Connect with us

San Diego, CA

San Diego FC keeps three picks, adds six on MLS Expansion Draft day

Published

on

San Diego FC keeps three picks, adds six on MLS Expansion Draft day


San Diego FC started Wednesday with seven players. Less than 24 hours later that number is nearly doubled.

The newest Major League Soccer club came away with six additions by the end of their MLS Expansion Draft. Sporting Director Tyler Heaps and Head Coach Mikey Varas made five picks, two of which were traded away by night’s end.

Their roster additions are midfielders Jasper Loffelsend (Colorado) and Heine Bruseth (Orlando), and defender Hamady Diop (Charlotte). They also selected Thiago Andrade and Hosei Kijima. Andrade was sent to Toronto and Kijima to D.C. United for cash and a draft pick.

Prior to the draft the club announced two trades. Goalkeeper CJ Dos Santos comes over from Inter Miami. The 24-year-old has international experience with the United States Youth National Teams. They also added MLS experience in Chris McVey. The former D.C. United defender came to the league in 2022 and won the 2023 Leagues Cup alongside Lionel Messi in Miami.

Advertisement

There was also one move that has been reported, but is not yet official. According to MLS insider Tom Bogert the club landed center back Andres Reyes from the New York Red Bulls. The 25-year-old from Colombia scored the winning goal to lift New York past Orlando in this year’s Eastern Conference Final. Reyes was unable to play in their MLS Cup Final loss to L.A. Galaxy because of an illness.

“I think we have really good players that complement each other very well,” Heaps said. “Now you can start to see the spine start to take shape. I think we’ve got a really good center back pairing for this league – people that complement each other in terms of Paddy (McNair) and potentially the new one that’s coming. We’ve got some goalkeepers that are gonna be eager and challenging to compete for that No. 1 job. We’ve got a frontline that we think is very dangerous. If we can complete one or two more pieces we think it can be among some of the best in the league.”

Heaps believes Loffelsend can start for SDFC from day one. The 27-year-old German has been in the league since 2022, and made 34 starts from 2022-2023 for Real Salt Lake.

“Heine we think has top potential,” Heaps said about the 20-year-old from Norway. He joined Orlando City in 2024 but did not make an appearance.

Diop was the No. 1 pick in the SuperDraft two years ago out of Clemson. Charlotte drafted the now 22-year-old and loaned him to a club in Serbia for 2024.

Advertisement

“He’s proven he can do it in Europe, there was a lot of interest for him to stay in Europe,” Heaps said. “We think he’s a really good profile to stay with us and contribute in MLS.”

Those six join a roster that features Mexican star Chucky Lozano, who will arrive in San Diego after wrapping up his time with Dutch club PSV Eindhoven. The team also includes San Diego native Duran Ferree, an 18-year-old goalkeeper. They added 21-year-old forward Tomas Angel from LAFC earlier this week.

The roster will continue to grow in the coming weeks. MLS free agency begins Thursday. San Diego FC is slated to make the top pick in the SuperDraft on December 20. The window to sign players from international leagues opens January 31.

Lozano is currently the club’s lone “Designated Player” – top talents, often acquired from overseas. Lionel Messi is the most popular example at the moment. Given the steep price tag for those players, their salary does not count against the team’s cap.

The club intends to add another “DP” before the season.

Advertisement

“I think the next step for us is to get our second DP,” Varas said. “We know in our league when you get your DPs right you’re competitive.”



Source link

San Diego, CA

Judge sentences rapper to time served in 2023 San Diego arrest

Published

on

Judge sentences rapper to time served in 2023 San Diego arrest


Federal courthouse in downtown San Diego. (File photo by Chris Stone/Times of San Diego)

Rapper Boosie Badazz was sentenced Friday to credit for time served in the case stemming from his 2023 arrest in San Diego for being a felon in possession of a firearm.

The 43-year-old, whose real name is Torence Ivy Hatch Jr., was arrested in Chollas View after police found two guns inside a vehicle in which he was riding.

Hatch was in town to shoot a music video and perform at a Gaslamp Quarter nightclub.

In a social media video clip recorded during the video shoot, Hatch was spotted with a gun in his waistband. Police then used a helicopter to track down his vehicle, after which officers conducted a traffic stop and discovered the firearms.

Advertisement

He pleaded guilty to a federal gun possession count last year. As part of his sentence, Hatch will also serve 300 hours of community service.

Defense attorney Meghan Blanco said in a statement released after Friday’s hearing, “The resolution brings a sense of relief, allowing him to finally put this chapter behind him. He can now focus on continuing his music career, dedicating time to his family, and being a positive and inspiring presence for his children and the wider community.”

Federal prosecutors sought a two-year prison sentence, arguing in court papers that custody was warranted due to Hatch’s “insistence on carrying a weapon despite his status as a convicted felon” and allegations that he threatened his security detail shortly after his arrest.

Blanco, in her sentencing memorandum, denied any such threats occurred, noting that the statements are not included in any police reports stemming from the arrest and that no recorded evidence of the threats exist.

The defense attorney wrote that Hatch’s gun was never fired, brandished or used to threaten anyone. She also said there have been no allegations that the weapons were intended for any other offense and that Hatch’s last criminal case had occurred around 10 years prior.

Advertisement

“The case represents an isolated lapse in judgment, not a pattern of ongoing criminal conduct,” Blanco wrote.

