Major funding for Kpbs Evening Edition has been made possible in part by Bill Howe, family of companies providing San Diego with plumbing, heating and air restoration, blood and remodeling services for over 40 years.

Call one 800 Bill Howe or visit Billhowe.com.

And by the Conrad Prebys Foundation.

Darlene Marcos Shiley.

And by the following.

And by viewers like you.

Thank you.

Thank you for joining us.

I'm John Carroll in for Maya Trabulsi.

1 in 3 working Californians is struggling to pay for basic needs like housing and child care.

That according to a statewide analysis out today.

Kpbs education reporter Katie Anastas says one takeaway is that tax credits can help families, but many don't claim them.

The federal definition of poverty is largely based on the cost of food.

United Way's real cost measure considers other expenses like housing, childcare and health care.

The measure varies throughout the state.

In San Diego County, we've estimated that it takes two adults, one preschooler and one school age child at least $116,000 in income annually to make ends meet.

United Way's latest analysis finds that a third of households in San Diego County don't earn enough to pay for housing, food, transportation and other basic needs.

That goes up to nearly half of households with children under six.

The cost of childcare creates impossible choices for families across the state.

So I work full time to make sure we have health coverage, but that also means I'm away from my children and have to pay for childcare.

It's a constant balancing act, working so we can qualify for basic needs like insurance.

But but then spending part of that paycheck just to make it possible to work.

The study recommends policymakers expand affordable childcare, public benefits, and tax credits for families with young children.

Eligible families can get up to about $4,700 through existing tax credits, but many don't claim them.

If you earn below $15,000 in California, you're not required to file a return.

Right.

And so, a lot a large part of our outreach around the California earned income tax credit and the young child tax credit was to reach those very low income families and encourage them to file a return because they're leaving money on the table.

A bill introduced in the state legislature would expand the child tax credit to families with older children by 2028.

Families with kids up to 18 years old would be eligible, or up to 23 years old if they're attending college.

In the meantime, United Way's of California says pre tax filing can make tax credits more accessible for families who need them most.

Katie Anastas, Kpbs news.

Well, tonight we drop down into the upper 50s still dealing with the clouds, especially those marine layer low clouds.

And actually, as the week goes on, that's going to spread a little bit farther inland.

So just be aware that maybe haven't been dealing with it yet, but you might be dealing with it by the time we get to mid to end of the week, I'll break down what to expect with an early look at the weekend coming up on this 100th day of the Trump administration.

Various surveys and polls show growing pessimism among us consumers.

Much of it is centered on President Trump's chaotic tariff policy that has rattled both Wall Street and Main Street.

Earlier today, the Treasury, Treasury secretary worked to ease America's unease about the economy.

Laura Aguirre reports.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent at the white House this morning, hoping to reassure an anxious American public that tariff deals are on the way.

We have 18 important trading relationships.

We will be speaking to all of those partners, or at least 17 of them.

They are over the next few weeks.

It wasn't revealed if one of those was China.

We're not going to talk about who's talking to whom.

When asked about a Punchbowl News report out this morning saying Amazon may soon display tariff up charges in its pricing, white House Secretary Caroline Leavitt quickly stepped in.

I just got off the phone with the president about Amazon's announcement.

This is a hostile and political act.

In a statement to CNN, Amazon says it never planned to post tariff increases on its main retail site, but had considered doing so on Haul, its spinoff website that sells items below $20.

Adding that change isn't going to happen.

Bessent also praised the long anticipated GOP tax bill that he says will make permanent Trump's 2017 tax cuts and fulfill several campaign promises.

No tax on tips, the no tax on Social Security, no tax on overtime and the restoring interest deductibility for autos for American made autos.

To get that bill through Congress could put tens of billions and Medicaid dollars at risk, which some Democrats see as a political opening.

I think if we can mount a success ful challenge here in Congress to these cuts to Medicaid, the American people will be reassured that we have the ability to change the course of what happens here in Congress, in Trump's presidency.

I'm Laura Aguirre for Kpbs news.

California's attorney general says the federal government is falling down on the job when it comes to federal immigration detention facilities in the state.

Today, AG Rob Bonta released a new report on the six privately operated facilities.

Two of them are in our region, one in Otay Mesa and one in Imperial County.

Bonta says the facilities are failing in a number of ways.

At a news conference today, he highlighted what he says is an alarmingly inadequate treatment of mental health issues and more at certain facilities.

Detained individuals were over disciplined, including for simply making a complaint.

At some facilities, there were lapses in ensuring detained individuals were received, receiving treatment for infectious diseases, and the quality and timeliness of diagnostic health care was severely lacking.

Bonta blames what he calls the Trump administration's cruel immigration policies.

And he says he expects the problem to only get worse.

He's calling on Congress to get involved.

