By Megan Burks
Construction on New YMCA Slated for Spring
The Copley Family YMCA will move from its Cherokee Point location to bigger digs in the near future. It will also get a name change.
A press release from Councilman Todd Gloria’s office says the City Council has approved plans to build a new facility on the old Pearson Ford lot at Fairmount Avenue and El Cajon Boulevard. Construction is set to begin in the spring of next year, according to the Independent Voter Network.
The 53,400-square-foot Copley-Price Family YMCA will have a fitness room, enclosed pool and community center. It will also have a 296-space parking structure.
IVN reports the surrounding community has been overwhelmingly supportive of the plans. Our reporting on the early stages of planning showed some residents were lukewarm about it, wanting a retail center, green space and skatepark instead.
In our most recent story on the YMCA, we shared the hopes of some Muslim women for the new facility. They said they want a more culturally sensitive space to work out in.
Photo Courtesy of the Independent Voter Network and kdsarch.com
Follow the Independent Voter Network @IVNetwork.
Inmates Released Under Revised Three Strikes Law
When I spoke with voters at the polls in November, there seemed to be overwhelming support for two propositions that would soften California’s criminal justice system. A measure that would have ended the death penalty did not pass, but voters did approve a revision of the Three Strikes Law.
The first inmate released under the new rule—a life sentence cannot be handed down if the third strike is a non-violent crime—is from San Diego. He was sentenced to life after being convicted on drug charges, according to KPBS.
In City Heights, there’s a growing effort to make punishment more rehabilitative. Some voters told me they’ve watched family members struggle with unwarranted convictions and too-harsh sentences. We recently shared an essay by a Somali refugee who is working to find alternatives to charges that result in a criminal record for young people caught up in petty crimes. Mid-City CAN and the Cherokee Point Wellness & Restorative Practice Partnership are also working on the cause.
Attorney Justin Brooks, who represents Kenneth Glenn Corley, the first prisoner to be re-sentenced and released under Proposition 36, talks to KPBS.
Follow KPBS @KPBSNews.
GOP Lawmakers Push Two Immigration Bills
Republican lawmakers in the House and Senate have introduced two immigration reform measures. The House has passed one.
The Achieve Act, introduced Tuesday by Senators Jon Kyl of Arizona and Kay Bailey Hutchison, would “create three levels of visas for immigrants brought here illegally as children who complete college or serve in the military, and then spend several years working in the U.S. Ultimately, they would end up with a permanent non-immigrant visa renewable every four years. The bill offers no special path to citizenship,” according to Fronteras Desk.
The STEM Jobs Act has passed the House. It would grant green cards to non-citizens who earn some science, technology, engineering and math degrees in the United States.
Democrats and immigrant rights advocates say they want more comprehensive reform that includes a path to citizenship.
Follow Fronteras Desk @fronterasdesk.
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