News

Many have expressed concerns over a recent phenomenon of their car insurance having a steep increase in premium cost over the summer. Researchers looked into the issue, trying to find the reason for such a dramatic change, with some expressing that they saw an increase of $100 or more. While some are brushing off the increases as normal signs of inflation, stating that “everything goes up,” others search for a deeper seated explanation into the issue. According to the insurance marketplace researching company, Insurify, part of the reason can be explained away by inflation; however, there are a few other culprits that can be blamed.

One such explanation per Insurify is that there has been an increase in auto thefts.

In 2023, California came out on top of the auto theft ranking. In a state in which auto thefts are at a record high, insurance companies do not feel safe leaving customers paying low rates. Companies have expressed that because they have to pay out a certain amount if a vehicle were to be stolen, they feel obligated to charge a certain amount to remain covered. This is incredibly unfortunate to the consumers as there is not much, if anything at all, that one can do to prevent a theft. Some explain that they feel that this is them having to pay for a crime that they are not committing nor know if it will be committed against them.

Additionally, California has strict insurance regulations that are backfiring against the average Californian car owner.

The regulations that California has put in place for the insurance plans are meant to protect the drivers and car owners, but instead Insurify reports that they are partially to blame for the price spike. Because of the regulations, many companies have pulled out of California and are refusing to provide coverage in the state. This leaves a more limited pool of insurers available, which allows for less restriction in competitive pricing, as companies can charge higher premiums since everyone needs insurance to legally be on the road.

Ultimately, California drivers are stuck between a rock and a hard place. At this point, there are few options remaining for the people to do aside from putting pressure on the lawmakers in the Department of Insurance to find ways to pressure and/or work with insurance companies to bring down premiums.

After extensive debate, San Diego’s water importer, which relies heavily on purchasing water from outside the county, opted to slightly increase rates and delay the more significant proposed rate hike until next month.

The reason for this decision is that many representatives from local water districts (33 in total) were uneasy with how San Diego, the region’s largest and most influential water purchaser, planned to mitigate larger rate increases. San Diego, possessing the authority to enforce its will, decided to pause.

Here’s the background: The San Diego County Water Authority initially suggested a 22% rate increase for January 1 due to various factors. This was later reduced to 18%, still a substantial rise compared to past water price hikes. While consumer water rates at homes and businesses wouldn’t necessarily increase by this much, local water districts would still need to handle these rate hikes.

Subsequently, the Water Authority secured a $19 million federal grant to help reduce the proposed increase to about 15%.

However, this was still unsatisfactory for the city of San Diego. Mayor Todd Gloria, through his deputy chief of staff and vice chair of the Water Authority board, Nick Serrano, pushed for a 14% rate hike instead. This prompted the Water Authority General Manager, Dan Denham, and his finance team to reevaluate their strategy.

Later that day, Denham’s team reported that they could offer a 14% rate increase, but it would require using $9 million from their emergency funds, which only held $25 million. This plan would violate the board’s cash-on-hand policy, deplete the emergency reserves, and further damage the Water Authority’s already fragile credit rating.

This proposal caused hesitation among board members. The general consensus was to abandon the push for a 14% increase. San Diego’s representatives relented, and the board went into recess.

Upon returning, San Diego’s Board Director, Fern Steiner, proposed a different approach. She suggested approving a 4% increase to ensure the Water Authority could pay its obligations to the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which is crucial for San Diego’s water supply. The board agreed to handle the remaining issues at their next meeting on July 25.

In San Diego County, the average price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline fell again on Monday, marking the 20th decrease in the past 21 days. The price dipped by one-tenth of a cent to $5.196, following a half-cent drop the day before. Over the past 21 days, the average price has decreased by 15.8 cents, including a 1.5 cent drop on Saturday, according to data from the AAA and Oil Price Information Service. Currently, the price is 7.3 cents lower than it was a week ago and 17.9 cents lower than a month ago. However, it remains 36 cents higher than it was a year ago. Since peaking at a record $6.435 on October 5, 2022, the price has fallen by $1.239.

Nationally, the average price of gasoline also saw a decline, dropping for the 10th time in 11 days to $3.59 per gallon, a decrease of one-tenth of a cent. Over the past 11 days, the national average has fallen by 5.2 cents, including a two-tenths of a cent drop on Sunday. Compared to a week ago, the national average is down by 2.9 cents, and it is 8.6 cents lower than a month ago. Despite these decreases, it is still 5 cents higher than it was a year ago. Since reaching a record high of $5.016 on June 14, 2022, the national average has dropped by $1.426.

