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Padres must wait to clinch postseason berth, but bigger goals remain within reach

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Padres must wait to clinch postseason berth, but bigger goals remain within reach


SAN DIEGO — At 1:27 p.m. Sunday, the out-of-town scoreboard in right field at Petco Park was updated to reflect a result that had just gone final more than 2,000 miles away. Atlanta 5, Miami 4. The Padres thus learned they could not clinch a postseason berth until Tuesday at the earliest.

Then, with no visible change in collective demeanor, they went on to observe what has become a familiar routine.

They came back from a deficit. They won, maintaining the majors’ highest success rate in the second half. They secured the franchise’s first 90-victory season since 2010. The latest capacity crowd in downtown San Diego did not seem to care that it came at the expense of a team that made the worst kind of history.

“People talk about scoreboard watching, and I understand it. The scoreboard I watch is at home in left-center. It’s our scoreboard. It’s about what we do,” manager Mike Shildt said after the Padres rallied in the eighth, prevailed 4-2 and handed the Chicago White Sox their 120th loss.

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“Those players on the field, they got to the big leagues by getting it done on the field, and that’s what this is about. It’s about us taking care of our business, and we’re not looking for anything other than what we can control.”

And the Padres (90-66) still control something potentially seismic. Sunday’s result in San Diego, combined with a subsequent walk-off in Los Angeles, kept the Padres three games behind the Dodgers. Tuesday, the two teams will meet in a series at Chavez Ravine that could all but decide the National League West. The Dodgers have won the division in 10 of the past 11 seasons. The Padres have not won it since 2006. More than a possible first-round bye is at stake.

“We want it,” Jurickson Profar said. “We’re going there and bringing our ‘A’ game.”

The Padres did not require that level of performance against the White Sox. San Diego’s regular-season home finale drew the 56th sellout of the year (and brought the club’s single-season attendance record to 3,314,593). The White Sox, on their way to all-time ignominy, lost their 56th game this season after having a lead.

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Amid a three-game sweep, the supposedly hapless visitors still managed to push the Padres. Shildt was compelled to deploy multiple high-leverage relievers in each win. White Sox right-hander Sean Burke, making his second big-league start, threw six innings of two-hit ball in the series finale. Chicago took a 2-1 lead into the bottom of the eighth before Luis Arraez delivered a tying pinch-hit RBI double, Profar supplied a go-ahead sacrifice fly and Fernando Tatis Jr. homered for insurance.

Against a famously overmatched opponent, the need for such dramatics would have been more troubling if the Padres weren’t already 36-21 in comeback games, 47-41 against above-.500 teams and an MLB-best 39-17 since the All-Star break. Now, they are a 90-win club for the first time in the decade-long tenure of general manager A.J. Preller.

“A.J. deserves a lot of credit. But our players ultimately get the credit,” Shildt said. “They’re the ones out there executing. But it’s a very complete roster. We’ve been able to demonstrate how to win games a lot of different ways. We do play a lot of close games; we’ve been able to execute and be on top of most of them.”

After last season’s historic failures in high-leverage situations, few people outside the organization predicted that the Padres would turn things around in such convincing fashion.

“That’s something that we worked for since day one in spring training,” Profar said. “Very happy that we’re showing it. A lot of people didn’t believe in us, but we trusted each other and kept building every day.”

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Just six months ago, the Padres gathered on their home field to honor the life of late owner Peter Seidler. Late Sunday afternoon, the players lingered on the same field, applauding the type of crowd that didn’t consistently fill Petco Park until Seidler spent unprecedented sums of money trying to bring San Diego its first major sports championship.

“This is what Peter built. We’re just taking care of it,” Tatis said. “We’re definitely doing it for him on the front line. But these fans are showing up, the city. It’s just a beautiful time right now in San Diego.”

The Padres must take care of more business to ensure postseason baseball returns to this city. They hold a three-game lead over the Arizona Diamondbacks in the race for the National League’s first wild card, a berth that would come with home-field advantage against the second wild-card team. San Diego will conclude the regular season next weekend with three games at Chase Field.

But, first, a potentially seismic series at Dodger Stadium awaits. A division title remains within reach.

“Los Angeles and Arizona, it’s gonna prepare us for the playoffs,” Profar said.

