We learned a lot this week.
When a service member in the Navy with mental health issues sought help, she didn’t get what she needed. Navy doctors, who at times seemed to be working off different information, made different calls about her ability to work. The result was deadly.
Plus: A political party is dealing with some drama and San Diego’s mayor wants to open a big homeless shelter.
Grab a cafecito. Here’s what you need to know to start your week.
A Sailor Was in Crisis
If you or someone you know might be considering suicide, there is help. Call or text 988 the Suicide Prevention and Mental Health Crisis Lifeline.
Investigative reporter Will Huntsberry two years ago published a series of stories about the alarming number active-duty service members who are dying by suicide. He found that men 25 and under are nearly twice as likely to die by suicide as their civilian peers.
And that trend is more grave for women in the armed forces.
You can read that series here.
This week, Huntsberry told the story of Petty Officer 2nd Class Tiara Gray. She joined the military because of the opportunities it offered, and initially kept her struggles with her mental health a secret. But a rigorous training program, the military’s culture and long missions out on the sea stressed her condition. She sought help, but eventually doctors cleared her for duty. She took her own life in 2018.
Huntsberry used thousands of pages of legal documents and her personal journal to piece together what happened. It’s a heart-wrenching story, but it’s important to read.
You can view the full story here and read Tiara’s journal. Huntsberry also pulled some of the story’s biggest takeaways here.
A Party Endorsement Switch
North County reporter Tigist Layne got some tea this week.
She got ahold of an email from Coronado Mayor Richard Bailey to the Republican Party of San Diego County’s Central Committee. Bailey wrote to them to express his frustration with the group’s chair.
What went down: Layne reports that Chair Paula Whitsell tried to change the party’s previous endorsement for the 75th Assembly District race from Andrew Hayes to Carl DeMaio. The party endorsed Hayes during the primary election.
“Unfortunately, I am writing to inform you that Chairwoman Paula Whitsell of the Republican Party of San Diego County is abusing her power as chair to circumvent party rules and past precedent to steal the 75th Assembly District endorsement from Andrew Hayes,” Bailey wrote in the email.
He’s not the only one with concerns about the chair. Former San Diego councilmember Scott Sherman said Whitsell removed him from the party’s Executive Committee because he didn’t support her move.
A lot more went down. Read the full story here.
A Big Shelter
We learned Thursday that San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria wants to open a 1,000-bed shelter in the Middletown neighborhood.
Our Lisa Halverstadt reports what we know about the mega shelter idea:
- The plan still needs the OK from the City Council.
- Gloria’s office expects to spend $30 million annually to run the facility and $1.9 million a year on lease payments. The mayor wants to secure a 35-year lease.
- This proposal doesn’t mean the mayor is ditching H Barracks. Gloria said the plan to to turn that site into a 200-safe parking site for people living in their cars.
Click here to read more about the mayor’s proposal.
Plus, Halverstadt explains why this deal could be under the microscope.
More Chisme to Start Your Week
- We often read news stories about affordable housing projects with expensive price tags. Halverstadt dug into the trenches of affordable housing financing to explain what’s going on. Read the full story here.
- Capitol reporter Deborah Brennan reports that state Sen. Catherine Blakespear is proposing a bill that would expand options for terminally ill patents to end their lives. Read the Sacramento Report here.
- Environment reporter MacKenzie Elmer reports that a binational agency that deals with cross-border issues plans to start inspecting a key sewage pump in Tijuana on a monthly basis. This is all an effort to figure out how sewage keeps spilling into the Tijuana River.
Excellent chisme reporting, thank you! I will be following you and following up on outcomes of these important stories, particularly the in depth plans for housing our homeless brothers and sisters.