Axios San Diego
September 23, 2026
1 big thing: One dog poop triggers alerts
The new plan to let dog owners police themselves at school fields is still a bit….ruff.
The big picture: The plan's honor system (put in place after the city cut Humane Society enforcement) is meant to allow pooches to run free while kids enjoy clean fields during the school day.
- But already, owners aren't picking up their dog poop, and it's leading to field closures.
Under the new scheme, rolled out as a pilot program at Pacific Beach Middle, Birney Elementary and Franklin Elementary, signs carrying a Homeland Security-like threat system of green, yellow and red tiers indicate whether dog owners are sufficiently policing themselves.
Here's the system: A school field jumps up to yellow if "a single incident of dog waste" is discovered by school officials, city spokesperson Benny Cartwright told Axios.
- If a second "incident" is found in the grass within 30 days, it goes to red and the field closes to the public (not students) for 15 days.
- Once the field reopens, it returns to yellow for another 30 days.
- If two "additional incidents" occur during that period, the field will close for 30 days.
The city didn't provide information about what constitutes dog waste, what size or consistency will trigger a closure, and how anyone will decide whether something is waste or a clump of dirt.
Threat level: Closures have accrued.
- Within a week of school opening, Franklin Elementary's field closed for 15 days. Now it's back in yellow, but already "one additional incident" was reported on Sept. 9, Cartwright said.
- Pacific Beach Middle School also reached red status after "three reported incidents" in August. The field reopened Sept. 15.
- Locked gates generally prevent scofflaw dog owners from accessing closed-off fields.
Meanwhile, Birney Elementary has had no reported incidents and remains mercifully green, Cartwright said.
Catch up quick: People and their pups can use some school fields in the afternoons and evenings but are supposed to keep dogs on leash and clean up after them.
- The city's contract with the Humane Society used to include officers patrolling fields and writing tickets to ensure such cleanups and leash use, but budget cuts ended that last year.
- Hence the pilot program at the three schools, which were picked because of their high levels of dog poop, according to the city.
The bottom line: It's too early to know whether this new plan is changing behavior, Cartwright said.
- TBD on whether or when it'll expand to other schools.
2. 👩🏽⚖️ Courts fall short on representation
More than three-quarters of U.S. states have a smaller share of justices of color on their high courts than the share of people of color in their population, per an Axios analysis of new Brennan Center for Justice data.
Why it matters: State high courts shape major decisions on voting, abortion, civil rights and criminal justice, yet their benches often don't reflect the communities they serve.
By the numbers: In California, 57% of justices are people of color, meanwhile 66% of the state is not white.
- In 38 other states, people of color also make up a smaller share of the state's high courts than of the population, Axios finds.
- Seventeen states have no high-court justices of color, the Brennan Center notes, and in 11 of those states, people of color make up at least 20% of the population.
- Texas has the largest gap: 11% of its high-court justices are people of color, compared with 61% of its population — a 50-percentage-point difference.
By contrast, Florida's Supreme Court has a 22-point greater share of people of color than the state's population.
3. The Current: ☔️ El Niño emergency
4. When heirlooms get complicated
A new exhibit at the downtown library explores the idea of family through craft projects.
- "Becoming Heirlooms" uses work by local artists to explore the idea of inheritance and how heirlooms can be both a blessing and a burden.
Zoom in: The exhibit has sculptures including boxes and a tea set made by basketweaving from local artist India Thompson, which imply a potentially unwanted inheritance, according to KPBS.
- Diana Benavídez made paper breasts smooshed between bricks to represent how breast cancer can be passed down in a family.
- Phil Rowland created a wooden blanket chest that says "Don't Embarrass the Family," exploring how "family shapes the wounds, strengths, habits, and beliefs we carry forward," according to the Craft Desert publication.
The exhibit was curated by Kerianne Quick and Adam John Manley in conjunction with Handwork 2026, an initiative from the Craft in America museum in LA.
If you go, it's open 1-7pm Monday and Tuesday, noon-5pm Wednesday to Friday, noon-4pm Saturday. Closed on Sundays.
Editor's note: This story has been corrected to reflect that the exhibit is closed on Mondays and Sundays.
Axios San Diego
