Major funding for Kpbs Evening Edition has been made possible in part by Bill Howe, family of companies providing San Diego with plumbing, heating, air restoration and flood services for over 45 years.

Call one 800 Bill Howe or visit Bill Howe.com.

And by the Conrad Prebys Foundation.

Darlene Marcos Shiley and by the following.

And by viewers like you.

Thank you.

Good evening, I'm Maya Trabulsi.

Thank you for joining us.

A coalition of environmental groups and elected officials joined forces today to launch a new campaign against offshore oil drilling.

Kpbs reporter Alexander Nguyen was there for the unveiling of a new.

That's the billboard behind me.

It shows an oil rig at sunset at the beach with the message, enjoy a sunset stop offshore drilling.

The Sierra Club and Wild Coast was joined by elected officials from San Diego's coastal communities for the unveiling.

They say oil drilling will threaten California's coastal ecosystems, communities and industries that depend on a healthy ocean.

In November, the Trump administration announced a plan for new oil drilling off the coast of California and Florida for the first time in decades.

Wild Coast Executive Director Serge Dedina knows firsthand how pollution destroys the local economy.

He's the former mayor of Imperial Beach.

Coronado and Imperial Beach are being devastated by repeated beach closures from toxic waste and pollution.

And that's something we can't afford to happen to the rest of San Diego.

And if an oil spill happened, that would been the end of literally thousands of jobs in San Diego.

Whale and dolphin watching boat captain Russell D. Moore says besides the devastation to marine life, there's also a human cost to oil spills and a complete die off that would threaten to close industries that depend on daily activity.

Sport fishing boats don't go out on Saturday.

Sunday they go out seven days a week to pay the crew, to pay their families to keep the boat running.

Captain Russell says these family can't survive a prolonged shut down, and offshore drilling could affect the $15 billion California coastal economy.

In Claremont Mesa I'm Alexander Nguyen, Kpbs news.

Clouds are increasing, the winds picking up as well.

We're going to have an active weekend with some rain showers around.

I know it's kind of ill timed here.

Falling on a Saturday.

Saturday night and Sunday morning with some rain around, but, overall we take it as a bit of a win, at least when it comes to our rain budget and mitigating any fire danger in the short term.

Tonight though, a lot of clouds.

Temps falling into the 50s, low 60s along the coastline.

A little cooler into Mount Laguna.

Wind advisories are in effect.

We'll have a complete look at the forecast coming up.

A new round of talks for ending the Iran conflict could happen soon.

Top Pentagon officials gave an update today as the economic toll of the war weighs on companies and consumers around the world.

Karin Caifa reports from Washington.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Friday, echoing President Donald Trump's new timeline for an end to the war with Iran, President Trump said it again yesterday.

We have all the time in the world.

Hegseth also taking aim at European allies for not helping the U.S.

effort enough.

They need the Strait of Hormuz much more than we do, and might want to start doing less talking and having less fancy conferences in Europe and getting a boat.

The European Union, which doesn't produce oil on the large scale of the U.S., unveiled emergency measures this week as soaring energy costs pressure the blocks economy, and the Strait of Hormuz remains closed for shipping amid the U.S.

Iran standoff.

But U.S.

consumers and companies are taking a hit.

Grocery prices, electricity bills it's all being impacted by this closure of the strait from airlines struggling with skyrocketing jet fuel costs, to businesses importing goods from Asia, where factories are seeing a shortage of supplies.

Meanwhile, AAA said the nationwide average for a gallon of gas ticked up to $4.06 Friday.

People rely on their vehicles.

They need to fill up their tanks to get back and forth from work to home.

It is putting an extreme burden on the American people and this war needs to end now.

Americans feel more negative about the overall economy and their personal finances now than they did in March, according to the University of Michigan's latest consumer sentiment reading released on Friday.

In Washington, I'm Karin Caifa.

California voters will decide in November whether to impose new voter identification and citizenship verification requirements.

Local Republican State Assemblyman Carl DeMaio is among the ballot measure supporters.

It would require voters to present government issued identification at the polls, or provide identifying information when voting by mail.

The measure would also require the state to issue voter identification cards upon request, and mandate annual reports on voter citizenship verification rates.

