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Today’s newsletter is presented by YMCA San Diego.
Good morning, San Diego.
We’ve got a whole lot of political news for your Wednesday. Let’s start in San Diego County.
There were at least seven reported sexual assaults at Otay Mesa immigrant detention center last year. The sheriff’s department didn’t investigate a single one.
Our partners over at CalMatters found that in 2020, it was decided between the sheriff’s department and the private company that runs the facility, CoreCivic, that the detention center’s warden would hold the authority as to whether to investigate rape allegations.
One county supervisor is now looking to revisit the agreement ceding the sheriff’s authority to a private company.
Over to Riverside County: Sheriff Chad Bianco seized hundreds of thousands of ballots from the November 2025 special election and is recounting them. Not everyone is on board with what the Republican running for governor called a “fact-finding mission,” as Attorney General Rob Bonta is calling on the court to step in.
Now, on to the nation: The Supreme Court is reviewing a Mississippi case concerning mail-in ballots that could affect voters in the upcoming midterms. The Court’s conservative justices have raised concerns with allowing late-arriving mail-in ballots to be counted. This comes after four states did away with ballot arrival grace periods last year.
Thoughts? Opinions? Share them with us at news@timesofsandiego.com.
Today’s top story
Sheriff not investigating 7 reported rapes at Otay Mesa detention center
By Wendy Fry and Nigel Duara • CalMatters
Records show the sheriff’s office has ceded control of the 2025 rape cases to civilians with the nation’s largest for-profit prison contractor.
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8 stories to start your day
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Today’s opinion column
Opinion: Historic preservation is now a tool for housing exclusion in San Diego
Every project that gets blocked or never proposed because of historic preservation is another family priced further from where they need to be.
Opinion: March Madness is not quite the same without the SDSU men’s basketball team
With the play-in games having started on St. Patrick’s Day of all days, you might be hoping your team has a wee bit of luck.
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