Category: San Diego

San Diego officials are busy working out details of how they’ll begin charging nearly 300,000 city households for trash pickup next summer, and they have recently decided to add the trash fees onto twice-a-year property tax bills. Other crucial decisions will come soon on how much to charge, whether to subsidize low-income households and whether households can select a lower level of service in order to pay lower fees. City Council members said last week they would like to provide subsidies, but no details have emerged on how that would work or who would be eligible. City trash officials said they’re still exploring whether to charge all households a flat fee or to have tiered rates based on whether households want bulky trash pickup and large or small bins. They are also analyzing a consultant’s study suggesting the city needs to dramatically revamp its trash and recycling services by hiring more people, adding new technology, buying more trucks and boosting worker training. The big changes are coming because city voters in 2022 approved Measure B, which amended a 1919 law called the People’s Ordinance that

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — Snapdragon Stadium will no longer be the home of the San Diego Legion as the professional rugby team will be heading back to Torero Stadium at the University of San Diego. Torero Stadium is the venue the team played at during the inaugural 2018 season and 2019. The reason the Legion is returning to Torero Stadium for most of their 2025 regular season matches are for the fans to have an “intimate, fan-focused environment,” according to the team. “We’re excited to return to Torero Stadium, where we have a strong history of success and a loyal fan base,” said David Haigh, CEO of the San Diego Legion. “We’re committed to creating the best experience for our fans in 2025, and we believe that Torero Stadium will offer the best venue for our fans and players in 2025.” Playoff games, however, may still take place at Snapdragon Stadium, the team added. In the 2024 season, the Legion fanbase showed out, setting a new Major League Rugby attendance record of 12,085 fans.

U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar visited San Diego and Tijuana on Tuesday, where he outlined what he described as key ways to “advance toward a modern, secure and efficient border,” including joint planning and better coordination between both countries. “The Cali-Baja region is the beating heart of the most dynamic economic relationship in the world,” Salazar said after meeting with local leaders at the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce. “This is no coincidence. It is a result of the effort and commitment of a binational community that for decades has been a pioneer in our bilateral cooperation.” Salazar said cooperation between the two countries is crucial to “keep this momentum going forward at this exciting moment.” “This includes making sure we have cutting-edge technology combined with the joint operations that are critical to curbing the trafficking of arms, drugs and people, while expecting and supporting lawful trade between the United States and Mexico,” Salazar said when talking about border security. He pointed to the Otay Mesa East border crossing project, originally scheduled to be completed by late 2024, as an example of the

From helping a friend with sickle cell anemia to making a 512-mile round trip to donate every other Sunday, every one of the dozen Americans inducted into the National Blood Donation Hall of Fame this year has an inspiring story, but none is quite as visceral as Ray Lebron’s. Honored for making 190 lifetime blood donations totaling more than 33 gallons, for coordinating 33 blood drives at his church where 845 pints have been collected and for his dedication volunteering with the San Diego Blood Bank for 18 years, the Tierrasanta resident has been literally giving of himself for four decades. But the event that started it all happened on July 18, 1984, when a 41-year-old man shot and killed 21 people and wounded 19 at a McDonald’s in San Ysidro. The incident remains the most deadly mass shooting in California history. At the time, Lebron said, he was working at a Sears in Chula Vista that just happened to be across the street from what is now Scripps Mercy Hospital Chula Vista. Everyone, he recalled, stopped working and watched news of the shooting as

By FATIMA HUSSEIN, AMANDA SEITZ, COLLIN BINKLEY and JOSH BOAK, Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday tapped billionaire professional wrestling mogul Linda McMahon to be secretary of the Education Department, tasked with overseeing an agency Trump has promised to dismantle. McMahon led the Small Business Administration during Trump’s initial term from 2017 to 2019 and twice ran unsuccessfully as a Republican for the U.S. Senate in Connecticut. McMahon served on the Connecticut Board of Education for a year starting in 2009 and has spent years on the board of trustees for Sacred Heart University in Connecticut. She’s seen as a relative unknown in education circles, though she has expressed support for charter schools and school choice. “Linda will use her decades of Leadership experience, and deep understanding of both Education and Business, to empower the next Generation of American Students and Workers, and make America Number One in Education in the World,” Trump said in a statement. Related Articles National Politics | What to know about Dr. Mehmet Oz, Trump’s pick to lead Medicare and Medicaid National Politics | What to know about

The U.S. Coast Guard offloaded more than 14.5 tons of cocaine in San Diego Tuesday, which the agency said was seized in recent months from seafaring drug smugglers in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. The crew of the Coast Guard cutter Munro unloaded the 29,000-plus-pound haul of narcotics — which would have been worth an estimated $335 million on the illicit market — at Broadway Pier on San Diego Bay. “I would put this crew on any mission, anywhere, at any time,” said Capt. James O’Mara, commanding officer of the Alameda-homeported Munro. “They executed everything asked of them with incredible teamwork and persistence, and we are proud of the results.” The seizures took place during 11 interceptions of drug-smuggling attempts off the coasts of Mexico and Central and South America in September and October, according to Coast Guard officials.

