Downtown’s OH! Juice launch Kickstarter campaign

Readers know local entrepreneurs Hanna Gregor and Anna Duff’s OH! Juice from a recent profile in Downtown News, as well as their consistent presence at The Dailey Method located at 1230 Columbia St., and their weekly juicing at Little Italy Mercado. Gregor and Duff have grown their raw, organic, cold-pressed juice business so much in the last year that they need a new kitchen to meet their consumer demands and better equip them for their recent USDA organic certification. On April 1, they launched a month-long Kickstarter campaign to assist them in meeting these goals. Though they live and run their business in and around the Downtown area, their first kitchen was in Vista, which, though necessary at the time, caused a lot of headaches and gas bills running back and forth. The new kitchen will be in Carlsbad at Gateway Center and with a goal of $55,000, the new space will also give them a storefront, something they have yet to have in their two and a half years of operation. Their campaign page explains their humble beginnings. “With the little to no money in our pockets you can imagine the stress, to keep everyone on payroll and to keep the customer’s juice flowing. Doubts and worry try to trump our thoughts constantly, but we have to push that all aside to keep going. Being vulnerable and asking for help is a very difficult thing but we’ve had no other choice but to be resourceful and find what OH! Juice needs to thrive.” For a complete explanation of what the funds will go to, watch a video of their venture, read profiles of the two owners and to see what you will get in return for your generous pledges, visit kickstartoh.com and click near the bottom to go directly to their Kickstarter page. The campaign will last for 30 days. For more information about OH! Juice, visit ohjuicecleanse.com. 

City Council approves plan for year-round homeless shelter

Mayor Kevin Faulconer and Councilmember Todd Gloria earned the City Council’s unanimous approval this week for a plan to create a year-round indoor interim housing shelter in lieu of temporary tents erected during the winter each year. The plan was based on a recommendation by the San Diego Housing Commission (SDHC) to repurpose 350 beds at Father Joe’s Villages’ St. Vincent de Paul campus Downtown for use in the year-round shelter. The program is slated to begin July 1 and will cost $1.9 million annually. According to SDHC’s recommendation, the shelter will provide at least 350 beds each night and also calls for 40 percent to be set aside for homeless veterans, as well as 24-hour residential and security services and 45-day lengths of stay for residents. The plan also proposes to create better connection between the new interim shelter and the Neil Good Day Center program, eventually bringing both operations to the St. Vincent de Paul campus, according to a press release by Father Joe’s.

Taste of Hillcrest returns to Uptown

The annual “Taste of Hillcrest,” sponsored by the Hillcrest Business Association (HBA), will bring the neighborhood’s top chefs and their cuisine together for the 15th year on April 18. “We are very excited about the 2015 Taste of Hillcrest,” HBA Executive Director Benjamin Nicholls stated in a press release. “It’s the perfect place to experience a unique culinary adventure and enjoy an afternoon here in San Diego’s finest neighborhood.” The self-guided tasting tour will span approximately 12 blocks through the business streets of the neighborhood and include more than 40 cafes, bistros and dining establishments. Check-in will be at the corner of Fifth and Robinson avenues. Tickets are $30 and available at fabulosohillcrest.com under “eventos.”

Spreckels organ to be world’s largest but needs more donations to complete final phase

San Diego has an impressive pipe organ on display and operating on a regular basis at Balboa Park’s Spreckels Organ Pavilion. The organ has been expanding its number of pipes in phases over the last two years, helped along by generous donors. At 4,859 pipes, the organ is currently one of the largest in the world. Recently the Spreckels Organ Society announced that its fifth and final phase is about to be complete, adding the 8-foot Crommorne and an 8-foot Solo Vox Humana, each with 73 pipes, equaling 146. That number gives the 100-year-old Spreckels organ a total of 5,005 pipes, causing it to edge the 4,948 pipe Heroes Organ in Kufstein, Austria as the largest. Each rank costs $25,000, and donations are still needed. Robert Palmer, an organ enthusiast and a recent member of Spreckels Organ Society, was the donor that put the “Drive to 5,000” campaign in its final stretch, while an anonymous donor has offered to match every donation, pipe by pipe, to allow completion of the final phase. To donate, visit spreckelsorgan.org/drive-to-5000. “With the goal in sight, it is our hope to announce the completion of this exciting project before the end of the Centennial Summer International Organ Festival in August 2015,” stated George Hardy, president of the Spreckels Organ Society in a press release. “Every pipe sponsored gets us that much closer to that objective.” Balboa Park’s Centennial celebration was the impetus for the Drive to 5,000 campaign, which has so far consisted of four funding phases: Centennial Tuba, for which $72,826 was raised; Gamba and Gamba Celeste, $41,578; Percussion effects, $15,500; and the 8-foot Geigen Celeste and 4-foot Violina Celeste at $41,996. When the $50,000 for the fifth phase has been reached, a total of $221,900 will have been raised to expand the total number of pipes in the Spreckels Organ. An additional $20,000 has also been raised to restore the organ’s iconic gold pipe façade. For more information about the organ, the organ society, upcoming special events as well as the schedule for spring and summer concerts at the organ pavilion, visit spreckelsorgan.org.

City Council unanimously approved $120m infrastructure bond

The City Council approved a bond-financing plan March 24 that will budget $120 million toward street repairs, fire stations and libraries throughout the city. More than 40 percent of the funds will pave the way for new streets. “San Diegans who want their streets repaired will find a lot to like in this package,” Mayor Kevin Faulconer stated in a press release. “We’re moving full steam ahead with improvements to neighborhoods throughout San Diego. This plan will fund critical projects — from street repair to fire stations to libraries — in the communities that need them the most.” Faulconer, who unveiled the plan following his “State of the City” address earlier this year, said street repairs are the top priority for San Diego’s infrastructure needs. In addition to street repairs, $22 million will go toward improving storm drains and $43 million will help with design work and construction for facilities.

Updates to Undergrounding Program process approved

Recommendations to the city’s Undergrounding Program were considered and approved by the City Council this week. The recommendations were developed by the Utility Undergrounding Advisory Committee — comprised of community members and representatives from AT&T, Cox Communications, SDG&E, Time Warner Cable and the City. The group was created over a year ago to advise the City Council on undergrounding utility boxes, which many residents say they view as an eyesore in their communities. A press release from Councilmember Todd Gloria’s office outlined the approved updates to the program: Improve coordination between the mayor’s office, City Council offices, Utility Undergrounding Program (UUP) staff, utility companies, and the community through a formalized process to establish local preferences prior to the start of engineering design in each affected neighborhood; revise UUP documents to ensure consistent language; expand UUP website with current program and project information, illustration of utility company above-ground equipment and city-owned equipment, graphic depiction of where above ground equipment may be located, design options, and a flow chart of community participation in the design process; provide public information support from the city’s Communications Department and UUP staff; revise and simplify public notice mailers; create design options; examine innovative equipment design and sizing; implement quality control and Council training.