Voice of San Diego Podcast

This week, host Sara Libby and Voice environment reporter Ry Rivard have taken the podcast helm.   The race for the 50th Congressional District is shaping up. The latest on the Pure Water case. And San Diego’s great housing debate inspired a high-profile op-ed.   See you at our next live show! Get your tickets now at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/brews-and-news-with-voice-of-san-diego-journalists-july-10th-tickets-62944872809?aff=eb... Read more

This week on the podcast, Scott Lewis, Andrew Keatts and Sara Libby tackle a fire insurance conundrum, Rep. Duncan Hunter's text message history and a new hot button in the San Diego mayor's race. VOSD reporter Ry Rivard joins the show to talk about his story series on fire insurance at 23:50 See you at our next live show! You can get your tickets now at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/brews-and-news-with-voice-of-san-diego-journalist... Read more

This week on the podcast, host Scott Lewis sat down with soccer star Landon Donovan and Warren Smith, who founded the United Soccer League team Sacramento Republic, to talk about the plan to bring a USL team to San Diego. That interview starts at 22:10 Other talking points: President Trump met with Mayor Faulconer. A local graduation speech goes viral. A fee for vacant homes. Subscribe to the team's newsletters at https://www.voice... Read more

This week on the podcast, Andrew Keatts and Sara Libby sat down with Voice of San Diego immigration reporter Maya Srikrishnan, who just returned from Honduras, where she spent time speaking with deportees and reporting on what's driving migration from Honduras to the United States. The interview with Maya starts at 22:40 Subscribe to Maya's newsletter, The Border Report, at vosd.org/border. Other talking points: A charter school sc... Read more

The candidates for San Diego mayor had some interesting messages on schools and "managerial experience." And the current mayor of Encinitas explains her take on SANDAG's transit plan. The interview with Encinitas mayor Katherine Blakespear starts at 29:30. Other talking points: VCs IN A VAN. Ladybugs. Beach wrestling. Subscribe to our daily newsletter at vosd.org/morningreport. Talk to us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

The Washington Post's Wesley Lowery sat down with VOSD editor Sara Libby to talk about how Assemblywoman Shirley Weber's police shooting bill fits into a national context. Subscribe to Sara Libby’s newsletter at vosd.org/thisweek.

A bit of history is in the making. Police groups dropped their opposition to Assemblywoman Shirley Weber's bill that would change standards on police use of deadly force. The current standards were written in 1872. That discussion starts at 11:45 Also on tap this week: vacation rentals, the Chula Vista city budget and an online charter school scheme. It's the last podcast of our spring fundraising campaign! Donate at voiceofsandieg... Read more

SB 50 is in a medically induced coma, but will it be any easier to pass the controversial measure in the 2020 election year? Maya Rosas, president of the YIMBY Democrats of San Diego County, joined the podcast this week to talk about the bill, its uncertain future and what it means for San Diego. The housing discussion starts at 24:45 Donate during our spring fundraising campaign at voiceofsandiego.org/donate. Subscribe to our dail... Read more

VOSD education reporter Will Huntsberry joins the podcast to talk about his recent series on the problems at Porter Elementary School, and the plan to fix it. And the problems with the plan. The interview with Huntsberry starts at 23:30 Also, SB50 — the state bill to increase housing near transit — has been shelved for the year. And Scott Lewis got a call that was really exciting for him. Donate during our spring fundraising campai... Read more

Bonus Episode: Councilwoman Monica Montgomery wants to see more from San Diego Police Chief David Nisleit. Following comments Nisleit made about a viral video of a physical altercation between SDPD officers and a 20-year-old black man, Montgomery said she was concerned that Nisleit described the man as violent and dangerous, arguing those same words aren't used for white suspects of violent crimes.

A little-known company is quietly buying up massive amounts of land in the Imperial Valley. VOSD’s Ry Rivard reported this week that Los Angeles-based Renewable Resources Group has already helped sell 33,000 acres to California’s most powerful water agency, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. But new documents he’s obtained raise fresh questions about those deals – and about what the company is seeking to do in ... Read more

Bonus Episode: San Diego County Supervisor Kristin Gaspar announced she will be seeking re-election 2020. Gaspar sat down with Voice of San Diego's Sara Libby and Andrew Keatts to discuss border issues, the future of Republicans in San Diego and the County's recent tension with the San Diego Association of Governments.

The city’s annual homeless census was big news in San Diego this week. The point-in-time count released Monday on its face suggests there’s been a modest improvement in the city’s effort to shrink its homeless population, but because the methods guiding the count changed, it's not an apples-to-apples comparison to last year's numbers. Hosts Scott Lewis and Sara Libby sat down with Fran Butler-Cohen, CEO of Family Health Centers of... Read more

This week, hosts Scott Lewis, Andrew Keatts and Sara Libby take on Balboa Park developments (or, lack of developments), the return of Kevin Beiser and SANDAG's big Avengers-style meeting. And in the second half of the show, County Supervisor Jim Desmond joins us to talk about his first 100 days in office. The interview with Desmond starts at 26:50. Subscribe to our daily newsletter at vosd.org/morningreport. Talk to us on Twitter, ... Read more

If you want to know about the nuts and bolts, the nitty and the gritty, the wonk when it comes to the city’s long-running pension saga, you have come to the right place. Scott Lewis sat down with Michael Zucchet for an interview this week. Zucchet is the leader of the largest union of San Diego employees, the Municipal Employees Association, as well as a Port commissioner. That starts at 23:30. And on Monday, Mayor Kevin Faulconer ... Read more

This week, hosts Scott Lewis, Sara Libby and Andrew Keatts sat down with Loxie Gant. Gant is a former La Jolla High student who told school officials in 2003 that her physics teacher had touched her inappropriately. That teacher, Martin Teachworth, was the central figure in our big story this week that showed the extent of his predatory behavior — and how much San Diego Unified knew about his actions while allowing him to stay in ... Read more

The day we recorded this week’s podcast, the Airport Authority agreed to start negotiating a union-friendly labor deal for its $3 billion plan to rebuild Terminal 1. Hosts Scott Lewis, Andrew Keatts and Sara Libby got right in to that. Also, this week: A problem principal gets paid to leave a San Diego Unified school, mayoral candidates on pensions, and Scott Lewis sits down with Councilman Chris Ward to talk about a wrench he's th... Read more

In this week's show, Scott Lewis and Andrew Keatts try to convince Sara Libby that baseball is worth her time and the Padres her attention. (We recorded the day before Opening Day.) Their opening arguments start at 35:30 in the episode. Don't worry! We talked about news, too. The team discussed recent developments in the Kevin Beiser investigation, a new law to crack down on vaccine exemptions, and the latest chapter in San Diego's... Read more

This week, we took over Whistle Stop Bar for a live recording of the show. Hosts Scott Lewis, Sara Libby and Andy Keatts sat down with Hasan Ikhrata of SANDAG and Nicole Capretz of the Climate Action Campaign. They played some games with the audience and talked about a realistic future for San Diego transit. Subscribe to the VOSD podcast newsletter at vosd.org/pod. We want to learn more about you! If you could fill out this brief t... Read more