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“Everybody knows we’re ready to play baseball, we’re ready to win this division,” Arraez said. “We’ll go to L.A. and compete with those guys. We just need to continue to play hard and then stay together. If we stay together and stay healthy, we can do a lot of good things.”

“It’s been an amazing year playing in front of these fans,” Manny Machado said. “And we’re gonna continue to play in front of them for the next couple weeks and hopefully the next month and a half.”

(Photo of Jurickson Profar tossing his bat after hitting a solo home run: Denis Poroy / Getty Images)





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San Diego, CA

Military bases in San Diego County increase security following Iran attacks

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Military bases in San Diego County increase security following Iran attacks


SAN DIEGO (CNS) – Military bases in San Diego County and nationwide have increased security measures due to last weekend’s U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran, prompting traffic delays near base entrances, enhanced ID checks and access restrictions.

The Naval Air Station North Island on Coronado ports three aircraft carriers, including the San Diego-based USS Abraham Lincoln, which led some of the first-wave attacks on Saturday.

Naval Base Coronado warned motorists of possible traffic delays at all base entry points due to the increased security measures.

Targets included Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps command and control facilities, Iranian air defense capabilities, missile and drone launch sites and military airfields.

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The U.S. operation, dubbed “Epic Fury,” and Israeli operation, “Raging Lion,” began striking targets at 1:15 a.m. Eastern Time Saturday.

As of Tuesday, at least six U.S. service members had been killed in action.

The strikes also killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Hosseini Khamenei, who had been Iran’s supreme leader since 1989, making him the longest-serving head of state in the Middle East.

Iran’s offensive forces claimed to have struck USS Abraham Lincoln with ballistic missiles, but according to an X post from U.S central Command, “The Lincoln was not hit. The missiles launched didn’t even come close. The Lincoln continues to launch aircraft in support of CENTCOM’s relentless campaign to defend the American people by eliminating threats from the Iranian regime.”

Those with concerns regarding the heightened security can contact San Diego County’s Office of Emergency Services at 858-565-3490 or oes@sdcounty.ca.gov.

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Copyright 2026, City News Service, Inc.





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San Diego, CA

SD Unified moves forward with layoffs of classified employees

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SD Unified moves forward with layoffs of classified employees


SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Less than 3 weeks after the San Diego Unified School District finalized a new contract with teachers, the school board voted unanimously on Tuesday to move forward with layoff notices for other district employees.

The layoffs affect classified employees — workers who are employed by the district but are not teachers and are not certified. That includes bus drivers, custodians, special education and teacher aides, and cafeteria workers.

The district says it is eliminating 221 positions — 133 that are currently filled and 88 that are vacant — to save $19 million and help address a projected $47 million deficit for the next fiscal year.

Preliminary layoff notices will go out on March 15, with final notices by May 15.

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The district estimates about 200 classified employees will receive preliminary notices, but of them, about 70 are expected to lose their jobs based on union-negotiated bumping rules.

Bumping allows employees with more seniority to move into another position in the same classification, thereby “bumping” a less senior employee out of that role.

Lupe Murray, an early childhood special education parafacilitator with the district, said the news came as a shock after the teacher strike was called off.

“When the strike was called off, I’m like, ‘Yes!’ So then when I got the email from the Superintendent, I’m like, ‘Wait, what?’ So, I think everyone was shocked,” Murray said.

The district says it sends out annual layoff notices, as all districts in the state do.

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Before Tuesday’s board meeting, classified employees rallied outside, made up of CSEA (California School Employees Association) Chapters OTBS 788, Paraeducators 759, and OSS 724. They were joined by parents, students, and the San Diego & Imperial Counties Labor Council, AFL-CIO.

Miguel Arellano, a paraeducator independence facilitator with San Diego Unified and a representative of San Diego Paraeducators Cahpter 759.

“What do we want? No layoffs! When do we want it? Now!” the crowd chanted.

Arellano said he felt compelled to act when he learned about the potential layoffs.

“The first thing that went through my mind was that I need to speak up. I need to protect these people,” Arellano said.

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Inside the meeting, the board heard emotional, at times tearful testimony from classified employees before voting unanimously to move forward with the layoff schedule.

Superintendent Fabi Bagula said the district has tried to protect classrooms from the cuts.

