Morning Report: Nick Shirley’s San Diego Video

Nick Shirley — who made a viral video about Minnesota day care centers — dropped his newest video Monday. About a third of it is dedicated to day care centers in San Diego. 

Journalistic rigor isn’t Shirley’s speciality. As in past videos, he makes claims of unimaginable fraud that are far more sweeping than his evidence backs up. 

Shirley shows up unannounced at day care centers, camera in hand, asking where the kids are. When no one trots kids out, Shirley claims these home day care centers are empty. It’s not clear that’s actually the case. 

We visited one of the day care centers Shirley visited and saw children present back in February.

But as with past videos, some of Shirley’s footage raises questions. At the video’s emotional climax, he and Amy Reichert find two children outside what they say is a home day care. They ask the children where the adults are and the children say they are alone. 

The children look quite young, but it’s hard to tell how young. Shirley blurs their faces.

We broke down exactly how to tell the difference between what Shirley found and what he didn’t when he first visited last month. 

Read the full story here.   

Knives Out: Teachers Union

For years, divisions between the unions that represent San Diego Unified staff have been growing. To some union heads, the president of the district’s teachers union, Kyle Weinberg, hasn’t just been a bad ally – he’s actively harmed their members.

That acrimony, though, simmered largely under the surface. At least until earlier this month, when district officials announced they may cut more than 200 positions. That came as a surprise to teachers, who had been spared from the cuts. And not just spared from cuts. The teachers had tentatively been awarded raises. 

That led some district staff to blame Weinberg and their own contract for the potential layoffs of their colleagues. Now, a rebel faction within the teachers union is working to oust the powerful two-term president and reshape how the district’s unions work together. 

Read the full story here.

A Sister Memorializes Her Brother

A musician. A voracious reader. A loyal friend.

Three months after her younger brother’s death in Ocean Beach, Rachael Taylor remembers all of the things that made her brother so special and loved. The fact he was homelessness does not feature on the list. 

As Taylor writes, her brother was more than just a statistic:

“We allow the word ‘homeless’ to swallow everything else about a person — their intelligence, humor, talent and potential. We flatten people into categories because it feels easier than confronting the complexity of their lives. But homelessness does not erase his brilliance or cancel his musical talent. It does not shrink a generous heart.”

Read the whole story here. 

‘Balcony’ Solar Clears First Legislative Hurdle

An effort to legalize balcony solar cleared its first hurdle Tuesday.

A State Senate energy committee OK’d a bill proposed by Sen. Scott Wiener, a Democrat representing the Bay Area, that would make so-called plug-in solar available to Californians. Right now utilities are requiring residents to apply for interconnection agreements, a very slow procedural process typically reserved for power plants. 

The bill is slated to move on to the judiciary committee. 

In Other News

• In a glimmer of good news, social media footage of police busting up a party of hundreds of high schoolers in Rancho Bernardo shows at least some teens are still doing teen stuff. Related: Police used a helicopter, the video shows, a policing tactic Voice of San Diego highlighted busting up college parties near SDSU.
• The local chapter of the ACLU has launched a hotline for residents to report what they believe is unlawful behavior by immigration agents. (City News Service)
• The San Diego City Council on Monday voted to lower speed limits on around 20 percent of city roads as part of a package of efforts intended to reduce deaths in vehicle collisions. (Times of San Diego)
• The San Diego Humane Society is standing up for a much maligned local – the noble coyote. The organization’s Coyote Awareness Week aims to spread the gospel of the beast’s good work and encourage vigilance during the animal’s mating period, which runs until May. (City News Service)

The Morning Report was written by MacKenzie Elmer, Jakob McWhinney and Will Huntsberry. It was edited by Will Huntsberry.

The post Morning Report: Nick Shirley’s San Diego Video appeared first on Voice of San Diego.