By JONATHAN J. COOPER Mehmet Oz, a celebrity heart surgeon turned talk show host and lifestyle guru, is President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to run the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the massive federal health care bureaucracy that covers more than a third of Americans. Here’s a look at a television doctor who became a politician and is now designated to lead an agency that touches nearly all Americans in some way. Who is Dr. Oz? Trained as a heart surgeon, Oz rose to prominence on Oprah Winfrey’s leading daytime television show before spinning off his own series, “The Dr. Oz Show,” in 2009. The program aired for 13 seasons and made Oz a household name. Oz stopped doing surgeries in 2018 but his physician license remains active in Pennsylvania through the end of this year, according to the state’s online database. Oz is an author of New York Times bestsellers, an Emmy-winning TV show host, radio talk show host, presidential appointee, founder of a national nonprofit to educate teens about healthy habits, and self-styled ambassador for wellness. He also guest hosted the “Jeopardy!” game

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — President Joe Biden is asking Congress to approve $310 million in funding to help repair and upgrade the derelict sewage treatment plant in South Bay as part of a sweeping $100 billion disaster relief package. The additional cash for the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant that could be unlocked by the supplemental emergency funding request would build on the more than $400 million already earmarked for a $600 million project to repair and expand the facility. When it was built in 1997, the plant was designed to treat upwards of 25 million gallons of wastewater flowing from Tijuana daily. In recent years however, the facility has largely been unable to pull its weight, barely capturing a fraction of sewage flows as its infrastructure fails. Lawsuit filed over South Bay sewage crisis San Diego’s Democratic congressional delegation applauded the inclusion of the additional funds in the disaster relief package, which largely focuses on recovery efforts following Hurricanes Helene and Milton in the southeast. “I’m glad to see President Biden demonstrate yet again that addressing this pollution is a key priority,”

By CHRISTINA A. CASSIDY, JOHN HANNA and AMY BETH HANSON, Associated Press HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Terry Thompson had an election to run for voters in Cascade County, Montana. Why then, she thought, was her office in Great Falls being sent mailed ballots completed by voters in places such as Wasilla, Alaska, Vancouver, Washington, and Tampa, Florida? It was only about a dozen ballots total from voters in other states. But she said it still raised concerns about the ability of the U.S. Postal Service to deliver election mail and whether the errant ballots would ever be counted. “I mean, I would have had to been doing FedEx overnight envelopes to all these states to try to get them where they needed to go,” said Thompson, the county’s election administrator. She received about a half dozen others that should have gone to county election offices in other parts of Montana. For those, she said she “just had to hope and pray” they made it back on time. While a stray ballot ending up in the wrong place can happen during election season, the number of

By ERIC TUCKER, Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump is interviewing candidates for the role of FBI director, incoming Vice President JD Vance said Tuesday in the clearest indication yet that the new administration is looking to replace current director Christopher Wray. In a social media post that was later deleted, Vance defended his absence from a Senate vote at which a judicial nominee of President Joe Biden was confirmed by saying that at the time of the vote, “I was meeting with President Trump to interview multiple positions for our government, including for FBI Director.” Related Articles National Politics | Trump chooses TV doctor Mehmet Oz to lead Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services National Politics | Trump chooses billionaire and key transition adviser Howard Lutnick for commerce secretary National Politics | Trump and Musk solidify their bond with Texas trip for rocket launch National Politics | Prosecutors oppose tossing Trump’s hush money conviction but are open to sentencing delay National Politics | Ranked choice voting faces cloudy future after election setbacks “I tend to think it’s more important to get an

