The county’s Tuberculosis Program was working with the Metropolitan Transit System Tuesday to notify riders of the trolley’s Blue Line that they were potentially exposed to and are at risk for tuberculosis.

The exposure happened between Jan. 27 and Feb. 29 of this year, and the specific impacted routes are:

• The Blue Line between 24th Street Transit Center and Barrio Logan Transit Center, on Monday to Friday, on an inconsistent schedule but typically between 10:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. in the above time frame
• The Blue line between San Ysidro Transit Center and Old Town Transit Center roughly between 5 a.m. and 7 a.m., and from Old Town to San Ysidro between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 16

Since exposures occurred at inconsistent hours, the likelihood that any rider had long cumulative exposure times is low, according to the county. These exposures are not known to be associated with any previously reported exposures on the MTS system.

TB is an airborne disease that is transmitted from person-to-person through inhalation of the bacteria from the air. People with frequent and prolonged indoor exposure to a person who is sick with TB should get tested.

“Symptoms of active TB include persistent cough, fever, night sweats and unexplained weight loss,” Dr. Wilma Wooten, county public health officer, said in a statement.

“Most people who become infected after exposure to tuberculosis do not get sick right away. This is called latent TB infection. Some who become infected with tuberculosis will become ill in the future, sometimes even years later if their latent TB infection is not treated. Blood tests and skin tests are effective in determining whether someone has been infected.”

Taking medicines for latent TB infection can cure the infection and keep people from ever getting active TB disease.

According to the county, the chance of TB infection is highest for people with many hours of cumulative indoor exposure to a person who is sick with TB. Brief interactions with an ill rider are less likely to lead to TB infection than are prolonged or repeated exposures.

The County TB Control Program recorded 193 TB cases in the county in 2020, 201 people in 2021 and 208 people in 2022. In 2023, the county recorded 243 people with active TB disease.

An estimated 175,000 people in San Diego County have a latent TB infection and are at risk for developing active TB without preventive treatment, health officials said. People who test positive for TB, but who do not have symptoms of active TB, should get a chest X-ray and talk to a medical provider, as they may likely have a latent TB infection.

Anyone who would like more information on this potential exposure should call the county TB Control Program at 619-692-5565.

City News Service contributed to this article.

 A 36-year-old man who got on a trolley to help a woman get to her tent safely was stabbed in the chest by a man who used to date the woman when they got off the trolley in Bay Park, police said Monday.

The stabbing happened at 11:42 p.m. Sunday at the 2500 Morena Blvd. trolley stop, according to Officer Robert Heims of the San Diego Police Department. The suspect left the area.

The wounded man was taken to a hospital where his injuries were later determined not to be life-threatening, the officer said.

The suspect was described as man in his 50s, wearing a black shirt, blue jeans, green and white shoes, a black hat and glasses.

SDPD Northern Division detectives were investigating the stabbing, Heims said.

Anyone with information on the stabbing was asked to call Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477.

–City News Service

A suspect was being sought Saturday after injuring a man in an early morning knife attack at the Imperial Avenue transit center in downtown’s East Village.

San Diego Police were called at 1:07 a.m. to 1255 Imperial Ave. where witnesses told them a man approached a group of people at the trolley stop and for unknown reasons began swinging a knife at them. The man missed and then sat on a bench, said Officer Robert Heims.

The group approached the suspect and a short time later he began swinging his knife again, cut one of the men in the group, and ran away.

The victim was taken to a hospital with injuries that were not considered life threatening.

The suspect is described as a man aged 40 to 50, 5 feet 7 inches tall, weighing 190 pounds with black hair. Police said he was wearing all black clothing and had a black backpack.

Detectives from the department’s Central Division are investigating and anyone with information was asked to call 619-744-9500 or San Diego County Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477.

A 29-year-old man was gravely injured Monday when the scooter he was riding collided with a trolley in Logan Heights.

The eastbound 2016 Vespa two-wheeler crashed into the back end of the westbound light-rail tram in the 3100 block of Commercial Street shortly after 3 p.m., according to the San Diego Police Department.

Paramedics took the rider to a hospital for treatment of life-threatening head injuries, SDPD Officer Robert Heims said.

