These were the most popular Voice of San Diego stories for the week.
1. Schools Like Porter Elementary Are Struggling Badly and There’s No Clear Plan to Fix Them
Parents and a school counselor say they must fight tirelessly to get students at Porter Elementary the services they’re legally entitled to. The NAACP has filed a complaint against the school. It’s one of nine traditional public schools in San Diego Unified to make the state’s list of most under-performing schools. If there is a plan to fix Porter, the parents haven’t heard it. (Will Huntsberry)
2. Public, Council Were in the Dark on Police Access to ‘Smart’ Streetlights
Two City Council members say they had no idea police had been accessing footage from streetlight cameras, which were sold to the public as a tool to mitigate traffic. Now, two years after the program was implemented, police — not city officials — are writing up a policy guiding how they’re allowed to access footage and data from the cameras. (Jesse Marx)
3. District Discovers Docs Showing Teacher Suspected of Crime Received No Discipline
San Diego Unified said for years it had no records of complaints against La Jolla High School teacher Martin Teachworth. Now, it has provided documents showing school police believed he committed a crime against a student and that other students complained about inappropriate touching for years, yet officials took no action against him. (Sara Libby)
4. SANDAG’s Techno-Futurist Transportation Vision May Run Into Reality Check
San Diego’s regional planning agency has started from scratch on a new plan for the regional transportation system, and it’s dreaming big on technology that hasn’t proven viable yet. (Andrew Keatts)
5. North County Report: Encinitas’ Email Deletion Policy Under Fire
A bill by Rep. Mike Levin could move millions of pounds of nuclear waste out of the San Onofre power station a little faster, the woman who accused Assembly candidate Phil Graham of battery is headed back to court and more in our biweekly roundup of North County news. (Jesse Marx)
6. Politics Report: Why Monday Matters
The Council president makes her first big public-facing decision. A union pilot bashes unions. And Republicans have a moment. (Scott Lewis)
7. Opinion: The Council Can — and Should — Move the Hotel Tax Measure to March 2020
There are some who believe all ballot initiatives should only come forward in November elections; however, as elected leaders, Section 23 of the San Diego City Charter gives the City Council the flexibility to make this decision. (Georgette Gomez)
8. The Plaza de Panama Project Is Officially Dead
Qualcomm cofounder Irwin Jacobs, who has for years championed a plan to overhaul the park’s central mesa, said that the Plaza de Panama Committee notified the city on Thursday that it is ending its public-private agreement to help fund the project. (Lisa Halverstadt)
9. Culture Report: The History Center Explores ‘80s Subcultures
The San Diego History Center exhibition will gather stories and artifacts as its “I’m Not Like You” exhibition runs through October. (Julia Dixon Evans)
10. Here’s Your Regular Reminder That We’re Already Drinking Sewage
Some San Diegans still aren’t thrilled about the idea of treated sewage flowing from their taps. But recycling wastewater for drinking water is nothing new. San Diego’s two main suppliers of water already get treated discharge from sewage plants and farms. (Megan Wood)