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Cove Access group progressing toward education-based, shared-use solution

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Cove Access group progressing toward education-based, shared-use solution


In an ongoing effort to narrow down its options to one recommendation, the La Jolla Cove Access working group met again this month and is that much closer toward a shared-use solution for The Cove. 

The group met at the La Jolla Recreation Center on April 2. There, they agreed to combine its leading options for reducing or eliminating interactions with people and sea lions at The Cove into one idea, and came up with action steps or proposals to carry it forward. 

Public access to The Cove remains unrestricted, but La Jolla’s years-long issue of beach access rights for people and protections for marine mammals against human misconduct has led to the five-month annual public closure of the Children’s Pool, which is home to harbor seals, and the year-round closure of Point La Jolla, where sea lions haul out. 

Some La Jollans worry that similar restrictions could be put in place at The Cove.

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The working group was formed in September under the auspices of the La Jolla Parks & Beaches board and includes representatives from the city of San Diego, La Jolla Town Council, Village Merchants Association, Community Planning Association and Parks & Beaches, as well as the local swimming, diving and scientific communities. 

The intent is to come up with a collaborative proposal, with the support of as many interested parties as possible, to present the city “a balanced, year-round access solution … preserving recreational access to The Cove while coexisting with the local pinniped population,” according to the group’s charter. 

The group had two meetings in recent months. The first one on Feb. 25 yielded no recommendations, though an initial draft of their goals, objectives and charter was written. During their March 20 meeting, six options were discussed. Ultimately, it was narrowed down to two possibilities — legally deter the sea lions or combine a shared-use option with a behavior education program.

Thus, at the April 2 meeting, these two options were discussed in more depth in two small groups, and the two groups explored the potential impact to various stakeholders — from tourists to lifeguards, and beach access advocates to animal rights groups.

While discussing how to legally deter sea lions, working group member Chas. Dye said the conversation evolved into how to deter people from engaging in unsafe behavior.

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“We realized deterrence can mean new signage, announcements that lifeguards can give, giving a script to the tour buses, fines, extra staff for enforcement, a designated viewing platform … that people can be directed to,” Dye said. The working group could consider applying for a grant to help fund any proposed solutions, he added.

The current signage posted at the La Jolla Cove beach. (Ashley Mackin-Solomon)

The small group that discussed the shared-use option with a behavior educational program said educating tourists was going to be key. They discussed potential impacts, but did not propose any specific plans. 

Given the overlap in goals and methodology between the two options, working group member Jodi Rudick said “deterring [unsafe human] behavior through education may be ultimately what we go for.” 

Going forward, three members of the working group agreed to meet offline in the coming weeks to combine the two ideas and draft short-term and long-term action steps to present to the full group. From there, an all-encompassing proposal will be drafted. 

The group’s meetings are closed to the general public for the time being. Once the group feels it has made enough progress, it may hold an open meeting to discuss its findings. The proposed timeline for a short-term recommendation is by May.

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Minor killed in hit-and-run crash in Pacific Beach

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Minor killed in hit-and-run crash in Pacific Beach


The San Diego Police Department is looking for a suspect involved in a hit-and-run crash that killed a minor in Pacific Beach at around 3:45 p.m. Saturday afternoon.

The crash occurred near the intersection of Ingraham Street and Pacific Beach Drive.

The suspect’s vehicle is being described as a dark Jeep SUV, according to SDPD.

Police say there is no one in custody as of now, and that the investigation is ongoing.

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The transit line San Diego leaders are hailing as ‘a model for how we can grow’

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The transit line San Diego leaders are hailing as ‘a model for how we can grow’


An overnight bus between the U.S.-Mexico border and downtown San Diego is so popular that local transit officials are making it permanent and planning new marketing efforts in Tijuana and on Spanish-language radio.

Local leaders are calling the border bus a great example of how transit can adjust to unconventional situations with innovative solutions.

Dubbed the “Overnight Express,” Route 910 covers essentially the same ground as the South Bay portion of the popular Blue Line trolley from 12:30 a.m. to 5 a.m. seven days a week.

The Blue Line can’t run during those hours, despite intense demand for overnight trolley service, because the tracks it uses are occupied by freight trains then.

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That has left many early-morning workers and students who live near the border without a convenient and affordable way to get to downtown and other locations in the early morning.

Trying to solve that problem, Metropolitan Transit System officials began operating Route 910 as a pilot express bus last January.

While ridership took a few months to ramp up on the new route, Route 910 — which costs the normal MTS one-way fare of $2.50 — is now used by more than 7,000 passengers a month.

Perhaps more importantly, officials say it has reduced crowding on the first few Blue Line trains north from San Ysidro each morning.

“This is an example of creating something our customers need and actually want,” said San Diego City Councilmember Vivian Moreno, who serves on the MTS board. “It’s a model for how we can grow and adapt.”

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San Diego Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera, another MTS board member, said the overnight express helps people avoid having to pay for a taxi or Uber or asking a family member to drive them in the wee hours.

“This is a tangible way to improve folks’ lives — and very hard-working folks,” Elo-Rivera said.