San Diego County voters will likely decide this November whether to make significant changes to county governance.

For the latest why it Matters segment, Voice of San Diego reporter Lisa Halverstadt explains what's being proposed.

For decades, San Diego County managers and bureaucrats have had unique sway over county government.

County Board Chair Terra Lawson Remer and a coalition of supporters want to shift the balance of power to give county residents and supervisors like Lawson Remer more influence over day to day operations and the budget.

United behind a common concern and common set of priorities that it is vital, that we have a transparent, accountable, stable, modern county government to best be able to respond to the urgent needs of San Diegans.

This week, Lawson Remer and fellow board Democrats took an initial vote to place reforms on the November ballot.

The county has what's known as a charter.

Basically, that's the county's version of the Constitution.

Democrats on the county board want voters to approve changes to the charter.

First, they would give supervisors a third term, up from two four year terms.

Proponents say this would give constituents more experience supervisors better able to fulfill campaign promises.

Opponents see this as a selfish move by Lawson Remer and others to give themselves more time on the job.

Lawson Remer also wants supervisors to take a vote on certain top county hires, and to fire those officials with a supermajority vote.

Supporters say this gives constituents more say over powerful county managers.

Opponents say this will make those hires more beholden to politicians whims.

The measure would also create two positions that report to supervisors a program auditor and a budget analyst.

These proposals are more popular even with opponents, but some argue these positions should be even more independent, reporting to constituents and perhaps even via elected positions.

The proposal also calls for a new county ethics commission to investigate complaints against elected county officials.

Supporters say this is a crucial need that now isn't filled.

But opponents say the county could rely on other investigators.

And some questioned how independent the commission will be since most positions will be appointed by supervisors, county supervisors are set to take a second required vote on these proposals on May 19th.

If they sign off, voters will see a charter measure on the November ballot.

I'm Lisa Halverstadt for Voice of San Diego, and that's why it matters.

A local nonprofit has found fewer people living in the San Diego riverbed compared to this time last year.

Kpbs Penner fellow Emmy Burrus reports.

Many of the people who live here are finding housing along the banks of the San Diego riverbed.

From Ocean Beach to Santee, the San Diego River Park Foundation counted 195 people experiencing homelessness this month.

That's about 23% less people than were living unhoused here at this time last year, the foundation's clean River program manager, Rachel Downing, said.

This is the result of her team's daily work in the riverbed to connect people with service providers and clean up trash.

If we want a healthy river, we have to to make sure that nobody's living down here and disposing of their waste down here.

However, we understand that everybody experiencing homelessness is living in a different situation, and they deserve our respect because they're part of our community.

The census data is given to policymakers and service providers to advocate for more resources to the riverbed.

One of these service providers for the city of San Diego is Path.

Their workers are also in the riverbed daily to get people housed.

Jayna Lee is the associate director of programs.

And so to bring that number down, like, yes, we're moving people out and we're getting them into the right places.

Over the past year, Lee said, Path has helped permanently house 71 people from the riverbed.

More went to temporary housing.

She says unhoused census counts might not find everyone, and new people move in and out of the riverbed year round.

The River Park Foundation conducts counts in the spring and fall and assist in the winter point in time count.

But with flooding in the fall and winter, Downing said the spring count is the most accurate view of how many people call the river bed home.

Emmy Burrus Kpbs news Public matters is a partnership with Kpbs, inews source and Voice of San Diego.

You can see more of our stories at kpbs.org/publicmatters.

Housing affordability in California improved slightly in 2025, but San Diego County remains among the least affordable markets statewide.

That's according to a report released by the California Association of Realtors today.

Per the report, 19% of California households earned enough income to purchase a median priced home in 2025.

That is up from 18% the previous year.

But in San Diego, that number was just 17%.

The statewide median price for a detached home was over $875,000.

As with the San Diego Latino Film Festival, PAC Arts Spring Showcase is condensing its events to help you prepare for the intense three day weekend of Asian and Asian American cinema.

We have Kpbs arts reporter Beth Accomando with this preview.

I'm here at Ultra Star Cinema's Mission Valley at Hazard Center for the launch of Spring Showcase, and I'm here with Pac Arts Artistic Director Brian Hu and Brian.

