A county official accused of a fatal hit-and-run in Southcrest was on the clock the day of the crash.
County records show Assmaa Elayyat, deputy director of Self Sufficiency Services at the county, was working on May 22, the day she allegedly struck and killed 27-year-old Katie Osorio at a Southcrest bus stop and then drove away.
Our Lisa Halverstadt reports that Elayyat’s calendar showed multiple meetings that Friday. Her timecard also reported eight hours of work. Halverstadt obtained the information through a public records request.
A county spokesperson declined to say whether Elayyat may have been driving to or from a work event at the time of the crash – or if the county itself is investigating.
Reflecting Pool Contractor Also Tried to Clean TJ River
The agency that tried to clean up the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is the same agency that tried to clean the Tijuana River.
Earlier this spring, a company called Greenwater Services won a $1.7 million no-bid contract to install a water purification system in the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, as the New York Times reported. Our MacKenzie Elmer reveals that Greenwater also won a $2.5 million no-bid contract last year to do experimental water treatment on the Tijuana River.
Greenwater’s work on the reflecting pool is under scrutiny because algae blooms are turning the pool green. The company’s purification system is supposed to treat hazardous algae blooms and bacteria.
As for the Tijuana River project, Greenwater executives say it eliminated 91.5 percent of potentially contaminating bacteria from the water.
Greenwater used “nannobubble” technology for both the river and the reflecting pool. The technology has been around for years, but it has been used in control spaces like wastewater treatment, rather than moving rivers.
Read the Environment Report here.
Show Us the Data
The use of force by San Diego police officers has gone way up in the last eight years even though overall crime rates are down, according to data analyzed by Times of San Diego.
Oh, and there’s a huge racial disparity.
Use-of-force instances increased by 39 percent from 2017 to 2025. And San Diego police officers were seven times more likely to use force on Black residents than on White residents. They were nearly twice as likely to use force on Hispanic residents as on White people. The data also shows a year-over-year increase in members of the public using force against police officers.
The first and last time the San Diego Police Department evaluated its own use of force was in 2021.
Summer Is Calling…
From picnics in the park to beach days and weekend adventures, we’ve got you covered with our summer collection. Find totes, picnic blankets and beach towels to help you enjoy summer while showing your support for independent local journalism. Take Voice of San Diego along on your next adventure. Shop today at vosd.org/shop.
In Other News
- Unlike other large California jurisdictions, San Diego County doesn’t have rules prohibiting former staff members from lobbying the county — including their former supervisors and colleagues — on behalf of private interests immediately after leaving their position. (Union-Tribune)
- State lawmakers are considering legislation that would make it harder for four-year universities to reject new community college bachelor’s degree programs and would prohibit universities from making objections if they aren’t located in the same geographical area as the community college proposing the degree. (EdSource)
- In Barrio Logan, the street name Cesar E. Chavez Pkwy has officially been replaced with Chicano Park Blvd. The change is a response to a New York Times investigation published in March that revealed the late labor leader sexually abused women and girls who worked with him. (Facebook).
- As San Diego grapples with its financial troubles, many are asking where the money went. Well, a chunk of it went toward payouts to settle lawsuits against the city, as well as increasing insurance premiums caused by those payouts. Payouts alone nearly doubled from $24.8 million in 2018 to $48.9 million in 2026. (Union-Tribune)
The Morning Report was written by Lisa Halverstadt and Tigist Layne. It was edited by Will Huntsberry.