San Diego, CA

Newsom wanted encampments off state land. Fires by San Diego highways show there’s a long way to go.

Published

12 months ago

March 31, 2025

Newsom wanted encampments off state land. Fires by San Diego highways show there’s a long way to go.

The woman woke up feeling hot. That’s how she discovered her hair was on fire.

The 47-year-old slapped at her head and scrambled from her tent, which sat beneath a bridge in southern San Diego, she recalled Wednesday during an interview at the site. Her Yorkshire terrier made it out, too. But the insulin she uses for her diabetes was lost.

“It went up fast,” said the woman, who spoke on the condition that only her middle name, La, be published. “I’m now scared to sleep.”

Fire department records show that the blaze at La’s tent began before sunrise on March 21. Two days later, a tree ignited near a different San Diego campsite. Both locations appear to be on land overseen by the California Department of Transportation, and the fires highlight the difficulties of keeping Caltrans property free of encampments when there are few places for homeless people to go.

Last summer, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order demanding that agencies quickly clear tent camps on state land. “It’s time to move with urgency,” Newsom said in a video. “There are no longer any excuses.” Yet in some cases there now seem to be more tents near San Diego’s highway on- and off-ramps, which are generally managed by Caltrans. Advocates for homeless people have pointed out that this shift happened after local governments passed camping bans that boosted penalties for sleeping on city sidewalks.

Rachel Laing, a spokesperson for Mayor Todd Gloria, estimated that since the start of last year more than 60 local fires had begun by encampments next to roadways. That total went up dramatically if you looked at all blazes within 100 feet of streets monitored by Caltrans, Laing wrote in an email, citing information from the fire marshal. (Fire department data previously shared with The San Diego Union-Tribune do note a number of incidents near highways, although records available to the public do not always specify the exact origin point.)

San Diego is negotiating with the state about potentially giving city crews more authority to clear encampments on California property. A sticking point may be who pays for what as collecting debris can be expensive. The city of San Diego needed a helicopter on Thursday to remove several tons of material from one abandoned encampment in La Jolla.

A San Diego Fire-Rescue helicopter pulls out several tons of debris from an abandoned homeless encampment at Blacks Beach Park in La Jolla on March 27, 2025. (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

The state has given the region millions of dollars to aid homeless people and public data show that Caltrans has boosted sweeps in recent years. In 2024, the agency removed 943 encampments and about 4,600 cubic yards of debris from around San Diego, according to spokesperson Aaron Hunter.

But homelessness countywide continues to grow and there are nowhere near enough beds for everybody asking, despite ongoing efforts to launch additional shelters. And in a tough budget year — California faces a large deficit — it’s not clear whether Caltrans will get significantly more resources to monitor state land.

“Caltrans is responsible for protecting and maintaining the state’s highway network and regularly assesses potential safety and infrastructure threats on all of its state right of way properties, including fires,” the agency said in an emailed statement from Hunter. Caltrans didn’t yet have a record of blazes at the two San Diego sites that burned in March, although Hunter wrote that those locations had been “addressed nine times since 2022 and are scheduled to be cleaned again.”

The March 23 fire began around 3:30 a.m. on a steep hill overlooking Interstate 5, according to a fire department incident report obtained through a records request. Firefighters were able to put out the blaze in about 20 minutes before any houses were damaged.

Part of the hillside was still black when a reporter visited the area Wednesday. A pile of burned wood sat at the base of a pepper tree, its bark charred and ashy, and nobody was inside a nearby structure made out of tarp. Caltrans’ online map shows most of that land falling under the agency’s jurisdiction.

The same goes for the blackened plot where La’s tent burned earlier in the month. Several people appeared to still be sleeping at the site, including La, who wore a wrap around her head. She and a friend believe the fire may have been intentionally started by another person living outside, although suspicions were hard to prove.

La said outreach workers and police did come by, yet shelter was scarce. “Most of the time they don’t have a bed — not on the female side.” La added that she was on a list for housing.

Her friend, Thadius Wright, 64, said he does have a unit downtown, but was in the area to check on people he’d gotten to know during the years he slept at the site. Even though cleaning crews periodically moved the group out, the overpass offered too much protection from rain to fully abandon, Wright noted. “There’s nothing like being out here in the wintertime and being wet.”

Wright was convinced that most people would happily trade their tents for housing — if it was affordable. “They think we want to stay out here,” he said about frustrated neighbors. “Not true.”

