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 40 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.

Clean energy projects in San Diego are getting a financial boost from San Diego Community Power.

Thank you for joining us.

I'm Maya Trabulsi Kpbs environment reporter Tammy Murga says one of the grant recipients offers gas free rides for free.

Mid-City go is an electric shuttle program offering rides in City Heights and North Park.

It has only been in operation for a few months.

Jesse Ramirez is with the nonprofit City Heights Community Development Corporation.

He says the public has received it very well.

There's been situations where we have some residents who tell us like, hey, you know, sometimes I'm a little embarrassed.

To use this service because it's like the third or fourth time I use it in a day.

But it really, makes a difference in my daily life.

The service is so popular, people are asking the organization to expand the hours it runs.

9 to 5 is great, and our residents are taking advantage of it.

They're using it to go to places, but we are hearing that there's still a need.

Right.

Early commutes afternoon commutes.

City Heights CDC plans to add hours with $67,000 in grant funding from San Diego Community Power.

The nonprofit offers clean electricity to several communities.

Karin Burns is the CEO.

She says the shuttle and 13 other projects were selected because they advanced climate action, as well as meeting critical local needs like affordable housing, clean transportation, education and workforce development.

San Diego Community Power awarded more than $900,000 to the projects.

The money for the grant program comes from some of its revenues.

Tammy Murga, Kpbs news.

I'm Ariella Scalise, and coming up tonight, we're talking about temperatures dropping back only into the upper 60s, partly cloudy and humid as the monsoon moisture does stick around.

We'll be tracking some more areas of thunderstorms.

I'll show you when it dries out and cools down.

That's all coming up.

You may have noticed some new election mailers showing up in your mailbox.

And our next why it matters segment.

Voice of San Diego CEO Scott Lewis explains what they're about.

Suddenly, a fall without an election has become one with a big, expensive fight.

And it's all about redistricting.

Here's a little background.

Congressman Darrell Issa represents a district that voted for President Trump by a margin of more than 15 percentage points.

He wouldn't normally be the target right now of Democrats.

But now, two high profile candidates are already racking up endorsements to run against him.

Amar Champa Nazar, who lost to him before.

And San Diego City Councilman Marni von Wilbert.

Both of them think they have a chance because they think the district is going to change.

In about five weeks, voters get to decide whether they want to adopt a new map from Governor Gavin Newsom.

Here's how much it would change San Diego's five congressional districts.

Issa's district voted for Trump by 15.3 points.

The new district would have voted for Vice President Harris by a margin of 2.6 points.

Mike Levin's district voted for Harris by a margin of 7.8 points, and the new district is much safer.

It would have voted for Harris by a margin of 12.1 percentage points.

Congressman Scott Peters district will become slightly less concentrated with Democratic voters, and California's districts are usually drawn by an independent commission.

The ballot measure in November will temporarily override that commission.

And here's what Peters said about the change.

I think it's a terrible thing to do, and we absolutely have to do it.

So, yes, we have a ballot measure fight this November and that fight is largely going to be fought with mailers like these.

This mailer was paid for by Charles Munger Jr, a Palo Alto physicist and Republican Party donor.

It got some attention because it quotes the president of the League of Women Voters in California.

She supports the Independent Commission for redistricting.

Her quote says lawmakers should reject the, quote, dangerous idea of mid-cycle redistricting.

The League of Women Voters was upset that they were being used by the mailers supporting a Republican perspective.

And here's a statement from Deputy California Director Dora Rose, quote, we are squarely in the fight against President Trump's authoritarian and dangerous policies that threaten the civil rights and liberties of all Americans, end quote.

But they do kind of think what the quote on the mailer says.

And here's more from Rose quote.

California's Independent Redistricting Commission is the gold standard, a national model for fair elections and community input and transparency.

We understand the threat of authoritarianism and what it poses, but the way to fight it is not by breaking our own democratic safeguards.

End quote.

