Democrats demand accountability in carrier controversy

Good Morning, I’m Andrew Dyer in for Lawrence K. Jackson….it’s Monday, August 17th.

The aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln might be home soon but demands for answers aren’t going anywhere.

More on that next. But first… the headlines….

Late last week President Donald Trump ordered a drastic overhaul of the Navy’s newest aircraft carrier.

The future USS Doris Miller is under construction in Virginia.

Like all Ford class carriers, it’s being built with electromagnetic catapults to launch aircraft.

Trump ordered the Navy to revert to steam catapults on the warship.

In October Trump told sailors on the carrier USS George Washington he would make the change.

DT: Seriously, they’re spending billions of dollars to build stupid electric. And the problem, when it breaks, you have to send up to MIT, get the most brilliant people in the world, fly ’em out. It’s ridiculous. The steam, they, they say they can fix it with a hammer and a blowtorch, and it works just as well, if not better, and I love the sight of that beautiful steam pouring off that deck with the electric you don’t have that. 

The electromagnetic catapult system is supplied by San Diego-based General Atomics. The company received a $1.2 billion dollar contract for the Miller’s catapults.

A company spokesperson told Breaking Defense work is already halfway done.

Democratic Senator Mark Kelly criticized the order saying that a retrofit of the Miller would cost billions.

Thirteen public restrooms in Mission Bay were reopened Friday after weeks of complaints from residents.

The city of San Diego closed half the restrooms in the bay in an effort to save more than half a million dollars.

KPBS previously reported the city found a way to fund the restrooms through at least the end of the year.

And here’s a timely reminder to shuffle those feet if you’re going into the ocean.

Painful stingray encounters are up this year.

According to the Associated Press, some Orange County beaches are reporting double the amount of stings so far this year over all of 20-25.

NBC 7 says San Diego beaches saw more than 900 stings through June. That’s more than during the same span over the last five years.

Experts say warmer ocean temperatures are bringing more rays.

From KPBS, you’re listening to San Diego News Now.

Stay with me for more of the local news you need.

DEMOCRATS ARE DEMANDING ACCOUNTABILITY OVER REPORTS OF DIRE CONDITIONS ON THE U-S-S ABRAHAM LINCOLN. METRO REPORTER ANDREW BOWEN SAYS THE SAN DIEGO-BASED SHIP SET A RECORD FOR THE MOST CONSECUTIVE DAYS AT SEA.

The Lincoln and its roughly 5,000 crew members have been at sea since November. The aircraft carrier was due to return in May, but has stayed in the Middle East to help fight the war in Iran. Earlier this month, reports surfaced of low morale, exhaustion and inadequate food and hygiene. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and President Trump have both dismissed those reports. Congressman Mike Levin says he sees a lack of planning and preparedness.”We’re not saying that these aircraft carriers should be the Holiday Inn. But at the same time when you don’t have enough food, when you don’t have clean water, you have plumbing that’s backed up, no port calls for 200 days, then that just gets to readiness.”The USS George Washington is reportedly moving in to relieve the Lincoln, though it’s unclear when the ship will return to San Diego.Andrew Bowen, KPBS News.

18-YEAR-OLD TYLER MUEHL PLEADED GUILTY LAST WEEK TO KICKING A SEA LION AT LA JOLLA COVE.

THE VIDEO OUTRAGED PEOPLE WORLDWIDE AFTER IT WENT VIRAL.

MARY BOHN IS A VOLUNTEER DOCENT WITH THE SEAL SOCIETY. THEY MONITOR THE SEALS AND SEA LIONS IN LA JOLLA.

BOHN THINKS THE SOCIAL MEDIA EXPOSURE ABOUT THIS CASE BRINGS ATTENTION TO THE ISSUE.

“Sad as it was, that’s the type of attention it does, maybe, draw people into the situation and possibly think about being more respectful and making sure other people are more respectful.”

HARASSING MARINE MAMMALS IS A MISDEMEANOR WITH A MAXIMUM PENALTY OF 1 YEAR IN PRISON AND AONE-HUNDRED-THOUSAND-DOLLAR FINE.

MUEHL IS SCHEDULED TO BE SENTENCED IN OCTOBER.