Hatch was initially charged by the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office. His defense attorneys have stated that Hatch intended to plead guilty at the time and was expected to be sentenced to probation, but the state’s case was dismissed before that plea deal could be reached and federal prosecutors took up the case.

U.S. District Judge Cathy Bencivengo, who sentenced Hatch on Friday, previously dismissed the case against him following a 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling that said it was unconstitutional to prohibit convicted felons who served sentences for nonviolent drug offenses from possessing firearms.

But a larger panel of the 9th Circuit overturned its earlier ruling and San Diego federal prosecutors re-filed the charges against Hatch.

Hatch was previously convicted in Louisiana of marijuana possession. He also was indicted in an alleged murder-for-hire plot, but was acquitted by a Baton Rouge jury in 2012.

Advertisement



Source link

Continue Reading

San Diego, CA

Mayor Gloria defends Balboa Park paid parking, blames council for rocky rollout

Published

on

Mayor Gloria defends Balboa Park paid parking, blames council for rocky rollout


San Diego will put off issuing citations for paid parking in Balboa Park for about one month while improvements are made, but Mayor Todd Gloria says the new system is functioning well and being “actively adopted.”

In a long and harshly worded memo released Thursday, Gloria said recent calls by City Council members to suspend the program were politically motivated and examples of bad governance and erratic decision-making.

Gloria also deflected blame for the chaotic way enforcement began Monday, when city officials raced to put stickers about resident discounts on parking kiosks and lobbied a vendor to deliver crucial missing signs.

The mayor said the council had “shaped, amended and approved” paid parking in Balboa Park and contended an accelerated timeline chosen by the council made it hard for his administration to implement it flawlessly.

Advertisement

The mayor’s memo came in response to a Tuesday memo from Councilmembers Kent Lee and Sean Elo-Rivera in which they called implementation of paid parking “haphazard” and “not ready for prime time.”

Lee and Elo-Rivera said the process for city residents to get approved for discounts was so complex, cumbersome and confusing that Gloria should waive fees for residents until they have had time to adapt and learn.

While Gloria rejected that suggestion in part of his memo, he later said “enforcement remains focused on education, not punishment, during this early phase, to ensure park users are aware of the new parking fees.”

Dave Rolland, a spokesperson for Gloria, said Thursday that no specific date had been set for when the city would shift from education to enforcement. But he added that “about a month” would be an accurate timeline.

City officials have already corrected one key mistake: Signs that were missing Monday — alerting drivers that the 951-space lower Inspiration Point lot is free for three hours — have since been installed.

Advertisement

Lee and Elo-Rivera in their memo decried “an inadequate effort to educate the public on how to use this new system.”

They said San Diegans had not been clearly informed about when a portal for city resident discounts would go live or how to use it.

And they complained that residents weren’t told they couldn’t buy discounted parking passes in person, or when enforcement with citations would actually begin.

City residents must apply for discounts online, pay $5 to have their residency verified, then wait two days for that verification and choose the day they will visit in advance.

Lee and Elo-Rivera called the city’s efforts “a haphazard rollout that will surely lead to San Diegans missing out on their resident discount and paying higher parking rates than they have to.”

Advertisement

Gloria said the city collected $23,000 in parking fees on Monday and Tuesday and another $106,000 in daily, monthly and quarterly passes — mostly from residents who get discounts on such passes.

“Early data shows that the program is functioning and being used,” he said. “These are not the metrics of a system that is failing to function. They are the metrics of a system that is new, actively being adopted, and continuing to improve as public familiarity increases.”

While Gloria conceded that some improvements are still necessary, he rejected calls from Lee and Elo-Rivera for a suspension, citing his concerns it would jeopardize city finances and confuse the public.

“Your proposal to suspend paid parking for residents two days into the new program would have immediate and serious fiscal consequences,” Gloria said. “This reversal could introduce confusion among park users and would disregard investments already made to establish the system, potentially compromising the program’s effectiveness.”

Paid parking in Balboa Park is expected to generate about $3.7 million during the fiscal year that ends June 30, but revenue is expected to rise substantially when the fees are in place for a full fiscal year.

Advertisement

Gloria said the money is a small part of the city’s overall solution to recurring deficits it faces of more than $100 million per year.

“What we will not do is reverse course days into implementation in a way that undermines fiscal stability, creates uncertainty, and sends the message that addressing a decades-old structural budget deficit that has plagued our city is optional because it is politically uncomfortable,” he said. “That kind of erratic decision-making is not good governance, and San Diegans deserve better.”

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the San Diego Zoo said Thursday that paid parking there has continued to go smoothly since it began on Monday.

The zoo, which is using Ace Parking for enforcement, opted for immediate citations instead of an educational grace period.

Advertisement



Source link

Continue Reading

San Diego, CA

Barricaded individual in custody following police response in Mission Valley

Published

on

Barricaded individual in custody following police response in Mission Valley


SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — San Diego Police responded to a barricaded individual in the Mission Valley area Thursday afternoon, prompting a heavy law enforcement presence.

  • The Nexstar Media video above details resources for crime victims

The department confirmed around 1 p.m. that officers were on scene in the 1400 block of Hotel Circle North, and are working to safely resolve the situation. Authorities asked the public to avoid the area and allow officers the space needed to conduct their operations.

Police described the incident as a domestic violence restraining order violation. At this time, it’s unknown if the person is armed.

No injuries have been reported.

The suspect was taken into custody within an hour.

Advertisement

Further details about the barricaded person were not immediately released. Police say updates will be shared as more information becomes available.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Trending