On Monday, the average price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline in San Diego County decreased for the 20th time in the last 21 days, dropping by one-tenth of a cent to $5.196. This followed a half-cent decrease the previous day.

According to data from the AAA and Oil Price Information Service, the average price has fallen by 15.8 cents over the past 21 days, including a 1.5-cent drop on Saturday. Compared to a week ago, the price is down by 7.3 cents, and it is 17.9 cents lower than a month ago. However, it is still 36 cents higher than it was a year ago. Since reaching a record high of $6.435 on October 5, 2022, the price has decreased by $1.239.

If you live in San Diego County and the January storms affected you, you’ve got more time to do your taxes. The government pushed the deadline to June 17. This goes for both federal and California state taxes.

The changes help out people and businesses hit by the storms and flooding starting on January 21. If you live in an area that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) marked as affected, you’re in luck.

You don’t need to ask for the extension if your address on file with the IRS is in the disaster area. You get the extra time automatically.

Here’s what the new deadlines cover:

• Your taxes for 2023, which you’d usually need to do by April 15, are now due by June 17, 2024.
• If you’re eligible, you can put money into your IRA or health savings account for 2023 until June 17.
• Payments for your estimated taxes for 2024, which you’d normally have to make by April 15, are now due by June 17.
• For businesses, your quarterly payroll and excise tax returns, usually due by January 31 and April 30, are now due by June 17.
• If your partnership or S corporation has a calendar-year return, it’s now due by June 17 instead of March 15.
• The same goes for corporations and fiduciaries – instead of April 15, their returns and payments are now due by June 17.
• Tax-exempt organizations with a calendar-year return now have until June 17 instead of May 15.

Remember, this relief is automatic for those in the affected areas. So if you’re there, you’ve got more time without needing to do anything.

There’s an election that is rearing it’s ugly head to the United States. And it’s more important than ever, to make sure that the voters are in particular careful about how they choose their decisions in the election. The 2024 election will have plenty of ballots submitted by using drop boxes through the county or even utilizing a vote center, through which hundreds are open from 8 am to 5 all on March fifth. Election Day itself will see polls be open from 7 am to 8 pm upon election day.

The primary Election will establish who will be on the November 5th 2024 General Election, which will ultimately be filled of the top two vote-receivers, who will move forward for the election.

Being sure of your voter status is crucial to participating in the primary. To do this, you would have to verify that you are:

• A California Resident
• Hitting at least 18 years old before the following election
• Avoiding state prison for a felony conviction
• Avoiding being mentally incompetence by court action.
• A United States Citizen

When missing the deadline, there’s of course still a manner of which to vote in the March 5th primary.

Conditional voter registration is ongoing till Election Day, though it has to be accomplished in person. When meeting the criteria to become a registered voter, you will have to access the office at 5600 Overland Avenue, San Diego, or even any other alternate voting center to register and utilize a provisional ballot. Keep in mind, the vote will be counted after becoming a registered voter.

Call one of these numbers for any specific questions.

• 1-866-OUR-VOTE (1-866-687-8683): English
• 1-888-VE-Y-VOTA (1-888-839-8682): Spanish/English
• 1-888-API-VOTE (1-888-274-8683): Asian languages/English
• 1-844-YALLA-US (1-844-925-5287): Arabic/English

It’s your country too. The sooner you register, the sooner you have an opportunity to cultivate change in San Diego, in California and in the United States, for you and the citizens you respect most.

Earthquakes are no joke. They happen to be a force of nature like no other. The twist and shake of an earthquake is truly of an abominable sort. When you feel it shake your entire body, it’s almost a sign that there’s a trauma in the middle of the earth, racing through the crust to find it’s home in your fears. That’s exactly what happened in that part of Southern California.

When did it happen?

It’s recently occurred as recent as Monday at 2:46 am.

Where did the earthquake happen to?

Off the coast, in the ocean. A mere 60 or something miles west of La Jolla-Coronado area. That’s not far from San Diego.

How bad did it affect the denizens?

It was only 4.4 on the Richter Scale. So no initial injuries were actually reported.

What matters during an earthquake?

Staying safe and protected from the threats of the outside.

How can you avoid an earthquake?

