Thanks for joining us for this.

Look at some of the best stories from Kpbs news this week.

I'm Maya Trabulsi Coming up, the soaring price of energy.

Meet some of those who are watching the moves made by SDG&E in an effort to question rate hikes.

Also, we'll take you on a tour of Rachel's Promise, see a new local shelter that is designed to meet the needs of unhoused women and children.

And the latest in our Museum a month series.

We go inside Balboa Park's Morrison House for a glimpse into the life of a San Diego icon.

We start with what's been a busy week for thousands of local parents and their kids.

It's back to school season in San Diego, and our newsroom covered Opening Day for San Diego Unified, the second largest school district in the state.

This was the scene Monday at Patrick Henry High School in San Carlos.

North County schools are also back in session.

Alexander Nguyen visited the grand opening of a completely rebuilt elementary school It was a special day for these students.

They are the first to attend the brand new Bobier Elementary School.

This has been a long time coming.

The old campus was torn down two years ago after voters approved a bond measure giving the green light for a $100 million rebuild.

Principal Melanie Paliotti says it was sorely needed.

The old Bobier was over 60 years old and in definite need of repair and repair and improvements.

Money for the rebuild came from measure LL, a $247 million bond passed in 2018.

So what does the new school have?

That the old one didn't?

Paliotti says a lot.

We're pretty sustainable.

Most all of our power will be generated right here from our solar panels.

It's just very modern.

They our Hvac systems, our playgrounds are everything is very innovative and modernized and safe for all students.

As you can see, this campus is huge with 8400ft2 of new classroom spaces and a new Steam lab.

So this is our steam lab.

Theresa Woodward is the Steam lab teacher.

She gave us a tour of the classroom.

We're super excited about kids really being able to have access to the science, technology, engineering, art math program.

We began it last year, but we didn't quite have a, arts or a Steam program to this scale.

Teachers aren't the only ones excited about the new campus.

Parents are too.

It's beautiful.

I can't believe it.

Actually, compared to their old school, it's, like, huge and really nice.

I can't believe how nice it was inside.

And I never really even had the time to see it from the outside.

So even being here now and it's near McDonald's which is why he likes it.

But this fourth graders mind is still elsewhere.

Is that the most exciting thing about this school?

It's near McDonald's, I guess.

Alexander Nguyen, KPBS News.

They're the people who watch SDG&E like a hawk.

They're officially called Interveners, and many of them fight on behalf of ratepayers.

Kpbs Public Matters reporter Kevin Trevellyn says they're now gearing up to battle a proposed rate hike.

You can see how much chaparral we have here and how healthy it is.

Joseph Mitchell and Diane Conklin bought a house on a ridge in Ramona in 1999.

Because they love the open space.

They saw one of the mountains sloping up the other side of Kimball Valley, and knew they found the right place.

It's an antidote to life today to look out the window.

All I have to do is look out the window.

We spent a lot of time doing that.

They also understand their beautiful view comes with the existential threat of wildfire.

This looked like a moonscape in 2003, after the fire came through.

The 2003 Cedar Fire was sparked by a hunter in the backcountry.

Mitchell says it burned down two thirds of their neighborhood.

Their house survived, though.

They had just received a permit for a home defense sprinkler system.

Mitchell, a particle physicist, built it from scratch, said, you know, you know, I'll give it a good test this weekend.

And the next day was the Cedar Fire.

Three years later, SDG&E announced plans to build a high voltage transmission line through the same valley scarred by the Cedar Fire.

They called it the Sunrise Power Link.

The couple opposed the power link right from the start.

Mitchell had been researching historical state fire data and realized powerline fires were often more severe in the present day.

They've caused more than a quarter of the state's most destructive wildfires, according to Cal Fire in 2006.

Mitchell and Conklin channeled their advocacy through a small nonprofit they started a few years earlier.

The Muskie Great Road Alliance eventually, SDG&E rerouted the power Link south.

If neighbors come together and fight, they win.

Since then, Conklin and Mitchell have continued fighting utility plans during state regulatory proceedings and in the process have become members of a somewhat exclusive club.

