The Padres’ home opener at Petco Park on Thursday — and the start of the new season got our Will Huntsberry wondering: Have the Padres or team concessionaire Delaware North made any changes since the major concession scandals were exposed last year?
Answer: We still don’t know.
Refresher: Huntsberry revealed last year that phantom nonprofit Chula Vista Fast Pitch pulled hundreds of thousands of dollars each year at Petco despite having no actual donations, and two other groups paid their “volunteer” workers under the table and below minimum wage. paid to.
So what is happening now? The Padres and Delaware North did not respond to Huntsberry’s requests for an update on what could be done to end those practices this season, though Delaware North took up the matter last year to review the legal statuses of charity groups. Had committed to raising its game and “raising operational standards.”
Read the full story.
In other Padres news: The San Diego Sun reports that although the Padres unveiled the renovated 2.8-acre Gallagher Square Park next to Petco Park to much fanfare earlier this week, some East Village residents are less impressed.
Fletcher’s defamation suit
Former supervisor Nathan Fletcher plans to sue the woman for defamation who accused him of sexual harassment and assault.
Here’s what happened: On Thursday, Judge Matthew Branner ordered a temporary freeze on Garcia Figueroa’s cell phone. This prevents him from deleting messages and other evidence. The parties are fighting over the messages that Fletcher’s team argues Figueroa is withholding and destroying.
As we reported, Figueroa recently parted ways with his lawyers. She told the Voice that she plans to pursue the case and seek new legal representation.
news: Fletcher’s team wanted Branner to move on. They wanted the court to make a digital copy of Figueroa’s phone to preserve all the information on the device. The judge did not agree. Fletcher’s attorneys said they were concerned she would remove the information because she is now a defendant in a separate case.
Sean McKevanney, one of Fletcher’s lawyers, said, “I think there is absolutely an imminent danger that this could happen again, especially given that he is now a defendant in Mr. Fletcher’s defamation case.”
This is new: Apparently Fletcher is now suing Figueroa. However, the records of the defamation case were not made public till Thursday.
The judge also expressed hope that Figueroa would have new legal representation before the April 5 hearing. She is currently representing herself.
This is a big investigation
After ugly divorce proceedings with the San Diego County Water Authority, leaders of the Fallbrook Public Utility District came to their last meeting with gift baskets filled with avocados and a giant check.
The comically shaped financial device – usually displayed when someone wins a lottery or celebrates a charitable donation – was paid for $6,805,400 on the order of the Water Authority. This is the last payment Fallbrook has agreed to pay to leave San Diego for a cheaper water supplier in Riverside County. The memo line of the check reads “Exit Fee.” Jack Baby stood for a photo with Water Authority General Manager Dan Denham and Water Authority Board Chairman Mel Katz.
Baby said he paid the actual amount through a regular size cheque. But the moment, for him, marks a “turning of the page” on a once dysfunctional relationship between the water agencies.
“All of Southern California wants to see the Water Authority succeed,” Baby said.
Border sewage plant leaders ‘re-evaluating’ censored records
The public may soon have more clarity about what exactly went wrong with a ruptured sewage treatment plant at the US-Mexico border.
President Joe Biden’s pick to oversee the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant (or IBWC, which treats Tijuana sewage spilling into San Diego) told reporters Thursday that he is “re-evaluating” the situation at the plant. What can be released from a heavily-redacted report.
Voice of San Diego sued IBWC to obtain the report after an incomplete Freedom of Information Act request. But the IBWC blacked out almost all new or relevant information describing the plant’s features.
Maria-Elena Greiner, Biden’s pick to lead the IBWC, said the cuts were made hastily and to protect information that could influence the public bidding process between companies that have been awarded maintenance at the IBWC plant. Can appoint to do the work.
Greiner said the IBWC is waiting to hear from the U.S. Justice Department on whether the South Bay plant is considered critical infrastructure from a national security perspective. The South Bay plant shares pipes and passageways with Mexico, through which Tijuana sends sewage to the plant for treatment.
“We don’t want to reveal our plans and specifications because we wouldn’t want them to fall into the wrong hands,” Zinner said. “We’re going back to reevaluate what else we can share.”
Progress report: Schools say soft approach works best with school dropouts
Since the pandemic, the number of students missing 10 percent of their annual school days has skyrocketed. Chronic absenteeism, as it is said, causes all kinds of negative academic consequences and even affects school funding.
Nineteen schools came together to tackle the problem as part of San Diego County’s Improving Chronic Absenteeism Network, education reporter Jacob McWhinney writes in his latest progress report. Schools used to punish students who skipped class. Now schools go door-to-door to connect struggling students and their families with resources. They build trust.
Read the latest progress report here.
In other news
- A political consultant who once served as chief of staff to City Council member Stephen Whitburn is to serve prison time after pleading guilty to fraudulently claiming federal COVID-19 relief funds and state unemployment benefits. Laid. (Union-Tribune)
- PSA: The city’s meter maids are getting new all-electric Ford Mustangs to replace their old little white enforcement vehicles. (NBC 7)
- City and county attorneys are struggling to reach a settlement with the son of a woman who was shot and killed by county sheriff’s deputies, and a city police officer is trying to serve an eviction notice. (Union-Tribune)
- Amid growing concerns among South Bay residents, the county now has a website to track and share updates on illnesses that may be linked to Tijuana River sewage. (CBS 8)
The Morning Report was written by Lisa Halverstedt, Andrea Lopez-Villafana and Mackenzie Elmer. It was edited by Andrea López-Villafana.