I am wearing this shirt in protest of the fact that Mystery Kung Fu Theater is not a part of the showcase this year.

What's up?

I saw you walk into the theater.

I saw you with the shirt.

I knew you were going to ask me this.

Mystery Kung Fu Theater is a long, beloved tradition at the San Diego Asian Film Festival.

Let's just say we want to keep the mystery going, we're dormant.

We're in training, and we will be back in November.

All right.

But you do have three outstanding documentaries this year, starting with tonight's Road to Sydney.

And this is by a local filmmaker, Benito Bautista.

Tell us about the film.

Yeah.

Benito has been we've been playing these films for like 20 years now.

He's made documentaries, made fiction films.

His latest, one; the Road to Sydney, is about a, a trans woman in the Bay area.

As she's kind of walking us through her transition.

And as she's doing that, we discovered that this is more than just about identity.

It's also about housing.

It's about work.

It's about family.

It's about tradition.

And she also happens to be a dance choreographer.

So there's amazing dance choreography for, like, traditional Filipino, dance choreography.

So it's got a little bit something for everybody, and it's got a powerful ending and really excited.

That Benito and his producer Emma Francisco are going to be here for the Q&A and another great documentary, which surprised me because I went into it thinking, this is going to be a sports documentary called Diamond Diplomacy, but it is about so much more than just sports in Japan and America's obsession with baseball.

I thought it was going to be a baseball documentary to write like, some greatest hits of some Japanese players that we all have have grown to love.

You know, but the documentary is about like, why is it that there are Japanese baseball players in the major leagues?

What are the kinds of diplomacy that was involved?

What are the economics of it?

What is the politics of it?

How does it, intersect with a US Japan relations over a whole century?

How does Babe Ruth get involved?

Right?

Willie Mays gets involved.

And it's really like, it's a reminder that all of baseball in America is related in some ways to the international.

And we know, of course, about Japan, but also Latin America.

And it's really talking about baseball as an international game.

And of course, here in San Diego, we've got Japanese players in the Padres, too.

So I think audiences will really enjoy this film.

And your closing night film is also a documentary.

And as with Road to Sydney, it's sort of not just about a subject, but also about a filmmaker's journey.

And this is Evon the lost sounds of Saigon.

So explain what these loss sounds are.

Yeah.

I mean, imagine growing up the children of refugees in the United States, and hearing that your grandfather was like the Quincy Jones of Vietnam.

Right.

Like he wrote all of the hits, all the rock and roll hits of the 1960s.

But that these songs are gone because with the with the war in Vietnam, these sort of sounds were considered rather decadent.

This American rock n roll sound.

So they went underground and she says, I want to find that music.

So she goes on a trip to Vietnam.

It's like scouting for the vinyl records.

So it's a music packed.

Story about family and history.

All right.

The spring showcase continues through Sunday here at Ultra Star Cinema's Mission Valley.

I'm Beth Accomando for Kpbs news.

The Worldwide City Nature Challenge pits regions against each other in a shared effort to document the plants and animals around us.

Community members can upload photos of plants and wildlife to the iNaturalist app.

San Diego Natural History Museum botanist John Rudman says these contributions greatly expand.

Scientists data.

That really changes our knowledge of what is where crazy amounts of of data.

So that's why I do it.

So that we better understand that diversity where it is, and we can use that to better protect the species.

There.

And to participate this weekend.

You can join the guided BioBlitz and upload your own photos of the San Diego City Nature Challenge project on inaturalist.org.

March brought a brutal heat wave across much of the country, but it wasn't just about the triple digit temperatures.

It was a rare and powerful phenomenon known as the heat dome, marking the hottest March temperatures on record for the US.

Maribel Gonzalez spoke with climate experts to break down what caused it.

Since 2021's major heat dome researchers tell us they've been studying what factors caused it.

Now, this recent heat dome was record breaking, and while rare experts say they are likely to happen again.

A typical April 1st we expect about five feet of depth, so we would be standing this high off the ground.

But instead, this year's California Sierra Nevada snowpack marked record lows impacted in part by record hot temperatures in March, and many other parts of the West also felt the triple digit temperatures brought on by an unprecedented heat wave known as a heat dome.

