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San Diego Unified School District police chief retiring amid harassment allegations

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San Diego Unified School District police chief retiring amid harassment allegations


The San Diego Unified School District’s police chief is retiring after just two years in the job and months after accusations surfaced that he sexually assaulted an officer, discriminated against others and allowed violations of employment law.

In December, 11 officers — roughly a third of the small department — sued Chief Alfonso Contreras and the district, alleging that he and other supervisors he is friends with had discriminated against them for years based on their race, disability, gender and sexual orientation.

The lawsuit also alleged that Contreras sexually assaulted a female officer years ago.

Contreras, who has spent more than three decades with the department, has been on paid administrative leave since January, a district representative said. Most of the allegations were first made public in August last year.

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“The district would like to thank Chief Contreras for all his efforts and contributions to provide a safe learning environment for our students, staff and communities for the past 32 years,” interim Police Chief Donald Braun wrote in a memo to school police personnel May 24. “He has been a faithful steward to the district, and we value all his hard work. We wish him all the luck on his future endeavors.”

Contreras did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The officer plaintiffs attributed the harassment and abuse to what they referred to as a clique in the department that centered around Contreras and investigative Sgt. Jenifer Gruner. The plaintiffs said the two have been in a relationship for decades, creating a conflict of interest in the department and special privileges for Gruner.

Plaintiffs said members of the clique — which they said also includes Capt. Ivan Picazo, Capt. David Landman and Sgt. Robert Bonilla — have subjected officers to verbal abuse, mocked them for their medical conditions, made anti-gay and racist comments and denied them training, overtime pay and promotional opportunities. They also alleged that Gruner had committed time card fraud with her supervisor’s knowledge.

The lawsuit also names district Superintendent Lamont Jackson as a defendant in addition to Contreras, Gruner and the school police department.

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The lawsuit alleges Jackson retaliated against one of the plaintiffs by intimidating his girlfriend, a teacher in the district. The lawsuit claimed Jackson went to her classroom, watched her teach and gave her an unwanted hug, even though they had never met before.

Jackson is under internal investigation for undisclosed reasons. It’s unclear whether the lawsuit allegations are related.

Jackson has not responded to requests for comment.

Neither the plaintiffs’ attorney nor the school police union president, who is one of the plaintiffs, could immediately be reached for comment.

It’s also not clear whether the district has completed an investigation into the police allegations.

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The next court date for the lawsuit, a case management conference, isn’t scheduled until November 2025. ◆





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San Diego, CA

Traffic Alert: Vegetation fire in Ocotillo threatens I-8

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Traffic Alert: Vegetation fire in Ocotillo threatens I-8


SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — Firefighters are battling a vegetation fire in Ocotillo Sunday that is threatening a nearby highway.

Cal Fire reports the Inkopah 5 Fire broke out at 11:15 a.m. Sunday on InKoPah Park Road near I-8 in Ocotillo, close to the border with San Diego and Imperial counties, and just north of the U.S.-Mexico border.

The vegetation fire is burning across 30 acres and is 20% contained, according to Cal Fire’s 4 p.m. update.

Inkopah 5 Fire (Photo Courtesy: Cal Fire)

Caltrans San Diego posted on X at 4 p.m. that westbound I-8, just east of In-Ko-Pah, had a left lane closed due to the vegetation fire. All lanes impacted have since been reopened, however it’s important to stay vigilant if you’re traveling through the area.

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Cal Fire firefighters and the Imperial County Fire Department, including firefighting air tankers from across the state, and eight fire engines, are working to put out the wildfire.

There are several wildfires burning across the state currently, with the largest, the Post Fire in Gorman, burning at 12,265 acres with 2% containment as of Sunday afternoon, prompting evacuations in the area.





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San Diego, CA

SDSU Passing League: St. Augustine 18, Rancho Buena Vista 13

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SDSU Passing League: St. Augustine 18, Rancho Buena Vista 13


SAN DIEGO (KUSI) – The new look St. Augustine Saints Football Team, led by new Head Coach Ron Caragher, take down the Rancho Buena Vista Longhorns 18-13 at San Diego States Passing League.

The standouts from the game include Longhorns’ Quarterback Brayden Freitas, who threw two Touchdowns against the Saintsmen, and Saints Quarterback Vincent Smith, who threw two Touchdowns against RBV, including the game-winning pass to Paisios Polamalu (son of Troy Polamalu).



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Takeaways from the campaigning to win over rural voters in swing-state North Carolina

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Takeaways from the campaigning to win over rural voters in swing-state North Carolina


OXFORD, N.C. (AP) — President Joe Biden and Donald Trump have their sights on a handful of battleground states in the White House race, and North Carolina is one of them.

Rural voters in particular will play an important role for both campaigns, but the candidates will have to overcome voter indifference, fatigue and even disgust.

Both Democrats and Republicans hope face-to-face contact will help them make their case. In places like Granville County, a swing county tucked between the Raleigh-Durham area and the Virginia state line, that has already begun.

Here are some key takeaways from an examination of the campaign less than five months before the November general election.

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Spending war for North Carolina’s airwaves

When it comes to advertising spending in North Carolina, Democrats are outpacing Republicans by a nearly 4-to-1 margin, according to AdImpact data. As of June 7, Democratic groups had spent more than $4 million compared with about $1 million from Republicans in the state.

That gap widens even further when looking ahead to the fall. For reserved ad slots between June 8 and Election Day, Democrats have spent more than $5.6 million so far, compared with $25,000 reserved by one Republican political action committee. Those reservations are subject to change as races come into focus.

The Raleigh-Durham area makes up a significant portion of advertising spending in North Carolina for both parties: almost $2 million for Democrats and more than $138,000 for Republicans. The area skews heavily Democratic, but it also borders counties such as Granville and Franklin that voted for Trump in 2020.

Tuning out the election

As a rematch of 2020 takes shapes, many people in the United States are not paying much attention to the election.

About 4 in 10 Americans in a Pew Research Center poll conducted in April said they are not following news about candidates in presidential contest too closely or at all. Younger adults are less likely than older ones to be following election news.

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Many people already find the election exhausting, even if they are not tuned in. About 6 in 10 U.S. adults in the poll say they are worn out by so much coverage of the campaign and candidates. Those not following closely are especially likely to say they are exhausted.

Trump’s record with North Carolina’s rural counties

In a state with the second highest rural population in the country, winning over those voters is essential. Democrats may not win outright in rural parts of North Carolina, but if they can keep the margins close, they have a better chance to take advantage of their strength in the state’s urban areas.

Previous election results show that appealing to North Carolina’s rural voters may be easier for Republican Trump than for Democrat Biden.

In 2020, 64 rural counties backed Trump while only 14 went for Biden. Compared with his 2016 campaign, Trump’s winning margin grew in most rural counties four years ago.

Possible openings for Democrats

A handful of rural counties could be more competitive. Granville County, for example, had one of the tighter margins of victory for Trump — 53% in 2020 — among rural counties. That was a jump of 3 percentage points from 2016, when he narrowly won against Democrat Hillary Clinton.

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Before Trump, Granville County was considered a blue rural county. Democrat Barack Obama won it in 2008 and 2012. It’s one of six counties in North Carolina that made the pivot from Obama to Trump.



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