These were the most popular Voice of San Diego stories for the week.
1. The 3 Questions We Hear Most Often About How San Diego Works
Readers consistently submit three questions that deal with separate issues but have something in common: They all center on systems that everyone needs and uses. (Lisa Halverstadt)
2. How a Strange Accusation Caught Fire and Took Down an Assembly Candidate
The woman who accused Republican Assembly candidate Phil Graham of battery just before the June primary admits she told one of his GOP rivals about her claim. Labor groups and a Mexican company amplified her charge even after authorities determined it never happened. (Jesse Marx)
3. Environment Report: Big Northern California Water Deals Will Trickle Down to San Diego
State and federal water officials have worked furiously to redo how we all share the Sacramento and the San Joaquin rivers and their numerous tributaries. At stake for cities and farms is how much water will be available and at what price. At stake for fish is their very existence. (Ry Rivard)
4. Arbitrator Admonishes Water Authority After it Sued Five Tribes
The San Diego County Water Authority tried to interfere with the delivery of water to five local Indian tribes based on illegal actions and illogical arguments, an arbitrator determined. (Ry Rivard)
5. Democrats Got Their Council Supermajority – Now Comes Deciding How to Use it
A month after winning a supermajority on the City Council, it’s not clear whether Council Democrats or their progressive allies are readying a policy push that will require them to flex that supermajority. (Andrew Keatts)
6. City, County Officials Are Making Moves to Shelter Asylum-Seekers
City officials plan to explore housing migrants seeking asylum at a shuttered juvenile facility in Alpine, and county officials will explore options next week. An especially chaotic holiday season highlighted the need for more resources, shelter space and coordination to serve the thousands of asylum-seeking families federal officials are releasing in San Diego. (Maya Srikrishnan and Lisa Halverstadt)
7. The San Diego Garbage Law That’s Fueled a Century of Trash Talk
A century-old city law has left the city in a predicament that’s complicated local trash policies ever since. (Lisa Halverstadt)
8. Tear Gas, Fireworks and Tension: The New Year’s Eve Standoff at the Border in Photos
VOSD contributor Vito Di Stefano was on scene when a group of migrants tried to illegally cross the U.S.-Mexico border, and were met with tear gas by border agents. He described to us what he saw, and provided several haunting images of the encounter. (Maya Srikrishnan)
9. Why the Trolley Doesn’t Go to the San Diego Airport
San Diegans and visitors long have questioned why the trolley doesn’t go to the airport. It’s a question that’s bedeviled regional leaders too. Officials are now trying to come up with a solution. (Lisa Halverstadt)
10. Sacramento Report: State Leaders Still Scrambling to Address Migrant Shelter Crisis
Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez and others are frustrated by federal authorities’ practice of releasing asylum-seeking families into San Diego by essentially dropping them off on the street with no resources. (Maya Srikrishnan)