The Group Chat

We just published an update to an investigation from earlier this year, in which we revealed a loophole in San Diego law that allows property owners to obtain a short-term rental license even after carrying out an illegal eviction. It works like this: Investors buy up multi-family properties, clear out long-term tenants with no-fault... Read more

Our Documenter Amanda Herningle recently attended the port’s San Diego Harbor Safety Committee meeting, where members were briefed on a new radar-monitoring project underway that is meant to improve vessel tracking during inclement weather. Radar technology has been installed that covers the entrance of the bay to the cruise ship terminal.... Read more

The city-run tent site in Balboa Park recorded another death on Sunday. A 67-year-old man was found dead in his tent at O Lot, the larger of the two sites in the park that the city established in mid-2023. He was found unresponsive in his tent by emergency workers just before 8 p.m., according to a report by the Medical Examiner’s Office. The... Read more

A pivotal decision over the future of a prime beachfront plot of land could be made by the California Coastal Commission in Oceanside on Thursday. The commission will decide whether Carlsbad can update a plot of land that currently sits empty for residential uses. That would clear the way for San Diego-based developer H.G. Fenton Co., which... Read more

Ditch the $6 gas and rush hour traffic on Wednesday and use the North County Transit District for free. The public transit agency is offering free rides in honor of the state’s Free Ride Day. That means all rides on the Coaster, Sprinter, Breeze, Flex and NCTD+ will be free. Riders do not need a PRONTO card. To ride NCTD+ for free, use the... Read more

An unseasonal start to October broke decades-long heat records around San Diego County this past weekend. Take a look at the sizzling numbers from the National Weather Service in San Diego: The heat was worse on Saturday – so hot that Vista tied its all-time record at 108 degrees. Yikes! This comes as El Niño is expected to bring Kelvin waves... Read more

Check your mailbox. Your voter ballot should be coming this week. As we head into the final weeks leading up to Election Day on Nov. 3, keep an eye out for coverage from inewsource. Our Public Matters partner KPBS also has its Voter Hub if you’re looking for comprehensive information. Last week, our investigative reporter Cody Dulaney broke... Read more

I just got back from a whirlwind journalism conference in Columbus, Ohio, where I met old friends, made new ones, had and heard amazing conversations and became president of the Society of Professional Journalists Foundation when the irreplaceable Hagit Limor, a Cincinnati-based broadcast journalist turned professor, handed me the gavel on... Read more

Refugees and other legal immigrants in San Diego have a temporary cushion against federal Medicaid cuts that took effect Thursday, Oct. 1, which will affect hundreds of thousands of immigrants nationally. Under President Donald Trump’s tax-and-spending law known as H.R.1 or the “Big Beautiful Bill,” the federal government stopped funding full... Read more

What does one do on a Wednesday night after a full day at work? Attend a local elementary school board candidate forum, of course.  Documenter Josh Whitehead and I were at the Chula Vista Elementary School District Board of Education forum moderated by the League of Women Voters at the Chula Vista Public Library. About 60 other local... Read more