The Trump administration is reportedly looking back, looking at scaling back the new Chuck Walla National Monument in Imperial County.

Kpbs Imperial Valley reporter Kori Suzuki says tribes and environmental justice groups are bracing for a decision.

In January, President Biden created the Chuck Walla National Monument, granting sweeping federal protections to more than 600,000 acres of high desert to the east of the Salton Sea.

It was a major victory for six tribes and dozens of environmental justice groups in Imperial and Riverside County.

Now, though, the Trump administration is thinking about taking some of those protections away.

Last week, The Washington Post reported that the Interior Department is looking at opening up six national monuments to more mining and oil production, including Chuck Walla.

It's a nonnegotiable.

It's a nonstarter for us.

Donald Medart Jr is a former council member with the Fort Yuma Watson Indian Tribe.

He says tribal leaders are urging the administration to respect tribal sovereignty.

Earlier this month, several leaders sent a letter to President Donald Trump and his Interior Secretary, Doug Burgum, asking them to meet with tribes before making any decisions.

Still, Medart says Indian Country is not new to these types of threats.

The fight doesn't run on an election cycle.

This fight has been happening since the beginning of time for us.

And so this is just another chink in the chain, if you will.

A spokesperson for the Interior Department declined a request for comment.

Kori Suzuki Kpbs news the historian Heather Cox Richardson told Kpbs earlier this year that Americans are less polarized than we know, even on hot button issues like gun safety and abortion.

And the politicians who insist we are divided have something to gain.

San Diegan Allen Hoving is trying to do just that by launching an online unity building platform called The Big Middle.

He spoke recently with Kpbs' Amita Sharma.

Allen.

What exactly is the big middle and how did you get the idea for it?

Well, the big middle is two things.

One is the big middle of Americans who agree across the board on many, many issues.

But in the context of my project, the big middle is an online platform that actively fosters the building of consensus.

And I started this project, believe it or not, 27 years ago, when I saw that the internet was polarizing everyone, and now we see the results with social media.

So more than ever before, I believe that this big middle consensus building platform, especially on the issues that we're all facing in a very divided, divided America, is needed more than ever.

Who are you appealing to?

What kind of voter do you think will be interested in joining the big middle?

And it's yeah, thanks for that question.

Not just voters, it's citizens.

Because everybody in this country has a stake in being able to solve our problems together.

And, you know, when Americans work together, we win.

So, the big middle is an online forum for everybody to come together and ari all of the issues and decide, how are we going to work together to solve these, what are those issues?

And tell me about the response you've received so far.

Right.

So, you know, the issues are the ones that everyone knows about, whether it's, you know, the economy, whether it's climate change, whether it's, immigration, social justice, all of the main issues, we all know what they are.

And so I believe and I have, you know, evidence to back that up, that there is a big middle of Americans who tend to agree on certain solutions, certain steps, and we just need to get together and recognize that there is a big middle.

The big middle needs to become self-aware.

And the big middle needs to, assert itself.

And we're all living online these days.

So that's why this is an online solution.

So, Allen, say everything comes together as you've just outlined.

You talk about the issues, you reach some kind of consensus.

Then what?

Well, then there are ways, you know, for for the audience or the group, the big middle to act.

And, you know, obviously it could be anything from, legislation could be petitioning all of the typical, rights that we have as citizens we can use to advance the interests of the big middle again, in solving our common problems.

Sometimes I say, you know, it doesn't matter what side of the aisle you come from.

If we have to fix potholes, let's get out there on Saturday morning.

I'll bring the shovel, and you bring the tar and the gravel, and let's fix the potholes.

So instead of this, you know, arguing this way, that way.

Left, right.

We need to, like, come together and actually solve these problems.

So, the response I think especially, you know, today where we see the country so divided, social media has accelerated this, it's very difficult for us to get anything done, especially on the, the, issues that I have mentioned.

But I do think that there is a, you know, big middle that would like to move forward on at least, taking some steps to solve these problems.

How will you measure the big middle's success?

Well, first of all, we need to get the platform launched.

We need for people to, you know, join in online, and we need to have these healthy debates.

But I think, most importantly, we need the big middle to become self-aware.

And, you know, it's often said that there's broad agreement across all the citizens and people in this country, to take some steps to solve the problems.

But I think right now we're all divided and we're all isolated and in bubbles, and the big middle needs to recognize itself and its power and then be able to take positive steps forward.

Allen, tell me about the response that you've received so far.

Well, I've been, taking this out, for about a year now and showing it to people and asking for their feedback.

We've shown it to, dozens of, news media outlets, and I'm actually speaking with several individuals who might be able to host the big middle show.

So the response has been that, this is something that we haven't seen yet, and I think that more and more people are coming to realize that this is a good solution for us.

It may not be the magical solution that solves all our problems, but I think it is a good way to approach coming together.

