Today’s newsletter is presented by San Diego International Film Festival.
Good morning, San Diego ☀️
Here’s what we have for you today:
- A San Diego-based aircraft carrier — the USS Theodore Roosevelt — quietly left for the Arabian Sea to relieve the USS George Washington.
- HalGLOWeen is back Saturday for its ninth year at the San Diego Zoo.
- And shoutout to reader Tom Colthurst, who correctly guessed yesterday’s “Step back in time” question. Scroll to the bottom to see if you got it correct too.
Tessa Balc
Audience engagement producer
Top story
Trump administration accused of contempt of court over order to resume Green Card lottery
Lawyers are working to extend a Wednesday deadline to process visas after the Green Card lottery program was stalled back in December, creating a backlog.
The attorneys, including Curtis Morrison from San Diego County, representing those seeking visas are calling on federal judges to hold the Trump administration in civil contempt after allegedly defying court orders to restart the stalled program.
The Department of Justice’s lawyer is arguing that the government’s slow process is not grounds for a ruling of contempt of court. That’ll be for a U.S. District Court judge to decide today.
You might recall, our contributor J.W. August wrote about Morrison’s victory alongside three other attorneys in early August, which required that the government restart and expedite its Diversity Visa program.
In this particular case, Medani v. Trump, Morrison’s co-counsel Jessica Arena said that of the 1,196 named plaintiffs only 108 have had a visa approved. More of her clients — 171 people — have been denied than approved in the process. She says these figures are not complying with the court’s order to expedite the process.
The DOJ in its filing said that it completed roughly 2,582 interviews and 2,929 “visa adjudications” between Aug. 29 and Sept. 2.
Morrison, though, said this does not tell the court about the number of visas granted — only that they were decided.
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Stories you should know about
🗳️ La Mesa election guide: Mayor’s race takes center stage as voters weigh school and college bonds: We brought you our San Diego election guide yesterday, now here’s La Mesa’s. The races up for grabs this year include the city treasurer, and of course, the Mayor’s race.
🏙️ Personal safety, cleanliness sticking points in survey about downtown San Diego: A report comparing San Diego’s downtown experience with that of other cities across the world revealed that nearly 75% of residents describe the city as an overall great experience, while safety was an important issue, with only about 25% of residents feeling safe downtown.
💰Irwin Jacobs gives $50 million for towers housing senior homeless at Father Joe’s: The long-time homeless services provider announced the five-year project to redevelop the Joan Kroc Center on Imperial Avenue into a nearly 500-unit high rise on Monday.
What else we’re reading
✂️ The city of San Diego is threatening to cut ties with the Gaslamp Association after documents suggest its director approved and accepted $10,000 for the illegal Avengers advertisement wrapped around the Gaslamp sign. (Voice of San Diego)
📝 A former deputy chief operating officer at the city of San Diego is claiming that she was fired in retaliation for investigating and disciplining an employee who was romantically involved with Mayor Todd Gloria’s chief of staff (inewsource)
Times of San Diego thanks our corporate sponsors. Find out more about sponsorships and advertising opportunities here.
Step back in time…
This was taken in 1929 at the Scripps family estate overlooking Mission Bay. Did you guess correct? Want to read more, check out this article.