Intoxication was not believed to have been a factor in the accident, according to police.

City News Service contributed to this article.

San Diego has secured a $10 million state grant to accelerate construction of transit-oriented affordable housing at the Palm Avenue trolley station and other South Bay projects, it was announced Monday.

Besides the Palm Avenue housing, the funds are also earmarked for converting an alleyway into a safer corridor for pedestrians and bikes and establishing rent-to-own opportunities for residents in San Ysidro.

City and county political leaders joined local nonprofits and housing developers on Monday to celebrate the funding from the state’s Regional Early Action Planning program.

“San Diego won $10 million of a total statewide funding pool of just $30 million, and that’s thanks to the city, the county, SANDAG, Casa Familiar, National CORE, and Malik Infill Development working together as a supremely effective public-private partnership,” said Mayor Todd Gloria.

“The result will be hundreds of deeply affordable homes, new homeownership opportunities, and better-connected mobility pathways for residents in southern San Diego,” he said.

Supervisor Nora Vargas, who chairs both the Board of Supervisors and SANDAG, said the funding is important because “it is a priority we make impactful investments in affordable housing and transportation for our disadvantaged communities.”

SANDAG will manage the funding between the city, social services nonprofit Casa Familiar and housing developer National CORE.

“We are excited to be here standing in San Ysidro, a border community that for far too long has been forgotten,” said Casa Familiar CEO Lisa Cuestas. “San Ysidro deserves a healthy neighborhood; all communities deserve a high quality of life, so let’s continue working collaboratively.”

Authorities Tuesday released video footage of the fatal shooting by a patrol officer of a 19-year-old man who advanced on San Diego Police Department personnel and pointed a BB pistol at them last week at San Ysidro Transit Center.

Mauricio Sanchez Ramos, address unknown, died on the evening of June 4 at the scene of the law enforcement shooting at the trolley station just north of the U.S.-Mexico border, according to SDPD public affairs.

The events that led to the fatal gunfire began shortly before 9 p.m., when police received a report of an armed man behaving erratically and foaming at the mouth on a light-rail tram approaching the depot in the 700 block of East San Ysidro Boulevard.

Surveillance video captured by a security system on the Blue Line trolley shows Ramos, a one-time Ramona resident, rocking back and forth stiffly in his seat before standing up, pulling the pellet gun from his waistband, holding the pistol in the air while jumping around and then pointing it directly at the mounted camera.

After the trolley arrived at the station, two San Diego police officers approached it, guns drawn. A body-worn camera worn by one them recorded images of Ramos sitting alone inside the tram, once again jerking forward and back in his seat.

After Ramos ignored repeated orders to put up his hands and exit the trolley, one of the patrolmen, SDPD Officer Ruben Berton, opened one of its doors. Ramos then stood up, pulled his gun and raised it in the direction of the officers, prompting Berton to retreat and fire about 10 rounds from his service pistol at the suspect.

Police subsequently determined that the gun Ramos had been carrying was a “Glock style” .177-caliber BB pistol, according to an SDPD statement.

City News Service contributed to this article.

The Metropolitan Transit System board on Thursday elected San Diego City Councilmember Stephen Whitburn as chair to succeed Nathan Fletcher, who resigned in March amid allegations of sexual harassment involving an MTS employee.

Whitburn will serve the remainder of Fletcher’s term as well as the next term, which begins in January 2024.

 “It is a great honor to lead our region’s public transit system,” said Whitburn, who represents the district from downtown to Hillcrest on the City Council. “MTS is recovering ridership at a much faster pace than many agencies across the nation after the pandemic. We also have major service enhancements happening this year.”

The transit agency’s board is made up of 15 local elected officials — four from the city of San Diego, two from Chula Vista, and one each from the County of San Diego, and the cities of Poway, Santee, El Cajon, La Mesa, National City, Lemon Grove, Coronado and Imperial Beach. 

 Mayor Todd Gloria congratulated Whitburn, adding that “now more than ever, MTS needs stability and leadership for the agency to continue fulfilling its mission of providing dependable public transportation.”