Like I say, let's meet in the big middle where most Americans are and work together to solve our problems.

Public matters is a partnership between Kpbs, INewSource and Voice of San Diego.

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

The La Jolla secession effort ma be moving forward, after all.

Today, the local agency Formation Commission, known as Lafco, said the group behind the effort has gathered enough signatures to move forward with the proposed split from the city of San Diego.

Lafco overturned the county registrar of voters decision, which has said more than 240 signatures were not valid.

Lafco says the next step will be an administrative review.

San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria issued a statement calling the reversal outrageous, adding the city will issue a formal letter of objection.

The homeless services provider, Father Joe's Villages, says they are seeing a 25% increase in residents seeking out mental health care this year, compared to last.

Kpbs health reporter Heidi DeMarco says programs like theirs that pair housing with social services are more likely to help people leave homelessness for good.

When Annette Culver first met her therapist, Mark Stevenson, at Father Joe's Villages, she gave him just 15 minutes.

So I was very defiant, just waiting for him to make a wrong move, and I stayed the whole time.

You know, the whole the whole hour talking to him.

Those 15 minutes turned into a couple of years of regular therapy sessions.

Culver is diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, depression and extreme paranoia.

And I dealt with that all my life, you know?

So it's it's nice to have some control and to know what I'm facing and how to face it.

And I've got the tools.

I've got the tools to keep going on.

She's not alone.

Mark Stevenson oversees the therapy programs, seeing 200 more individuals and families and children than we did the last year.

Then we realize this issue with mental health and homelessness is not only, persistent, but it's progressive.

He says behavioral health support like group therapy, psychiatry and street health teams is key to addressing not just housing, but healing.

We don't know what our folks have been through before they got here.

A lot of them might have had terrible experiences with certain service providers.

He says by combining housing therapy and health care for the villages removes some of the biggest barriers to recovery and reintegration.

Things like transportation issues and access to consistent care, and where people are living in the mode of survival, they don't have a lot of time to chase down those resources.

Sometimes they have to do what they need to do to stay safe, put something in their mouth and figure out a good place to sleep for the night.

Research from UC San Diego backs this up.

It shows only about 1 in 4 people who stayed in San Diego County shelters between 2018 and 2023 moved straight into permanent housing.

Service providers who pair housing with health and social care are the most successful at helping people leave homelessness for good.

I'm very grateful for Mark for opening all the doors and sticking with me, because I am not easy for Culver.

The journey from survival to stability started with a small leap of faith and a therapist willing to listen.

Now she's in low income housing, managing her mental health and encouraging others to do the same.

This is the door if you want to grow, if you want to get out of your situation.

This is the door to walk through in the first quarter of 2025.

Father Joe's villages helped 77 people move from shelter into permanent housing, slightly fewer than the 86 last year, as demand for mental health care rises.

The organization says it is expanding its services to keep pace.

Heidi DeMarco, Kpbs news.

50 years ago, the war in Vietnam ended with the fall of Saigon.

That changed the course of many lives, from those who served to those who fled Vietnam.

Kpbs reporter Jacob Aere says many involved in the historic event have ties to San Diego.

50 years ago, thousands were evacuated from Vietnam to safety aboard the USS midway, including Hugh Nguyen, who was just a child at the time.

He's standing in front of a replica of the helicopter that brought him on board as a 17 year old.

We were afraid.

I remember just hanging on to my grandparents and my aunt, my grandparents, who raised me.

And so, yeah, it was a great journey over here to America.

He was one of thousands of Vietnamese Americans and Vietnam War veterans who crowded the USS midway last weekend at San Diego Harbor.

They commemorated the war's end and the daring rescues that took place.

The event also celebrated Southern California's Vietnamese population, many of whom are here because of those rescues.

My family, my mother and her family actually came here as refugees from Vietnam, after the fall of Saigon, actually, before the fall of Saigon, they escaped on a boat, in the dark of night.

And I think it's a similar story for a lot of Vietnamese Americans who came as refugees to the United States.

Some of the veterans who showed up served on the midway during the rescue effort known as Operation Frequent Wind.

Oh, it's a very emotional day.

95 year old retired Rear Admiral Larry Chambers commanded the midway, then, and risked his career saving South Vietnamese refugees.

When we were in the middle of chaos, there were 24 ships out there rescuing, but.

But we didn't rescue everybody.

I mean, there are a lot of boats that made it to the Philippines on their own.

And then there was one small plane flown by South Vietnamese Major Buang-Ly He was escaping with his family.

But when I look back to my family, my gut told me I could do it, and I did it.

To make way for that plane and more aircraft afterwards.

Chambers ordered military helicopters pushed overboard.

The Smithsonian says $10 million worth of aircraft went into the ocean.

And over two days, the midway rescued more than 3000 people.

