City to create task force on medical pot centers City Councilmembers on Tuesday voted to create a task force to study regulations on medical marijuana dispensaries in order to address concerns on public safety. The council has set Dec. 31 as the deadline for the 11-member group — which will include affected residents, physicians and attorneys — to deliver its proposals. Councilmembers will appoint the task force members. The city has no guidelines on the location of such cooperatives. Neither does it require police department approval of their opening. Ten cities in San Diego County have banned or put moratoriums on pot shops. San Diego isn’t on the list. In July, the city suspended approvals for dispensaries. In 1996, California voters approved a proposition to legalize marijuana for seriously ill patients. The law states that nonprofit medical pot dispensaries are legal if they verify the patients’ medical necessity. MTS modifies service amid low ridership Despite a record increase in overall ridership, the Metropolitan Transit System has modified service on more than 20 bus routes, including the elimination of a Point Loma route due to low patronage. As anticipated last February, bus service on Point Loma’s route 84 has been discontinued. Less frequent daily stops are in effect on routes 8 and 9 through Mission Bay and the Midway district. Adjustments to Sunday service have also been made to routes 1, 41, 44, 88 and 120 through Pacific Beach and Fashion Valley. MTS operates a 54.3-mile light rail transit network and 91 fixed bus routes in the San Diego area. Its current fiscal year budget is $225 million. Rosecrans traffic-study workshop set Sept. 16 A public workshop on the Rosecrans Corridor Mobility Study will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. on Wed. Sept. 16 at the NTC Promenade Event Center. It is the second of three workshops planned during course of the nine-month study. At the workshop, a pair of alternative concepts will be presented, both of which involve a series of proposed projects that address vehicle, pedestrian, bicycle and transit issues along the corridor. The NTC Promenade Event Center is located at 2875 Dewey Rd. In addition, the city has launched a website for the group: www.sandiego.gov/engineering-cip/rosecransstudy. Here, the public can view newsletters, view members of the study’s project working group, submit a comment and learn how to become involved with the project. The nine-month mobility study is designed to come up with solutions to improve mobility and gridlock along Rosecrans Street. The study targets improvements along the entirety of Rosecrans Street, from Taylor Street near Old Town to Kellogg Street near the former Naval Training Center, now known as Liberty Station. OB holiday parade float wins a reprieve The popular Ocean Beach-based Polar Express holiday float will stay in the Peninsula for at least one more year thanks to community support. On Aug. 28, local resident Sandy Greitzer-Correia stepped up to provide storage for the float. Greitzer-Correia plans to store the float in an unused tractor-trailer at her business, Total Logistics Cargo. She will also deliver the trailer to wherever it is needed to rebuild the float. The float was in jeopardy of being given over to the city of Coronado because float organizaers were unable to extend previous storage arrangements. After this year, the float will need a 33-foot motorhome to serve as its base. Residents wishing to donate their motorhome for the 2010 holiday season are urged to contact Bob Sherman by calling (619) 847-1122 or e-mailing [email protected]. Fresh &?Easy stores plan fundraiser for schools Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market will bring back its “Shop for Schools” fundraising program, based on positive feedback from its customers, according to store officials.   Registered schools will be eligible to receive a $1 cash donation for every $20 spent at a local Fresh & Easy store.  At the end of the program, Fresh & Easy will award the top fundraising school in each state a $5,000 bonus.  Last year, the program benefited several Ocean Beach/Point Loma schools, including St. Charles Borromeo Academy, Sunset View Elementary School and Silver Gate Elementary School.  All eligible schools with students in kindergarten through 8th grade within a three-mile radius of a Fresh & Easy store can participate in the program.  This school year’s Shop for Schools program will run from Sept. 15 through Dec. 31.  The Point Loma Fresh &?Easy store is located at 955 Catalina Blvd. For more information, call (619) 221-0073, or visit www.freshandeasy.com/shopforschools.   Campaign stepped up to stamp out cigarette butts Flicking a cigarette to the ground and snubbing it with your toe is a practice that local groups are attempting to eradicate by attaching 40 cigarette receptacles to lampposts and distributing 400 pocket ashtrays to bar patrons to dispose of their butts.  I Love A Clean San Diego (ILACSD) has revamped the cigarette butt pick-up program that Discover PB and Surfrider launched two years ago. With $1,500 in grant money from the national non-profit Keep America Beautiful, ILACSD relocated eight cigarette receptacles that weren’t being used — like the one outside 24 Fitness on Garnet Avenue — and asked bars to distribute 400 pocket ashtrays with snap lids to smokers. If smokers pick up the new habit, ILACSD will consider expanding the program to Mission Beach or Downtown. Discover PB empties the cigarette receptacles regularly. SD Choral Club accepting new members The San Diego Choral Club is accepting new members for the fall season through Sept. 15. The women’s group sings three- and four-part music, from popular to classical, and performs at retirement homes and other venues throughout San Diego County. The fall/winter concert season consists of holiday music. The club also presents a vocal scholarship each spring. Practice is on Tuesday evenings, 7 to 8:45 p.m., at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, 1370 Euclid Ave. (the group is not affiliated with the church). For information contact Llisa, [email protected], or visit www.sandiegochoralclub.org.