Fletcher resigned from the MTS board on March 29 while admitting to an affair with a Metropolitan Transit System employee who is suing him for alleged sexual assault and harassment. Fletcher later resigned from the San Diego County Board of Supervisors.

During the board meeting at which Whitburn was elected,  directors approved a $407 million budget for the 2024 fiscal year. The budget will fully fund current levels of trolley service and increase levels of bus service.

While the new budget is balanced, MTS is still navigating a structural budget deficit of $51 million due to lost ridership and revenue from the COVID-19 pandemic.

MTS operates more than 100 bus routes and three trolley lines carrying 220,000 passengers every weekday.

Authorities have publicly identified a homeless man who was killed last week when a trolley hit him in Barrio Logan.

Roy Mattingly, 67, was struck by the eastbound Metropolitan Transit System tram while trying to cross a set of light-rail tracks near the intersection of Harbor Drive and Schley Street in his motorized wheelchair shortly before 7:30 p.m. Friday, according to the San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Paramedics tried in vain to revive Mattingly before pronouncing him dead at the scene.

City News Service contributed to this article.

A man was stabbed multiple times in downtown San Diego on Thursday night, and a suspect was in custody, authorities reported Friday.

Just before 11 p.m., the victim was walking near 3rd Avenue and C Street when the suspect walked up behind him, said something and then stabbed him multiple times for unknown reasons, according San Diego Police.

The victim, who was not identified, collapsed at the scene and was rushed to a hospital, police said.

Shortly after the stabbing, police spotted the suspect on a trolley, and arrested 34-year-old Jeremy Eidelman.

The SDPD’s Central Division Detectives were investigating the attack.

Riders on Metropolitan Transit System trolleys may have been exposed to tuberculosis on the Orange and Blue lines, the county Health and Human Services Agency announced Thursday.

The HHSA and MTS officials are working to notify riders who used the trolley between June 31, 2022 to December 31, 2022 that they were potentially exposed and are at risk for infection.

Those who rode the Orange and Blue lines on the below schedule may have been exposed:

• Trolley Blue Line from San Ysidro to 12th & Imperial Transit Center Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 6:30 a.m.
• Trolley Orange Line from 12th & Imperial to El Cajon Monday through Friday from 6:30 to 7 a.m.
• Trolley Orange Line from El Cajon to 12th & Imperial Monday through Friday roughly between 5:45 p.m. and 6:15 p.m.
• Trolley Blue Line from 12th & Imperial to San Ysidro Transit Center Monday through Friday roughly between 6:15 p.m. and 7:45 p.m.

People with active tuberculosis are often unaware they have the disease and may be contagious for several months before being diagnosed. TB is transmitted from person to person through indoor air during prolonged contact with an infectious person. Most people who are exposed to TB do not become infected.

“Symptoms of active TB include persistent cough, fever, night sweats and unexplained weight loss,” said Dr. Ankita Kadakia, county deputy public health officer.

“Most people who become infected after exposure to tuberculosis do not get sick right away. This is called latent TB infection,” she said. “Some who become infected with tuberculosis will become ill in the future, sometimes even years later, if their latent TB infection is not treated. Blood tests and skin tests are effective to determine whether someone has been infected.”

According to the county, once the HHSA is made aware, typically through a test result reported by a medical provider, communicable disease investigators conduct extensive interviews with the patient to determine the length of time they were infected and the locations of potential exposure.

Two other MTS riders with TB were reported in August and September 2022. At this time the HHSA does not have any evidence directly linking the rider most recently diagnosed with TB to the other MTS riders.

People who are infected, and people at high risk of becoming ill quickly after an infection, such as those who are immunocompromised, should discuss treatments with a medical provider, as antibiotics can prevent people with TB infection from becoming sick.

More information on the potential exposure can contact the county TB Control Program at 619-692-8621.

The number of people diagnosed with active TB in San Diego County has decreased since the early 1990s and has stabilized in recent years. There were 192 in 2020 and 201 people reported with active disease in 2021. Preliminary data shows 208 people were reported to have active TB disease in 2022. An estimated 175,000 people in San Diego County have latent TB infections and are at risk for developing active TB without preventive treatment, health officials said.

City News Service contributed to this article.