Updated
San Diego, CA
Morning Report: Senator Wants Redo on County Reforms
The big package of reforms county supervisors want to put on the ballot has to go through one more approval before it’s officially something voters will consider in November.
At least one state senator hopes they will change it significantly before it does.
Sen. Catherine Blakespear told our Politics Report team that she finds the measure “outrageous” not because of what it does, necessarily, but because of when it does it.
Main beef: Blakespear said she is uncharacteristically calling out her fellow Democrats at the county because the proposal includes limiting supervisors’ terms to three. Right now they’re limited to two terms in office. If, she says, such a change is a good one for the long term, then they should do it for future supervisors, not themselves.
“It’s unquestionably a self-serving power grab. It gives us all a bad name,” she said. She also objected to parts of it that would limit the terms of the sheriff, district attorney, assessor and treasurer-tax collector.
Also: We have a report about the disappointing revenue numbers from the trash tax the city began collecting. They didn’t anticipate people would want smaller bins at the level they do.
The Politics Report is for Voice of San Diego donors.
You can read it here.
Correction: The original version of the Politics Report included a line about what other legislators who represent San Diego think about putting term limits on the district attorney, sheriff and others. This was the result of a misunderstanding and has been removed.
Sacramento Report: The ‘Stop Nick Shirley Bill’
Some Republican state lawmakers fear a proposed state bill intended to protect the privacy of people who work with immigrants would stop “citizen journalists” from investigating fraud.
GOP lawmakers coined Assemblymember Mia Bonta’s bill the “Stop the Nick Shirley Act,” after a conservative activist whose videos about Somali-operated Minnesota day care centers spurred a immigration-enforcement surge.
At the bill’s hearing, people testified they feared violence because they provide legal, health or social services to immigrants. Bonta’s bill would allow those workers to provide a substitute mailing address to the secretary of state’s office to protect their privacy, akin to survivors of sexual assault and domestic abuse.
Nadia Lathan, our Sacramento Reporter, is also tracking a bill that would delay government response times to public records requests. Many city and county governments back the bill because they say people are abusing requests. First Amendment and civil liberties groups worry the elongated timeline would dissuade people from filing public records.
Read the full newsletter here.
VOSD Podcast: Those County Reforms
On the latest episode, our hosts talk about your ballot and the city of San Diego’s budget trouble.
First up! San Diego County supervisors have officially taken the first step to put a measure on the ballot that would extend their term limits. But there are other county government reforms in that measure that are way more interesting.
Next, Mayor Todd Gloria released his proposed budget. Some folks are very mad, but we saw that coming. We explain the proposed cuts on the show.
Finally: You got to be delusional to run for governor of California. The podcast crew goes through a voter guide to explore some of your more interesting options.
Listen here!
In Other News
- Baja California officials convicted a woman to 20 years in prison in connection with the execution-style killings of surfers from San Diego and Australia two years ago. (NBC 7)
- SDG&E released a proposed route for a new transmission line from Imperial Valley to the Orange County border. At least one desert conservation group is already opposing the power line. (Union-Tribune)
- Construction on controversial tiny homes for unhoused people began in Lemon Grove. (Union-Tribune)
- New report says we have dirty air. (KPBS)
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Why this matters
Located in neighborhoods across the county, community gardens seek to provide resources and educational opportunities for people of all ages and backgrounds.
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Tucked into neighborhoods, schoolyards and park edges, community gardens have woven themselves into the fabric of San Diego.
Many are established in food deserts – areas that lack access to affordable and nutritious food. For predominantly low-income and racially diverse communities, a local garden plot can be the difference between having fresh produce or none at all.
Beyond the food, community gardens have become gathering places where social bonds across generations and languages form and environmental education can flourish. From elementary school students to senior citizens, people of all ages are able to tend to plants or participate in community activities hosted onsite.
San Diego County has more than 80 community gardens, according to the Master Gardener Association of San Diego County. Most of them are managed by churches, nonprofits or local volunteers.
However, funding may be running short. The One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act led the county to cancel contracts related to CalFresh Healthy Living in October 2025, as previously reported by inewsource. Community gardens were one of the lifestyle programs impacted by these cuts.
Nonprofit leaders have also sounded the alarm about federal cuts causing funding instability that could impact their community programs.
But there are still ways for the community to get involved. Here’s a map maintained by the Master Gardener Association that shows dozens of gardens around the county.
inewsource asked Heather Holland, president of the Master Gardener Association of San Diego County, and Julia Rauner Guerrero, the organization’s community garden chair, to talk about the basics of community gardens.
Answers have been edited for clarity and brevity.
Community gardens vary based on who owns the land but most gardens are spaces where renters of the garden beds have access during set hours. Most gardens have events or times where they open their doors to the public.
Community gardens are spaces where the public can garden or learn about gardening together. There are a few categories of community gardens that could be grouped this way:
- Gardens that include beds or spaces that can be rented for growing.
- Gardens that grow food that is donated to others.
- Gardens that act as learning spaces so the public can learn how to garden together.
- Semi-public spaces where someone from an area (as in a resident of an HOA) can garden in a space.
Most of San Diego’s community gardens fall into one of those categories and often include several of these characteristics. On our community garden map we’ve focused on gardens with individual or shared/cooperative plots, some of which also incorporate education and/or food sharing with the community.
No, generally there isn’t any registration with the county and the cities operate under different rules. Community gardens located on public land have different approaches dictated by their city. For example, in the city of San Diego nonprofit groups can apply to the city to use parks and recreation land for a community garden.
Community gardens are operated by a mix of persons depending on who is running the site. In most cases it is a church, a nonprofit or a group of volunteers who manage the space. A few San Diego cities such as Imperial Beach, Carlsbad and La Mesa oversee their gardens and in other cases the County of San Diego directly operates the community gardens on their property.
Volunteer at your nearby community garden to get a feel for the garden, the people and the management.
Type of Content
Explainer: Provides context or background, definition and detail on a specific topic.
San Diego, CA
Where to watch San Diego Padres vs Seattle Mariners: TV channel, start time, streaming for May 16
What to know about MLB’s ABS robot umpire strike zone system
MLB launches ABS challenge system as players test robot umpire calls in a groundbreaking season.
Baseball is back and finding what channel your favorite team is playing on has become a little bit more confusing since MLB announced plans to produce and distribute broadcasts for nearly a third of the league.
We’re here to help. Here’s everything you need to know Saturday as the San Diego Padres visit the Seattle Mariners.
See USA TODAY’s sortable MLB schedule to filter by team or division.
What time is San Diego Padres vs Seattle Mariners?
First pitch between the Seattle Mariners and San Diego Padres is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. (ET) on Saturday, May 16.
How to watch San Diego Padres vs Seattle Mariners on Saturday
All times Eastern and accurate as of Saturday, May 16, 2026, at 6:32 a.m.
- Matchup: SD at SEA
- Date: Saturday, May 16
- Time: 7:15 p.m. (ET)
- Venue: T-Mobile Park
- Location: Seattle, Washington
- TV: FOX
- Streaming: MLB.TV on Fubo
Watch MLB all season long with Fubo
MLB regional blackout restrictions apply
MLB scores, results
MLB scores for May 16 games are available on usatoday.com . Here’s how to access today’s results:
See scores, results for all of today’s games.
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