Voice of San Diego

2 days ago | voiceofsandiego.org | Tigist Layne

Poway’s historically low in-lieu fee could soon see its first significant increase in decades. The fee developers can pay to the city instead of including affordable units in their projects, also known as an in-lieu fee, is $500 per unit. It’s the lowest fee in San Diego County.  Poway city leaders will hire an outside consultant to study whether the fee should be updated. Once the study is complete, the City Council will decide whether to raise the fee.

2 days ago | voiceofsandiego.org | Jakob McWhinney

For years, districts like San Diego Unified have struggled to provide before- and after-school care to all the families who need it. But the latest state budget may inject tens of millions of dollars into programs like San Diego Unified’s PrimeTime. That could allow districts to slash the long waitlists that have stymied working parents for years. The state of play: School schedules are pretty wonky.

2 days ago | voiceofsandiego.org | Lisa Halverstadt

It was late summer 2017 and San Diego’s homelessness crisis had entered a deadly new chapter. Months earlier, the county had declared a hepatitis A outbreak, warning that homeless people and illicit drug users were most at risk. The number of cases and deaths rose in the months that followed, and the city and county didn’t seem to be aggressively fighting back. Unsheltered residents with limited options to protect themselves were scared – and I was scared for them.

3 days ago | voiceofsandiego.org | Jakob McWhinney

I try pretty hard not to repeat artists for “Song of the Week,” at least not very often. So, when I saw San Diego garage punks extraordinaire The Sess was playing a show on Friday I did a quick search to see just how many times I’ve included the band on the weekly segment. It turns out I never have. That’s absolutely shocking to me, because The Sess is one of my all-time favorite local bands.

1 week ago | voiceofsandiego.org | Tigist Layne

It’s budget season, which means government agencies throughout San Diego County are finalizing their spending plans for the upcoming fiscal year. In North County, Escondido and San Marcos recently approved balanced budgets thanks in part to incoming funds from their respective new sales tax measures approved by voters last November.  Before those measures passed, both cities were experiencing ongoing budget deficits that required city officials to make cuts to city services and programs.