Articles by Kristen Henderson

On Tuesday morning, President-elect Donald Trump posted to Twitter: Nobody should be allowed to burn the American flag - if they do, there must be consequences - perhaps loss of citizenship or year in jail!November 29, 2016 His comments follow a series of demonstrations at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts over the last week. The flag was lowered to half-staff on Wednesday, November 9, and, at some point Thursday evening or early Friday morning, the lowered flag was removed and burne...

San Diego, CALIF.- One of the big California statewide Propositions, 64, passed last Tuesday, making recreational marijuana legal in California. San Diegans also passed the complementary Measure N, imposing a tax on the marijuana industry and addressing the expected rise in law enforcement costs. However, unless you have a medical marijuana card, don’t get too fired up. Most likely, there won’t be any commercial “pot shops” for at least another year. The state isn’t required to begin issuing li...

San Diego, CALIF. - As the haze from the presidential election dissipates, many Americans are reflecting on the electoral process itself. And for the first time in a long time, the nation seems to have reached an agreement: flaws in the system must be addressed. The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research reports that, despite a typically divided electorate, “there are few partisan differences in the public’s lack of faith in the political parties, the nominating process, and t...

San Diego, CALIF. - Two of the most highly contested local ballot measures in the City of San Diego were defeated last night, as the voters of San Diego declined to pass Measures C and D. With 43% voting YES and 57% voting NO, Measure C (the Chargers’ Initiative) fell far short of the 2/3 majority needed to pass. Measure D required a simple majority and  managed to receive 40% of YES votes. A large number of provisional ballots still need to be counted, and while the numbers will likely fluctu...

San Diego, CALIF. - More than one million mail-in ballots have been sent to voters of San Diego County. If confirmed by Registrar Michael Vu, that would represent a new record. Inewsource has reported that 1.11 million early ballots were issued. This means, of the 1.5 million San Diegans registered to vote, 65% intend to vote by mail.  So far, the Registrar has received 501,687 completed ballots. A plethora of mail-in ballots can be expected to roll in today. Elections analyst Vince Vasquez t...

San Diego, CALIF. - To be blunt, things are looking pretty good for California’s Prop 64. The initiated state statute, which would legalize recreational marijuana use in California, has support from 58% of likely voters according to a statewide poll released this week. 37% of voters oppose it – a significant drop from the 53.5% of California voters who rejected a similar initiative just six years ago. The majority of supporters indicated that “finances” is the reason that “best describes” why t...

San Diego, CALIF. - You’ve done your homework. You registered to vote, decided whom you’re voting for, which measures to support, and which to oppose. You even found the best possible route to avoid Tuesday afternoon traffic. And now comes the real hard-hitting question… “can I take a selfie with my ballot?” It depends. Photographing a completed ballot is illegal in many states. Ranging from misdemeanors to felonies, violation of these laws could result in fines or even jail time. Justin Timber...

San Diego, CALIF. - Arguably, the most intensely contested and important measures to go before the voters of the City of San Diego on November 8 are C and D. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve gotten the gist of what these two important civic decisions entail. Measure C would create a convadium in the East Village of downtown and create a joint powers authority for tourism. Measure D is a tourism reform plan that would invest in the City’s infrastructure and help with police, fire, ...

Flores Questions Environmentalist’s Support of Measure D District 9 City Council candidate Ricardo Flores expressed his opposition to Measures C and D in an interview with San Diego Union-Tribune last week. He opposes Measure C, also known as the Chargers’ Initiative, on the grounds that it permits the use of taxpayer dollars to build a new football stadium. Measure D (formerly known as the “Citizens’ Plan”) actually prohibits the use of taxpayer money to fund construction costs without a publ...