It was a high pressure system that sat over the area and increased the temperatures.

Claire Barnes is a researcher based in London studying the impact of climate change on extreme weather.

What we're seeing now that is more unusual is the temperatures that those heat waves are able to reach, and they are reaching higher temperatures.

And while many factors can contribute to a specific heat dome, what exactly caused this particular heat wave to sit for so long over such a large area and to become so intense?

That's going to take some research to understand.

Experts say human caused climate change are making them more intense.

Greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, due to the burning of fossil fuel, acts as a blanket that traps heat in the atmosphere near the ground.

And this is something that's been known for about 200 years.

The climate system is interconnected.

So if it gets warm, over the globe, it means also that more ice is melting.

The polar ice caps are melting.

And that means very gradually that sea level is rising.

One of the reasons why researchers study heat domes is to best predict them and be prepared for when they happen.

And that is because heat is the deadliest form of extreme weather in the U.S., killing more than twice as many people each year, on average, as hurricanes and tornadoes combined.

In Los Angeles, I'm Maribel Gonzalez.

It's an active weather pattern.

We have some showers holding on.

What a difference.

Compared to March.

When a month ago.

Month.

Even maybe 5 or 6 weeks ago.

It felt like the dry season was here.

It was for a time, but it's not here to stay quite yet.

The wet season has still, kind of held on tough into April with some rain showers, and we're going to be dealing with some more rain showers into Southern California this weekend.

At times, very breezy as well, increasingly windy spotty showers Saturday morning that some heavier showers may rotate through Saturday night into early Sunday.

Low clouds lurk tonight 61 your expected low.

You can see some of the most widespread showers will be to our north and northeast, but there will be some moisture that sneaks in.

And you can see we are going to be tracking some spotty sprinkles in the morning.

A couple of brief showers around Borrego Springs may stay dry there into the deserts, but it'll be a cooler day.

A cloudy day with spotty showers.

It will get windy as well.

The winds will pick up into the inland areas, especially into the canyons.

The deserts as well and any mountain pass.

Travel here into areas off to the east are going to be windy.

Wind advisory picks up starting at 2 p.m.

Saturday, and that will continue to 11 a.m.

Sunday.

So it's the middle of the weekend when we will be at our windiest.

But here comes those sprinkles late tonight into early Saturday.

Initially not a whole lot to track, but there will be some out there.

You may need to use the wipers, but then look at this.

How about this on Saturday night into early Sunday, some peskier showers, even hints of snow up in the highest of elevations.

But some heavier showers may rotate through the region, which is kind of a nice thing.

I know it's not the best timing.

If you have outdoor plans this weekend, but again, it mitigates fire danger and it does add to our rainfall budget.

So here we have our Sunday forecast.

Cool.

Some showers, especially early in the day.

We stay cool on Monday.

Some snow up into the northern part of the Great Basin.

We're going to be cooler and drier come Monday.

Here locally.

So again brief showers on Saturday.

Some showers again Saturday night into early Sunday.

And then we dry back out with partly sunny skies.

Then yet another chance for showers on Wednesday very late April.

Doing pretty well here for us with rainfall off.

And on Saturday there are the showers and inland areas, lingering showers early Sunday morning.

Mostly cloudy, then drying quickly, but again clouds will thicken up midweek.

We get the chance for some showers.

Again, not a strong system, but something in the mountains here you are cool and showery on Saturday.

Maybe a lingering shower or sprinkled Sunday morning.

A little bit less chilly into Tuesday.

Still kind of cold compared to average for this time of the year.

And then more showers return for Wednesday.

This is an active forecast now.

The deserts are a little more resistant to rainfall.

We will see the wind here though all weekend.

Over breezy time, the wind picks up for the deserts, wind advisories for some, a little warmer for Tuesday, and relatively warm Wednesday before the clouds thicken back up.

I'm AccuWeather meteorologist Geoff Cornish for Kpbs news.

I'm Geoff Bennett tonight on the NewsHour, new hopes for talks between the US and Iran that could eventually lead to an end to the war.

That's at seven after Evening Edition on Kpbs.

