Morning Report: Encinitas Is Already Leaving Gas Stoves Behind

The Morning Report

Get the news and information you need to take on the day.

Subscribe

Read it first

While the nation debates about the safety of gas stoves, Encinitas has already removed them from its future.

In 2021, the coastal city became the first in the county to implement a ban on natural gas stoves, heaters, dryers and other appliances in any new buildings and homes.

The ban doesn’t apply to existing buildings and homes, but will apply to any major remodels or renovations.

The move to all-electric is an effort to reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions that come from natural gas use. Gas-powered appliances have also recently been linked to health issues like asthma.

But, Encinitas officials say, it’s been difficult for many residents and developers to come around to the change.

One of the main concerns coming from restaurant owners is that the shift from gas-powered stoves to electric stoves will affect cooking methods and impact the restaurant industry.

Read the full story here. 

Photos: The Aftermath of Flooding in San Ysidro 

Heavy rains last week forced ranchers off their properties in San Ysidro. 

Voice’s photojournalist Ariana Derhsler returned later to document the aftermath. In a new photo essay, she captures how ranchers lost alfalfa and grain to rot. There were broken wood planks and debris peppered throughout some properties. 

As we reported last week, some ranchers were angry that the flooding reached that level in the first place. 

View the photos here. 

New Fast-Food Worker Council On Hold Until Voters Have Say 

A coalition of restaurants and business groups has successfully placed a referendum on the statewide November 2024 ballot to challenge a new fast-food worker law.

That law, as Jesse Marx previously reported, was introduced by Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez before she left the Legislature. It’s now on hold. 

AB 257 established a council within the California Department of Industrial Relations made up of workers and employers who promulgate minimum standards on wages, working conditions and training. Workers and union reps argued that the council was necessary because fast-food worker households tend to fall below the poverty line, and because complaints about wage theft and health and safety violations while on the job are common.

Thanks to changes at the last minute, AB 257 did not make fast-food corporations jointly liable for such violations that occur inside a franchise that bears their name, and only applied to a restaurant with 100 or more establishments nationally. It also included a six-year expiration date. 

After losing that battle in Sacramento, the industry is now asking California voters to weigh in.

In a press release, the Save Local Restaurants coalition argued that the new law will cause prices to rise and lead to job loss. The president and CEO of the International Franchise Association said the council is “a solution in search of a problem that didn’t exist.” 

In-N-Out, Chipotle and Starbucks are major backers of the coalition’s campaign committee, contributing $2 million each. 

Gonzalez responded to the news on Twitter: “Pure. Fucking. Greed.” 

In Other News 

• San Diego will lobby the state to remove a law banning municipal pay for public toilets, with the goal of raising revenue and providing more, better restrooms. The UT’s Michael Smolens argues that officials should consider an entrance fee. The obvious problem, as some advocates noted, is that an entrance fee could result in homeless people not using them. 
• The website for California’s Department of Social Services is supposed to be a clearinghouse for refugees and other immigrants but for years has featured links to a group that the Southern Poverty Law Center describes as “anti-immigrant.” The agency took down the links after a KPBS reporter inquired. 
• Rates of chronic absenteeism — which means a student has been absent for at least 10 percent of instructional days — at San Diego Unified have more than doubled from pre-pandemic levels. (inewsource)
• A planned strike of janitorial workers contracted to clean the county administration meeting has been delayed by two weeks after Nora Vargas, chair of the Board of Supervisors, struck a deal with workers. (KPBS)

The Morning Report was written by Tigist Layne, Jesse Marx, Andrea Lopez-Villafaña and Jakob McWhinney. It was edited by Andrea Lopez-Villafaña.