Originally Published: March 31, 2025 at 5:00 AM PDT

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San Diego, CA

Padres roster review: Miguel Andujar

Published

3 hours ago

March 11, 2026

Press Room

Padres roster review: Miguel Andujar – San Diego Union-Tribune

MIGUEL ANDUJAR

Position(s): Third base, left field, first base
Bats / Throws: Right / Right
2026 opening day age: 31
Height / Weight: 6-foot / 211 pounds
How acquired: Signed as a free agent in February 2026
Contract status: Will make $1.5 million in 2026, with the opportunity to earn another $2 million-plus in performance bonuses; his $4 million guarantee includes a $2.5 million buyout against an $8 million mutual option for 2027.
fWAR in 2025: 1.1
Key 2025 stats: .318 AVG, .352 OBP, .470 SLG, 10 HRs, 44 RBIs, 36 runs, 17 walks, 49 strikeouts, 1 steal (94 games, 341 plate appearances)

STAT TO NOTE

.986 — Andujar’s OPS against left-handed pitching in 2025, the second-highest mark of his career and well above his career .807 OPS against southpaws. Andujar had been below .600 in 2021 and 2022 before jumping to .871 in 2023 and a career-high .995 in 2024.

Up — Signed for $700,000 out of the Dominican Republic as a 16-year-old in the international amateur market, Andujar needed two years to get out of the Yankees’ rookie-ball affiliate in the Gulf Coast League and finally cracked top-100 lists ahead of the 2018 season — No. 59 at Baseball America and No. 65 at MLB.com — after reaching Triple-A following a 16-homer season (.850 OPS). Andujar even made his MLB debut as a 22-year-old in 2017 and looked like he’d be a big part of the Yankees’ future after pairing 27 homers and 92 RBIs with an .855 OPS in finishing second to Shohei Ohtani in AL Rookie of the Year voting in 2018. But a right shoulder labrum tear derailed Andujar in 2019 and Andujar was never able to grab a starting job again in New York. The Pirates claimed him late in 2022 and then the Athletics claimed him after the 2023 season. By then, he’d developed into a platoon player with defensive limitations. Andujar had a .697 OPS in 75 games in his first year with the Athletics and a .765 OPS in 60 games last year when, after missing time with a right oblique strain, he was shipped to the Reds for a minor league pitcher. Andujar went on to hit .359/.400/.544 with four homers and 17 RBIs in 34 games to help the Reds lock up a wild-card spot. He was 0-for-4 with a walk and a strikeout in the NL Wild Card Series sweep at the hands of the Dodgers.

Miguel Andujar #41 of the San Diego Padres participates in drills during spring training workouts at the Peoria Sports Complex on Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026 in Peoria, Ariz.(Meg McLaughlin / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

2026 OUTLOOK

The need for right-handed balance in the lineup was painfully obvious in the Padres’ NL Wild Card Series loss to the Cubs, so Andujar became a target after 1B/OF Ryan O’Hearn walked as a free agent. Expect Andujar to get at-bats against lefties as either a DH, first base, third base or left field — the spots he’s been playing in spring training.

ROSTER RANKINGS

1. OF Fernando Tatis Jr.
2. 3B Manny Machado
3. OF Jackson Merrill
4. RHP Nick Pivetta
5. RHP Michael King
6. RHP Mason Miller
7. OF Ramón Laureano
8. SS Xander Bogaerts
9. LHP Adrián Morejón
10. RHP Jeremiah Estrada
11. RHP Jason Adam
12. 2B Jake Cronenworth
13. RHP Joe Musgrove
14. RHP Randy Vásquez
15. INF Miguel Andujar
16. OF Gavin Sheets
17. LHP JP Sears
18. RHP Yu Darvish
19. RHP Bradgley Rodriguez
20. RHP David Morgan
21. C Freddy Fermin
22. LHP Wandy Peralta
23. C Luis Campusano
24. LHP Yuki Matsui
25. INF Sung-Mun Song
26. RHP German Marquez
27. RHP Matt Waldron
28. OF Bryce Johnson
29. OF/1B Nick Castellanos
30. RHP Ron Marinaccio
31. RHP Bryan Hoeing
32. LHP Kyle Hart
33. INF Will Wagner
34. RHP Garrett Hawkins
35. RHP Miguel Mendez
36. RHP Daison Acosta
37. RHP Ty Adcock
38. RHP Alek Jacob
39. INF Mason McCoy

Removed from 40-man roster

OF Tirso Ornelas (designated for assignment)
RHP Jhony Brito (60-day injured list)

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San Diego, CA

San Diego Bishop Is Out of a Job

Published

15 hours ago

March 10, 2026

Press Room

Pope Leo XIV has accepted the resignation of the Chaldean Catholic bishop of San Diego, California, a decision announced Tuesday by the Vatican after the bishop was arrested on embezzlement charges. The San Diego County Sheriff’s Office said last week it had arrested Bishop Emmanuel Shaleta on Thursday at San Diego International Airport as he tried to leave the country, reports the AP. The office said it acted after someone from Shaleta’s church provided a statement and documentation “showing potential embezzlement from the church.” Shaleta was being held on $125,000 bail on eight counts of embezzlement, money laundering, and aggravated white collar crime, the statement said. Shaleta pleaded not guilty on Monday, reports NBC San Diego.