The MTS board voted unanimously Thursday to make Route 910 a permanent express route.

The decision will cost $800,000 per year, but it won’t create budget problems because the route is already built into budgets for fiscal 2026 and 2027. Its funding comes from SB 125 — state legislation that devotes many millions to mass transit across the state.

The decision to make Route 910 permanent was based on strong ridership numbers.

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Ridership during the six-month period from July through December was 31% higher than it was in the route’s first six months. During those first six months, an average of 191 people per day used Route 910. During the second six months, that had risen to 251 people per day.

Brent Boyd, director of planning and scheduling for MTS, said he expects those numbers to keep going up as more people become aware of Route 910.

“I’d expect that the ridership keeps growing gradually,” he said. “We see no reason for it not to.”

Mark Olson, director of marketing and communications for MTS, said the route was promoted during two waves of outreach — one last January and one in the fall.

MTS is also planning to advertise Route 910 on billboards in Tijuana and on Spanish-language radio. “We think there’s a lot of growth opportunity for this route,” he said.

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Route 910 has better numbers than other MTS express buses based on its number of riders relative to how much it costs to operate. Officials called that remarkable when you consider the unusual hours that Route 910 operates.

Chula Vista Mayor John McCann, another MTS board member, said the success of Route 910 shows that we live in a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week society.

Boyd said it was surprising to see that the most popular bus on Route 910 is the second-to-last one before the trolley begins operating — not the last one.

“I think it’s because the last trip is close enough to when the trolley begins that people might just wait,” he said.

Route 910 doesn’t stop at all Blue Line trolley stations. It stops at San Ysidro, Iris Avenue, Palomar Street, 24th Street, 12th and Imperial, City College and Santa Fe Depot, taking less than an hour to finish its route.

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Boyd estimated that about 60% of passengers board at San Ysidro and that roughly half are headed to downtown and the other half are headed to other stops.

To make the route permanent, MTS had to analyze whether it has had any adverse impact on low-income residents or ethnic minorities. The analysis determined that it hasn’t.

The agency says the population of the area served by Route 910 is 38% low-income, compared with 24% in the overall MTS service area.

The Blue Line, which was extended from Old Town to La Jolla and University City in 2021, carries 80,000 passengers a day. MTS officials believe it’s the second-busiest light-rail line in the nation.

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Talking current state of homelessness in San Diego following State of the City

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Talking current state of homelessness in San Diego following State of the City


SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – The issue and topic of homelessness and how to address it have been going on for years. It’s also been a talking point of Mayor Todd Gloria’s State of the City for years as well.

“This issue is urgent. It is complex, and it demands action. “And the results of our efforts are becoming clearer,” Gloria said on Thursday. “You can see it, and the data confirms it. Together we are expanding shelter, strengthening outreach, creating real pathways off the streets, and we’ve done it by insisting on a simple truth: a sidewalk is not a home.”

While some have gotten off the streets, many have set up their encampments along the highways of Downtown San Diego.

Gloria highlighted the pilot partnership that started last July with the State and City to clear homeless encampments off the highway.

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“Since then, we’ve been able to remove over 320 encampments, which has resulted in over 200 tons of waste removed, and then with that, though we do offer services before, during, and even after if they want them,” Franklin Coopersmith of the City of San Diego’s Environmental Services Department said. “Of which, we’ve gotten 95 people into a city shelter or service option, and of those, we’ve actually gotten 8 people into a permanent housing option.”

Gloria said he’d like to expand the program moving forward.

“I want to do more because this agreement with CalTrans has proven so successful. I am urging state leaders to expand it and allow city crews to cover more areas next to freeways where we know tent encampments exist,” Gloria said

ABC 10News spoke with some local non-profits about how they view the homelessness crisis at the moment.

“I think there’s a lot of activity. I think there’s a desire on the City’s behalf to make progress around homelessness,” Drew Moser, Executive Director of Lucky Duck Foundation, said.

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“That the crisis still remains, right? The fact remains that we have many unsheltered individuals on any given night on the streets,” Deacon Jim Vargas, President & CEO of Father Joe’s Villages, said.

Some had some questions about the progress.

“I think the mayor said that they had increased shelter capacity. Our question would be, where did that happen?”

The City’s Homelessness Strategies and Solutions Department told ABC 10News it added two shelters in 2025 – one that has 43 beds (Safe Shelter for Transition-Age Youth (Safe STAY)) and another with 50 beds at the moment but can be increased to a capacity of 210 (Rachel’s Promise Shelter).

It also opened the H Barracks Safe Parking lot, and the Safe Sleeping site O Lot expansion of 235 more tents in late 2024 bled into early 2025.

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“Those are, I mean, individual tents without heating or air conditioning or some of the many other benefits that exist at a bridge shelter or transitional housing,” Moser said.

“We also recognize that there are more seniors who are falling onto the streets, more behavioral health issues that we’re seeing on the mental health side and the detox side,” Vargas said.

Gloria did acknowledge the need for mental health and detox resources in his State of the City.

“We need more treatment capacity, more psychiatric care beds, more detox, and long-term recovery options. We need faster pathways from the street and into care,” Gloria said.





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