Netflix founder Reed Hastings has also joined the fight, giving millions to support Newsom's plan to change districts.

And all that spending will result mostly in mailers.

So send them to me.

I love them for voice in San Diego.

I'm Scott Lewis and that's why it matters.

The Voice of San Diego is one of our partners for the Public Matters initiative.

You can learn more@kpbs.org.

Slash public matters.

A new executive order limits how federal funding can be spent by programs that assist people experiencing drug addiction.

Kpbs health reporter Heidi DeMarco says the change could reverse the success.

Father Joe's Villages Street health team has seen over the last six years.

On a recent Wednesday afternoon, alcohol and drug counselor Paulette Mendoza and her teammates are getting ready to meet their patients.

They load up their van with backpacks and boxes full of supplies and head out to, like, a 99 cent store where a lot of people that we know are gathered.

Mendoza is part of San Diego's first Street health program.

Father Joe's Villages started it in 2019.

A big part of my job is going to be the harm reduction.

Hi friends.

How are you?

The amount of time that I spend out in the streets.

Planting the seeds, snacks, water and harm reduction kits.

Every day they treat health issues affecting unhoused people, from wounds to substance abuse and severe mental illness.

Since 2020, Father Joe says they have served more than 3000 people.

The deaths are down.

And people are making it and there's a lot of things that contribute to that.

But probably the biggest one has to be the Narcan because it's a game changer.

In order to get Narcan into the hands of their patients.

Mendoza says the kits include certain tools to help start conversations and build trust with people who use drugs.

You know, we have foil, we have straws.

A lot of people on fentanyl here.

We also have the turney kit and testing strips For, fentanyl and xylene.

Federal grants can still pay for naloxone and fentanyl test strips.

But a new executive order directs the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, or SAMHSa, to stop paying for things like syringes and pipes, saying they facilitate illegal drug use.

This afternoon, Mendoza runs into Bakari Rivera, a man she met last year.

He kind of look like the rest of these guys when I met him.

I mean, he didn't look good.

It was like.

A year in the making, but, like, it works if we're out there today.

Rivera is a year into recovery.

He just completed a peer support specialist certificate.

He says cutting funding for programs like Mendoza's could mean more people don't get a second chance.

Like he did.

I was down bad when I when I met her, I didn't have a stable place to rest my head.

I actually overdosed on, fentanyl on accident, and flatlined.

And they gave me Narcan at the hospital and brought me back.

Yeah.

I used to come right across when she helped him at their second stop.

Mendoza runs into Angelica Preciado, who is also in recovery.

I was on drugs or alcohol, stealing from stores, hanging out with gang members.

Did prostitution.

Today she's two years sober, and she and Mendoza lean on each other in recovery meetings.

Yeah, we got our tokens together.

We did?

Yeah.

Even after saving lives with Narcan herself.

Preciado struggles with the idea of giving out harm reduction supplies.

Like I said, I don't want to sound like a hater or anything like that.

I just think that people are giving too many options to people that are addicts.

You're giving them a way out.

Research shows harm reduction, including distributing syringes, doesn't fuel increased drug use.

It reduces disease risk and connects people to treatment.

In San Diego County, overdoses decreased by more than 250 between 2023 and 2024.

And I believe that is a direct correlation, to the harm reduction interventions, that were being provided in the community.

Jenni Wilkens manages Father Joes street health program.

She says her team has already distributed 2500 doses of naloxone this year, moving funding away from harm reduction interventions is going to absolutely increase the amount of preventable overdose deaths.

Mendoza says she knows what's at stake.

I think there's a stigma that, either people on drugs are not worth it.

But they are.

And funding.

This is like, you you're fighting against the solution.

We found something that works by the end of the day.

The team handed out 30 kits, offer detox referrals, and made connections.

Mendoza says every kit said the harm reduction.

You need to have, some narcan some testing strips, every conversation is a seed that can lead people to treatment, but without all tools, she says, that chance for change could vanish.