They're among a handful of groups statewide called Intervenors.

They comb through arcane documents, sometimes numbering thousands of pages, to advocate for things they believe the utility should better prioritize.

SDG&E is owned by Sempra, one of California's largest companies.

Conklin says the David versus Goliath resource gap doesn't matter.

It matters how factual you are and it matters how principled you are.

And so in the end, I think that the bugaboo about it being complicated, well, everything's complicated.

But, you know, as a former journalist myself, if it's complex, it's suspect.

So you just do it.

The Macy Gray Road Alliances latest project is SDG&E's request to raise customer rates, about 8.5% starting in 2028.

The utility intervenors and regulators will now hash out whether that request is reasonable.

It's part of a complicated 18 plus month budgeting process called a general rate case.

SDG&E spokesperson Anthony Wagner says, a lot of Intervenors have sharp pencils when it comes to utility proposals.

But he says they make the process more fair and transparent.

All viewpoints inform, the scrutiny of what our original proposal is, and it helps make our policy document better.

SDG&E says the rate request prioritizes affordability and service reliability.

The five voting members of the California Public Utilities Commission will have ultimate say on it.

The stakes are high for SDG&E customers.

1 in 5 households are currently behind on their bills, according to state data.

Community activists railed against SDG&E rates in front of parent company Sempra's downtown San Diego headquarters last week.

And the Interveners based their arguments around affordability, including the nonprofit, San Diego based utility Consumers Action Network.

Executive director Edward Lopez says you can make push SDG&E less on services delivered, and more on whether certain new infrastructure is necessary.

Over the years, we've done our best to try to assert that.

Wait a minute here.

What the utility is requesting is just too much for the 2028 rate request.

You can is looking into SDG&E's proposals for wildfire mitigation, which involves burying power lines and covering conductors.

The utility needs to follow state law and says reducing fire risk reduces legal liability, but those projects also have a price tag.

And most parties who agree there's a there's worth to a certain level of investment.

But at what point does your sort of return on that investment start to diminish and the investment itself starts outweighing that return?

During the last rate request cycle, SDG&E asked to collect about $3 billion from customers in 2024.

The Public Utilities Commission ultimately approved $2.7 billion.

Intervenors are compensated for their work by the commission, but only if their arguments impact the final decision and they don't duplicate the work of others.

University of San Diego energy attorney Joe Katz credits Intervenors for their successes, but he says there are limits to their impact.

It's a regulated monopoly.

It's their system, their equipment.

They know how their business operates, and they're the they're the author of the application that the regulator is reviewing.

And so when Intervenors are looking at it.

If they're introducing their own evidence, it has to be persuasive enough or carry enough weight that and limited staffing, are why most intervenors tend to make narrow challenges and recommendations.

Back in Ramona Conklin and Mitchell say they'll keep doing the work as long as it makes a difference.

You'd never actually get to see the effect of the fire that doesn't start, but I know it's out there.

And you know, when utility bills are up less than they would have been up otherwise.

I know I'm part of that too.

Still, squaring off with the utilities can be a lonely fight, and they'd love to have more company in the trenches.

Kevin Trevellyn, Kpbs news.

Public matters is a partnership with Kpbs, I news Source and Voice of San Diego.

You can see more of our stories at kpbs.org/public matters.

New beds for unhoused women and children will become available next week in downtown San Diego.

Kpbs penner fellow Emmy Burrus reports on the homeless women's shelter program.

Rachel's promise that will see a 160 bed expansion.

The new private and semi-private bed options bring the total number of available beds at Rachel's Promise to 210.

The shelter will offer meals, clothes, laundry and shower access.

The program's operations and administrative costs are funded by the City of San Diego, in alignment with the city's new budget.

No matter the budget challenges or the complexities of bureaucracy, we stayed laser focused on making sure that we can get these additional beds open and more folks off the streets again for good.

The women who stay here also have access to housing related case management, assistance in applying for public benefits, and more resources.

The program is operated by Catholic Charities.

