🌱 SDUSD Eyes Employee Housing + Antisemitism + City Repairs Too Slow

Hi, all! It's Bettyann Pernice, your host of the San Diego Daily. It's finally Friday, so grab your coffee and let's find out what's happening around town today:

• SDUSD eyes teacher and worker housing, if bond is approved.
• Antisemitism reports are up in San Diego
• Why are city repairs so slow?
• SD MTS launches essay contest with 40 laptop prizes
• Exploring San Diego: Things to do the weekend of Halloween

But first, today's weather:

Partly sunny.⛅High: 72, Low: 57.

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Here are five of the top stories in San Diego today:

1. For the first time ever, the San Diego Unified School District has proposed a bond with a new priority: employee housing. If the bond passes, the district will use $206 million of the funds to "acquire and construct teacher and workforce housing and related facilities." The rise in "housing costs has hit teachers and school employees hard." The cost has made it difficult to live near where they work. The housing, which would attract and retain potential employees, would be built on district-owned land. (Voice of San Diego)
2. San Diegans have not forgotten the trauma of the shooter attack at a synagogue in Poway, when a woman was killed and three others were injured. The shooter was a white supremacist. According to Anti-Defamation League of San Diego County, there's been a 31 percent increase in antisemitism in 2022. And celebrity Kanye West has added his vitriol across social media. To combat this hate, San Diegans need to join together, stand up, and speak out. Learn more: (FOX 5 San Diego)
3. Why does it take so darn long? A broken streetlight in Del Mar had been out since Feb. 2021. Residents in the area were fed up, but thanks to efforts of a local news station, those residents finally have lighting back on their street. The question remains, however: Why does it take the City of San Diego an average of 334 days to get lights fixed? According to the city: 'A high volume of street light issues, combined with delays in parts deliveries, complex and outdated street light circuits, and a high number of staff vacancies is causing street light repairs to take longer than normal.’ (CBS News 8)
4. You can be a winner! No, this is not about the CA Lottery. It's about the 19th Annual 2022 Laptop Scholarship Essay Contest, a joint effort of the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS), the Reyes Coca-Cola Bottling Company, and the San Diego County Office of Education. The contest is open to students in grade 9-12, until Nov. 25. The essay is to be written about the Youth Opportunity Pass, which provides free transit access for local youths. The contest will award San Diego County high schools' 40 best-scored essayists with laptops to take home. For rules and details, go here. (Times of San Diego)
5. The weekend is upon us! And it's a very special one: the weekend of Halloween! It's time for ghosts and goblins to go out trick or treating throughout the neighborhoods, wearing costumes of all sorts. There are also many other activities this weekend, so don't sit at home. Here's a list of events around town this weekend —go out and have a spooktacular time: (ABC 10 News San Diego KGTV)

Today in San Diego:

• SRCA Hearing Screenings — Scripps Miramar Ranch Library Center. (10 a.m.)
• Free Play Fridays on the Grass — Allied Gardens/Benjamin Branch Library. (10:30 a.m.)
• Google Maps App Workshop — OASIS San Diego. (11 a.m.)
• NGLCC LGBT Sip & Pitch Fridays — Equality Business Alliance. (Noon)
• Arts & Crafts — Carmel Valley Branch Library. (4 p.m.)

From my notebook:

• It's Draculemur! "Cape ✔️ Fangs ✔️ Blood thirst ❌ #RedRuffedLemur #Draculemur #SanDiegoZoo" (San Diego Zoo via Instagram)
• Towels needed: "Our Project Wildlife program is in great need of new or gently used towels of all sizes. Due to the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 that has been confirmed in San Diego County, our wildlife caregivers are needing to use more towels in order to follow biosecurity measures." (San Diego Humane Society via Facebook)
• They call it BATitude! "It's #BatWeek, friends, and you BATter believe that we're excited to celebrate these incredible wild critters! Though they are quite small, these animals can have a lot of BATtitude, as you may be able to hear with this canyon bat during his exam with our wildlife veterinarian intern, Dr. Owsiacki." (San Diego Humane Society via Facebook)
• SDPD Hiring Expo: "The 2nd Annual SDPD Hiring Expo will be on Saturday, October 29th at Police Plaza, 4020 Murphy Canyon Road. The event is from 8 a.m. — 1 p.m., and check-in starts at 7 a.m. We will have presenters from Investigations, SWAT Team, K-9 Unit, Dispatch, among others." (San Diego Police Department via Facebook)
• Red blood lilies: "There are blood lilies popping up around our South Africa garden. Haemanthus coccineus, are made up of anywhere from 25 to 100 individual flowers. Their bright vibrant red color stand out and bring your eyes down to the garden floor." (San Diego Botanic Garden via Facebook)
• Reminder from the Registrar's office: "If you're a registered voter and haven't cast your ballot yet, you will soon get a reminder from the Registrar's office that you have just over one week to cast your ballot for the Nov. 8 Statewide General Election." (San Diego County Library via Facebook)

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Events:

• Heartland Coin Club Show and the California State Numismatic Association Symposium. (Oct. 29)
• Lauren Jelencovich Concert | St. James Music Series. (Oct. 30)
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You're all caught up for today! I'll see you around.

— Bettyann Pernice

Have a news tip or suggestion for an upcoming San Diego Daily? Contact me at sandiego@patch.com