“We have tried our best to only, I mean, to not touch the school. Or the classroom. But now it’s at the point where it’s getting a little bit harder,” Bagula said. “What I’m still hoping, or what I’m still working toward, because we’re still in negotiations, is that we’re able to actually come to a win-win, where there’s positions and availability and maybe even promotions for folks that are impacted.”

Arellano warned the layoffs could have a direct impact on students.

“We are already spread thin, so, with more of a case load, it’s going to be impossible to be able to service all the students that we need to have,” Arellano said.

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Follow ABC 10News Anchor Max Goldwasser on InstagramFacebook, and Twitter.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.





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Scripps Oceanography granted $15M for deep sea, glacier science

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Scripps Oceanography granted M for deep sea, glacier science


The Fund for Science and Technology, a new private foundation, granted Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego $15 million for ocean science Tuesday.

FFST, funded by the estate of the late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, was started in 2025 with a commitment to invest at least $500 million over four years to “propel transformative science and technology for people and the planet.”

“Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego is pushing boundaries for exploration and discovery across the global ocean,” Chancellor Pradeep Khosla said. “This visionary support from the Fund for Science and Technology will enable Scripps researchers to advance our understanding of our planet, which has meaningful implications for communities around the world.”

The grant, the largest of its kind since Scripps joined UCSD in 1960, will go toward research in three areas: monitoring of environmental DNA and other biomolecules in marine ecosystems, adding to the Argo network of ocean observing robots, and enhancing the study of ocean conditions beneath Antarctica’s Thwaites Glacier, often referred to as the “Doomsday Glacier.”

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Scripps Institution of Oceanography has used Argo floats for more than two decades to track climate impacts in our oceans. NBC 7 meteorologist Greg Bledsoe reports.

“The Fund for Science and Technology was created to support transformational science in the search of answers to some of the planet’s most complex questions,” said Dr. Lynda Stuart, president and CEO at the fund. “Scripps has a long tradition of leadership at the frontiers of ocean and climate science, and this work builds on that legacy — strengthening the tools and insights needed to understand our environment at a truly global and unprecedented scale.”

Scripps Director Emeritus Margaret Leinen will use a portion of the grant in her analysis of eDNA — free-floating fragments of DNA shed by organisms into the environment — in understudied parts of the ocean to collect crucial baseline data on marine organisms, according to a statement from Scripps.

“In many regions, we know very little about the microbial communities that form the base of the ocean food web or that make deep sea ecosystems so unique,” Leinen said. “Without data, we can’t predict how these communities are going to respond to climate change or what the consequences might be. That’s a vulnerability — and this funding will help us begin to address it.”

Using autonomous samplers that can collect ocean water for eDNA analysis, as well as conventional sampling, scientists will use tools to “reveal the biology of the open ocean and polar regions.”

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According to Scripps, the international Argo program has more than 4,000 floats that drift with currents and periodically dive to measure temperature, salinity and pressure. Standard floats can record data up to depths of 2,000 meters (6,560 feet), while newer Deep Argo floats can dive to 6,000 meters (19,685 feet).

The grant funding announced Tuesday will allow for Scripps to deploy around 50 Deep Argo floats along with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and NOAA’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory.

Sarah Purkey, physical oceanographer at Scripps and Argo lead, said this leap forward in deep ocean monitoring comes at a crucial time because the deep sea has warmed faster than expected over the last two decades.

Thwaites Glacier is Antarctica’s largest collapsing glacier and contains enough ice to raise global sea level by roughly two feet if it were to collapse entirely. According to Scripps, prior expeditions led by scientist Jamin Greenbaum discovered anomalously warm water beneath the glacier’s ice shelf — contributing to melting from below. Greenbaum now seeks to collect water samples and other measurements from beneath Thwaites’ ice tongue to disentangle the drivers of its rapid melting.

This season’s Antarctic fieldwork will “test hypotheses about the drivers of Thwaites’ rapid melt with implications for sea-level rise projections,” the statement from Scripps said.

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“The ocean holds answers to some of the most pressing questions about our planet’s future, but only if we can observe it,” said Meenakshi Wadhwa, director of Scripps Institution of Oceanography and vice chancellor for marine sciences at UCSD. “This historic grant will help ocean scientists bring new tools and approaches to parts of the ocean we’ve barely begun to explore.”



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