LAST MONTH, A FEDERAL CONTRACT THAT PAYS FOR LEGAL REPRESENTATION FOR UNACCOMPANIED MIGRANT CHILDREN EXPIRED. IMMIGRATION LAWYERS TELL REPORTER GUSTAVO SOLIS THAT AS MANY AS 20,000 KIDS WILL NOW FACE IMMIGRATION COURTS WITHOUT LEGAL AID.

Imagine being 7 years old. Presenting your case in front of an immigration judge. In a language you don’t speak and a legal system you don’t understand.“This idea that children should go to court on their own – especially speaking to the clients I have at Al Otro Lado, 2-year-old, 3-year-old, 5-year-old, even a 10-year-old – to ask them to represent themselves in court is just completely absurd.”That’s Monica Valencia – managing attorney with Al Otro Lado. One of dozens of legal aid organizations that represented migrant children nationwide thanks to a $350 million federal contract.The Trump administration let that contract expire last month – leaving more than 20,000 children without legal representation. Most of these children are fleeing from abuse and trafficking in their home countries.“Children are not political pawns. They’re not line items in a procurement process. And they should not pay the price for political agendas.”Valencia says children without lawyers are far more likely to be deported – even if they have strong cases. Al Otro Lado is currently fundraising to make up the loss in federal funding. Gustavo Solis, KPBS News.

THE LONG FIGHT BETWEEN DEL MAR AND A HOUSING DEVELOPER TOOK AN AWKWARD TURN THIS MONTH. THE CITY COUNCIL’s NOW ASKING FOR A CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION. IN // THIS WEEK’S …WHY IT MATTERS SEGMENT, VOICE OF SAN DIEGO ‘S SCOTT LEWIS … EXPLAINS.

The Del Mar City Council interrupted their summer vacation to hold an urgent meeting recently.For years, the city has tangled with a developer who wants to build housing, including affordable housing, on the coast. It’s called Seaside Ridge. The owner of the land believes Del Mar has no choice but to approve it.But Del Mar leaders have found an alternate spot for affordable housing: Many city leaders want it to go at the fairgrounds. And that has some horse racing industry and fairgrounds leaders nervous. One of them is Mark Arabo, a board member overseeing the fairgrounds. He said nice things about the Seaside Ridge development.And that was the point of the emergency meeting earlier this month. The Del Mar City Council voted to ask federal law enforcement and the district attorney to investigate Arabo, the California attorney general and the housing developer.They admit they have no evidence except for a letter that says Arabo once used a real estate agent who now is working with the housing developer.It’s a weird new chapter in an ongoing major story along the coast. For Voice of San Diego, I’m Scott Lewis and that’s why it matters. 

TAKING THE S-A-T IS PART OF THE COLLEGE APPLICATION PROCESS FOR A Lot of STUDENTS.

IN THE IMPERIAL VALLEY, THEY OFTEN HAVE TO TRAVEL OUTSIDE THE COUNTY TO TAKE IT.

EDUCATION REPORTER KATIE ANASTAS SAYS THAT’S CHANGING LATER THIS MONTH — THANKS TO ONE … RECENT GRADUATE.

When Alexis Huynh signed up for the SAT, there weren’t many places she could take it.It gives you centers within ten miles, 50 miles, 75 miles I think the nearest centers, when the first time I took it was about 75 miles away. She woke up around 4 a.m…then drove an hour and a half from El Centro to Thermal, in the Coachella Valley.Without enough rest and just the stress of taking the drive, it was, it was quite stressful just taking the test. She knows other students who’ve stayed at a hotel in San Diego the night before the test. But she knows that’s not an option for everyone.I know a lot of people don’t have the means to just get a hotel and, stay over for a night.She started asking her classmates whether they were taking the SAT at all. Many of them said no, because of the distance.So she brought her concern to the Imperial County Board of Education.For us, it was kind of like an invitation.Denise Cabanilla is with the Imperial County Office of Education. Later this month, the office will host its first test-takers at its new SAT center in El Centro.We’re very excited to be able to provide this opportunity to our community. Cabanilla says Imperial County previously had two testing centers.They closed when the University of California and California State University systems stopped requiring SAT or ACT scores in 2020.But the need didn’t go away.Even within California some private independent colleges require it, as well as some of our out of state institutions. And so it really was a gap that needed to be filled. She says Huynh was the catalyst for closing that gap.She’s really going to make an impact on, our community as a whole. Huynh scored 1480 on the SAT. The College Board says that puts her in the top 10% of test takers.She’s about to start her freshman year at Stanford University.She says access to the SAT ensures Imperial Valley students like her have a chance to experience – and make up – diverse college communities.Being exposed to so many perspectives and different people’s experiences makes college life so much richer.More than 40 students have signed up to take the SAT in El Centro on Aug. 22.Katie Anastas, KPBS News.

