SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — The San Diego Commission on Police Practices is taking the first step in investigating how San Diego Police officers handle pretext stops in the city.

A pretext stop is when an officer stops someone for something minor, like a broken taillight, with the pretext to look for a more serious crime.

During the meeting, the commissioners heard from the community, sharing how pretext stops impacted or changed their lives.

The DeArman family was one of the families who spoke.

Christopher DeArman was shot and killed by San Diego Police officers in January of 2023.

San Diego Police say he was initially stopped for a broken brake light.

After initially pulling DeArman over in Barrio Logan, police say he took off again, leading officers on a short pursuit.

After stopping for the second time, police say the body camera footage shows DeArman shooting at officers. DeArman was shot and killed.

His family feels officers escalated the stop that led to DeArman’s actions and feel their son would still be alive today if he had just been issued a citation and let go.

According to the commission’s chair, the meeting is the first step in examining how SDDP handles pretext stops and recommending any needed changes.

Data presented at the meeting showed that SDPD officers were more likely to pull over people of color for equipment violations, like a broken brake light, and were more likely to search Latino and Black people at a higher percentage compared to white people.

Police Chief Scott Wahl attended the meeting and acknowledged the disparities.

Chief Wahl vowed to restore trust, focus on training and address any bias.

If the commission decides to make any recommendations to the department, the chief has 60 days to adopt or reject any changes.

California’s governor flew in for the event. Throngs of media gathered, while the City of San Diego warned of traffic jams. The San Diego Zoo rolled out the red carpet Thursday for the first public showing of its newest residents. Visitors watched the two giant pandas sunbathe and chow down on bamboo in their new home, the first pandas to enter the US in two decades. For years, the Chinese government has loaned pandas to zoos around the world in a practice called “panda diplomacy.” These fuzzy ambassadors have long been a symbol of the US-China friendship, ever since Beijing gifted a pair of pandas to the National Zoo in Washington, DC, in 1972.

The opening ceremony included dancing, music, and remarks from Gov. Gavin Newsom, Chinese ambassador Xie Feng, and local officials. “This is about something much deeper, much richer, than just the two beautiful pandas we celebrate,” Newsom said. “It’s about celebrating our common humanity.” The governor recognized the zoo as the first organization in the US to establish a cooperative panda conservation program with China. Ambassador Xie said he met someone on his flight traveling from Washington, DC, to see the pandas. “Two little panda fans from California wrote several letters to me proposing giving China grizzly bears to get pandas,” Xie said, eliciting laughs.

Both pandas were born at the Wolong Shenshuping Panda Base in China’s Sichuan province. Yun Chuan is a nearly 5-year-old male described by the zoo as “mild-mannered, gentle and lovable.” He is the grandson of Bai Yun and Gao Gao, who both lived at the San Diego Zoo for more than a decade. Xin Bao is a nearly 4-year-old female described as a “gentle and witty introvert with a sweet round face and big ears.” Only four other giant pandas reside in the US, all at the zoo in Atlanta. However, the Smithsonian’s National Zoo is to receive a new pair of pandas by the end of the year. As part of the loan agreement, US zoos typically pay $1 million a year toward China’s wildfire conservation efforts. All cubs born in the US must return to China by age 4.

(More giant pandas stories.)

About seven to 10 years ago, Troy found himself on a flight from Chicago to San Diego, sitting next to none other than now-YouTube star and restaurateur, Sam the Cooking Guy. A bomb threat had diverted the plane to Phoenix instead. Amidst the chaos and fear, they found themselves calling and texting their loved ones back in San Diego, unsure of what was happening. 

Sam the Cooking Guy is our guest on this week’s Happy Half Hour. Spoiler: He and Troy survived that fateful flight and remain happily trauma-bonded to this day (we get into details of what happened and how it all ended in the episode). 

These days, Sam’s also sitting pretty at 3.7 million YouTube followers as of publish and just opened his latest restaurant, Basta, in Little Italy. The new concept joins his other restaurants including Not Not Tacos, Samburgers, Graze, and Coo Coo’s Nest. In classic Sam style, the food follows only a few rules, resulting in brain-bending, mouth-watering combos like deep-fried pate à choux gnocchi with cacio e pepe aioli. It’s one of the best things we’ve ever popped in our mouths.

Sam shared insights into his journey from being miserable in a corporate biotech job to finding success, fame, and, most importantly, happiness from taking the leap into his cooking and media career. “I was miserable. I knew I needed to find a way to make me happy,” Sam remembers. 

He took a bet on YouTube at the behest of his son who saw the platform’s promise and paired it with his dad’s love for cooking and irreverent personality. “He’s a really talented guy that learned how to cook live on TV and now is actually a great cook,” Troy says, describing Sam’s unique journey of becoming kitchen-fluent live and on-camera, while becoming famous at the same time.

Sam’s YouTube channel, which has now grown to nearly 4 million subscribers, is a testament to his perseverance, creativity, and adaptability. He recalled the grinding early days, which netted him only 30,000 subscribers after seven years. But a shift in approach—shorter, better-produced videos—catapulted his channel into the stratosphere. 

“We started to make things that we imagined our audience would want to see,” Sam explained. This includes making mistakes, which he doesn’t edit out, and evaluating his viewers and playing to what he thinks they’d like to eat and cook. “It’s all part of the process,” he says. 

Part of that now includes several restaurants, as well as a number of successful cookbooks. Sam continues to chug on–his latest cookbook, Sam the Cooking Guy: Between the Buns, showcases his love for comfort food with a twist, which reflects the kind of dishes you can find at his restaurants and in his videos.

We also dove into the local culinary news: A new Japanese fusion spot called Cherryfish is set to open in Pacific Beach this September. Owners Danielle and Carlos Marcos are eager to “contribute to the wave of culinary change in the area.” Meanwhile, chefs Nick Weber and Jacob Jordan are making waves in Oceanside with their Chinese cuisine pop-up, 24 Suns, which has been receiving rave reviews for its seasonal summer menu.