By HALLIE GOLDEN and CHRISTOPHER WEBER, Associated Press SEATTLE (AP) — Northern California and the Pacific Northwest are bracing for what is expected to be a powerful storm, with heavy rain and winds set to pummel the region and potentially cause power outages and flash floods. The Weather Prediction Center issued excessive rainfall risks beginning Tuesday and lasting through Friday as the strongest atmospheric river — long plumes of moisture stretching far over the Pacific Ocean — that California and the Pacific Northwest has seen this season bears down on the region. The storm system has intensified so quickly that it is considered a “ bomb cyclone,” explained Richard Bann, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service Weather Prediction Center. The areas that could see particularly severe rainfall as the large plume of moisture heads toward land will likely stretch from the south of Portland, Oregon, to the north of the San Francisco area, he explained. “Be aware of the risk of flash flooding at lower elevations and winter storms at higher elevations. This is going to be an impactful event,” he said. Related Articles

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — With Thanksgiving just around the corner, several restaurants in San Diego County are offering prix-fixe menus and special dinners ahead of the holiday. Whether you are planning to savor a warm meal at home or look forward to spending an evening out, there are plenty of local ways to enjoy a holiday feast with friends and family. Here are just a few of restaurants serving up Thanksgiving specials. There are also options for people who are not fans of the traditional turkey-style dinner. Lia’s Lumpia Lia’s Lumpia in San Diego’s Barrio Logan neighborhood is taking preorders for their Thanksgiving Kamayan to-go boxes. “Kamayan” in the Filipino language of Tagalog refers to eating a communal feast by hand, and is an homage to Lia’s Lumpia’s cultural roots. The boxes include appetizers like turkey lumpia (eggrolls) and pork belly deviled eggs, entrees like Cornish game hen adobo and spatchcock roasted turkey and sides including steamed rice and persimmon green beans. The to-go boxes cost $85 for two servings and $150 for four. Preorders must be received by Tuesday, Nov. 26. Lia’s Lumpia

(NEXSTAR) – A “bomb cyclone” riding a long atmospheric river toward the West Coast is expected to bring more than a foot of rain to parts of Northern California and 30-foot waves to the Oregon coast, but the weather will be quite different in San Diego. Right now, the “bomb cyclone” (a rapidly intensified storm system) is poised to hit the northern half of the Golden State starting Wednesday morning. The rain is being carried toward the California coast by an atmospheric river, which is essentially a long plume of moisture in the sky. Atmospheric rivers can bring lots of rain to Southern California, but this one looks like it will stall out up north. That’s what makes it is such a flooding threat up there — and why San Diego will largely be spared. PHOTOS: King tides crash along the San Diego coastline “The remnants of this are going to be passing through San Diego, but it’s going to be losing basically all of its energy as it runs south down the coast,” explained Chandler Price, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s San Diego

Above: Video of crash as reported on Monday, Nov. 18. SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — A pedestrian was killed after being struck by a vehicle on eastbound State Route 52 Monday afternoon, authorities confirmed Tuesday. According to California Highway Patrol, officers received a call regarding a parked Ford F-250 and an adult man laying on the right shoulder of eastbound SR-52, west of Regents Road, around 2:26 p.m. Monday. PREVIOUS: Fatal crash reported on SR-52 near Clairemont For reasons still under investigation, the man — identified only as a 50-year-old from Chula Vista — was struck by a Ford Transit that was traveling east on SR-52. He was pronounced dead at the scene. CHP said the driver of the Ford Transit stayed on scene and cooperated with the investigation. Authorities are still investigating whether drugs and/or alcohol were factors in the crash. The man’s name is being withheld pending family notification by the San Diego County Medical Examiner’s office. Anyone who witnessed the crash is asked to contact the CHP San Diego Area office at 858-293-6000.

WATCH: SpaceX test-launches sixth Starship McALLEN, Texas (Border Report) — President-elect Donald Trump is on his way to Texas to watch a launch of SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft planned for Tuesday afternoon on the South Texas border. Around 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Trump’s plane left Florida for Brownsville, Texas. Tuesday afternoon, Trump posted on X that he was “heading to the Great State of Texas to watch the launch of the largest object ever to be elevated, not only to Space, but simply by lifting off the ground. Good luck to @ElonMusk.” Trump expected to attend SpaceX launch on Tuesday SpaceX has a liftoff window beginning at 4 p.m. CST from its Starbase launch facility near Boca Chica Beach, Texas. Spacecraft are stacked Nov. 1, 2023, at SpaceX’s South Texas launch facility near Boca Chica Beach, Texas. (Sandra Sanchez/Border Report File Photo) SpaceX is owned by billionaire CEO Elon Musk, who was pivotal to Trump’s recent successful reelection campaign. Musk last week was tapped by Trump to co-lead the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) along with former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. Trump says the

Three construction workers were hit by a suspected drunken driver early Tuesday on a San Diego freeway on-ramp, a California Highway Patrol spokesperson said. The crash was reported just before 3:30 a.m. near the Market Street on-ramp to northbound Interstate 805 in Chollas View, CHP Officer Mark Latulippe said. He said the three workers suffered minor injuries after being struck by the vehicle, and the driver was arrested on suspicion of DUI. The freeway ramp reopened around 4:30 a.m., Latulippe said. A Caltrans spokesperson said the injured people were contract workers. No other information was immediately available.

