It's gotten much harder to report off-leash dogs and their scofflaw owners who use San Diego school fields and don't clean up their mess.

Why it matters: Some school fields have been riddled with holes and dog poop since the pandemic, when people got used to letting their pups run free. Now that kids are back on the fields, the doggy detritus has been an incessant problem.

Catch up quick: People and their pups can use school fields in the afternoons and evenings but are supposed to keep dogs on leash and clean up after them.

• That doesn't always happen, San Diego Unified spokesperson Samer Naji told Axios in November.
• Some schools even have extra pairs of shoes on hand to give to kids who step in doggy droppings, he said.

Here's why reporting dogs is suddenly so hard:

• The city contracts with the Humane Society for animal services. Their officers used to patrol fields and write tickets for off-leash dogs, but budget cuts ended that last year.
• The signs at school fields across the city still tell people to call the Humane Society to report off-leash dogs, but officials confirmed they are no longer responding to such calls.
• City staff are adding new stickers to the signs telling people to report off-leash dogs through the city's Get It Done app.
• But the app and website still don't have a way to file such reports.

The app fail is all a tad academic, since only five out of 107 fields have the new stickers, city spokesperson Benny Cartwright told Axios.

• Cartwright warned that it will "take some time" for the city to update all the signs.

State of play: The city also announced last fall a plan in which residents would police themselves and schools could give out warnings if a field was in bad shape.

• But that also hasn't started yet.
• "I don't have a timeline right now, but hopefully within the next couple of months," Cartwright said.

What's next: The school district "is ready and eager to move forward" with this warning system, Naji told Axios in a statement.

Tell us: Do you have kids or dogs using school fields? Send us your gnarliest pics of fields in disrepair, we might use them in a future story.

Tell a dog owner

A plan for a $10 billion data center that would cover almost 1 million square feet in Imperial Valley would make it among the largest in the country, per KPBS.

• The project is moving forward despite fierce opposition, including potential lawsuits and a ballot measure.

The big picture: If approved, it would join 277 operating data centers in the state, with another 54 in development.

• That makes California among the top states — ranking at No. 3 — with the most data centers in the U.S., a recent Pew Research analysis shows.

How it works: A data center is a physical facility that stores and runs the servers that power digital services.

• California's role in the data center boom has drawn scrutiny as demand for AI infrastructure surges. Concerns over energy use, rising utility costs, water consumption and environmental impacts have led to local pushback, especially in rural areas like Imperial County.
• Widespread community opposition has prompted efforts to tighten regulations on data centers with proposed state legislation to increase oversight, mandate reporting requirements and limit their environmental toll.

More details

🐋 A dead whale discovered near Cardiff State Beach was towed back out to sea. A shark was spotted following the whale, so lifeguards posted warning signs for swimmers.

• They don't know why the whale died. (Union-Tribune)

✈️ A suspicious package triggered a temporary evacuation at one airport gate yesterday morning.

• Officials later deemed the item non-threatening. (FOX 5 )

🌊 State leaders and environmental groups are renewing a fight against federal offshore oil drilling.

• They're going to roll out billboards as part of their campaign. (CBS 8)

🎶 Ron Salaysay, better known as the "singing nurse," will retire from Jacobs Medical Center in La Jolla.

• He's worked there for 38 years and has been signing to patients for 18 of them, with some patients crediting his songs for saving their lives. (UT)

We don't so much have a pothole season as a perpetual state of pothole being.

• So it's important to know how to change your tire.

Zoom in: Check in advance that your car has the right stuff. You should have a spare wheel and tire, a lug nut wrench, and a jack with a detachable handle.

• If you get a flat on the road, try to pull off somewhere safe. If you need to park on the shoulder, turn on your hazard lights.

All the steps

Every single one of our dogs is the very goodest boy or girl, but this local pup is also a bit of a celebrity.

Name: Prince

Breed: Mini Golden

Age: 5

Favorite things to do: Chasing a ball, getting the ball and then running away instead of bringing it back.

Why he's special: Prince and his 12-year-old BFF Ahaanya are local influencer celebrities.

• They have 63,800 followers on Instagram and Prince recently won best micro influencer in the Pet Lovers Choice Awards.

📸 Tell us why your dog (or cat or tortoise or whatever) is special. Send us a picture and some basic facts and we may include them in a future newsletter. Influencer status not required!