Welcome to Thursday!
Today, the federal government faces a crucial deadline in its pledge to solve the Tijuana River sewage crisis in the South Bay and clear the stench once and for all.
Four years after he was attacked in Ocean Beach, Kobe La talks to ABC 10News anchor Melissa Mecija about the emotional and physical scars the incident has left after finally wrapping up a long legal battle.
Plus, meteorologist Megan Parry’s microclimate forecasts look at the isolated showers and thunderstorms that are popping up around San Diego County this morning.
Here's all the news you can use in the August 28 edition of your morning newsletter:
TOP STORY:
Thursday marks 100 days since Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin vowed to solve the ongoing Tijuana River sewage crisis.
The self-imposed deadline was placed by the agency in May after Zeldin saw the sewage issue first-hand in late April.
Zeldin promised to expand and fast-track repairs at the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant, which has been struggling to keep up with the sewage flowing in the Tijuana River Valley.
The plant currently treats 25 million gallons of wastewater per day, and 100 days ago, the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC) promised to treat an additional 10 million gallons per day starting Aug. 28.
However, the IBWC said they have fallen just short of that goal but were closing in on the final week to increase capacity.
The IBWC has completed a list of other crucial repairs, and they received approval from the state to expand the plant.
Along with fixes to the South Bay plant, the U.S. and Mexico signed a Memorandum of Understanding that requires both countries to expedite stormwater and sewage infrastructure projects on both sides of the border.
MICROCLIMATE FORECASTS:
Coasts
Inland
Mountains
Deserts
BREAKING OVERNIGHT:
RICHFIELD, Minn. (AP) — Just hours after a shooter opened fire through the windows of a Catholic church in Minneapolis, killing two children and wounding 17 people, hundreds crowded inside a nearby school’s gym, clutching one another and wiping away tears during a vigil alongside Gov. Tim Walz and clergy members.
Speaking to a silent crowd crammed shoulder-to-shoulder Wednesday night, while hundreds more waited outside, Archbishop Bernard Hebda described the students trying to shield their classmates as the gunfire erupted.
“In the midst of that there was courage, there was bravery, but most especially there was love,” he said at the Academy of Holy Angels, about 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) south of the shooting, in the suburb of Richfield.
Armed with a rifle, shotgun and pistol, 23-year-old Robin Westman shot dozens of rounds Wednesday morning toward the children sitting in the pews during Mass at the Annunciation Catholic School, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said at news conferences. The shooter then died by suicide, he said.
The children who died were 8 and 10. Fourteen other kids and three octogenarian parishioners were wounded but expected to survive, the chief said.
Rev. Dennis Zehren, who was inside the church with the nearly 200 children, said they were almost to the end of the Responsorial Psalm, which speaks about light in the darkness. That's when he heard someone yell, “Down down, everybody down," and the gunshots started.
Fifth-grader Weston Halsne told reporters he ducked for the pews, covering his head, shielded by a friend who was lying on top of him. His friend was hit, he said.
“I was super scared for him, but I think now he’s OK,” the 10-year-old said.
Police investigate motive for the shooting
FBI Director Kash Patel said on X that the shooting is being investigated as an act of domestic terrorism and a hate crime targeting Catholics.
Westman's mother had worked at the church for five years, retiring in 2021, according to a church Facebook post that year. It's not clear if Robin Westman ever attended the church or had been enrolled at the school.
O'Hara said police had not determined a motive for the bloodshed. The chief said, however, that investigators were examining a social media post that appeared to show the shooter at the scene.
O’Hara, who gave the wounded youngsters’ ages as 6 to 15, said a wooden plank was placed to barricade some of the side doors, and that authorities found a smoke bomb at the scene.
On a YouTube channel titled Robin W, the alleged shooter released at least two videos before the channel was taken down Wednesday. In one, the alleged shooter shows a cache of weapons and ammunition, some with such phrases as “kill Donald Trump” and “Where is your God?” written on them.
A second video shows the alleged shooter pointing to two outside windows in what appears to be a drawing of the church, and then stabbing it with a long knife.
Westman’s uncle, former Kentucky state lawmaker Bob Heleringer, said he did not know the accused shooter well and was confounded by the "unspeakable tragedy.”
The police chief said Westman did not have an extensive known criminal history and is believed to have acted alone.
