Daily Business Report: October 20, 2026
Midway Rising Advances But Council Insists Affordable Housing Should Be ‘New’
By Alejandro Maciel | Times of San Diego
At the Monday press conference announcing Premont’s appointment, Supervisor Paloma Aguirre, the former mayor of Imperial Beach and one of the strongest advocates for a more aggressive response to the crisis, said conditions continue to worsen.
“It has always been a crisis, but the scale is getting worse every day,” Aguirre said.
Aguirre noted that the new position addresses a need local leaders have identified for years: having a single person responsible for coordinating efforts across multiple agencies and levels of government. When the county Board of Supervisors approved the County Pollution Crisis Chief position, Aguirre argued that residents needed “one point of accountability” to help tackle a crisis affecting public health, the environment and the regional economy at the same time.
Latest State Reports Show Growth, Declines at San Diego Unified
by Jakob McWhinney | Voice of San Diego
On Thursday, California released its latest batch of student performance metrics. The data included quite a few bright spots for San Diego Unified — but also some worrying declines.
The district’s graduation rate showed a marked increase, likely helped along by officials’ creation of new graduation pathways. The percentage of graduates who qualified as “prepared” under the state’s career and college indicator metric also increased. In both metrics, San Diego Unified outperforms other large urban districts in the state.
Some negative metrics decreased, like the district’s suspension rate and the number of students who were chronically absent. Post-pandemic, chronic absenteeism reached crisis levels for districts across the country. Despite the declines, the district still hasn’t erased the pandemic-era increase.
Inside San Diego’s early canneries: How fish transformed the waterfront
by Debbie L. Sklar | Special for Times of San Diego
San Diego’s waterfront once revolved around a very different kind of visitor.
Fishing boats arrived carrying tons of fish. Workers rushed the catch into nearby plants, where it was cleaned, processed, and packed into cans. The finished products were then shipped to markets across the country.
The canneries helped transform the city’s waterfront during the first decades of the 20th century, turning commercial fishing into a major local industry and creating a network of factories, docks and businesses along San Diego Bay.
