The Morning Report
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A pilot project sparked by a question from a homeless resident about why the city couldn’t make it easier for homeless San Diegans to clean up after themselves became so much more.
For the past four months, homeless residents have gathered on the border of East Village and Barrio Logan twice a week to pick up trash as part of a pilot known as the Triangle Project, named for a triangle-shaped area they focused on that’s bounded by National Avenue and 16th and Commercial streets.
As Voice of San Diego’s Lisa Halverstadt and contributor Peggy Peattie report, volunteers handed out heavy-duty trash bags, supplied a dumpster and gave homeless residents $2 for every bag they collected.
As the pilot ended last Thursday, homeless residents told Halverstadt and Peattie the project gave them both extra cash and a sense of purpose and community.
Organizer Brian Trotier and the Lucky Duck Foundation, which helped fund the pilot to test out the idea, are now hoping another group will step up to lead the effort over the long haul.
Click here to read the story in its entirety.
This Isn’t the First Time San Diego has Been a Haven for Women
Decades before Roe vs. Wade, San Diego was the last resort for countless pregnant women.
Voice contributor Randy Dotinga reports that women in the 1930s sought abortions at underground clinics that dotted the city, including one linked to an infamous abortion syndicate that spanned the entire West Coast.
These women shared two things in common: desperation and a willingness to take immense risk, he writes.
Dotinga gets into that history in his latest story. Click here to read more.
Related: Voice’s Megan Wood breaks down what San Diego leaders are doing to preserve reproductive freedom. Read her biweekly roundup of stories you don’t want to miss here.
What’s up with 101 Ash?
Early last week Halverstadt hit us with the news that the City Council was not going to vote on a proposed settlement over 101 Ash St. after all.
Serves us right for thinking it would.
Scott Lewis and Andrew Keatts get into what could have happened and share some comments from former Mayor Kevin Faulconer who jumped on KUSI to say he was happy a proposed settlement over 101 Ash St. was delayed because it wasn’t something “that should be rushed.”
- Halverstadt revealed that attorneys for the city and a former city real estate adviser want to question the city’s former top bureaucrat under oath following a bombshell allegation from the City Attorney’s Office that she ordered records related to 101 Ash St. and Civic Center Plaza to be purged.
Read the latest Politics Report here.
Podlandia
It took a global pandemic and the Great Resignation but now we’re starting to wonder: What if teachers want… money?!
Following San Diego Unified’s announcement that they’d offer signing bonuses for certain jobs, your VOSD podcast hosts discussed how cash could incentivize local educators to serve in the roles and schools where they’re needed most.
Incentivizing teachers financially was once taboo. But with this option on the table, we consider what other systemic school problems could be solved with money.
Also on the show, we reviewed the 101 Ash St. settlement that never was. And ya’ boy Andrew Keatts got the receipts (i.e. government emails) on that big coastal height limit story.
Catch the latest Voice of San Diego podcast here or wherever fine shows are downloaded.
In Other News
- Hundreds crowded San Diego beaches and streets Monday to celebrate the 4th of July. Others chose to protest the holiday to voice their anger at the recent Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe V. Wade. And some are waking up this morning ready to clean up after the dirtiest day at the beach. (Union-Tribune, KPBS)
- There was a 3.0 earthquake west-northwest of San Diego last night, the Union-Tribune reported. It happened beneath the sea floor and didn’t cause any shaking along the shoreline.
The Morning Report was written by Lisa Halverstadt, Nate John and Andrea Lopez-Villafaña.