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — Several workers contracted by Caltrans were hit by a car early Tuesday morning at an on-ramp to Interstate 805 near Chollas Creek, according to California Highway Patrol logs. The crash was first reported just before 3:30 a.m. near the Market Street connector to northbound I-805. Details about what led to the crash have not been confirmed by law enforcement, although Caltrans officials said the workers involved were contractors on a project with the transit agency. Workers contracted with Caltrans were hit by a car near Chollas Creek on Nov. 19, 2024. (FOX 5/KUSI) The on-ramp to I-805 was briefly closed as crews responded to the incident. As of 8 a.m., it has since been reopened to traffic. This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — Thanksgiving is a time to come together with friends and family, taking stock of things one is grateful for. For some, the holiday is also a time for people to give back to their community through volunteering — opportunities San Diego is in no shortage of. From serving meals to cleaning up beaches, there are plenty of ways for people to make a difference this holiday season. Here are a few options for those looking to get involved. Thanksgiving travel in SoCal expected to hit record high: What to expect Serving meals Feeding San Diego Help package and deliver food for low-income San Diegans with the local food pantry, Feeding San Diego. The nonprofit offers volunteer opportunities year-round, but for those who want to take time around the Thanksgiving holiday to give back, there are a few options available. Over the next two weeks, there are plenty of opportunities to both sort and distribute food, including a Thanksgiving basket event on Thursday, Nov. 21. Date: Varies Where: Varies Sign-up: https://volunteer.feedingsandiego.org/?view=calendar BLISS Care Foundation Volunteer to help deliver delicious Thanksgiving meals

VIENNA (AP) — Iran has further increased its stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels in defiance of international demands, according to a confidential report by the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog seen Tuesday by The Associated Press. The report by the International Atomic Energy Agency said that as of Oct. 26, Iran has 182.3 kilograms (401.9 pounds) of uranium enriched up to 60%, an increase of 17.6 kilograms (38.8 pounds) since the last report in August. Uranium enriched at 60% purity is just a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%. The IAEA also estimated in its quarterly report that as of Oct. 26, Iran’s overall stockpile of enriched uranium stands at 6,604.4 kilograms (14,560 pounds), which represents an increase of 852.6 kilograms (1,879.6 pounds) since the last report in August. Under the IAEA’s definition, around 42 kilograms (92.5 pounds) of uranium enriched to 60% purity is the amount at which creating one atomic weapon is theoretically possible — if the material is enriched further, to 90%. Iran has maintained its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only, but the IAEA chief, Rafael Mariano

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Leader Hakeem Jeffries won reelection Tuesday as the Democratic leader, receiving support from his colleagues despite the party’s inability to win back majority control of the chamber in the November election. Jeffries of New York was chosen during an internal party vote of the House Democrats underway at the Capitol. Most of the Democratic leadership team is expected to be reelected for the new Congress. In line to become the House speaker, Jeffries remains the highest ranking Black elected official in Congress, and the first to hold the job of party leader. He fell short of being in place to win the gavel after Republicans swept to power alongside President-elect Donald Trump, winning control of the White House, the Senate and the House. While the Democratic leader will be the party’s nominee for House speaker, the gavel is expected to go to Speaker Mike Johnson as Republicans continue to hold the majority in the new year. Jeffries and the House Democratic leadership works as a team — a trio of younger generation leaders that took over when Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi

Another potential battery storage project in San Diego County, another round of opposition. A local family wants to construct a solar-plus-battery energy facility in Valley Center and even though the proposal is in its early stages, some residents have already lined up against it, fearing the project may pose a fire hazard and upends the rural character of the community. It’s a familiar pattern that has played out over the past 15 months after a spate of battery fires have broken out across the region. The Teymur Tuluie Family Trust, which for more than 30 years has owned a 141-acre plot of land in Valley Center, has created a development company called Nova Renewables. Family members propose building a 40 megawatt-hour battery storage and 10 megawatt solar farm called the Clean Energy Valley Center, south of Valley Center Road and between Rock Hill and Round Tree roads. Robin Tuluie said the family has “been losing money on this land for a long time. My father (Teymur) died; my mother can’t look after it, she’s elderly.” The Clean Energy Valley Center would set aside 57 acres