There are housing issues up and down and all-around San Diego County. The San Diego City Council calls housing a fundamental human right. But is it? It’s Wednesday, January 25th. Here’s a roundup of news stories in and around San Diego County. Here’s what John Riley thinks: Sorry San Diego. Housing is not a Human Right. The City of San Diego’s City Council unanimously passed a resolution declaring housing as a fundamental human right. How can that be without violating the...

It’s Friday, January 13th. Here’s a round up of news stories in and around San Diego County. Here’s John Riley's outlook: Poway 2023 Plans * Mayor Steve Vaus: public safety, water infrastructure, Lake Poway upgrades. * Deputy Mayor Barry Leonard: ramp up new council members Peter DeHoff and Brian Pepin, water infrastructure, commercial amenities at The Farm in Poway, Poway Center for the Performing Arts. * Councilmember Caylin Frank: Poway Community Park...

It’s Tuesday, January 10th. Here’s a roundup of news stories in and around San Diego County. Here’s what John Riley thinks: San Diego: The Need for more Water Infrastructure * The feast and famine cycle of droughts and floods in California * Assemblyman Vince Fong * https://www.kusi.com/san-diego-leaders-call-for-critical-investment-into-water-infrastructure/ * Positive Developments in San Diego County with Desal Plant, Pure Water recycling, expansion of...

Captain Charles R. MacVean U.S. Navy (Ret.), PhD joined Pete Neild and I to discuss submarine stories and his new book Down Deep. Submarine life is not easy. Tight quarters. Disciplined schedules. Everyone depending on someone else. It takes a high degree of trust and teamwork to make for a successful mission. Charlie shared many great stories involving his crew and some of his missions. It seemed that Admiral Hyman Rickover came up frequently in our discussions. Rickover was a...

It’s Friday, December 16th. Here’s a roundup of news stories in and around San Diego County. Here’s what John Riley thinks: * Carlsbad: Skyrocketing water desalination costs due to environmental regulations * San Diego Beaches:  No more beach fires? * Imperial Beach: Mayor Aguirre bringing the fun back * Carmel Mountain Ranch: Carmel Mountain Road is a disgrace * Border: Governor Newsom rips the GOP on immigration Thank you! #carlsbad...

It’s Friday, December 9th. Here’s what’s going on in and around San Diego County. Here’s what John Riley thinks: * National City: Cannabis Lounge, first for San Diego County * Carlsbad/UCSD:  UCSD gets $10M grant, Smartville Inc Carlsbad gets $6M from US Dept of Energy * Escondido: Dane White, Youngest Mayor in Escondido history, 33 * Mira Mesa: City to double housing forecast * Oceanside: City Council allows high-density apartment project Thank...

Legendary, Hall of Fame Broadcaster, Ted Leitner, joined us to tell tales from his 50+ year career in sports media. Wow! You know Ted. He always has something to say! Ted Leitner talks about Jerry Coleman, Tony Gwynn, Rickey Henderson, Steve Finley, Carl Weathers, Steve Fisher, Brian Dutcher, Smokey Gaines, Jim Brandenburg, and so many great stories about sports broadcasting for the Padres, Chargers, Clippers, Aztecs, and KFMB Channel 8. Ted talks about the honor of his...

Here’s what’s going on in and around San Diego County. Here’s what John Riley thinks on Friday, Dec 2nd. Dateline: * San Diego: Is the $160B San Diego Commuter Rail worth it? * East County: Sheriff tipping off Cannabis Raids * Imperial Beach: Housing is #1 issue, senior poverty * Lemon Grove: Buy 1, Get 1 Free Campaign * San Diego: Vacation Rental Lottery comes up short * San Diego: Home Prices drop fourth most in America Thank...

Merge 56 is one of many hot topics in and around San Diego County. Here’s what John Riley thinks on Wednesday, Nov 30th. San Diego News Headlines: * Rancho Penasquitos: Merge 56 Expansion (Camino del Sur and Hwy 56) – the locals are angry with the changes to build taller buildings and add greater density. * Poway: Amazon Fresh fully automated grocery store closed indefinitely * Escondido: Lake Hodges dam crumbling * San Clemente: freight railroad traffic...

They are still counting the votes at the San Diego County Registrar of Voters, but the results are becoming very clear in all but a few races. It's time for local election analysis! We discuss, analyze, and comment on: * The races for Poway Mayor and Poway City Council and what is in store for Poway’s future. * The very tight race still in Poway Unified School District Area C. Will Heather Plotzke win a close one over Patrick Batten? * The need for Ranked Choice...

It’s Election Night 2022! We focus on the Poway Mayor race, Poway City Council races, and the Poway Unified School District races in this nearly 4 hour long podcast. OMG. The participation from the livestream audience was extraordinary! We break down the early returns from the San Diego Registrar of Voters. We comment on the individual races and candidates, as well as a little bit of commentary on the national election night stories.  Plus we have all sorts of fun with discussion of...

Frida Brunzell is a candidate for Poway Unified School District Board Trustee in Area B. This covers Northeast Rancho Bernardo and North Poway. Only 75% of PUSD Students Read at Grade Level Frida shared with me her frustrations with PUSD’s reading curriculum. 25% of PUSD students are not reading at their grade level. According to Frida Brunzell, PUSD is still teaching reading using a flawed method invented in the 1960s. There are innovative and proven alternative methods to...

