2017 in 10 Telling Photos

Many of San Diego’s biggest stories this year played over a series of articles, records requests, lawsuits and third-party investigations.

Others come across through a single photo.

We picked 10 photos published by Voice of San Diego this year to tell the story of the stories that dominated the year.

In an effort to close its $124 million budget deficit, San Diego Unified School District announced earlier this year its plan to layoff more than 1,500 employees. But recent budget records show general fund expenses this school year are expected to come in just $8.67 million lower than last year.  This photo was taken during a February school board meeting where parents, teachers and community members voiced their concerns about the proposed layoffs.  Photo by Jamie Scott Lytle

San Diego’s homeless crisis is one of the worst in the nation, and much of the reporting on it has focused on the community living on the streets downtown. But many families elsewhere in the region are forced to live in unstable conditions to avoid the streets. This image captures Catalina Rios sitting beside her son Ricardo, in the trailer she and her four children share in San Ysidro. Photo by Gabriel Ellison-Scowcroft

When the San Diego Association of Governments placed Measure A on the November 2016 ballot, it promised voters the sales tax would bring in $18 billion for countywide transportation projects. But a lengthy investigation by VOSD found the agency had knowingly mislead voters by using a flawed economic forecasting model. After 15 years leading SANDAG, Gary Gallegos stepped down in August during the scandal. Photo by Vito Di Stefano

President Donald Trump promised to built a ‘great, big beautiful’ southern border wall, and San Diegans got a glimpse of his promise when eight border wall prototypes went up in Otay Mesa. It’s still unclear how Trump’s administration will pay to build and maintain an entire border wall.  Photo by Jamie Scott Lytle

Over the past couple of years, local leaders vowed to find solutions to San Diego’s homeless crisis. But in 2017 when a hepatitis A outbreak sprung up during the summer, leaders were forced to act quickly. In this photo, a man gets a free vaccination as part of the region’s efforts to stop the spread of the disease. As of December, the disease infected 574 San Diegans and killed 20. Photo by Adriana Heldiz

In September, President Trump announced the end of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, and hundreds of San Diegans took to the streets to protest on behalf of the roughly 790,000 young immigrants shielded from deportation under the program. This picture I took shows a young girl sitting on her grandfather’s shoulders.  Photo by Adriana Heldiz

Allegations of sexual harassment against a La Jolla High teacher have long been an open secret. But in November, Loxie Gant was one of six women who came forward and said physics teacher Martin Teachworth harassed them when they were students. A two-year investigation by VOSD found no records of their complaints were kept by the San Diego Unified School District. Some student complaints may have never left the principal’s office. Photo by Adriana Heldiz

It’s been three years since San Diego’s vacation rental debate took off.  At a City Council meeting this month, leaders were set to decide whether to permit and regulate vacation rentals or severely restrict them. But after ten hours of deliberations and hundreds of comments from the public, the City Council couldn’t come up with an agreement. The issue will now drag on into 2018. This image shows opponents and supporters of vacation rentals holding up signs at the recent meeting. Photo by Adriana Heldiz

When the Lilac Fire sprung up early this month, hundreds of North County residents were forced to evacuate their homes and take refuge in nearby shelters. I visited the Rancho Monserate Country Club in Fallbrook, where dozens of homes had burned to the ground, and caught a San Diego Fire Department helicopter dropping water in a nearby area to help contain the wildfire. Photo by Adriana Heldiz

A couple months ago, I went on a tour of the U.S.-Mexico border with other local reporters. As we passed by Friendship Park — a binational park where folks from both sides of the border can talk to each other — I captured a family peeking through the fence that separates Tijuana from San Diego. Photo by Adriana Heldiz