“He was on his way to Germany,” prosecutor Joel Madero said. “Given his access to funds, the fact that he had over $9,000 in the bag when he was stopped, and the fact that he has these international ties … I do believe that some bail to ensure he shows up is appropriate.” There was no immediate reply to an email sent to Shaleta’s parish, St. Peter Chaldean Church, seeking comment and contact information for his attorney. The Vatican said in its daily bulletin Tuesday that Leo had accepted Shaleta’s resignation under the code of canon law for eastern rite churches that allows for the pope to agree if a bishop asks to step down.

Leo actually accepted the resignation when Shaleta presented it in February, but an announcement was not made until Tuesday, according to the Vatican embassy in Washington. The Holy See appears to have waited to announce the decision to avoid interfering with the police investigation. Leo named Bishop Saad Hanna Sirop as a temporary administrator. Shaleta, 69, was ordained a priest of the Chaldean Catholic Church in Detroit in 1984. He was named to the San Diego branch of the eastern rite Catholic Church in the US in 2017.

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San Diego, CA

Padres roster review: Germán Márquez

Published

1 day ago

March 10, 2026

Press Room

Padres roster review: Germán Márquez – San Diego Union-Tribune

GERMÁN MÁRQUEZ

Position(s): Right-handed pitcher
Bats / Throws: Right / Right
2026 opening day age: 31
Height / Weight: 6-foot-1 / 230 pounds
How acquired: Signed as a free agent in February 2026
Contract status: Will make $1 million in 2026 with a $750,000 buyout on a mutual option for 2027; can add up to $3.25 million in performance bonuses.
fWAR in 2025: 0.3
Key 2025 stats: 3-16, 6.70 ERA, 83 strikeouts, 48 walks, 1.71 WHIP, .317 opponent average, 126⅓ innings (26 starts)

STAT TO NOTE

36.9 — The percentage of groundballs that Márquez yielded in 2025, a career low and significantly below his career average (48%). Márquez’s groundball rate was regularly above 50% before requiring Tommy John surgery in early 2023. He made one start in 2024 and struggled mightily while making 26 starts last year.

Down — Márquez had a 4.40 ERA through his first seven years in the majors, not bad considering he pitched roughly half his games at one of the best hitting environments in the majors. In fact, Márquez has a 5.17 ERA in his career at Coors Field and a 4.22 ERA in road environments. But Márquez underwent Tommy John surgery early in 2023, made one start in the majors in mid-July in 2024 (4 IP, 3 ER) and struggled throughout his first full year back in the Rockies rotation. The season was so difficult for Márquez that he was actually worse on the road (7.32 ERA) than he was in 11 starts at Coors Field (5.98 ERA). His strikeout rate (5.9 per nine innings) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (1.73) were the worst of his careers, as was his walk rate (3.4 per nine innings), while his hit rate (12.0 per nine innings) was the second worst of his career. On top of that, Márquez’s groundball rate was also the lowest of his career (see stat to note) and ranked in the bottom 22nd percentile of the league and his hard-hit rate (48.5%) and average exit velocity (91.7 mph) both ranked in the bottom 2 percentile of the league. One reason: a 94.8 mph four-seamer is down a few ticks than the height of his effectiveness. Márquez reached free agency after the season and signed with the Padres in February.

2026 OUTLOOK

Márquez has a big-league deal with the Padres, but he’ll have to rediscover his pre-elbow-reconstruction form to hold onto a roster spot, as RHP Griffin Canning (Achilles) is expected to push for a spot at some point this season and the likes of LHP JP Sears, RHP Matt Waldron and minor league signees like Marco Gonzales could warrant looks if Márquez’s struggles continue into 2026.

German Marquez #33 of the San Diego Padres participates in drills during spring training workouts at the Peoria Sports Complex on Monday, Feb. 16, 2026 in Peoria, Ariz.(Meg McLaughlin / The San Diego Union-Tribune)