Heidi DeMarco, Kpbs news.

I'm Geoff Bennett tonight on the NewsHour.

The leaders of China, Russia and North Korea meet to strengthen their alliance.

That's at seven After Evening Edition on Kpbs.

There's a new space in Fallbrook for kids, big and small, to jump, skate and run around.

The village.

View County Park opened today, and Kpbs North County reporter Alexander Nguyen brings us the sights and sounds of the park.

That was years in the making.

You could say some were flipping with joy when this new nearly seven acre park opened today.

It was years in the making.

We did the groundbreaking.

When was that?

A year ago.

Two years ago.

Two years ago.

Two years ago.

But the planning started five years ago when San Diego County bought the land.

County Supervisor Jim Desmond says the park was what residents asked for.

You know what you need and you know what you want to do.

Tell me.

I'll get you the money and we'll make it happen.

It's what we did today.

A highlight of the park is this call the skate park.

It's something that fourth grader Frederick Chwersensky has been looking forward to for the past year.

The bulls are, like, insane this.

I love having a skate park in my hometown like, we drive around, like, every day ride to check it out, and it looks so cool.

He's not the only one.

Dozens of kids are here today.

I'm embracing it.

Sean O'Callahan with Fallbrook Skate Park says the skate park was something his group has been asking for for nearly 20 years.

It's the first step.

We've needed this park for a long time, but we need more.

So now that this one's in and the pot and the concrete's poured, I'm ready to start campaigning for the next one.

This park is huge.

In addition to the skate park, there are two dog parks and plenty of open spaces.

This is so needed here.

Jesse Hughes lives ten minutes away from the park.

She says kids need an open space to play.

I had so much to do.

Especially as a teenager.

There were dance clubs I could go to.

The kids don't have that anymore.

They can come here, socialize, skate, exercise, and do things besides stay at home and play video games.

And coming here often is what Frederick plans to do.

It's super fun in Fallbrook.

Alexander Nguyen, Kpbs news.

That does look like fun.

Well, here's a heads up to anyone traveling along the coast.

A stretch of Interstate five will be closed this weekend.

Southbound lanes from State Route 52 to mission Bay drive will be closed from 9 p.m.

Friday to 5 a.m.

Monday.

Crews will be working to resurface the pavement along the main roadway, shoulders and freeway ramps, along with several other safety upgrades.

All of this maintenance work that we're trying to do here is really extending the life of this roadway of I-5, since it is such a, important corridor, not only for us here in San Diego, but it really connects everything south of the border up north.

Well, during the closure, motorists can exit and enter the I-5 at Genesee Avenue westbound, La Jolla Village Drive, and Nobel Drive.

The total cost of the project is over $113 million, funded by the state Highway Operation Protection Program.

It's been a few months since Escondido, its main public library, has been temporarily located at an unconventional location.

The mall Kpbs reporter Jacob Aere says the new spot makes visiting convenient for long time and first time library goers.

The hum of pop music, colorful retail stores and plenty of shoppers fill Escondido's Mershops North County Mall.

And on the first floor, there's some new signage and open doors for something a bit unexpected.

The Escondido Library it's the second time at the new location, but we've gotten to the location a lot of times.

Danny Fulop is a father of six, visiting with his son, Conrad.

He planned to run some errands at the mall after spending time at the library.

This works pretty good.

It's closer to our house.

It's clean and organized.

The old one was fun, too.

It felt like a little bit bigger space for the upstairs.

Our kids do miss the computers.

They have, like, games and puzzles, so they are disappointed they didn't see that at first.

Clara Chan was at the mall, too.

She brought her son, Hudson, for a children's storytime program put on by the library at the mall's center court.

I didn't even know this library was here until I started seeing them on Instagram.

And so I wanted to check it out.

Chan says they hadn't been to the downtown location either.

She says the mall location is convenient.

