Rosey's Diary & Newsy Things: Gentrification: Protecting LGBTQ+ Nightlife | Soaring Rents | Public Park Bans Bikes | City Fails FIDO Dogs | Bird Flu | Pathogen Descriptors Rewritten |

Ficus at Fiesta Island Dog Park, before the foxtails seeded. (Taken 2.18.24)

At some point I have to stop collecting links and actually make a post. I've been trying, but work has been crazy busy...the Casbah is presenting more shows at outside venues than ever before, or at least to pre-pandemic levels and the agencies are fully staffed up with 6-12 person marketing teams to remind me -- one person -- that I'm not meeting their expectations. I love taking my laptop to the zoo to get work done, but I find more of my day actually on the laptop than actually experiencing the zoo. As a result, when I get home at night I've been trying to keep that my time, which this week means bingeing Girls 5eva. 

I went to LA last Sunday for the opening of my cousin's new business and ended up making an overnight out of it, with a super rainy Sunday at the LA Zoo and then a much nicer rain-free Monday. I helped out with merch for The Last Dinner Party on Friday afternoon and then we went to the show that night. Darren spent his days off being sick at home, so I've been trying to give him all the space at home he needs to nap and recover, but then after the kid's concert at school, he said he was also feeling sick and likely won't be going to school tomorrow. They're both negative on COVID tests, but I'm still gonna try to do all the things we did back then, because I do not want to also get whatever sinus-throat tickle-congestion thing it is. I'll get to listings this week, and I don't have any major plans besides working at our Quartyard show on Sunday but I'll definitely keep myself scarce at home if I can. 

Ohhhh! And one more thing! Remember when this was just a music site?? Tim Fears is gonna get back to posting photos here. I'll add mine when they're worthwhile than more than an IG post, but be on the lookout for his stellar shots. 

Stay safe out there. 

• SAN DIEGO LOCALS: 
• City late to extricate foxtails from Fiesta Island: Noxious seeds found in chest walls and hearts, and even the brain cavity of dead dogs - San Diego Reader (4.16.24)
• In Hillcrest, San Diego seeks to balance new housing with protections for LGBTQ+ nightlife - kpbs (4.10.24)
• Soaring Rents in San Diego Pricing Out Working Class. Locals are bearing the cost of increasing rates, with many spending more than half of their income on rent. - San Diego Magazine (4.4.24)\
• Gen Zers in San Diego to Pay $220,770 on Rent by Age 30, 17% More Than Millennials Did. Homeownership Costs Even Higher - RentCafe (4.4.24)
• Surprise! Padres’ Gallagher Square Now Bans Bikes. Once offering public access for all, a renovation to make the “Park at the Park” a bigger amphitheater brings a new rule against bicycling - San Diego Sun (4.12.24) 
• Mayor reveals $5.65 billion budget, one-time cuts to prevent service losses - City News Service/kpbs (4.12.24)
• County to Conduct First Mosquito-fighting Larvicide Drop of 2024 Next Week - County News Center (4.17.24)
• ZOO GOSS:
• Some of this won't make sense unless you're a zoo addict, but some things have happened at the zoo since I last wrote on 4.11.24. The Andean bear cubs who filled our hearts since their birth in December of 2022 are gone. Unclear if they're still at the zoo at all or are already in new homes, but Mama Alba seems to be adjusting just fine, and her mate, Turbo, has been brought back to Center Street, at the top of "Bear Canyon" in the first habitat if you're coming down from Urban Jungle. I'm sure it won't be long for the two to mate again (if that's in the SSP.) According to the AZA (Association of Zoos & Aquariums/ @zoos_aquariums), there were 8 Andean bears born within the AZA as part of the Species Survival Plan, so it seems moves are happening among all of them.  
• My favorite little monkey, Chi, a Francois Langur, is now a big brother! Care specialists had to intervene when Chi was born in 2017, as he was being rejected by mom and the rest of the group, but it appears Mama Meili is more mature and handling motherhood just fine with the new baby girl, who was maybe born on April 12th or 13th from what I can tell. She's hard to see as mom keeps her close at all times, but I suspect in a couple more weeks, she'll be bounding off and exploring. If you go to find her in Sun Bear Forest, look up and look for the little 6-9 inch tail hanging down among the 4-6 foot long ones of the adults, then look at Mei's chest for the neon orange head. 
  

  Baby Francois Langur Girl at ~3 Days Old, Taken 4.16.23

  
  



Rosalina, 2 new pups and one older one (Taken 4.16.24)



• The capybaras have had another litter of babies! I think they were born 4.13.24 and this time there are three. Two of the previous four 8-month old siblings are still on habitat, taking on full babysitting duties when mom, Rosalina, and dad, Bowie, need a break. I haven't really heard rumblings of where the other two were moved.
• I recently visited the baby squirrel monkeys. I hadn't seen them in awhile as I avoided Explorers Basecamp -- full of water features and splash pads for children -- the duration of the spring break hours. They're growing so fast, and it's hard to tell them apart from the rest of the group, but when you see them, you'll know they're still juveniles and cute as ever. 
• Maza, the greater one-horned rhino, is back and doing great and everyone is loving on him all the time, and his snarfs in response to hearing his name is something special to experience. Today I confirmed with a tour guide that the baby at Safari Park is definitely his offspring, but no mention of a name for that baby just yet. 
• While in Parker Aviary, I thought I caught Lola, the keel-billed toucan's, attention. Instead, the volunteer said that she's off habitat at the moment and a male has been introduced. In time, the two will be together in the no-human side of that habitat. 
• POLITICS:
• US Infrastructure Is Broken. Here’s an $830 Million Plan to Fix It. WIRED spoke with US transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg about recent grants to fix ancient roads, bridges, and other critical infrastructure before it’s too late. - Wired (4.16.24)
• Soldiers Charged With Violent Crimes Will Now Face More Scrutiny Before They Can Simply Leave the Army. The change comes after reporting from ProPublica, The Texas Tribune and Military Times revealed that hundreds of soldiers charged with offenses like sexual assault and domestic violence left the Army without facing courts-martial. - ProPublica (4.19.24)
• CLIMATE: 
• Court upholds California’s authority to set nation-leading vehicle emission rules - AP News (4.9.24)
• The Flooding Will Come “No Matter What”. The complex, contradictory and heartbreaking process of American climate migration is underway. - ProPublica (4.11.24)
• Why chocolate is skyrocketing in price. Chocolate is selling at record highs. But for West African cocoa farmers, it's not exactly a windfall. - The Hustle (4.12.24)
• EPA Finalizes New Standards for Cancer-Causing Chemicals. The regulation specifically targets ethylene oxide, which a ProPublica analysis found was the single biggest contributor to excess industrial cancer risk from air pollutants nationwide. - ProPublica (4.16.24)
• COVID-19/AVIAN FLU/HEALTH/WELLNESS:
• Bird Flu Is Spreading in Alarming New Ways. H5N1 has infected cattle across the US and jumped from a mammal to a human for the first time. Experts fear it may someday evolve to spread among humans. - Wired (4.11.24)
• Global health groups propose new terminology for pathogens that spread through the air - CIDRAP (4.19.24)
• Leading health agencies outline updated terminology for pathogens that transmit through the air: "Global technical consultation report on proposed terminology for pathogens that transmit through the air" - WHO (4.18.24)
• US COVID-19 Stats 
• CDC Data Tracker: New Weekly Updates on Fall and Winter Virus Season