Jacob Aere Kpbs news.

On this milestone anniversary, Kpbs presents a four part video series called Fall of Saigon at 50 stories of Loss, legacy and Identity.

You can watch it online at kpbs.org Well, really all week will be dealing with the low clouds.

But as we head into the weekend, temperatures are going to change a little bit for some of us, a little bit of a cooling trend because we have some rain on the way for the weekend.

Let's break all of it down, starting with what to expect for tonight.

Now, a lot of us dealing with the clouds overnight.

Temperatures in the mid 50s for Oceanside.

Upper 50s for San Diego.

60s for Borrego Springs.

As we look ahead to tomorrow.

Some of us into the 70s, like Ramona in the mid 70s there.

68 is that high for San Diego.

Clouds sticking around for just about everybody, not Laguna in the mid 50s for tomorrow.

I mentioned we got a little bit of weekend rain on the way.

Here's your overall snapshot.

A lot of this is going to be north of us, as tends to be the case, but you can see all the way down even into San Diego.

And those of us closer to the coast will be seeing a little bit of rain.

Can't rule out a thunderstorm or two, especially Sunday.

So just something to keep in mind.

Kind of plan ahead that I know we need the rain.

It's been a very dry, wet season for us, but timing isn't great for your weekend plans that might be outdoors.

So this is one of those scenarios and just want to keep an eye on the radar.

Maybe plan your weekend plans, maybe around the rain, or just plan to stay inside.

Now all of the mountain snow that is going to be north of us.

So it's really just the coast and a little bit of our inland communities that are going to be seeing some scattered rain for the weekend.

Let's take a look at your five day outlook for the coast Saturday.

We really see the low clouds get actually even worse than what we have been dealing with.

And you see, temperatures do go down from the upper 60s for most of the week down to the mid 60s.

By the time we get to our Sunday farther inland, we're in the 70s for much of the week.

Drop down to the 60s for the weekend with that cold front that moves through, bringing the rain in our mountain five day outlook.

We're in the 50s, dropping down to the 40s for the weekend.

We do see significant increase in the wind for Sunday as that system works its way through.

So just plan for that.

And then our desert five day outlook.

We're bouncing between the 90s in the 80s depending on the day 92 for your Friday.

But then we even drop down to the 60s by the time we get to Sunday, and we will be dealing with the wind there as well.

For Kpbs news, I'm AccuWeather's Anna Azallion.

The largest tourism conference in Latin America is underway in Rosarito this week.

Kpbs' Matthew Boehler sat down with the owner of one of Baja's most iconic destinations.

The Rosarito Beach Hotel has been around for over 100 years.

Antique cars are parked in the main entry and remind patrons of a bygone era when American celebrities would escape prohibition and come to the glamorous beachside hotel.

We just turned 100 last year, so this year we're 100 101 and, well, we just we were just declared, historical, site by the Secretary of Culture of, Baja California.

That's Hugo Torres.

His family has owned and run the Rosary Beach Hotel for generations.

He took over from his father four years ago.

He grew up knowing the tiny town of Rosarito and now the city, with more than 150,000 residents.

30 years ago, Rosarito became its own city, separate from Tijuana.

Now we have 160,000 people living in Rosarito.

When it used to be 120, it would went up like crazy.

Industry came with that growth.

Torres says he employs about 300 people, and tourism is still a very important part of the city's economy.

Big companies and even even maquiladoras moved into town since it was now a city.

Torres says the city's tourism industry has diversified.

So I think it's it's, evolving.

It's becoming, a different type of tourism.

It's still the young people.

They love to come here in the summer to have the big events, but also we're getting an older crowd that come for the, for the gastronomic events.

However, he's cautious about our region's immediate economic future.

Well, I think the economy as a whole in the US and Mexico is coming into a little small recession.

And it's been like that, too.

It's been slow.

We we've had, winter months that were like, slower than, than other years.

The common refrain is that when the United States sneezes, Mexico catches a cold.

But Torres is cautiously optimistic.

I'm optimistic.

I think this is just, temporarily.

And we're going to go back to full normal by summer.

So I hope that it's not a big recession.

I hope that they think over the the thing with, the but the tariffs.

That's what I wanted.

That follows the tariffs.

I think they're going to think them over again.

And and Mexico has done a good job.

The Mexican president Claudia she's stood up and she's doing a good job.

Torres is positive about the future of Rosarito and tourism in Baja and San Diego in Rosarito.

Matthew Boehler, Kpbs news.

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

Thank you so much for joining us.

I'm John Carroll.

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 and air restoration, blood and remodeling services for over 40 years.

Call one 800 Bill Howe or visit Billhowe.com.

And by the Conrad Prebys Foundation.

Darlene Marcos Shiley and by the following.

And by viewers like you.

Thank you.