Jim Hinch, Guideposts Journalist Profile

Articles

Aguirre Shifts on Sanctuary Policy

3 days ago | voiceofsandiego.org | Jim Hinch

Amid widespread condemnation of a federal immigration raid last weekend at a popular South Park restaurant, county supervisorial candidate Paloma Aguirre is softening her stance on a controversial county immigration policy. Speaking to KPBS on Monday, Aguirre said she supports the county’s so-called “super sanctuary” policy, which bars county employees from assisting federal deportation efforts even in cases involving immigrants convicted of violent felonies.
South County Report: A Tale of Two (State of the) Cities

4 days ago | voiceofsandiego.org | Jim Hinch

What happens when you sweep everything aside and just watch two politicians at work in their native habitat? I’ve been covering the race to fill a vacant South County seat on the San Diego County Board of Supervisors from the moment former District 1 Supervisor Nora Vargas unexpectedly resigned late last year.
Big Money Pours Into South Bay Supervisor Race

1 week ago | voiceofsandiego.org | Jim Hinch

The race to fill a vacant seat on the San Diego County Board of Supervisors is entering the home stretch – and an onslaught of high-dollar contributions is powering the candidates’ final sprint toward a July 1 voting deadline.
South County Report: Water Agency Demands Retraction From Former Board Member

1 week ago | voiceofsandiego.org | Jim Hinch

Lawyers for the Sweetwater Authority water agency are demanding that former authority board member Josie Calderon-Scott retract claims she made recently to Voice of San Diego that the authority knew about elevated levels of toxic industrial chemicals in its main reservoir years before alerting the public. But Calderon-Scott said she’s not backing down. And she challenged the authority to produce documents that she said would settle the issue.
Chula Vista Mayor Distances Himself from His Own Real Estate Company

2 weeks ago | voiceofsandiego.org | Jim Hinch

Chula Vista Mayor John McCann said he was divesting himself from a real estate company he co-owns with his wife after Voice of San Diego asked about the firm’s apparent preparations to sell real estate in a $1 billion bayfront luxury high-rise condominium project McCann has helped to promote and facilitate as a city leader.
South County Report: A Dream Come True

2 weeks ago | voiceofsandiego.org | Jim Hinch

There is almost no place in South San Diego County where you cannot see Chula Vista’s new monument to civic pride and ambition. The Gaylord Pacific Hotel and Convention Center rises like an ocean liner from the southeastern shore of San Diego Bay. Twenty-two stories high, with 1,600 rooms, a 4.25-acre water park and 477,000 square feet of meeting space, the $1.35 billion resort is visible on a clear day from downtown San Diego to the U.S.-Mexico border.
South County Report: Water Agency Toxic Chemicals Saga Continues

3 weeks ago | voiceofsandiego.org | Jim Hinch

Late last year, the Sweetwater Authority water agency made a startling announcement: There were elevated levels of toxic industrial chemicals in the reservoir supplying much of southern San Diego County’s drinking water. Agency officials said they discovered the chemicals in October during a federally mandated round of testing at the Sweetwater Reservoir in Bonita.
County Budget Muscles Into Supervisor Race

1 month ago | voiceofsandiego.org | Jim Hinch

County Budget Muscles into Supervisor Race Exactly what should be done with county reserve funds is becoming a critical issue in the special election for the Board of Supervisors. The San Diego County budget leaped to the forefront of the race to fill a vacant South County seat on the County Board of Supervisors on Wednesday.
South County Report: No Love (Yet) For Electric Trucks

1 month ago | voiceofsandiego.org | Jim Hinch

Environmental ideals and corporate ambition ran smack into political reality last week when representatives from the Port of San Diego and a national electric vehicle power company did their best to sell National City residents on the benefits of a planned electric truck charging station near the city’s 24th Street Marine Terminal.
Lauded Arts Program Faces Uncertain Future

1 month ago | voiceofsandiego.org | Jim Hinch

Seventeen-year-old Armando Varela stood in the middle of a crowded art gallery, working up the nerve to speak. It was Saturday afternoon and the halls and exhibit rooms at A Reason to Survive, a two-decade-old nonprofit youth arts program in National City, were full of eager children, harried parents and artworks ranging from wall-sized murals to a cluster of decorated wooden boxes small enough to fit in the palm of a hand.