The voices demanding that Sheriff Kelly Martinez do more to stop overdoses inside San Diego County jails continue to grow louder.Family members of people who died in sheriff’s custody spoke out Tuesday before the civilian oversight board, and board members voted for the third time in two years to recommend that the Sheriff’s Department scan deputies for illegal drugs as they enter work.“I will always wonder where the drugs came from, how they got into the jail,” Sundee Weddle, whose son, 22-year-old Saxon Rodriguez, suffered a fatal overdose in San Diego Central Jail nearly three years...…The voices demanding that Sheriff Kelly Martinez do more to stop overdoses inside San Diego County jails continue to grow louder.Family members of people who died in sheriff’s custody spoke out Tuesday before the civilian oversight board, and board members voted for the third time in two years to recommend that the Sheriff’s Department scan deputies for illegal drugs as they enter work.“I will always wonder where the drugs came from, how they got into the jail,” Sundee Weddle, whose son, 22-year-old Saxon Rodriguez, suffered a fatal overdose in San Diego Central Jail nearly three years...WW…

Copyright © 2022, The San Diego Union-Tribune | | AdvertisementAdvertisement A tear-gas canister was deployed inside the County Administration Center— apparently by accident — Sunday night as sheriff’s deputies responded to a protest against law enforcement abuses outside the building. It resulted in the closure of the buildings to employees Monday and Tuesday. County spokesman Michael Workman characterized the damage as minimal.“There were no evacuations,” he said. “The building was empty other than law enforcement. That remediation was minor and is complete.”AdvertisementWorkman said the...…Copyright © 2022, The San Diego Union-Tribune | | AdvertisementAdvertisement A tear-gas canister was deployed inside the County Administration Center— apparently by accident — Sunday night as sheriff’s deputies responded to a protest against law enforcement abuses outside the building. It resulted in the closure of the buildings to employees Monday and Tuesday. County spokesman Michael Workman characterized the damage as minimal.“There were no evacuations,” he said. “The building was empty other than law enforcement. That remediation was minor and is complete.”AdvertisementWorkman said the...WW…

Copyright © 2022, The San Diego Union-Tribune | | AdvertisementAdvertisement Dozens of employees of the New Children’s Museum recently were laid off, and some workers suspect the mass termination was prompted by their recent vote to certify as a union.The union-organizing effort — the first of its kind at a nonprofit museum in San Diego — was being closely watched by other charity executives as a test case and potential harbinger of labor practices to come.Earlier this month, New Children’s Museum officials notified more than 30 workers by email that they were being let go, a decision the...…Copyright © 2022, The San Diego Union-Tribune | | AdvertisementAdvertisement Dozens of employees of the New Children’s Museum recently were laid off, and some workers suspect the mass termination was prompted by their recent vote to certify as a union.The union-organizing effort — the first of its kind at a nonprofit museum in San Diego — was being closely watched by other charity executives as a test case and potential harbinger of labor practices to come.Earlier this month, New Children’s Museum officials notified more than 30 workers by email that they were being let go, a decision the...WW…

Copyright © 2022, The San Diego Union-Tribune | | AdvertisementAdvertisement More than three decades ago, California voters rebelled against insurance companies and passed Proposition 103, a ballot measure that among other things created an elected insurance commissioner to approve or reject proposed increases for home and auto premiums.Now a bill co-authored by Sen. Brian Jones, R-Santee, would rewrite the way many homeowners’ premiums are calculated and prevent Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara from rejecting new costs added to policies.Assembly Bill 2167 is next headed to the Senate...…Copyright © 2022, The San Diego Union-Tribune | | AdvertisementAdvertisement More than three decades ago, California voters rebelled against insurance companies and passed Proposition 103, a ballot measure that among other things created an elected insurance commissioner to approve or reject proposed increases for home and auto premiums.Now a bill co-authored by Sen. Brian Jones, R-Santee, would rewrite the way many homeowners’ premiums are calculated and prevent Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara from rejecting new costs added to policies.Assembly Bill 2167 is next headed to the Senate...WW…

Copyright © 2022, The San Diego Union-Tribune | | AdvertisementAdvertisement Federal housing officials are reviewing a 2018 real estate purchase by the city of San Diego that relied on millions of dollars in community development block grants to pay for a failed indoor skydiving center.The review was sparked by Rich Riel, a former candidate for mayor. In a letter to a U.S. Housing and Urban Development official, Riel accused Mayor Kevin Faulconer and City Attorney Mara Elliott of relying on a questionable report to determine the value of the property, which the city paid $7 million for...…Copyright © 2022, The San Diego Union-Tribune | | AdvertisementAdvertisement Federal housing officials are reviewing a 2018 real estate purchase by the city of San Diego that relied on millions of dollars in community development block grants to pay for a failed indoor skydiving center.The review was sparked by Rich Riel, a former candidate for mayor. In a letter to a U.S. Housing and Urban Development official, Riel accused Mayor Kevin Faulconer and City Attorney Mara Elliott of relying on a questionable report to determine the value of the property, which the city paid $7 million for...WW…

