When local gas station mogul Joseph Brikho and his family purchased a 1950s-era service station in East Village, he had big plans. He wanted to double the size of the convenience store and even add a drive-through lane for drinks and snacks. But over the next six years, he ran into rejection after rejection from city planning officials.
The rejections came down to a couple of simple realities.
First, while the station’s original design (it had seven driveways running into three streets) complied with the car-centric nature of the city, it was woefully out of code with new zoning regulations aiming to decrease traffic-related deaths and injuries. When someone wants to do major renovations, as Brikho did, they have to update their property to comply with current regulations.
City staff were adamant that Brikho’s plans didn’t do that. They thought he needed to get rid of at least four of the driveways — which can lead to collisions between pedestrians, cyclists and motorists.
Despite those years of setbacks, Brikho didn’t despair. Instead, he hired a former San Diego city councilmember-turned-lobbyist to help plead his case to current city councilmembers.
That strategy paid off. Many of the dangerous design features staff previously panned remained unchanged, and a new report even showed Brikho’s desired renovations would actually increase the risk of pedestrian-vehicle conflict by 25 percent.
Still, the City Council in April approved the plan.
Baby Boomers Are Spending More Days Homeless
New data reveals that baby boomers are spending more time on the streets than other homeless seniors.
Last month, our Mariana Martínez Barba wrote that in general, people ages 55 and up are spending more time on the street than younger homeless people. But she wanted to know whether there was a particular group among seniors that’s struggling the most.
While she reports this data isn’t available, she did learn from the Regional Task Force on Homelessness that people 60 and older are spending on average 20 percent more days homeless than people between 55 and 60.
One researcher told Martínez Barba that on a national level these seniors were part of the baby boom – and the country didn’t have the jobs and resources to match their growth.
Now, we’re seeing that homeless seniors can’t fall back on the social safety net.
“We predicted this was coming,” said Dennis P. Culhane, a social science researcher who focuses on homelessness at the University of Pennsylvania.
Everyone Will Be There: Feline Frenzy
San Diego’s last remaining art house cinema is hosting a fantastically unique screening starting Friday – CatVideoFest 2026. As the name suggests, and a promotional video confirms, there’s “no script, no plots and no sets.” Instead, there are just 70 minutes of pure, unadulterated kitty vids. Catnip for cat people?
Digital Gym staff promise the compilation includes the “latest, best cat videos culled from countless hours of unique submissions and sourced animations, music videos, and, of course, classic internet powerhouses.”
What’s even better is 10 percent of the proceeds go to support Los Gatos de Barrio Logan, a nonprofit that takes care of local street cats.
Speaking of cats: Check out this incredible trail cam footage of a bobcat stalking the nest of a wood rat in the Mission Trails area. I know it’s a predator, but the little tail wag in the daytime video is adorable.
In Other News
- After months of public outcry, cities across Imperial Valley are saying no to data centers. Four cities in the region have discussed pausing data center development and at least two are looking at permanent bans. (KPBS)
- UC San Diego Health is among the top 20 hospitals in the country. UCSD Health, which operates hospitals in La Jolla, Hillcrest and the college area of San Diego, was listed among the top health systems by U.S. News and World Report. (Union-Tribune)
- An energy company in Poway just got a $20 million tax credit boost from the state for a fusion energy testing facility. The fusion industry is expected to bring more than 40,000 jobs to the state in the next decade. (KPBS)
- A Chula Vista community wants MTS to close some pedestrian access points in their area citing drug use, encampments, and vandalism. (Times of San Diego)
The Morning Report was written by Jakob McWhinney and Mariana Martínez Barba. It was edited by Will Huntsberry.