By Barbara Zaragoza / South Bay Compass
Black Lives Matter came to the border last weekend when three African-American men crossing back into the United States were subjected to a frightening experience of being suspected as terrorists. Watch their video. It appears that the major networks didn’t pick up the story, so these citizen activists took to Facebook. Why were they flagged by Border Patrol as terrorists? Apparently, one man was actively involved in the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement and Border Patrol computers flagged him for it.
- Female immigrant detainees allege they were unlawfully strip searched in a California detention center.
- Turns out, even O’Malley knows that net migration from Mexico was zero last year. Here are some numbers.
- And here’s an interesting video about an American citizen who lived in Mexico and crossed the San Ysidro Port of Entry everyday to attend school.
Imperial Beach
- A stabbing suspect apparently committed suicide after hours of barricading himself inside an Imperial Beach apartment. In what must have been a frightening episode for IB residents, a SWAT team standoff began when the suspect refused to surrender. Homes next to the residence were evacuated and streets were closed off. A helicopter flew overhead and made announcements asking the suspect to surrender. Deputies even fired tear gas canisters into the unit to try and flush the suspect out.
- Teachers protested against a pay raise for Superintendent Katie McNamara of the South Bay Union School District, saying her salary would be higher than Governor Jerry Brown’s. The teachers called for an 8% pay raise and smaller class sizes.
- More focus was placed on IB’s posh beach area when community members held a fence-destroying ceremony on a vacant lot along the beach strip. Residents, however, complained that this small tourist area always receives more attention than the inland streets that are in dire need of repair.
Chula Vista
- The Phair Company, one of Eastlake’s developers in the 1980s, is now creating affordable housing in western Chula Vista. Monterey Place (267 E. Oxford Street) will be the site of 23 single-family homes, according to the The Star News.
- Chula Vista Council member, Patricia Aguilar, says that if Harvey Souza–owner of Seven Mile Casino–is convicted, she would seriously consider giving back her campaign contribution. Souza donated thousands to the South Bay YMCA, South Bay Community services and more. He also gave many political candidates money.
- Crossroads II reported that the original Urban Core Specific Plan (UCSP) states that streets around Third Avenue should be used 100% for offices or 100% for retail, but the maximumamount of residential for any site should be 40%. Last April, however, the Council deleted Section 8 and, therefore, the current project at Third Avenue and K streets is 99.5% residential and 0.5% commercial. Crossroads notes that Chula Vista has been overloaded with residential construction, while commercial and industrial uses are at a minimum. Consequently, Chula Vista is second lowest in San Diego County in terms of sales tax revenues per capita.
- Elections were supposed to take place at the Eastlake III Homeowners association. After flyers were sent out by some of the candidates, however, the elections were abruptly cancelled. ECHO or Eastlake III Concerned Home Owners took to Facebook to protest the change. On January 25th they explained, “We are sure you’ve all seen the latest email from the HOA management company changing the election processes as well as the dates …[of] the election itself. Please read the documents that came with that email carefully so you can see for yourselves that this is actually a thinly veiled excuse for manipulating the February election to ensure circumvention of most homeowners, keeping the current board majority (Barney Reed, Carlos Alvarado & Veronica Nuncio-Ramirez) in power. We believe the rescheduling of the election, the neighborhood delegates’ meeting and the candidates’ forum is illegitimate and probably illegal.” Troubles with the association have being ongoing for years.
- Chula Vista continues to work toward its University on the eastern side. A consulting firm recently recommended a binational partnership with a U.S. & Mexican institution to build a bicultural university.
- A butterfly known as the Quino checkerspot is endangered and might disappear. It currently lives and breeds in an area east of Otay Lake, but that area is set to become a major new housing development. Oh no!
San Ysidro & District 8
- Casa Familiar opened a Fitness Center located at 268 E. Park Ave. with the help of the Kaiser Permanente Foundation. The new fitness center addresses an increasing need for awareness of obesity within the Latino community.
- Casa Familiar also has been advocating for a new playground in historic downtown San Ysidro by the Civic Center where Cesar Chavez once gave his speeches and Bobby Kennedy visited along the campaign trail. Funding for the playground was scarce, but on Tuesday the City of San Diego committed to covering the remainder of the gap to pay for the playground equipment. Wells Fargo is donating funds as well.
- San Diego City Councilman David Alvarez attended a Center For Policy Initiatives (CPI) meeting in which he criticized the Citizen’s Review Board On Police Practices for its lack of diversity. The meeting was intended to encourage community members–especially women and minorities–throughout the county to volunteer for boards and commissions.
And finally — I missed the King Tides last weekend that swept through IB, but it looks like El Niño will hit this weekend, so stay dry South Bay!
Barbara Zaragoza is a freelance writer who covers the South Bay, San Diego. She recently published a photographic history of San Ysidro and the Tijuana River Valley and also writes about arts, culture & activism at SouthBayCompass.com. Barbara is a multiple award winner of the Society of Professional Journalists, San Diego chapter, 2016 Journalism Awards.