Their CEO, Vino Pajanor says they strive to meet people where they are and support their individual journeys.

For some of them, it is to find permanent supportive housing.

For some of them, it is finding a job.

For some of them it is to get into some kind of a therapy or recovery.

We are going to accompany them and whatever time it takes, as long as you are engaged, you are going to accompany you in that process.

The San Diego Housing Commission administers referrals to Rachel's promise.

After that, there's no time limit to how long someone can stay.

The Housing Commission CEO and president Lisa Jones says there hasn't been enough shelter options available to women and children experiencing homelessness in San Diego.

Every detail is thoughtful and person centered and focused on the wellness, the health, the healing and the pathway to housing for these women and children.

Pajanor says they plan to add more resources for children staying at the shelter and down the line.

They hope to build more permanent housing nearby.

Single women will start moving into the shelter next week, and women with children will move in next month.

Emmy Burrus, Kpbs news.

After weeks of criticism, some essential spots are back open at one of San Diego's most popular parks.

Katie Anastas updates us on the decision to close several bathrooms at mission Bay, and how the city is finding a way to pay for them.

In July, the city closed 13 of the 28 bathrooms in mission Bay Park.

It's one of the ways the city closed a gap between its spending and revenue.

We're closing.

These public restrooms were among the difficult choices that we had to make to balance the budget.

Mayor Todd Gloria says he understands the public's frustration.

Of course, mission Bay is one of our most heavily used parks in the city of San Diego, particularly during the summer season.

Families and visitors reasonably expect basic public amenities to be open, like public restrooms.

Now, he and other city leaders have found a way to reopen them, at least through the end of the year.

Council members Jennifer Campbell and Joe LaCava will each use $50,000 to maintain the bathrooms through December.

Mission Bay Park is in both of their districts.

LaCava says he has $100,000 in community funds to spend this year.

The issue of the closed restrooms really rose to the top.

And so I am dedicating half of that money that I'm allocated towards reopening, these public restrooms along the mission Bay.

Gloria says other funding for the bathrooms will come from the city's general fund.

City leaders will consider whether they can keep the bathrooms open through June, when they review the mid-year budget.

Katie Anastas, Kpbs news.

Make sure to sign up for our newsletter to get a list of our most popular stories.

And here are some from this week.

A La Jolla man pleads guilty to a sea lion attack captured on video.

A teenage recruit who suffered suffered a fatal medical crisis at Camp Pendleton is identified and one of the nation's largest battery storage facilities opens in Poway.

San Diego is home to one of North America's most unique baseball markets.

The Padres and Toros de Tijuana play just 24 miles apart on opposite sides of the border.

Kpbs web producer Riley Arthur takes you inside Toro's mobile park to experience what it's like to attend a professional baseball game in Mexico.

One of the best baseball teams in Mexico just made the playoffs.

And you can see them right here in Tijuana.

If you've never been to a Mexican League baseball game, it's a lot different than U.S.

Major League Baseball.

Fundamentally, the game is played the same, and they've even adopted modern pace of play rules like a pitch clock.

I mean, the game is the same, I think Mexican League, and you can compare it to probably Triple-A, Triple-A ball.

Guys that been in there in, in the big leagues trying to come over here trying to get back to the US.

Some of them try to go to Korea.

So it's a very competitive league, obviously.

And a lot of guys that, can can make it up there to try to come back and see if they get another chance to make it to the big leagues.

This season, the Toros acquired former Dodgers World Series third baseman Justin Turner, and he's been a huge draw for Americans to cross the border for games.

Tickets to the game start around 2 USD.

And then there's the food.

Much of it is cooked fresh and affordable, with tacos starting at less than $3.

Beers come in 32 ounce cups and costs around $9.

So for about $15, you can buy your ticket and have dinner.

And grab a drink at the game.

There are four main mascots.

The bull honors a legacy of bullfighting that was once popular in the region.

The Toros have three dance squads.

Las Toritas are a cross between cheerleaders and dancers.

Los Toritos act as hype men regularly performing shirtless.

