Today’s newsletter is presented by Kaiser Permanente.
Good morning, San Diego ☀️
Here’s what we have for you today:
- For the musically minded, the Adams Avenue Street Fair is a can’t-miss date on the annual calendar. It’s Saturday and Sunday and we have picks for you.
- Encinitas continues to look at a new form of red-light cameras – the council gave the green light for more study.
- We’re all about the Navy and the Marines in these parts, but shoutout to the Air Force, founded on this day in 1947.
Jennifer Vigil
News editor
Top story
San Diego moves to require warning signs on cryptocurrency ATMs to prevent scams
If you have an aging parent, auntie, bestie or anyone you want to protect from scams, recent developments are alarming. AI is helping the bad guys, to the point that they can impersonate the good guys.
Here’s one scam the city of San Diego is gearing up to fight – the deposit of victims’ money into cryptocurrency ATMs. The city, if councilmembers approve, would be the first in the state to require that scam warnings be placed on or near cryptocurrency ATMs.
The crypto con isn’t that much different from the old scam in which victims are persuaded to put cash on a cash card and send the number to a criminal who then empties the card, with the funds never to be seen again.
There’s contact, some pressure is applied, or the scammer gains the victim’s trust, and poof, money is sent, gone and well nigh impossible to trace.
And make no mistake, older people are the criminals’ main targets. According to AARP California, victims 60 and over lost roughly two-thirds of the $389 million reported stolen in recent cryptocurrency ATM scams.
There’s a catch, though. The state’s crypto ATM data doesn’t appear to be current and the city is relying on it – one actually must know where the ATMs are to place the warning signs. Our Dorian Hargrove has more.
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Stories you should know about
🏢 101 Ash Street gets new name – and plan for affordable housing: The infamous address is no more. The city took more steps to transform the downtown money pit, which cost taxpayers millions following an infamous 2017 land-use deal, into a mixed-use project, with affordable housing, retail and a childcare center. It will also henceforth be known as 107 Ash, not 101.
🐰 San Diego Weekend Guide, Sept. 18-20 – Taking It to the Street: We already told you about the Adams Avenue Street Fair. But there’s much more music to be enjoyed this weekend, plus art fairs, two community “Tastes of” and well, just try and resist Bunnyfest.
🏞️ Opinion — After 190 years, it’s long past time to return San Pasqual to the tribe: Three local state lawmakers reached across party lines to author AB 2770. It passed and now they are waiting to see if Gov. Newsom will sign it, clearing the way for the San Pasqual Band to have its land returned. The legislators explain why this would be an “enormous step measured in corrective justice.”
What else we’re reading
🪧 Hundreds rallied in City Heights to protest ICE actions in the neighborhood, particularly against Haitian immigrants. A San Diego Unified trustee, Richard Barrera, told the crowd that ICE had temporarily detained a girl on her way to high school. (Daylight San Diego)
🥵 Junior sailors stationed at Point Loma can now have personal A/C units in the barracks after leadership eased restrictions following their complaints that they could not sleep during heat waves. (KPBS)
Times of San Diego thanks our corporate sponsors. Find out more about sponsorships and advertising opportunities here.
Locals Only
☕️ We asked you: What’s the best coffee spot in La Jolla? Here’s what San Diegans had to say:
☕️ Pannikin La Jolla (now closed) on Girard Ave. from Larry F.
💐 The Flower Pot on Fay Ave. from Carlos and Christopher D-F.