By being careful you can make sure that the surrounding area doesn’t collapse on you by hiding under a table. That may be the most smart way of going about it besides being outside.

Southern California sits on a division in the ground, that can cause a rupture in the Earth. The whole danger of it is how it shakes the ground above to no one’s delight.

It’s very difficult to see the earthquake by any evidence except for the shaking of the surroundings. The rumblings of the ground definitely are giving way to the changes of the future. There may be a concern for existing buildings if they don’t have that type of foundational integrity. The operation of the surrounding city is truly necessary for the surrounding landscape to be uplifted without being uprooted. It’s all extenuating circumstances to anticipate in advance before getting hurt.

Tomorrow, we celebrate a day that fills bellies all around the country, Thanksgiving. The holiday is a day meant to signify giving thanks and showing appreciation for all important things in our life. The day is also a day in which we simply gather with friends and family and enjoy a large, delicious meal together! The table is commonly filled with many universal foods that are eaten by most families, across cultures and regions. There are some exceptions to this rule in which some foods are specific to culture and region, but there is often still some sort of crossover.

With that said, surprisingly most of these foods were not even on the table at the first Thanksgiving. The first Thanksgiving was far more limited to regionally sourced foods that they hunted/caught/grew themselves. On their table, it is believed that they had a main entrée of lobster, seal, and swans. So where do our modern Thanksgiving dish traditions come from? Well, that differs dish to dish!

Turkey

The turkey is probably the biggest, most popular, and most identifiable part of a Thanksgiving table. The turkey has even become a symbol for the day, often being seen in decorations. It also has worked its way into our traditions with the annual Presidential Turkey Pardoning. The origin of this Thanksgiving icon is a bit unknown unfortunately. Some say it was featured on the first Thanksgiving table as one of the entrees, while others say it was not and eventually worked its way onto our tables.

Stuffing

This dish actually can be traced back to the ancient Roman empire. Historians have found ancient documents displaying what appears to be a recipe for a stuffing-like dish. This dish grew in popularity and solidified itself as a Thanksgiving classic in the 1800s.

Mashed Potatoes

This dish is one of the few that we know was not on the original Thanksgiving table, and that is because it was not a dish that existed yet! The creamy pile of potatoes was first written about in a recipe book written in the mid-1700s. The book was written by an English woman, Hannah Glasse, who titled the cookbook The Art of Cookery. If you are a lover of mashed potatoes, you have Hannah to thank for them!

Sweet Potatoes

This food comes in a few different dishes on the Thanksgiving table. Sometimes you will see mashed sweet potato, candied sweet potatoes, and even a sweet potato casserole. Sometime in the late 1800s, a sweet potato dish became commonplace for a Thanksgiving table. However, in 1917, marshmallows were first used on the dish. The marketing team at Angelus Marshmallows had a recipe book developed, which included a mashed sweet potato dish topped with marshmallows.

San Diego’s County Board of Supervisors have been able to agree on a 3 – 0 vote and it’s been decided. About $3 Million in legal aid is going to be sent to migrants and asylum seekers, all with plenty of needs, like translation assistance and transportation. Such a vote had finally arrived so long after a 60-minute long public hearing, where plenty of speakers, like some of the immigrant-rights groups had been able to vocalize support of the program.

Nora Vargas, the Board Chairwoman, alongside Terra Lawson-Remer and Joel Anderson, had been able to vote yes on the proposal. And not a moment too soon! This comes, mere days in the aftermath of runaways being transported into San Diego County.

Plenty were dropped off at transit stations by varied U.S. border agents.

In a twist, it was revealed that the Supervisor, Jim Desmond, wasn’t able to go, but they didn’t really need him anyway. The American Rescue Plan Act was enough to allow for $3Million to provide some monetary refuge for migrants and asylum seekers, that would allow for assistance to go forth past the San Diego County with geographic info, such as access to equipment and Wireless Fidelity, in order to give sponsor relatives contact, as well as food, snacks and water.

The Migrant situation itself was then declared by Vargas as a humanitarian crisis. But in earnest, the belief still held true that the responsibility as advocates for the community is to ensure there is enough dignity and respect treated fairly to the newcomers into town.

A general consensus to be sensed is that it’s necessary to bring in immigrants to the United States in the safest and most responsible of manners. As the border is crossed, nonprofits are said to have absorbed much responsibility, while, Casa Familar has served beyond 8,000 people from the last month at a recently-closed shelter, over there in the San Ysidro Civic Center.