And be sure to join us tonight for Kpbs news this week, where we revisit the most impactful and intriguing original reporting of the week.

This week airs every Friday at 8:30 here on Kpbs.

How will I spend my time after retirement?

It is a question many of us face as that long awaited day nears.

Kpbs reporter John Carroll has the story of one San Diegan who's keeping his lifelong love of music going in a unique way.

In this El Cajon neighborhood, things are quiet.

A horse enjoys the sunny weather.

And across the street from its corral, a curious sight.

This minivan with applications that signal something sonorous.

And there's a good reason that that is not in here.

That's because this is no ordinary garage.

This is a place where musical magic happens.

After a number of auditions for the San Diego Symphony.

I got a job as the fourth horn of the San Diego Symphony.

That's Doug Hall.

He played French horn in the San Diego Symphony for 36 years.

He retired a couple of years ago, but French horns are still a huge part of his life.

He loves them so much that he makes and fixes them here.

The garage at the home of another retired symphony musician houses his business, McCracken horns.

So why isn't it Hall horns?

Well, it's named for George McCracken, a legendary designer and creator of brass instruments.

It was like working with Leonard Bernstein in a French horn shop.

I call George the Stradivarius of French horn making.

I was with George McCracken in Virginia as an apprentice before I came to California.

We built a lot of horns and I learned a lot.

He was my teacher mentor.

So this is called a core solo.

If you've ever wondered about how a French horn works, Hall's the man with the answers.

It's a natural horn.

It's a copy of a French instrument that was made in the 1800s, Little Beethoven.

Over the course of several hours we spent with Hall videographer Carlos Castillo.

And I learned a lot about French horns.

You'd be forgiven for thinking a French horn is a French horn, but there are actually myriad varieties using metal bent into gentle curves.

Valves letting air in and out of here and there.

So this is the next horn I'm working on.

It's a triple horn.

You can see three sets of tubing and it'll have a valve slides.

And this is the change valve.

And this is something that George designed.

And you'll have one on this side and one on this side to send the air between this set, this set and then this set.

So they work together.

Back to Hall's story.

He began his musical life in a rather auspicious way as a boy soprano with the Washington National Cathedral choristers.

Not long after, the young hall had a watershed moment.

I went to the National Symphony in Constitution Hall, and the horn player stood up and played till England's bugle.

And I was like, oh, I want to do that.

And the rest is history.

Fast forward to Hall's apprenticeship with George McCracken, and his desire to play rather than fix and make horns was stirring.

So he did something that would bring him to California and change his life.

I missed playing my horn, and I sent a cassette tape to Leonard Bernstein, who hired me to be the principal horn of the L.A.

Philharmonic Institute at the Hollywood Bowl.

That led to stints with various orchestras in the West before he finally landed with the San Diego Symphony.

Then a few years ago, he got a call from a then 92 year old George McCracken, who was ready to retire.

And I was a little bit shocked because, of course, you never want something like that to end.

And so we designed these horns, and I helped him finish other instruments that he was trying to get done.

And then, he said, you got to buy the shop.

And I'm like, okay.

And I end up putting it all in a pod, a moving pod, and moved it here.

And it was it was an adventure.

The adventure continues for this skilled musician steeped in the tradition of the French horn.

Most musicians are looking for a sound.

How can they make the most beautiful sound that they possibly can?

Of course, the French horn is one of the most beautiful instruments.

It's very romantic.

George McCracken died in 2024.

Now, the desire to keep French horns in the musical mix continues to power.

The romance between Doug Hall and his beloved instruments.

A fulfilling next chapter in the soundtrack of his life.

John Carroll, Kpbs news.

Another great story by John.

You can find tonight's stories on our website, kpbs.org.

Thanks for joining us.

I'm Maya Trabulsi, have a great evening.

Major funding for Kpbs Evening Edition has been made possible in part by Bill Howe, family of companies providing San Diego with plumbing, heating, air restoration and flood services for over 45 years.

Call one 800 Bill Howe or visit Bill howe.com.

And by the Conrad Prebys Foundation.

Darlene Marcos Shiley.

And by the following.

And by viewers like you.

Thank you.