Cities Scrambling To Clean Up Curbside Recycling In Wake Of China Ban | Joshua Emerson Smith

03/19/19 • 13 min

Municipalities throughout the country, including in the San Diego region, are trying to salvage their recycling programs in the wake of China’s ban on certain plastics and papers.
Officials have urged residents to fill their blue bins with only locally approved materials as city contractors scramble to find new markets and meet tightening standards for the purity of recyclable waste.
While most cities have so far been able to endure the rising cost of recycling, linked to falling commodity prices for mixed paper and plastics, some small towns have gone so far as to dramatically scale back or completely shut down their operations — dumping otherwise reusable materials into landfills.
This story: www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/environment/sd-me-recycling-revenues-fall-20190317-story.html
In other news: www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/california/la-me-super-bloom-poppy-fields-lake-elsinore-20190317-story.html

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Border Dispatch: Dozens Of Migrants Breach Border Fence At Pacific Ocean | Tom Franklin

On Wednesday, photojournalist Tom Franklin captured video of two migrants slipping through the porous border fence in Playas, where a section of the lattice fencing had been pulled back. Franklin went back to the fence Thursday to see if it had been repaired.
A group of migrants who breached the U.S. border fence by the Pacific Ocean at Playas de Tijuana were detained Thursday by Border Patrol agents in Border Field State Park.
The group of about 35 people included women and children who said they were mostly from Honduras and came to Tijuana in a caravan.
Video shot from the Mexican side shows the group climbing through a broken piece of fencing and running down the beach.
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/migrant-caravan/sd-me-border-breach-20190314-story.html
In other news - https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/politics/ct-trump-veto-congress-national-emergency-order-20190315-story.html

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Border Dispatch: Concertina Wire Stolen From Border Fence And Used For Home Security | Wendy Fry

Last November, concertina wire — or razor wire — was installed to address fears that large crowds of Central American migrants would force their way into the country.
Thieves are now stealing that same material at night and using it in their homes or selling the razor wire to Tijuana residents who are using it as an extra layer of home security around their residence.
The city of Tijuana grapples with a surge in crime and in 2018, was the most violent city in the world, according a new report by the Citizens' Council for Public Security and Criminal Justice.
15 to 20 arrests have already been made and as of Monday, contractors were seen at a border fence on the U.S. side of Tijuana, replacing some of the stolen wire.
www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/border-baja-california/sd-me-concertina-wire-tj-20190318-story.html
In other border news: www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/border-baja-california/sd-me-border-economic-plan-20190318-story.html