A SAN DIEGO COLLECTIVE /// IS CREATING SPACE /// FOR PEOPLE TO CONNECT THROUGH MUSIC. ARTS REPORTER AUDY MCAFEE TAKES US TO FUTURE IS COLOR’S LISTENING ROOM.

Aladrian Goods is the host of the Listening Room, a gathering created by  the local collective Future is Color.The Listening Room is a space dedicated to the practice of deep listening, using vinyl as a starting point.We’re really intentional about framing the conversation to a theme that is connected to collective liberation in a way that gives people the experience of feeling a little more free in their day-to-day, but also feeling more connected to the community here in San Diego.Future is Color was founded by Erwin Hines after George Floyd’s murder, when he began thinking more deeply about how people view themselves and their place in the world.This inspired him to create clothing with messages tied to liberation. Future is color quite literally is a reflection of my growth and my healing uh and my um uncovering and deep diving into the lineage of liberation work that Black folk have been doing since the founding of this country.Future is Color has evolved into multiple events for connection, like the Listening Room. Each year there’s a different focus. This year the theme is: being together is the practice.And then the music element was just based on the fact that music is one of the things throughout every single liberation movement that was always there. It wasn’t just background noise or background music, but it was quite literally a foundational element to every single revolutionary movement. The Listening Room is different from other events because it’s not just about the music.I think the opportunity we have here is to think about the context in which this record was created. Think about the themes the artists were exploring in their own work and then connect it to the larger overarching theme that Future is Color has.Each Listening Room is limited to 30 to 40 people in its usual space in Barrio Logan, next to Chicano Park.I think if I can champion listening, you know, even in a 3-hour a week or every two weeks space, then hopefully that trickles out and inspires more people to be more intentional about how they listen and connect with each other. While hosting the event, Goods prioritizes people’s experience.I also try to role-model, the vulnerability, and take out the levity of trying to know the chord progression or trying to like critique the music and understand it in such a technical way where this conversation is more human and nuance. And I think anyone who brings their story is a great contribution to the listening room.Some people leave the Listening Room with questions that don’t come ’til days later. Goods created a journal to give them a place to keep exploring the music and perhaps create their own listening room.All the intention we put into holding this space on Tuesday nights, we put into the journal as well. So, it allows us to scale beyond like Barrio Logan into the world. For Goods, the Listening Room is also a tribute to her grandparents, who both loved music.I end every listening room with the quote that my grandmother used to say is: thanks for your time. That’s all of my time.Audy McAfee, KPBS News. 

IMPROVCON IS A NEW CONVENTION DEVOTED ENTIRELY TO IMPROVISATIONAL THEATER … IN ALL ITS FORMS. SAN DIEGO NATIVE … AND IMPROVISER … CHRIS COLTHURST FOUNDED THE EVENT — IT LAUNCHES THURSDAY AT TOWN AND COUNTRY RESORT AND CONVENTION CENTER. ARTS REPORTER BETH ACCOMANDO HAS A PREVIEW.

ImprovCon will bring together performers, educators and theater leaders from across the country for dozens of panels, workshops and performances over the four-day event. You can take workshops on improv in music, Shakespeare or role-playing games. There are also panels on turning improv into a business or using it to improve brain health. Chris Colthurst is the improviser who founded the inaugural convention. You can choose to watch some shows, you can listen to some panels, and you can step in and take some workshops and We also have workshops that talk about applied improv. So if you’re an educator, we have some workshops about how to use improv in your classroom. To help your students be better writers or to make you a better teacher.Because improv is about more than just comedy. It’s about being present in the moment and learning to collaborate with others.So you have people who take those skills and use it in a corporate environment or a therapeutical environment and really focus and listen for people to gain these skills of active listening and being present.ImprovCon promises a first-of-its-kind immersive convention experience dedicated to celebrating the art, business and future of improvisation in  its many forms.Beth Accomando, KPBS News.

That’s it for the podcast today. As always you can find more San Diego news online at KPBS dot org. I’m Andrew Dyer, Lawrence K. Jackson will be back tomorrow. Thanks for listening, and have a great Monday.