And Toro Beats brings breakdancing to the field.

The fans are extra loud at the end of every game a band plays, so for the price of a ticket, you also get a free concert.

Just like Banana Ball.

There is so much spectacle that it can be hard to actually watch the game, which is a shame because the Tijuana Toros are a top team.

The playoffs run through mid-September.

I like that they have several former major leaguers on the team.

That's pretty cool.

I like the noise and the party.

Yeah, for the most part, yeah.

The music that just keeps going and going.

It's like a party of a baseball game.

And you can catch the Toros de Tijuana at the Toros mobile park.

Riley Arthur, Kpbs news.

Lots of people over the years have helped Balboa Park become what it is today.

But it all started with a couple of San Diegans with a vision.

Kate sessions and George Marston in part one of our August museum a month.

Kpbs reporter John Carroll takes us to the Marston family home adjacent to the park.

A very special part of San Diego history.

George Marston and his father came to San Diego from Wisconsin in 1870.

The younger Marston was involved in protecting and preserving the original 1400 acre city park for years before building his family home in the park's northwest corner.

That was in 1905.

City Park would become Balboa Park five years later.

Marston and his wife Ana spent the rest of their lives here.

Their daughter Mary lived here until she died in 1987 at the age of 107.

She gave the house to the city of San Diego.

SOHO, the Save Our Heritage organization took over management of the property in 2009.

Hi there.

Welcome to the Marston House.

Thank you.

Robin Lakin is the site manager, curator and historian here.

Lakin is a walking encyclopedia on the house and the Marston family, especially its patriarch, George.

He's the father of Balboa Park.

The father of Presidio Park.

He provided San Diego with about a half a million acres of park land.

Anza Borrego, The Torrey Pines State Reserve.

He's widely known for private beaches in San Diego.

The 8500 square foot home is situated on a five and a half acre plot, surrounded by lawns and gardens.

It's chock full of Marston family history, reflective of San Diego's modern history.

The home was built in the Arts and Crafts style by famed architects Sterling Hebert and Irving Gill.

We begin our tour in the library.

Lakin tells us right up front, the house no longer holds much of the Marston's original furniture.

She and her team have done their best to mimic what they know was here originally.

The room has its original linen burlap wall covering, which was very popular treatment, and arts and crafts and craftsmen style homes.

Long time San Diegans will remember Marston's department stores, but it's here in the library where we start to learn about Marston's philanthropic gifts to this city.

George Marston was the founder of the San Diego Public Library, so it's apropos.

He has a nice library of his own.

And this is the music room.

Yeah, it was designed to house a baby grand piano.

And like, as I've mentioned, the Marstons were all accomplished pianists.

It's here where Lakin tells us about the 1915 Panama California Exposition.

This is one of the promotional posters.

This is an original from the time.

Then on to the living room and more fascinating history.

People seated at this table were Franklin Roosevelt and Eleanor Teddy and his wife, Mrs.

Grover T. Cleveland, along with our notable locals, Spreckels.

Scripps.

Sessions.

This is the dining room.

The spacious room is bright and airy, with a Stickley dining room set.

Next to that, the butler's pantry, where staff plated up food and washed dishes.

This is the kitchen, Lakin says.

Mary Marston upgraded the kitchen in the 1930s, but it didn't change much after that.

After they only upgrade the refrigerators.

And we're going to go upstairs.

But before we do, Lakin tells us more about what was important to George Marston green spaces for everyone for emotional and physical health and educational resources.

Everyone deserves educational resources, and that's one of his reasons for founding the San Diego Public Library.

Marston's official portrait hangs at the top of the stairs at the southeast corner of the second floor.

We find George and Ana's bedroom, and George, as a very early bird.

Every day, could sit out here and watch the sunrise, and he missed an opportunity for nothing.

He used every minute of every day of his life.

Both George and Ana died in this room.

He in 1940.

She.

In 1946, the suite consists of a bathroom, double walk in closets and a sitting room.

Lakin says the Marstons would enjoy hearing their children and later grandchildren playing downstairs.