If people are just shopping, then they see it.

They will probably be curious about it, so I think it's great.

In May, staff moved thousands of books and repurposed five storefronts on the mall's first floor for this temporary library.

It's been busy so far, says library director Rino Landa.

In the past year at downtown, we have around 20,000 visits each month, with some months having more or less here at the mall.

Just last month, we passed 23,000 visitors.

Almost all of the library services are up and running in this smaller space.

It's about half the size of the downtown location, so there's less seating, computers, and books on display.

But Landa says the mall location has led to some new clientele.

We're seeing a lot more interest in younger families that are coming to the mall for shopping or for entertainment, and they're also stopping by the library.

We're also seeing a very big increase in our teen demographic.

Construction is expected to be completed on the downtown library by April 2026.

Meanwhile, Landa says he's interested in keeping a library branch at the North County Mall long term.

Jacob Aere, Kpbs news.

Meanwhile, the city of San Diego is trying to figure out what to do with the old Central Library building downtown.

They're inviting developers to turn the building into housing, with 25% of units reserved for affordable housing.

The library closed over a decade ago.

Any developers who want to buy the property have until November 3rd to put in a letter of interest.

If the city can't make a deal by then, it might consider bids with a lower requirement for affordable housing.

Data breaches are always a good reminder for adults to check their credit reports.

But what about kids?

Consumer experts say identity theft among children's data can go undetected for years.

Karin Caifa was in Washington with the details.

Children's personal data can be really attractive to scammers because often there's no one minding the store.

And often it's not until the first credit card application or college loan application that these kinds of breaches are even detected.

Experts have some tips that parents can use, and also some advice for young people just starting their financial lives.

As children go back to school and college, students take the first steps of their adult financial lives.

Scammers see opportunity where personal data isn't closely guarded.

There's no morality here that they're not going to do that to kids.

Kids are just as much of a target, if not more so.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, about 2% of U.S.

identity theft reports in 2025 so far have involved children under age 19.

And just like adults, kids are at risk when data breaches compromise things like Social Security numbers or medical information.

Eva Velasquez, CEO of the nonprofit Identity Theft Resource Center, says many cases of child ID theft go undetected.

For years because they're not making regular transactions like adults.

One of the reasons that children's identities are so appealing to the bad actors is because kids don't engage in the world the same way adults do.

The FTC says if a child is under age 16, request a free credit freeze to make it harder for someone to open new accounts in their name.

The major credit bureaus Equifax, Experian and TransUnion all have instructions.

Velasquez says it can't be completed online, but the effort is worth the peace of mind.

It does take a little bit of legwork.

You not only have to provide the documents in a different way, you also have to demonstrate that you have the legal authority to make decisions on behalf of this child.

Parents who believe their child's information has been compromised should check if their child has a credit report, since it's uncommon under the age of 18.

That could be a red flag for fraud, Velasquez says.

It's also really important to school kids on the value of their personal information, and not be so willing to give away details like Social Security numbers, dates of birth, addresses, especially online.

In Washington, I'm Karin Caifa.

And let's break down those weather headlines here.

Pretty lengthy to talk about a lot going on here with the monsoonal moisture remaining at least through Thursday.

That means we'll see thunderstorms, the mountains, deserts and inland valleys mostly in the afternoon hours.

And then some drier and cooler weather eventually moves in through the weekend and should hang around until we head into next week.

A human night ahead of us as temperatures drop back down into the 60s and 70s.

Mount Laguna will drop eventually back to the 50s.

San Diego will call it partly cloudy, down to about 69 for tonight.

We continue to watch some areas of clouds and moisture sticking around here again, mostly into the desert through tonight, but we'll watch some more thunderstorms begin to pop on up again as we head into the day.

Friday.

You can see those clouds increase in some areas of showers and storms to some of the in the valleys and the mountains as we head into the day on Thursday.

