Morning Report: Barrio Logan Residents Wary of a Downtown Stadium

If the Chargers were allowed to build a stadium in the East Village neighborhood of downtown, a lot would change in the neighboring communities. Nearby residents of Barrio Logan look at what happened to the artist community that existed in East Village prior to Petco Park and worry their fate would be the same: gentrification, rising prices and an exodus of artists.

In our most recent episode of Culturecast, Kinsee Morlan looks into how Barrio Logan residents are responding to the Chargers overtures with skepticism, even after owner Dean Spanos signed a letter promising benefits for the community. “The letter lays out a framework that says the Chargers will consider doing things like starting a public land trust and pitching in money to help build affordable housing,” Morlan reports. Opponents of the Chargers plan say those benefits would only end up serving the interests of new, wealthier residents.

• Over in our education podcast, Good Schools for All, Alliance San Diego’s Executive Director Andrea Guerrero raps with us about school opportunity inequity in San Diego Unified. Guerrero specifically highlights how programs that put students on the path to the most success aren’t available in many areas, which limit kids’ options based on their geography. “Your ZIP code is not your destiny,” Guerrero says.

State Orders Up More Awkward Sex Convos

With the invention of iPads and Common Core, a lot has changed about the typical school experience for kids these days. One thing that hasn’t changed much, though, is the awkward conversations teachers have with students when it comes time to teach them about sex. Mario Koran reports on how, until recently, sex education curriculum was worked out locally, with quality varying radically and resulting in lawsuits claiming schools “were providing students with biased information not backed by science.”

A case in Fresno that resulted in the law being changed included “One textbook on HIV prevention didn’t even mention condoms,” Koran reports. Change came last year when Gov. Jerry Brown signed a law requiring local districts to include comprehensive sex education, including scientific information about HIV prevention developed within the last 20 years. And, importantly, more students are exposed to the curriculum because it requires parents to opt out, rather than opt in.

Still, there’s no monitoring happening to see whether districts are complying. A high school senior at a local charter school wrote in to say they’ve never received sex education instruction.

• KPBS is following the progress of a brand new teacher in San Diego. But he’s not just a normal teacher. “Gonzalez is a Teach For America recruit who’s teaching special education,” KPBS writes.

A Changing Friendship Park: San Diego Explained

The cross-border park called Friendship Park originally envisioned families and friends from both sides of the border coming together to talk and connect with one another without having to cross a border. The fence dividing the two countries had meager beginnings that permitted a lot of interaction, but over the years the park’s fence has been fortified repeatedly, physical contact has been forbidden and the park has even shut down for swaths of time. Kinsee Morlan and NBC 7’s Monica Dean highlight how activists are now pressing to let families touch through the fence again in our most recent San Diego Explained.

Briggs Sues Over Undisclosed Meetings

Public interest attorney Cory Briggs, probably best known right now for backing the November ballot initiative Measure D, is suing members of the California Coastal Commission, “alleging commissioners have failed to properly disclose private meetings with developers, whose building projects the public officials are charged with approving.” Briggs calls the number of times commissioners have failed to disclose meetings in the last year and a half “jaw dropping,” and points to a law that exacts a $7,500 fine on the offender for failing to disclose such a meeting.

One group estimates that five different members of the board could each end up with fines totaling over $3 million if a judge interprets the law to mean $7,500 per undisclosed meeting.

• Meanwhile, the state Legislature has also been trying to bring more transparency to Coastal Commission dealings, with little success: “Three bills to increase transparency at the California Coastal Commission and increase state appointments to a Southern California air pollution regulator fell far short of passage in the Senate and Assembly after business and labor groups stepped up pressure on legislators,” the Sacramento Bee reports.

Lightning Round

• Rep. Duncan Hunter offered ABC News his thoughts on NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick playing in San Diego Thursday night. Kaepernick has been sitting quietly during the national anthem before games in protest of police violence. Hunter said players who protest would be out of a job if they played for San Diego, which is “too patriotic” to stomach such affronting silent protests.

• The first television advertisement in support of Measure C, the Chargers’ stadium plan, is airing.

• The fate of Jose Susumo Azano Matsura is now in the hands of jurors. (KPBS)

• “If you have a medical marijuana card, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals says that you can’t buy a gun.” (Fortune)

• No more parking overnight on Fifth Avenue in the Gaslamp; after 8 p.m. it’s three-minute passenger unloading only from now on. (NBC 7)

• A project to build 57 wind turbines in San Diego’s East County is breaking ground despite opponents’ best efforts. (Union-Tribune)

• Zagat does us all a favor and alerts us to the brand new presence of Thai Ice Cream Rolls in San Diego’s Convoy district. #teamsnaxx!

• State Assembly members performed gospel songs for Assemblywoman Toni Atkins as a sendoff as her time in the Assembly draws to a close. Check the harmony! (Sacramento Bee)

• Looking for interesting ways to get in shape as the summer winds down? Perhaps Mermaid Fitness in the pool at the Hotel Del Coronado is right for you. “Participants utilize a mermaid tail as their workout equipment,” M2Woman writes. The fancy mermaid tail is provided; bring your own seashells.

Seth Hall is a local merman and technologist. You can email him under the sea at voice@s3th.com or splash him on Twitter: @loteck.