Podcasts. Investigative news. Reporting about soccer, sewage, city hall and San Diego County.
These are some of the ways San Diegans will benefit from a $2 million investment in four local nonprofit news outlets and one California-wide outlet.
The newsrooms — inewsource, KPBS, NEWSWELL/Times of San Diego and Voice of San Diego — are each getting $300,000. CalMatters, which covers the state, is getting $800,000 to share data and resources with media partners in this region. The grants are split over two years.
The money comes from the Prebys Foundation, San Diego County’s largest independent private foundation, which recently announced investments in downtown real estate and arts education. The foundation also funds medical research, leadership development, and mental and physical health care access.
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Why journalism? Because it matters, and it is increasingly vulnerable, said Grant Oliphant, the foundation’s CEO.
“Journalism is important for absolutely everything we fund. You know, you can’t really understand what’s happening in America today if you’re not getting this information. You can’t understand what’s happening with cuts in medical research in San Diego if you’re not getting this information,” Oliphant said.
The foundation had identified nonprofit newsrooms as a good target for investment, given that traditional newsrooms have shrunk or consolidated. The current climate made the need even more clear, he said. The grant announcement comes at a time when attacks on journalists and independent news outlets have heightened, and as public funding for PBS and NPR are expected to face steep cuts under the Trump administration.
“If we don’t have good, independent news organizations, then there really is no one holding the government or the powerful to account, or playing the role of translating very complicated, difficult information for the rest of us to learn about and understand,” Oliphant said.
Local recipients
Instead of pouring more money into one outlet, the foundation decided it was more effective to spread it among the four local newsrooms.
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Scott Lewis, the editor and CEO of Voice of San Diego, founded in 2005 and an early innovator in nonprofit news space, said the money will help his outlet hire an investigative reporter to cover city hall, hire journalists to cover the arts and sports in a “conversational” way and to develop podcasts.
This investment shows that the foundation “realizes how important it is to make sure that journalists are able to continue to be able to tell stories about everything that’s happening, and reveal things that are sometimes uncomfortable, and explain how things work, so that people can be a part of the discussion about how we’re going to handle some of our biggest problems and challenges,” Lewis said.
Chris Jennewein, the editor and founder of Times of San Diego, which launched in 2014, said the money will help support expanded newsroom operations and fund coverage of key regional problems and topics readers are excited about, such as professional soccer. His newsroom recently added two full-time editors and five freelancers, and it has four paid interns every semester. Its content is free for readers and supported by a mix of advertisements and donations like this one, he added.
“With this extra funding we can double down on the in-depth reporting on major issues — accountability reporting. Things like the homeless issue, things like city government, what’s happening at the border, the sewage crisis. We’re going to be able to devote more coverage to all those things.”
Lorie Hearn, the editor and CEO of inewsource, which she founded in 2009, said the grant will help “amplify the importance of local news” at a time when public trust in the media has eroded.
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“Nonprofit news, like inewsource and our fellow grantees, provide a vital service to the public, especially in these times when many people can’t agree on a set of facts, let alone trust the media. We exist not for profits, but to serve the public,” she said.
“Many people these days have conditioned themselves into thinking news is free because it’s just there, on their phones. But if you have news sources that you regularly check because you can believe and rely on them, there are real journalists behind those posts that are working hard to gather and verify facts so you can believe what you read and are not misled. And those journalists deserve to be paid for that work.”
The foundation’s investment will be used to keep building inewsource’s Documenters program, which is “a unique program that trains — and pays — everyday people to report on what happens at hundreds of public meetings that aren’t covered by the media because of lack of resources. In its first year, we’ve trained more than 300 people.”
Four suspects were behind bars Friday for allegedly beating a man to death two months ago during a fight at Linda Vista Park.
Arrested Wednesday on suspicion of murder in connection with the violent death of 59-year-old Ruben Rimorin were Juan Garcia Alavez, 21, Juan Manuel Lopez, 26, Brian Reyes, 20, and Franklin Joseph Tuell, 21, according to the San Diego Police Department.
Rimorin was found gravely injured about 3:45 a.m. Oct. 18 on a sidewalk in the 6800 block of Osler Street, just west of the park, SDPD Lt. Chris Tivanian said. Paramedics tried in vain to revive the victim before pronouncing him dead at the scene.
It remains unclear what sparked the deadly fight.