So all that moisture increasing through later into the week, getting that tropical surge of moisture, bringing a potential downpours, and certainly good for a drought relief, but too much in a short of time can cause some flooding concerns.

Some of those impacts coming here from Hurricane Lorena, which continues to move further north here, eventually making landfall through the day on Friday and then, depending on the exact track, could end up sending more rain here across parts of the southwest as we head into the weekend.

As for tomorrow, it's pretty warm out there.

80 in San Diego, and you can see those areas of showers and thunderstorms from Borrego Springs back down into Mount Laguna.

But some changes for the better will be on the way.

We stay pretty good along the coast, although it's certainly been warm and humid.

Temperatures, though, start to, drop a bit more as we head into early next week, with highs in the 70s and lows in the 60s.

Further inland will be another 90 degree day before a brief drop Friday and Saturday, climbing back up on Sunday and then much nicer by Monday.

And we'll be watching for those areas of thunderstorms across the mountains as temperatures begin to warm up.

Next week will be hot in the deserts.

Watch for those thunderstorms.

And before we get to our final story of the evening, here is a look at what we are working on for tomorrow in the Kpbs newsroom on NPR's Morning Edition.

New data reveals worrying signs.

Millions of federal student loan borrowers could be headed toward default.

And tomorrow is Kpbs Midday Edition's weekly arts show.

Our arts reporter Beth Accomando will preview the world premiere of huzzah!

At the Old Globe this month.

Some viruses come and go after making us sick, but some have become a part of us, passed down by our ancestors.

There are sometimes called ghost viruses.

Kpbs sci tech reporter Thomas Fudge tells us about research that explains how they sometimes come back to haunt us.

Human DNA is not always making us function in ways we understand.

Some of it is just there, and we're not sure what it does.

In fact, 8% of our DNA are viruses our ancestors caught one day and passed on to us.

Dark matter in our genomes, remnants of our evolution.

These things integrated hundreds of thousands of years ago, and they are still present.

Those viruses that are part of our genome are called retroviruses.

Retroviruses are also viruses, but they have this little ability to sort of copy themselves into our DNA.

So instead of disappearing, they're actually with us forever.

Well.

So what?

So nothing.

Most of the time we carry these viruses in our genomes, and somehow we managed to silence them.

But it turns out those ghosts can be awakened when we get sick.

What's interesting is that in a lot of diseases, such as cancers, autoimmune diseases, and neurodegenerative disorders, for example, we actually see that these ancient fossil retroviruses or these these ghosts, some pieces of them still show up.

Biologist Jeremy Scheck is a La Jolla Institute postdoc.

He has led the study of these inherited viruses called hervs, which stands for Human endogenous retrovirus.

The proteins which do the work of the virus can be seen parked on the surface of cancerous tumor cells.

Researchers have created a precise picture of these herv proteins, revealing their appearance and structure.

They change shape or fold very quickly, look at them funny, and they'll unfold, according to Scheck.

But they found a way to freeze them in time in order to see them through a powerful electron microscope, which then take images of these proteins and thousands of images.

And we look at thousands of individual copies of these proteins from all different angles.

And from there, we can actually reconstruct a 3D view of what these proteins might look like.

The proteins allow the virus to enter a cell and make us sick.

And knowing what it looks like reveals its functions and can tell you how an antibody can bind to it and disable it.

We don't know the exact role of these inherited viruses in diseases.

HIV, which causes Aids, is another retrovirus.

That one also becomes part of our DNA, but thankfully is not passed on to our descendants.

Thomas Fudge, Kpbs news.

We'll get the latest from Kpbs, delivered right into your inbox.

We have a variety of newsletters that include daily headlines, Kpbs Arts streaming picks, and our North County Focus.

Go to kpbs.org and look for the newsletter section you'll see at the top of your screen.

And from there, you can sign up with your email address.

And as always, you can find tonight's stories right there on our website, kpbs.org.

Thank you 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 40 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.