The curious case of the dead fin whale that washed up on a San Diego Beach is still open.
It won’t sink.
MacKenzie Elmer reports that scientists are following the path the fin whale’s carcass is taking on the Pacific Ocean thanks to a GPS tracker the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, attached.
Tracking the whale will help warn sailors of its giant floating body and help scientists predict how oil spills spread. As Elmer writes, “a dead whale is a gift that keeps on giving.”
The dead, female fin whale washed ashore at Pacific Beach on Dec. 10. She was towed a mile offshore and sank, but then surfaced after gasses built up in her body. She was towed again and has since floated — and served as food for sharks — between the San Clemente, Catalina and Channel Islands National Park.
Killer whale update: Elmer reported that killer whales were the suspects in the whale’s murder. Turns out the orcas are still chilling around Southern California.
Read the Environment Report here.
A Big Day for the Board of Supervisors
It’s decision time for the Board of Supervisors in their first regular meeting of 2024, with newly installed fifth member Monica Montgomery Steppe.
The board is slated for some big votes today on the posts of chair, vice chair and chair pro tem and on which supervisors will serve on the various county boards, commissions and committees.
The supervisors will also revisit the county’s plan for spending the remaining tens of millions of dollars in federal pandemic relief funds.
More than $77 million is left of the funds’ “evergreen” portion, according to county officials, and all of the money must be spent by the end of 2026.
A Short Film by the El Cajon Police Department
The El Cajon Police Department is clapping back at critics of its homeless outreach efforts.
In response to complaints from the public that police officers aren’t doing enough to get homeless people off the streets, the department released a documentary showing officers’ daily interactions with homeless people.
The 35-minute doc, set to slow piano music, follows officers from the department’s Special Enforcement Unit as they respond to several different calls about homeless people trespassing or using drugs.
Most of the interactions end with the unhoused person declining shelter or services. The officers give them a pamphlet and leave the scene.
The only homeless shelter in El Cajon is the East County Transitional Living Center. It has a lot of rules and a religious affiliation, which many of the unhoused people seem to dislike. One of the people in the documentary who declined the shelter said he didn’t want religion “crammed down [his] throat.”
Despite finding drugs at most of the calls, only a couple of arrests were made. That’s because of a 2014 state law that reduced many felony crimes involving theft and drug use and drug possession to misdemeanors.
Chief of Police Mike Moulton told Fox 5 he thinks this is a big problem – without arrests, people aren’t facing consequences and being forced to get help.
In Other News
- A new California law that seeks to ban licensed guns from more places, including parks, churches and hospitals, still has months of legal battles ahead of it. The law was slated to go into effect in the new year, but it was blocked once by a federal district court judge and again by a federal appellate panel. Arguments in front of the panel are slated for April. (Union-Tribune)
- The city of San Diego is looking for a new police chief. Staff launched an online survey to get feedback from community members. The city will also host community meetings. (City News Service)
- Fox 5 reports that the San Diego Police Department is investigating 20 fires in City Heights that were set from 2:45 a.m. to 4 a.m. Monday.
- King tides will be back this week. Here are the times scientists predict they will hit. (NBC 7)
- CBS 8 reports that farmers in Fallbrook are struggling to grow avocados because of the cold weather.
- San Diego Unified is now paying students who serve on its Board of Education. (Union-Tribune)
The Morning Report was written by Andrea Lopez-Villafaña and Tigist Layne. It was edited by Scott Lewis.
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