Federal officials referred to Westman as transgender, and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey decried hatred being directed at “our transgender community.” Westman’s gender identity wasn’t clear. In 2020, a judge approved a petition, signed by Westman’s mother, asking for a name change from Robert to Robin, saying the petitioner “identifies as a female and wants her name to reflect that identification.”
Police chief says officers rescued children who hid
The police chief said officers immediately responded to reports of the shooting, entered the church, rendered first aid and rescued some of the children.
Annunciation's principal Matt DeBoer said teachers and children, too, responded heroically.
“Children were ducked down. Adults were protecting children. Older children were protecting younger children,” he said.
Vincent Francoual said his 11-year-old daughter, Chloe, survived the shooting by running downstairs to hide in a room with a table pressed against the door. But he still isn't sure exactly how she escaped because she is struggling to communicate clearly about the traumatizing scene.
“She told us today that she thought she was going to die,” he said.
Walz lamented that children just starting the school year “were met with evil and horror and death.” He and President Donald Trump ordered flags to be lowered to half-staff on state and federal buildings, respectively, and the White House said the two men spoke. The governor was the Democratic vice presidential nominee in last year’s election against Trump's running mate, now Vice President JD Vance, a Republican.
From the Vatican, Pope Leo XIV sent a telegram of condolences. The Chicago-born Leo, history’s first American pope, said he was praying for relatives of the dead.
Monday had been the first day of the school year at Annunciation, a 102-year-old school in a leafy residential and commercial neighborhood about 5 miles (8 kilometers) south of downtown Minneapolis.
Karin Cebulla, who said she had worked as a learning specialist at Annunciation and sent her two now-college-aged daughters there, described the school as an accepting, caring community.
Story by Giovanna Dell'Orto, Steve Karnowski, Mark Vancleave and Hallie Golden, Associated Press
CONSUMER:
For most households across the country, summer electricity bills are causing some sticker shock.
The cost to keep the lights on and the air conditioners blowing has jumped more than twice as fast as the overall cost of living.
WATCH — Scripps News Group’s Holly Firfer takes a look at what’s behind those high costs:
WE FOLLOW THROUGH:
More than four years after an attack in Ocean Beach left Kobe La with serious injuries, the civil case he filed is finally over as a judge recently awarded La more than $700,000.
La was just 22 at the time, excited to be with friends for the first time since restrictions were relaxed during the pandemic.
But their celebration came to an end when a man approached them claiming La and his friends stole his spot.
La said they could share, but the man returned with a group of friends and attacked them, while also yelling racial slurs.
"Ultimately, it was just a jumble of emotions … that should have never happened," La said. "I was a lot younger back then, but even now, I still feel that it could have and should have been avoided."
ABC 10News anchor Melissa MEcija first spoke to La about a week after the June 15, 2021 attack.
"When I went to brush my teeth, I realized I couldn't move my mouth, and it hurt whenever I tried to put my toothbrush in my mouth. I was still bleeding from the night before," he said in the 2021 interview.
La suffered several facial fractures and underwent jaw surgery.
Gabriel Ramos was arrested in connection with the incident, and prosecutors ultimately charged him with assault.
In 2023, a judge sentenced him to probation. During that hearing, Ramos spoke to La directly.
“I apologize to the bottom of my heart to the defendant Kobe La … It was stupid, it was childish, it was disrespectful," Ramos said.
After the criminal case, La filed a civil lawsuit.
Following through with La all these years, it’s clear the toll this has taken.
“It definitely affected me to see like the average person a little bit more negatively, a little bit more cautious of what they can do to me or the people around me,” La said.
It also still affects him physically.
"I'm still numb like on this section of my lip all the way down to my chin," La said.
The civil case ended with La awarded more than $763,000.
"My main message is that if you see something, you should always say something, you know, whether it be not me but someone watching this all go down. I'm very thankful for the person that actually stood up and came to intervene," La said,
He also had this message to his attacker: "I really hope you learned your lesson. I hope this was a wake-up call for you, that you know now that things like this should never be tolerated.”
ABC 10News reached out to Ramos and his lawyer, but his lawyer declined to comment.
RELATED COVERAGE:
- Man responsible for assault over a fire pit in Ocean Beach receives sentence
- Ocean Beach attack victim shares recovery, files civil lawsuit
- Arrest made in violent Ocean Beach attack
- Young man injured in violent attack over Ocean Beach fire pit
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