The saying some things never change came to mind the day we were shooting.

There's a charge to tour the house, but the grounds are open to the public.

The Marston House features ten bedrooms and seven bathrooms.

All the bathrooms with the exception of Arthur's, who had a walk in shower, look like this.

This is the smallest of the ten bedrooms.

Next to that bathroom.

A bedroom with a view of the garden.

Elsewhere.

Upstairs.

More bedrooms.

This one with examples of period furniture.

And here, Mary's bedroom.

The walls now filled with pictures and text telling of Marston's legacy, all reflected in what is now the motto of San Diego County.

The noblest motive is the public good.

He founded this, the San Diego Public Library, the Humane Society, the YMCA, the SPCA.

He founded the San Diego Historical Society.

George Marston was among the first to provide equal pay for equal work between men and women in San Diego.

He gave profit sharing to his employees.

We end our tour in what Lakin says was the Marston's favorite space, especially the children.

The sleeping porch there would have been for these little cots out here, lined up for the girls to sleep on and spend the night.

And they talked about they reminisced about the coyotes.

They heard the birds.

And then that night, the coyotes.

Sure.

And then in 1915, when the expo comes and they bring in the animals to wind up becoming our San Diego Zoo, the Marston House is not the only historic property managed by Soho.

They have another one in a very distant part of the county.

It's the Warner Carrillo Ranch house in Warner Springs, nearly 65 miles to the northeast.

We'll take you there and reveal its amazing history next week.

John Carroll, Kpbs news.

If you're looking for something to do this weekend, consider the San Diego Made Market at Liberty Station.

Kpbs arts reporter Audie Macafy tells us about one of the locals who is taking part at the San Diego Made Market.

You can find baked goods, handmade trinkets and vintage jewelry, but you can also find tarot readings.

I was gifted my first deck when I was seven, by my aunt, and I immediately started doing this.

I started charging family members for readings and my mom was so mad.

Milo Corvino usually does tarot readings at coffee shops, nightclubs, and sometimes at his home, but he's also been working at the San Diego Made Market since last year, where he goes by the mystic M. Tarot reading, also known as card romance, is the practice of using a special deck of cards to answer questions.

Once shuffled, the cards are pooled and interpreted based on their symbolism.

This is the Six of Swords in reverse.

Corvino says not everyone believes in tarot, but he's not trying to prove whether it works.

Instead, he wants to create a space where people feel safe opening up.

I have four different decks laid out for people, so I have people, you know, I turn them over.

I people choose what they feel more comfortable with, the imagery that they feel drawn to.

I answer questions for people.

You know, I talk about the history, I educate about what it is and what it isn't.

He says the cards can't tell your future, but they can help guide you through the next steps.

I hope that people are just feeling much more aligned with themselves at the end of the day.

I know some questions cannot be answered in one simple, you know, 3 to 10 card spread, but I hope that people feel more affirmed.

I'm hoping that they feel a little bit more curious within their spirituality.

Corvino says he appreciates markets like San Diego made.

I feel like it gives people a space to really, like, express themselves and express their businesses, but also gives people a chance to kind of like, see what's out there rather than like, you know, who has the most money and who can pay for the nicest spot.

But running a small business comes with challenges.

His readings start at $11 and the price increases based on time spent.

He says he typically pays no more than $75 for a vendor spot, and sometimes makes less than the cost of the space.

Another challenge that I also do face is like trying to figure out if this person in front of me should get a reading, if this is like the right question or like the right course of action for them, and kind of like discussing and steering away from certain topics.

Still, despite the challenges, he is confident the right community will find him wherever he goes.

You know, if someone really is like, aligned and loves what I do, they'll come out and they'll shell out the money for it.

But I think just kind of like reminding myself that, like, it's not always not everyone's going to be for you.

And I think that's okay.

The Mystic M will be at the San Diego Made Market this weekend at Liberty Station.

Audie Macafy, Kpbs news.

And we hope that you enjoyed this look at Kpbs news this week.

I'm Maya Trabulsi, thank you for joining us.