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The suspects were being held at San Diego Central Jail without bail pending arraignment, scheduled for Friday afternoon.
National City’s Pepper Park can soon expand in size by nearly 50%, thanks to a ruling this week by the California Coastal Commission to approve the National City Balanced Plan.
The approval of the plan at the CCC’s Wednesday meeting, developed by the Port of San Diego, means that not only will the popular park have the ability to increase in size, big changes are coming for commercial, recreation and maritime uses on the National City bayfront.
“We are grateful to the California Coastal Commission for its support of the National City Balanced Plan,” said Danielle Moore, chair of the Board of Port Commissioners. “The progress we have made has been anchored in tireless collaboration with the community, business leaders and, of course, the city of National City. It’s about bringing more recreational opportunities to the bayfront while also streamlining and strengthening maritime operations, and we are eager to bring these projects to life.”
Other components of the balanced plan include:
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Realigning Marina Way to serve as the buffer area between commercial recreation and maritime uses
The closure of Tidelands Avenue between Bay Marina Drive and West 32nd Street, and West 28th Street between Tidelands Avenue and Quay Avenue, around six acres, to increase terminal efficiency by eliminating redundancies
The development of a recreational vehicle park, tent sites, cabins and the “ultimate development of up to two hotels with up to 365 rooms, as well as dry boat storage,” a port statement read
A connector rail project to connect the existing rail and loop track located on the National City Marine Terminal to additional rail car storage spots at the existing Burlington Northern Santa Fe National City Yard east of the National Distribution Center
The Board of Port Commissioners must accept the CCC’s certification, then the port and city can begin the process of completing the above projects.
“I am proud of the work we have done to help create a lasting legacy for National City, the Port of San Diego, and the entire region,” said Port Commissioner GilAnthony Ungab. “Nearly a decade in the making, this plan balances the interests of the community and many other stakeholders, addresses public access, maritime, and recreation uses, and expands waterfront access in my community.”
The National City Bayfront is 273 acres of waterfront land and 167 acres of water, and includes the National City Marine Terminal, Pepper Park, Pier 32 Marina, the Aquatic Center and pieces of public art.
Mayor Todd Gloria announced an initiative Wednesday intended to expand housing options in neighborhoods by integrating small-scale residences such as townhomes, rowhomes and cottages into an area’s existing character.
The Neighborhood Homes for All of Us initiative is also intended to support community land trusts — nonprofit organizations that acquire land to create permanent affordable housing.
“Since Day 1 of my administration, I have been focused on building more homes that San Diegans can actually afford — and getting them built faster,” Gloria said at a news conference Wednesday. “‘Neighborhood Homes for All of Us’ is the latest piece of that puzzle. This innovative program will break down the barriers that have gotten in the way of building the type of housing that I believe is ideal for young families and first-time homebuyers for whom the dream of homeownership has long felt out of reach.”
Around 80% of land zoned for housing in the city is restricted to single-family homes, which continue to increase in price, Gloria said. And a significant portion of new housing being built consists of apartment buildings with primarily studio and one-bedroom units, leaving working-class families fewer and fewer options for homes.
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Neighborhood Homes for All of Us is intended to increase the housing supply and allow community land trusts to keep housing affordable in disadvantaged communities for low- to middle-income families.
“San Diego is an incredible place to raise a family, and more families need the opportunity to do that in San Diego’s existing, highly desirable single-family neighborhoods where their kids can learn and play in a great community,” City Planning Director Heidi Vonblum said. “But today, that comes at a price that is out of reach for too many. Integrating more options for families requires careful and thoughtful planning, with input from existing and future community members across the city, to ensure these new home opportunities for San Diego’s families are built in ways that best enhance and benefit San Diego’s amazing neighborhoods.”
The initiative will roll out in two phases. In the first phase, beginning this week and continuing through next summer, San Diegans can help determine what the neighborhoods can look like. The public will be able to see renderings showing small-scale neighborhood homes within San Diego’s existing communities, along with new regulations that “provide a clear pathway for building these homes,” according to a statement from Gloria’s office.
Phase 1 will also include an open house and ways for the community to provide feedback and concerns.
Phase 2, scheduled for the second half of 2026, will be for city staff to develop regulations allowing for the building of more neighborhood homes in a way informed by the public feedback.
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The initiative is partly funded through a Regional Early Action Planning grant from the San Diego Association of Governments.
