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Slumlord To Evict 20 San Ysidro Children By October

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Owner of Gateway Inn, a last hope hotel, hands eviction notices to families, elderly

All occupants residing at the 40-room Gateway Inn received a 60-day termination notice on Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016. The hotel, located one block from the U.S.-Mexico border, is a single room occupancy (SRO) hotel known to provide units to those who might otherwise be homeless.

The owner of the property, listed in public documents as Francis Lin, submitted a permit to the City of San Diego to demolish the two-story hotel, according to the San Diego Development Services Department. However, the permit – filed on Jan. 13, 2016 – has not yet been approved.

Rachel, an occupant of the Gateway Inn says, “Sixty days is not enough time…In my case, I have nine children. There’s not somebody that’s just going to take us in.”   [Read more…]

Governor Brown to Attend Funeral of Chula Vista’s Police Veteran …

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… Illegal RV Park Run by Vice-Chair of Otay Mesa Planning Group, and Homelessness In Bonita Discussed In Community Forum

This week, the shooting of police officers throughout the country became deeply personal in Chula Vista.

Eastlake resident and police officer Jonathan DeGuzman was shot five times at close range by ex-con Michael Gomez, 52. Officer DeGuzman died shortly thereafter.

Governor Jerry Brown will attend a Friday memorial service for Officer DeBuzman, which will be held in Bonita. DeGuzman is survived by his wife and two children.   [Read more…]

Mayor Serge Dedina: Head of Water Commission Should Be Fired …

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… Bonita Vista High School Band Director Arrested on Molestation Charges, and South Bay Hosts Several Outdoor Summertime Events

Breaking News this week in Imperial Beach.

Mayor Serge Dedina, who is also the Executive Director at WildCoast, announced at the City Council meeting he thought Ed Drusina should be fired. Drusina is the head of the International Boundary & Water Commission (IBWC).

His problem: the IBWC has done nothing to solve the sewage problem coming from Mexico. WildCoast estimates that Mexico dumps, both legally and illegally, about 30 to 50 million gallons of sewage into the ocean everyday. Instead of cleaning up the problem, Drusina is focusing on a Presidential Permit to have the Otay Water District get water from the Rosarito Desalination plant.   [Read more…]

Casa Familiar’s Andrea Skorepa Retires

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Senior Services Center renamed in Skorepa’s honor. Lisa Cuestas becomes Executive Director in August. 

As she looks back at the last thirty-five years, Skorepa says her most important achievement is that people have pride living in San Ysidro. She’s also proud of “always being ahead of the curve–designing programs, services and events that rock the boat, turn the boat over or send the boat home.”

Whether it’s pollution created at the San Ysidro Port of Entry due to wait times, pressing for more parkland in San Ysidro or establishing an art gallery where most people wouldn’t think to have one, Andrea’s out-of-the-box approach has had a lasting impact.

Moreover, Skorepa brought affordable housing to the South Bay over the decades. Casa Familiar has 451 units at Park Haven and another over 300 units in Villa Nueva. They also have affordable housing for seniors and continue to urge the city for increasing the available affordable units.   [Read more…]

Otay Water District Proposes Pipeline from Rosarito Desalination Plant into U.S.

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Serge Dedina says, “…before any U.S. government agency or any U.S. water agency gets a permit to suck desal water from the most polluted coast in North America and sell it back to U.S. consumers, they need to prioritize cleaning up this coastline.”

In Mexico, when sewage is collected, much of it is sent to a place called San Antonio de Las Buenos or Punto Banderas just 6 miles South of the Border.

WildCoast and Surfrider estimate that the sewage being discharged in the ocean each day “could be anywhere from 30 to 50 million gallons a day depending. No one’s really counting. We think it’s grown exponentially because of the increase in development that’s, in theory it’s a primary plant, but they don’t actually treat the sewage, they just put it through some ponds and then dump it in the ocean right on the beach,” Dedina says.   [Read more…]

New Pedestrian Border Crossing Deemed ‘Imminent Danger’ to Users …

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… Deported Veterans Refused Re-Entry, and Coronado To Sue Imperial Beach for Sewage

The new pedestrian crossing at the San Ysidro Port of Entry (POE) opened to great fan-fare last Friday. By Wednesday, according to a comment on a San Diego Reader article, it had to be closed.

Why?

