The Morning Report
Get the news and information you need to take on the day.
There was a lot of talk this week about what the future of San Diego could look like. Not only did city staff recommend a favored bid for the Sports Arena site, but transportation leaders announced they’ve settled on a new vision for the region’s transit hub — one that will, yes, connect the trolley to the airport.
Speaking of the future: Before we get into our weekly recap, I need your help. I’m working on a new newsletter series for San Diegans who have just moved to the region. The goal is to give them the inside scoop on how the region works and what we think they should know to get involved and stay informed.
Here’s why I’m telling you. The newsletter will include advice from locals about all things San Diego, and what they wish they’d known when they first moved here or started getting involved in their community. Want to help out? Share your advice here and I could include your response as part of the project.
Now, let’s get to it. Here are five things we learned this week that you should know.
- A new report reveals city staff believe Midway Rising, the team led by the housing developer Zephyr, should be given priority for redevelopment of the Sports Arena site. The recommendation, which omits one finalist that previously got the city’s blessing, shows how much Mayor Todd Gloria is prioritizing a new arena on the land. Read more on that here.
- Regional leaders no longer want a massive regional transit center at the Navy’s NAVWAR campus in Old Town. Instead, they’re looking at a two-piece solution that would finally bring the trolley to the airport. Andrew Keatts explained the reasoning behind the shift and what it could look like here.
- Fox News pundit Tucker Carlson visited Awaken Church in San Marcos where the crowd “erupted in applause” after he suggested that he hadn’t been vaccinated. Our intern Jakob McWhinney was there.
- Barriers to voting are real, but there are plenty of other reasons why people don’t show up at the polls. Jesse Marx spoke with more than two dozen Barrio Logan residents the morning of the 80th Assembly District special election who said they thought their vote wouldn’t matter. Read his column here.
- And finally, Voice editor Scott Lewis wrote a thought-provoking piece on how tents have changed everything about homelessness in San Diego, and how the city’s current approach isn’t working. “If you’re losing a war and wasting money fighting it, it may be time to rethink it,” he writes.
Read These Comments
On some homeless residents’ preference of tents over shelters …
“I talk with the homeless most days as I live downtown. Most do want a tent rather than a shelter because it offers privacy, and a sense of place. We all need to recognize this and provide a safe camping area. A few years back there was a parking lot near the 5 freeway at the bottom of Golden Hill – that worked out pretty well with toilets and some fresh water.” – Mark E Mentges
“One tool in the toolshed to help fix voter disengagement is Ranked Choice Voting (RCV), where we advance more than just two candidates to the general election so that people see themselves represented and they don’t have to hold their nose and vote for the ‘lesser of two evils.’” – Kate
Thanks for reading. If you haven’t already, don’t forget to join our texting club and subscribe to the Morning Report. Got feedback? Drop me a line at megan.wood@voiceofsandiego.org.
“Of the nearly two dozen people I interviewed, most said they didn’t have time or didn’t care.” That says everything you need to know. They can’t be bothered to vote. Stop trying to lure them to the polls with new policies that change the nature of our elections. Like they said, they don’t care.