There is one week to go until Election Day and the drama in the Poway elections is heating up! Pete Neild joined me to cover a range of issues and candidates in this Poway Elections Preview episode. Poway Elections Drama We discuss the Holly Oak community’s objection to the new development along Poway Road, as well as the “solidarity press conference” that was organized and then later cancelled. We discuss the proposed housing development, housing density, architecture, street...

Amit Asaravala is the President of the Poway Democratic Club. Amit joined me to discuss the tremendous surge of money in Poway politics, the changing voting demographics in Poway, and information on their endorsed candidates. Poway Campaign Finance The financial data was the most eye-opening. Individual people can donate up to $250 for a specific candidate. Amit Asaravala shared that even on the individual level, Poway candidate Brian Pepin has raised approximately $70,000. This...

If you love Poway history, you will love this podcast episode. Ed Franklin moved to Poway in 1974 as a young child and had so many exceptional stories to tell. Poway History We take a walk down memory lane discussing the different businesses that have come and gone along Poway Road. Did you know the site of the Evans Tire used to be a drive-thru dairy where people could get a gallon of milk, a pack of cigarettes, and a six-pack of beer without getting out of their car? We...

Tony Russo is a candidate for Poway City Council District 3. I live in District 3, so this was a great opportunity to learn more about Tony Russo’s campaign for Poway. Lack of Trust from Poway Officials We started by discussing Tony's experience at the Green Valley Civic Association and Poway Chamber’s Candidate Forum. His competitors were stressing safety as their key priority. Tony disagrees. He feels there is a serious lack of common-sense policies, transparency, trust,...

Yuri Bohlen is a candidate for Poway Mayor, and he joined me for a marathon 3-hour podcast covering so many hot topics in the City of Poway. Our livestream audience was also continually active presenting questions and comments for Yuri to respond to. Here are the highlights: Yuri wants to make “Poway the City in the Country” again. He wants to stop unfair housing mandates from Sacramento and let Poway make decisions for Poway’s own future. We spoke about many of the development...

Patrick Batten is a candidate for Poway School Board running in Area C covering parts of Rancho Penasquitos, Rancho Bernardo, and 4S Ranch. Patrick is attempting to win the race to fill the seat of departing incumbent TJ Zane. The US Marine Corps Patrick shared his background growing up with a single parent facing tremendous financial challenges. He discussed his time at San Diego State University and his career as a US Marine in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria. Educational...

Poway Mayoral Candidate, Delta Esparza, joined me for a thoughtful and wide-ranging conversation in the JRP podcast studio. Delta is one of four challengers attempting to unseat Poway Mayor Steve Vaus. Our 1.5-hour discussion offers great insight into Delta’s background, values, character, and vision for Poway. Highlights include: Delta’s family background growing up in South LA to immigrant parents. Delta was the first person in her family to achieve a college degree. She later went...

Poway City Council Candidate, Kevin Juza, joined me for a fun and informative podcast conversation. Kevin is one of three candidates running in my own District 3. We chatted for nearly 2 hours and had terrific input from the live audience spanning topics like: Kevin’s family background in Indianapolis, Northern California, Minnesota, and eventually coming to Poway. His career as a business consultant/coach and his volunteer roles in the Poway community. His thoughts on...

This was such an enjoyable podcast conversation with Poway City Council Candidate, Hiram Soto. We covered a tremendous amount of ground in this 1.5-hour podcast discussion including: Hiram’s family background in Mexico His career as a journalist at the San Diego Union Tribune and how that shaped him on the issues of transparency, integrity, and digging for the truth. His surprise that a Poway Councilperson was appointed for an open seat who had only lived in Poway for a...

Urbn Leaf wants to move into Rancho Bernardo Urbn Leaf, a marijuana dispensary, wants to move into the long abandoned El Torito restaurant location in Rancho Bernardo.  As you might imagine, the locals are not taking this Rancho Bernardo marijuana situation sitting down. We cover the story, the objections by the RB Community Planning Board, the objections by residents and the churches, and the comments from notable community leaders Robin Kaufman, Patrick Batten and Marni von...

The air conditioning system at Rancho Bernardo High School and Bernardo Heights Middle School is broken!  We are dealing with sweltering heat and now kids are being sent home because the classroom is unsafe.  What is going on at Poway Unified School District? We break down the story and the short-term fixes PUSD is working on to solve the problem. We also take a look at their finances including $475M in revenue, $11M surplus, and an $83M in reserves.  Why can’t they spend that money to...

Dennis Butts from the Poway Postal Annex (in Target Shopping Center) joined me to talk sports and it was so fun!  Dennis is a huge LA sports fan, but he doesn’t rub it in too badly for us San Diego fans. Every time I visit his Postal Annex store, we always talk sports. It’s a real joy.  So, we finally decided to actually do this as a podcast! Topics included: Growing up in Toledo OH and attending Detroit Tigers games at Briggs Stadium. Moving to Los Angeles and...

The cost of college tuition is sky high, but the price of clothing at Costco is very inexpensive. We explore government’s role in causing prices to rise and student debt to expand. Biden’s Plan to Cancel Student Debt Liberals in Congress are pushing Biden to cancel $10,000 of student debt. But is that enough? Bernie and Warren want $50K in relief. We break down Biden’s student debt plan, who gets it, and how much. Meanwhile Chuck Schumer says that canceling student debt is the...