The Morning Report
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These were the most popular Voice of San Diego stories for the week of Nov. 3-10.
California is one of a dozen states that allows school districts to charge parents fees for bus rides to school. Records obtained by Voice of San Diego show that in the 2014-2015 school year alone, the district referred 380 parents to a collections agency for debts that ranged from $10 to $500. (Mario Koran)
2. How San Diego Screwed Up Bike Sharing
In many cities, bike-share programs have been successful, with large, growing ridership. That hasn’t been the case in San Diego. On top of bad bike infrastructure, San Diego’s program hasn’t implemented best practices that helped programs elsewhere attract riders. (Alon Levy)
3. Immigration Arrests Are Up, But Actual Deportations Are Down
Immigration courts are fighting severe backlogs that are preventing cases from moving through the system. Experts say much of that is because the administration’s zero-tolerance policy for undocumented immigrants is loading more cases into the court system that might have previously been dismissed as low priorities. (Maya Srikrishnan)
4. Fact Check: More than $100M for Mental Health Is Sitting in the Bank
State Sen. Ben Hueso claimed San Diego County is holding onto more than $100 million in state funds that could be used on mental health services. (Lisa Halverstadt)
5. A Teenager Sued SDPD, and Was Documented as a Gang Member Soon After
Jamie Wilson, the parent of a 17-year-old at the center of a lawsuit challenging SDPD’s DNA collection policies, questions the department’s decision to document her son as a gang member shortly after the suit was filed. She says her son is not a gang member and has no criminal record. (Kelly Davis)
6. San Diego’s Fiery Vacation Rental Debate Scalds Councilman Chris Ward
Very few issues have provoked the primal passions of San Diego’s neighborhood activists like the threat that their homes will be surrounded by what they call mini-hotels. Now the anti-vacation rental crowd has settled on one prime target: Councilman Chris Ward. (Scott Lewis)
7. Opinion: City Attorney Has a Troubling Track Record on Vacation Rentals
One would hope the city attorney would not participate in partisan politics. Unfortunately, it is looking more and more like City Attorney Mara Elliott has decided to play favorites. (Jonah Mechanic)
8. VOSD Podcast: The New Voice Disrupting SANDAG
On this week’s podcast, Sara Libby, Andrew Keatts and Scott Lewis sit down with Coronado Mayor Richard Bailey to discuss what the future of SANDAG looks like in the aftermath of one of its biggest scandals. (Adriana Heldiz)
9. SDG&E Gets an Unlikely Ally in Its Bid to Build a $600 Million Natural Gas Pipeline
Heading into 2017, the ratepayer advocacy group UCAN was opposed to SDG&E’s plan to build a new pipeline. Now, it supports the project – but even SDG&E disagrees with some of the group’s reasoning. (Ry Rivard)
10. Housing Advocates Eyeing Property Tax Hike for 2018 Ballot
Affordable housing advocates have poll-tested a property tax hike that would fund housing for the homeless as well as low-income seniors and veterans. (Lisa Halverstadt)