The family of Gabriel Palacios, a 13-year-old who took his own life earlier this year, has filed a lawsuit against Coronado Unified School District (CUSD) one month after the district rejected a legal claim that says bullying and harassment at Coronado Middle School were substantial factors leading to his suicide. Orsolya and Felipe Palacios, Gabriel’s […]
Julieta Soto
Julieta is a reporter for The Coronado News, covering education, small business and investigating the Tijuana/Coronado sewage issue. She graduated from UC Berkeley where she studied English, Spanish, and Journalism. Apart from reporting, Julieta enjoys reading, traveling, and spending quality time with family and friends.
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Cancer Cartel hosts Oct. 23 fundraiser in Coronado
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and one local organization, Cancer Cartel, is hosting a fundraising event in Coronado. As cancer survivors, Shelly Tinney-Miller, Kerry Solmonsen and Katy Tinney-Olson co-founded Cancer Cartel in 2019 to provide financial support for individuals going through cancer treatments. Cancer Cartel continues to help people through direct financial grants, and […]
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IBWC continues pilot project to clean the Tijuana River
The U.S. International Boundary and Water Commission plans to release in the next few weeks results of a new cleanup campaign that uses “ozone nanobubble technology” to remove contaminants from the Tijuana River. The commission launched the 60-day pilot project on Sept. 9. It involves water treatment using Nano Bubble Ozone Technology (NBOT), or ultrafine […]
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Imperial Beach City Council appoints new District 3 council member
The Imperial Beach City Council has appointed Mariko Renee Nakawatase, an Imperial Beach resident who attended Mar Vista High School and currently works with the County of San Diego, as the new District 3 council member. Following a second round of interviews on Oct. 1, the council voted to appoint Nakawatase to the empty council […]
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San Diego supervisors approve state funding request for Tijuana River Valley study
The San Diego County Board of Supervisors has given its support to calls for a two-year study assessing the soil, water and sediment in the Tijuana River Valley with the goal of using the data to once more request a Superfund designation from the Environmental Protection Agency. In late September the board unanimously agreed to […]
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CUSD governing board approves committee designations
The Coronado Unified School District board tasked each trustee with committee assignments to four committees. Trustee Fitzhugh Lee took over for Trustee Scot Youngblood and joined Trustee Renee Cavanaugh in the facilities master plan ad hoc committee. Meanwhile, Youngblood will remain in the joint school board and Coronado City Council committee known as the “2X2” […]
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Family of deceased 13-year-old files claim against Coronado Unified School District
Months after the passing of 13-year-old Gabriel Palacios, his family is holding the Coronado Unified School District (CUSD) responsible in a legal claim that says bullying and harassment at Coronado Middle School were substantial factors leading to his suicide. Expressing condolences to the family, the district rejected the complaint. “While attending Coronado Middle School the […]
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Coronado veteran will be honored in a late September homecoming
More than 60 years ago, a family member’s advice ignited retired Capt. James Ginn Callaway’s decision to serve in the U.S. Navy. “‘Before you settle down, whatever you’re going to do in life, you ought to go into the Navy for three years and see the world,’” said Callaway, recalling the words of an uncle. […]
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Four Imperial Beach residents move to second round of City Council seat interviews
The Imperial Beach City Council has narrowed the field of candidates for an open seat, and is scheduled to vote on a final decision during the Oct. 1 meeting. At a Sept. 17 meeting, the council selected four District 3 residents from a list of eight candidates to move forward to another round of interviews […]
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Coronado’s Harvest Hoedown returns Oct. 10
Western dancing, pumpkin decorating and other seasonal events will once more occupy Village Elementary School this fall with the return of Coronado’s community-wide “Harvest Hoedown” celebration. Every year, the nonprofit Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) at Village Elementary School presents a family-affordable event for the entire city. According to Megan Settle West, the Village PTO yearbook […]
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San Diego Air Pollution Control District accelerates distribution of air purifiers
The San Diego Air Pollution Control District is planning to purchase thousands of air purifiers for distribution to households impacted by poor air quality stemming from the Tijuana River wastewater crisis. During a special meeting on Sept. 11, district officials said 3,200 units of the district’s Air Improvement Relief Effort (AIRE) are anticipated by the […]
Posted inSchools
CUSD on track to meet mandated reserves in upcoming years
Following the Coronado Unified School District board of trustees approving a lease-purchase financing agreement, Deputy Superintendent Donnie Salamanca told the board at the Sept. 11 district meeting CUSD is on schedule to become a locally funded “Basic Aid” district on or before the 2027-28 fiscal year. Salamanca said CUSD has reserve amounts through 2027 that […]
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San Diego County supervisors approve studies on sewage crisis impacts
The San Diego County Board of Supervisors on Sept. 9 unanimously approved new studies to assess public health, economic impacts and toxic gas implications from what supervisors called one of the worst environmental justice catastrophes in the country, the Tijuana River sewage crisis. On Sept. 9, all district supervisors supported County Supervisor Paloma Aguirre’s request […]
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Polluted Tijuana River closed Coronado beaches days after rapid treatment plant expansion
The beaches in Coronado were closed from Sept. 1 through Sept. 4, along with several South Bay shorelines near the U.S.-Mexico border due to heavy sewage flows entering the beaches from Tijuana. In an effort to protect public health, the County of San Diego issued water-contact closures for Avenida Lunar to North Beach in Coronado […]
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Tijuana River ‘hotspot’ is the source of airborne pollutants
In a new study that tracks air pollution, researchers confirmed a definitive link between the alarming levels of toxic gas in South County and the untreated sewage and wastewater that enters the Tijuana River from Mexico. Scientists found high concentrations of hydrogen sulfide and hundreds of toxic gases in the air, originating from untreated waters […]
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How vermin make life – and business – miserable for Coronado restaurateurs
Editor’s Note: Findings in this report pull from data available on the County’s SD Food Info website up to Aug. 21, 2025. At one restaurant on Orange Avenue, San Diego County Health Services inspectors found four dead rodents in activated traps. At another Coronado business, they observed live German cockroaches. And, at a third, they […]