TIJUANA RIVER VALLEY
Jim Usita didn’t have to pay for anything he used to build his community garden his sink, flower pots, drip irrigation system, white picket fence, even his American flag décor.
“That wood came from McDonald’s. McDonald’s was renovating, so I asked if I could take that plywood and I made a flag out of it,” he said, chuckling.
The irony isn’t lost on the 59-year-old contractor from Chula Vista, who advocates for a slower, healthier way of life away from the hustle of the city and fast-food chains. Usita uses apps like OfferUp to find discarded items, and his work in the construction trades as a painter gives him access to material his clients are throwing away.
SAN DIEGO
On a recent Friday morning cars pulled up to Afton Miller’s Talmadge home to drop off dozens of bags filled with donated food.
One by one the donations covered Miller’s driveway, where she runs a monthly food drive in the community. Brown grocery bags and cardboard boxes were filled with canned goods and household supplies.
“It’s easy. . People are both generous-minded and have free time,” Miller said.
Miller has been running the monthly community-led food drive in Talmadge, a mostly residential community between Kensington and the College Area, since late last year.
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The hope, she said, is that other neighborhoods will begin similar efforts and continue donating food long after the pandemic ends.
Katie Ruiz was not made for these times.
As she runs down the list of places she’s lived and created over the years, it’s clear she’s lived her life in continuous search of inspiration. From partying in the home of Fidel Castro in Havana or working in a refugee camp in Botswana, to backpacking through Europe or learning printmaking in Guanajuato, Mexico, the multidisciplinary artist is a firm believer that travel often serves as art’s greatest muse.
“People basically call me a gypsy,” Ruiz says from her Sherman Heights home and studio. “I’ve moved something like 20 times and have moved twice since the pandemic. I’m kind of nomadic, but when I think of home, it’s definitely San Diego.”
SAN DIEGO
A 32-year-old man died two days after being shot last week in Sherman Heights, a San Diego police official said Tuesday.
The victim was identified as San Diego resident Juan Ledesma, Lt. Matt Dobbs said.
A 911 caller reported hearing gunshots in the area of 24th Street just south of Island Avenue about 11:25 p.m. Thursday. Officers found “several cartridge casings and blood in the street,” Dobbs said in a news release.
Soon after, Ledesma was dropped off at a nearby hospital. He then was transferred to a trauma center, where he was in critical condition. He died Saturday.
A short time later, a 32-year-old man was dropped off at Sharp Coronado Hospital with an apparent gunshot wound, the lieutenant said. The man was then taken to a trauma center in San Diego, where he remained in critical condition Friday morning.
Homicide investigators were called in to handle the investigation. It is still very early in the investigation and detectives are in the process of collecting evidence and locating and interviewing potential witnesses, Dobbs said.
No suspect description was immediately available.
Anyone with information about the shooting was urged to call the SDPD homicide unit at 619-531-2293 or Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477.