As writer John Kitchen explained in his Reader article, the new facility on the Mexican side has no roads leading to it, preventing buses or taxis to get anywhere close. Sandra Dibble at the San Diego Union Tribune reported similar complaints of the pedestrian crossing, which is located next to the Las Americas Outlet Mall.   [Read more…]

Pedestrian Crossing Now Open At San Ysidro Port of Entry …

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… National School District May Have First Female Superintendent, and Imperial Beach Hosts Sand Castle Competition

The San Ysidro PedWest Crossing opens today, with a ribbon cutting ceremony at 11 a.m. Some in nearby Chula Vista, let alone cities much further north, may not think a new pedestrian border crossing has an impact on their community — but think again.

The San Ysidro Port of Entry (POE) is the largest land POE in the world, with more than 50 million people crossing each year. Mexico is our third largest trade partner and both San Diego and Tijuana are economically intertwined, whether people appreciate that fact or not.

As the data shows, more than 68% of the 1.6 million people living in Tijuana cross the border to shop. They spend at least $6 billion a year, or more than $1 of every $8 in retail sales. That means the Mexican population pours at least $480 million sales tax dollars into the economy every year — and that’s an extremely conservative estimate.   [Read more…]

Attacker of Four Homeless Men Found In Chula Vista …

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… Pedestrian Crossing In San Ysidro Opens This Month — With Glitches, and Sales Tax Increase for Chula Vista on November Ballot

Doug Porter has been reporting on the attack of homeless men in San Diego. Four people were assaulted in their sleep, two set on fire. Two men later died. Frank Gormlie at the OB Rag also carried the story about the assaults on Angelo De Nardo, 53, Shawn Mitchell Longley, 41, Manual Nunez Mason, 61, and a 23-year-old man (not named).

The suspect was found in Chula Vista.

Anthony Alexander Padgett, 36, has been taken into custody. He was located at Broadway and H Street. He was born in Chula Vista and reports say he has a criminal history.   [Read more…]

Fourth of July In the South Bay … Plus This Week’s News

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With Independence Day just around the corner, I know what you want to hear, South Bay. Where is all the fun this weekend? So first up, here’s what you really need to know.

Plus: Judge Decides On Eastlake III Homeowners Court Case, and “No Trespassing” Signs Upset Residents   [Read more…]

Evacuations Ordered As Border Fire Rages …

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… Three South Bay Mayors Endorse Tax Increase, and Shady History of Otay Mesa Power Plant Exposed

A fire at the U.S.-Mexico border near Portero and Tecate has been raging for five days. Although not near San Diego and Tijuana yet, the fire has South Bay locals worried. Some of the week’s updates included: Animal control officers worked to rescue hundreds of animals; residents were under evacuation orders Monday and hikers were advised to stay off the Pacific Coast Trail. As of Thursday, the border fire had destroyed 17 homes and threatened 200 more. The fire has burned 6,723 acres so far.   [Read more…]

Drug Bust In Eastlake Shopping Center Turns Fatal…

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… Tijuana Shelters Overflow With Asylum Seekers, and Developers See Otay Mesa As Solution to Housing Shortage

An undercover narcotics investigation took a bad turn on Tuesday, June 14, at about 2 p.m. when a federal agent was threatened and fired on a suspect, who was taken to the hospital and later pronounced dead.

After the shooting, two suspects sped away in a car, but crashed the vehicle a short distance away and were apprehended. A fourth suspect was found hiding inside a vehicle trunk. (Imperial Beach Patch)

During the ordeal, residents were told to take shelter-in-place and keep their doors locked. Many took to the Internet to get live coverage and others took to social media.   [Read more…]

Border Patrol Says Border Campground Is a Bad Idea …

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… National City’s Triple-Term Mayor Ron Morrison wants to abolish term limits, and Eastlake Has 80 Percent Increase In Car Burglaries

Supervisor Greg Cox secured another term during the primary elections this week. He was unopposed.

You may remember my interview with him when he explained, among other visions regarding Parks and Recreation, that he would like to see a campground created within Border Field State Park. This week, however, a letter was released from U.S. Border Patrol that said it would not be an ideal location for a campsite because the Imperial Beach Border Patrol station apprehended more than 5,300 people during fiscal year 2015 alone.

“Over 3,200 of these apprehensions occurred within the immediate vicinity of the proposed campsites. Twenty-five percent of those apprehended had prior criminal convictions in the United States and some of the illegal crossers were documented gang members,” the letter says. Marty Graham, who termed the area an “active crime scene” has the full report.   [Read more…]

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