The immigration system is easy to simplify, and yet, many don’t believe that opening the borders is safe.

In addition, the County Board believes in ending the legal aid program for immigrants as it would in particular help for taxpayers to not having their funds being sent for the deportation defense for criminal non-citizens, as it would end the Immigrant Rights Legal Defense Program which itself costs about $5 million every year. The estimate from the Department of Public Works showed about $250,000 moving towards representation for individuals with a history of convictions.

Throughout the course of a year, the California Community College and even the California State University Systems have been clashing on many topics regarding their respective roles in the space of bachelors degrees.

What’s the beef?

Within the past year, California State University systems and California Community Colleges have been pretty contestant of their spots in handling the most accessible and popular type of achievement in college. The Chancellor’s office believes that plenty of community colleges happen to be overstepping their boundaries by way of proposing programs that the Cal State campuses themselves already have been offering. So why would community colleges need to offer anything more than associate’s degrees. The duplicate method doesn’t quite transition as well as one would hope. The rules that had set the issue back has gone to the core of missions for higher education systems being delayed since 1960.

As the California Master Plan for Higher Education has spread the roles clearly for every system, the plan shows an ultimate design for awarding two-year associate degrees and additional career training. All while the Cal State system only offers four-year bachelor’s and master’s degrees throughout which the University of California system as it prioritizes doctoral and research programs.

As of recent, the fresh laws let the community college system can approve about north of 30 new bachelor’s degree programs every year through one of the state’s 116 community colleges.

In specific, with the law having had gone into effect, Community colleges are only able to give bachelor’s degrees in many unique fields that public universities can’t supply.

And that’s a shame that certain schools aren’t expected to help out. a student in reaching their financial goals. That wouldn’t ordinarily be something that is to be expected from universities that colleges can just transfer their credits to.

The whole thing about colleges and universities is that they are both businesses at the end of the day. Just under the impression that they are both meant to make money that can operate satisfactorily for the sake of the investors. That should be well-understood by now to be a fact in the business. Likely, they’ll come to an agreement that will allow for Bachelor Degrees to be applied to specific areas of studies. This accomplishment is a genuine path of righteousness in the eyes of the average collegiate. It doesn’t matter where you get the Bachelor’s Degree. It’s an impressive feat nonetheless.

So many drugs have been shipped between Mexico and United States. The authorities have had to grab hold of 3,000 pounds of fentanyl in San Diego County within the distance of March and May, while it also shows a 300% upgrade from the one time last year to now. In particular, the southwest border had been seen as an.

San Diego County is known as a “epicenter” for fentanyl trafficking while there’s been more drug dealing in local communities now than even beforehand.

About half of every fentanyl seizure, all along the U.S.-Mexico border has been taken in the San Diego radius.

When noticing the effects of fentanyl on the national scale, there has been beyond 2,300 people dying from accidental fentanyl O.D. cases since about 2019. All of this is accordingly accurate, as noted by data derived from the San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Such a drug itself has majorly inconvenienced many unhoused communities, while the overall number of fatal overdoses where fentanyl was a factor had been lower in 2022, and moreso even in 2023.

Therefore, the safest assumption to make is how all the authorities around San Diego have been able to snatch around 8,800 pounds. This would totally topple the quantity that has been taken in the past fiscal year with only four months left. All in accordance to data derived from U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Such an increase will show through in many years of fentanyl seizures prominent in the San Diego area. That’s been the case since about 2019. Through five years, the fentanyl that continuously gets seized by authorities has gone beyond the original amount recorded, about five times over.

Such data does not account for a more grim question: how much fentanyl remains undiscovered within the community?

Other worries that come across regarding Fentanyl include the purity of which is possible to be found in the fentanyl itself. Such a discovery could be indicative of just how lethal and what the dosage is within every offering of the most dangerous drug.

Higher volumes of drug trade could definitely lead to more risks for the community.

As it stands, cocaine and methamphetamine keeps accounting for such a huge share of illegal drugs that may even outpace and replace the heroin’s very own rates.

The Agency has been going through many various drug busts and have seen the hundreds of pounds of fentanyl crossing through, within a sedan at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry.

As interdiction is not simply the only answer when solving the drug dilemma, the natural course of action is to truly diffuse the substance abuse problems that lay consistent in the United States.