This is the first in a two-part series on Gompers Preparatory Academy in Southeastern San Diego. Read the second installment here.

Fifteen years ago, I had the privilege of sitting in the boardroom when San Diego Unified School District’s Board of Education authorized the conversion of Gompers Middle School to an independent charter school.

"The Extra Point with Jeff Marston" is aired weekly on Mightier 1090am from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday. In this episode, Marston and Hoa Quach, executive editor for IVN San Diego, talk to a handful of voters before and after the elections to find out how they're feeling. Plus, we hear from a San Diego child psychologist Dr. Amy Stark, who tells us how our Election Day anxiety may affect our children.

Ben Sheehan joins host T.J. O’Hara on Deconstructed to discuss his new book, OMG WTF Does the Constitution Actually Say? – A Non-Boring Guide to How Our Democracy is Supposed to Work. You may think you know the origins of the “OMG WTF” acronyms, but you will have to listen to the interview to determine whether your assumptions are correct.

Dave Gatzke vividly remembers the Friday afternoon he and his husband, Tony, drove up from San Diego to Cedars Sinai, walked into the nursery, and held their son, Ethan, for the first time. Three years later, they were in the delivery room when their daughter Evelyn “Evie” was born. 

This is an independent opinion. Have one of your own? Email it to hoa@ivn.us

The stress of the 2020 election has filtered down to children and adolescents. Many adults are keyed up and concerned about results in either direction. Since we are already reeling from COVID-19 and ongoing concerns about our health and the health of our families, many people do not have any more coping capacity left. Their bandwidth is full.  

Virginia became the first state in the South to approve a bipartisan redistricting commission to end the practice of partisan gerrymandering Tuesday after 66% of voters approved Amendment 1. The reform comes just in time for 2021 redistricting after the decennial census.

Despite an 11-point advantage in the polls ahead of Election Day, the "Yes on 2" campaign to bring ranked choice voting to Massachusetts fell short Tuesday. By the end of election night, 55% of voters turned down the proposal to change how voters cast the ballots in the Commonwealth.

Ranked choice voting would have allowed state voters to rank political candidates in order of preference rather than choosing only one.

San Diego County's latest results of the 2020 general election are in. As of 5 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 11, with 82.2% of votes counted, the results are below. Asterisks indicate the declared winner. See the latest results by visiting the Registrar's website.

CANDIDATES

Mayor

Todd Gloria: 342,182

Barbara Bry: 268,303

City Attorney

*Mara Elliot: 375,060

Cory Briggs: 187,791

At the Nierman Preschool in La Jolla, the minimum voting age is just 18 months old. As Americans across the country cast their votes, children at this preschool will have the opportunity to vote in their own election: They’ll decide whether the following day will be Pajama Day or Superhero Day.

It may sound like a silly lesson plan for a nation confronted with a deadly virus and civil unrest this presidential election season — but educators say children will learn valuable information. 

Election officials in California say they aren’t expecting voter intimidation at polling places, but they’re coordinating with sheriffs and police chiefs in case someone with a badge needs to step in pronto.

Attorney General Xavier Becerra sent a bulletin to law enforcement officials Thursday reminding them that voter intimidation and election interference is against the law. He laid out rules about what poll watchers can and can’t do.