Copyright © 2022, The San Diego Union-Tribune | | AdvertisementAdvertisement One thing was clear from San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer’s staff presentation Thursday on the troubled Ash Street purchase: No one on the City Council was happy about how the transaction has been handled.Aides to Faulconer — who in 2016 promoted the deal to acquire the 19-story high rise as a way to save taxpayers tens of millions of dollars and consolidate the city’s downtown workforce — presented the council with five options for moving forward Thursday night.None of them were received well.The city has been...…Copyright © 2022, The San Diego Union-Tribune | | AdvertisementAdvertisement One thing was clear from San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer’s staff presentation Thursday on the troubled Ash Street purchase: No one on the City Council was happy about how the transaction has been handled.Aides to Faulconer — who in 2016 promoted the deal to acquire the 19-story high rise as a way to save taxpayers tens of millions of dollars and consolidate the city’s downtown workforce — presented the council with five options for moving forward Thursday night.None of them were received well.The city has been...WW…

Copyright © 2022, The San Diego Union-Tribune | | AdvertisementAdvertisement The chief executive of the San Diego County pension system announced his resignation Thursday, a surprise that came near the end of a retirement board meeting conducted by videoconference.David Wescoe, who joined the San Diego County Employees’ Retirement Association during a time of turmoil and second-guessing between some retirement board members, said he decided to accept a recently offered private-sector job in San Diego.“Most of the heavy lifting here has been done,” said Wescoe, who was addressing the board...…Copyright © 2022, The San Diego Union-Tribune | | AdvertisementAdvertisement The chief executive of the San Diego County pension system announced his resignation Thursday, a surprise that came near the end of a retirement board meeting conducted by videoconference.David Wescoe, who joined the San Diego County Employees’ Retirement Association during a time of turmoil and second-guessing between some retirement board members, said he decided to accept a recently offered private-sector job in San Diego.“Most of the heavy lifting here has been done,” said Wescoe, who was addressing the board...WW…

Copyright © 2021, The San Diego Union-Tribune | |AdvertisementThe wife of Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman has been arrested on international drug trafficking charges at an airport in VirginiaEscalating construction costs mean the city will need $1M more than expected to complete the total refresh of the 1.4-acre urban park currently frequented by homeless personsFrom dancefloors to festivals to the Grammys, the dance-music duo Daft Punk conquered the world. Upon their retirement, here are 10 essential musical momentsThe fire broke out about 12:20 p.m. Monday at a house on...…Copyright © 2021, The San Diego Union-Tribune | |AdvertisementThe wife of Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman has been arrested on international drug trafficking charges at an airport in VirginiaEscalating construction costs mean the city will need $1M more than expected to complete the total refresh of the 1.4-acre urban park currently frequented by homeless personsFrom dancefloors to festivals to the Grammys, the dance-music duo Daft Punk conquered the world. Upon their retirement, here are 10 essential musical momentsThe fire broke out about 12:20 p.m. Monday at a house on...WW…

Copyright © 2022, The San Diego Union-Tribune | | AdvertisementAdvertisement In the latest month of the San Diego Convention Center’s unexpected role as a homeless shelter, the city paid $1.6 million in rent to its own nonprofit that runs the bayfront facility and $727,000 in operations and maintenance costs.Other expenses for November included $1.5 million to the charities running the makeshift shelter, $915,000 to feed fewer than 1,000 clients, $343,000 for extra security and thousands of dollars in miscellaneous costs, city records show.In total for November, San Diego taxpayers spent...…Copyright © 2022, The San Diego Union-Tribune | | AdvertisementAdvertisement In the latest month of the San Diego Convention Center’s unexpected role as a homeless shelter, the city paid $1.6 million in rent to its own nonprofit that runs the bayfront facility and $727,000 in operations and maintenance costs.Other expenses for November included $1.5 million to the charities running the makeshift shelter, $915,000 to feed fewer than 1,000 clients, $343,000 for extra security and thousands of dollars in miscellaneous costs, city records show.In total for November, San Diego taxpayers spent...WW…

Copyright © 2022, The San Diego Union-Tribune | | AdvertisementAdvertisement Sometimes nonprofit work is personally profitable. Scripps Health chief executive Chris Van Gorder was paid more than $16 million in the three most recent years for which public information is available — a salary and benefits package that far exceeds what other San Diego area hospital officials collected, records show.For the record:Van Gorder, who decades ago turned an injury he suffered as a Monterey Park police officer into a career in hospital administration, also received a $10 million life insurance policy...…Copyright © 2022, The San Diego Union-Tribune | | AdvertisementAdvertisement Sometimes nonprofit work is personally profitable. Scripps Health chief executive Chris Van Gorder was paid more than $16 million in the three most recent years for which public information is available — a salary and benefits package that far exceeds what other San Diego area hospital officials collected, records show.For the record:Van Gorder, who decades ago turned an injury he suffered as a Monterey Park police officer into a career in hospital administration, also received a $10 million life insurance policy...WW…