara Libby)
3. San Diego Explained: The Future of Seaport Village
In this week’s San Diego Explained, NBC 7 San Diego’s Monica Dean andVOSD’s Andrew Keatts explain how developers – not public officials – areframing the discussion about San Diego’s waterfront, and why that hassome people concerned. (Kinsee Morlan)
4. How East Village Became the ‘Homeless Ghetto’
In the effort to revitalize the Gaslamp Quarter, city leaders made a concerted push to move services for the homeless into East Village. (Lisa Halverstadt)
5. Another Principal Problem, Another ‘Special Assignment’ at San Diego Unified
A San Diego Unified investigation found Serra High’s principal might have lied about his credentials. Instead of dismissing the principal, the district moved him to a “special assignment” position – a lateral move that allows him to keep his $143,000 yearly salary. At least 13 principals have been moved to similar roles, some after experiencing problems. (Mario Koran)
6. San Diego’s Housing Ladder Is Losing Its Bottom Rung
A San Diego ordinance says property owners can’t convert or tear down an SRO without agreeing to replace the lost units and pay each long-term tenant two months’ rent to cover relocation costs. But owners of 22 downtown SROs, representing more than 2,100 units, successfully applied for an exemption from the 2004 law. Of those, nearly half no longer exist. (Kelly Davis)
7. Law Intended to Address Trash Dumpsters Is Increasingly Being Used on the Homeless
SDPD recorded 11 encroachment arrests 2011. Arrests grew to 23 in 2012 and 76 in 2013. As of Aug. 4, there had been 64 arrests so far this year. Tickets issued for encroachment violations – a lower-level version of the same offense – show a similar increase. (Kelly Davis)
8. What Common Core Means for English-Learners
Education officials have pitched Common Core State Standards as more rigorous than the old ones. English-learners already struggled under the old standards, so there’s reason to worry the new standards will be out of reach. The new standards mean English-learners will be forced to talk more in class. That poses a new opportunity, and a new challenge. (Mario Koran)
9. Water Authority’s Electricity Plans Kick Off a Power Struggle With SDG&E
The San Diego County Water Authority is making moves to become part of the energy world in the future. That’s a problem for SDG&E, which is worried about being able to expand and maintain its vast energy grid. (Ry Rivard)
10. Housing Voucher-Holders Find Themselves With Guaranteed Rent But Nowhere to Use It
Government officials throughout the county who administer the housing voucher program, nonprofits that help connect people with housing and people using vouchers agree: Things are harder than they’ve ever been. (Maya Srikrishnan)