New book about San Diego River
Join author and historian John Martin as he chronicles the lives of those who shaped modern-day San Diego’s water infrastructure. For nearly a century, the people of San Diego wrestled to control the mercurial San Diego River. Their efforts to keep the river from destroying their valuable harbor while providing water for a growing population led to decades of legal battles over river water rights. Likewise, the divisive question of where to dam the river consumed the town, pitting citizens and civic leaders against one another. The construction of El Capitan Dam temporarily solved the town’s water dilemma but resulted in the removal of a native population.
John Martin, a San Diego native, grew up near the river and spent many summer days cooling off in the water by the Old Mission Dam. He has a graduate degree in history and is a frequent contributor to the Journal of San Diego History, with articles ranging from San Diego military history to the development of the town’s water infrastructure, and a regular presenter at the San Diego Congress of History.
“The San Diego River: Dams, Dikes, Floods and Fights” by John Martin is available in paperback for $23.99 on Monday, March 6.
Museums and Balboa Park
Museum Month underway
San Diego Museum Month is celebrating its 34th year. The highly anticipated program, which promotes San Diego as a vibrant cultural destination, will be the largest ever – with more than 60 participating museums and other popular destinations throughout San Diego County offering half-priced admissions.
Enhancing museum accessibility is a critical component of Museum Month. To this end, the San Diego Museum Council has once again partnered with the Serra Cooperative Library System, offering access to free Museum Month passes for local residents in communities across San Diego County.
The Museum Month pass is available for free at local libraries. Each Museum Month pass can be used for up to four half-priced admissions at any of the participating museums. Guests can use their Museum Month pass to visit as many museums as they would like until Feb. 28, 2023.
SD Museum of Art celebrates women
SDMA has two upcoming events that will highlight female artists. During Art Alive on the weekend of March 31-April 2, on display will be nearly 100 floral arrangements inspired by works of art in the Museum’s Modern Women collection, taking inspiration and showcasing works of art by monumental women in the art world, including Sonia Delaunay, Françoise Gilot, and key Abstract Expressionists Lee Krasner and Elaine de Kooning.
On May 2, a new exhibit will be unveiled. In this one-of-a-kind exhibition, O’Keeffe and Moore compare the work of two iconic modernists: American painter Georgia O’Keeffe and British sculptor Henry Moore. On view through August 27, 2023.
26th Street Trail restoration completed
Balboa Park access in the Golden Hill area is much safer and easier thanks to a $380,000 project to restore the pathway for pedestrians and bicyclists along 26th Street. City and project leaders officially cut the ribbon to mark completion of the months-long project on Jan. 31 carried out by the California Conservation Corps (CCC) in partnership with Forever Balboa Park and the City of San Diego.
With project coordination provided by Forever Balboa Park in conjunction with the city, CCC Corpsmembers tamed the footpath that had naturally been created by bicyclists and pedestrians over the years, clearing, widening, and stabilizing the trail to make it easier to navigate. They also installed fencing to provide protection for trail users from 26th Street vehicular traffic. The final touch was planting 25 baby coast live oak trees along the trail in the Bennington Memorial Oak Grove, an important restoration method that will strengthen the grove and eventually add more aesthetic beauty, cooling shade, and other environmental benefits to this scenic park access point.
Critically endangered Przewalski’s Horse Foal born at Safari Park
Conservationists at the nonprofit San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance have announced the birth of a Przewalski’s horse —a critically endangered species of wild horse that was categorized as Extinct in the Wild until 1996. The foal is the first Przewalski’s horse born at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park since 2014, and is one of only four individuals born in North America over the past year.
The youngster was born as part of a breeding recommendation through AZA’s Przewalski’s horse Species Survival Plan®—a program that ensures genetic diversity is represented among Przewalski’s horse populations, overseen by conservationists nationwide. Formerly extinct in the wild, the Przewalski’s horse has survived for the past 40 years almost entirely in zoos around the world, and nearly all of the surviving horses are related to 12 Przewalski’s horses born in native habitats. Ongoing reintroductions of Przewalski’s horses into their native habitats have established several herds in grasslands in China and Mongolia to maintain genetic variation, however scientists believe more work needs to be done to ensure the species’ future survival.
Oldest living mouse in human care gets world record
San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance today received a Guinness World Records title for Oldest Living Mouse in Human Care recognizing “Pat,” a Pacific pocket mouse fondly named after actor Sir Patrick Stewart. Pat was born July 14, 2013 at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, in the first year of the organization’s Pacific pocket mouse conservation breeding and reintroduction program. Today, he is 9 years and 209 days old. The Guinness World Records title is a win for all the tiny but mighty—and often overlooked—species around the world that play an important role in their ecosystems.
The acknowledgement from Guinness World Records comes on the heels of a historic Pacific pocket mouse breeding season. In 2022, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance recorded the earliest breeding event and pup birth in the history of the program, and the team helped with producing a record 31 litters, for a total of 117 pups during the spring and summer months. Many of these mice will be reintroduced into native habitats this spring.
Philanthropy
SDCCU raises $20k for animal shelters
San Diego County Credit Union (SDCCU), one of California’s largest locally-owned financial institutions raised over $20,000 to help support the efforts of the San Diego Humane Society, Animal Friends of the Valleys in Riverside County and the Animal Assistance League of Orange County this past holiday season with its 11th annual Presents for Paws fundraiser. Funds generated from the campaign will be used in part to provide medical care for local animals in need and help educate the community about the importance of adoption and responsible pet ownership.
Donations were collected online and at all of SDCCU’s more than 40 convenient branch locations in San Diego, Riverside and Orange counties from November through December 2022. The combined efforts raised a total of $21,937 this year, far-exceeding the $10,000 goal.
High school student starts water charity
Saint Augustine High School junior David Wise created a charity at his school known as the Saints Thirst Project to raise money for the Thirst Project which builds freshwater wells in rural areas. Approximately 800 million people (1 in 10) do not have access to water that is safe for them to drink. Furthermore, the people in these rural areas have to walk on average three-and-a-half miles to even reach the closest water source that is available to drink.
To learn more, visit https://my.thirstproject.org/sahsthirstproject.
Food and Drink
University Heights restaurant opens with historic name
San Diego based ELE Collective (Park & Rec, former Waypoint Public) has opened doors today to Johnston’s restaurant and bar in University Heights. Located in one of the city’s oldest communities at 4628 Park Boulevard, the new neighborhood eatery is a nod to a unique piece of San Diego history: an original 1920s five-and-dime, “Johnston’s Variety Dept. Store,” which was unearthed during the restaurant’s renovations.
Johnston’s is currently open for dinner daily and offers a weekday happy hour. A weekend brunch menu will debut by early April.
New tapas spot in North Park this summer
If you’re craving Spanish tapas with a Californian spin, then a new outpost — dubbed Finca — that will serve just that is set to open in North Park in the summer.
Finca is the latest project from Dan Valerino and Joe Bower, two hospitality veterans who met while working at the acclaimed restaurant Juniper & Ivy, according to Eater San Diego. The endeavor is set to open in San Diego’s hip North Park neighborhood.
Through their Bottle Boon company, the duo is building Finca from the ground up. It’ll be located in a 3,000-square-foot, 90-seat space designed specifically to be relaxing and comfortable. Along with an open kitchen, there will be both communal and counter seating available in the airy and breezy gathering spot.
Housing and homelessness
City Council OKs state funding to house people living in encampments
Working to expand pathways to move San Diegans off the streets and into housing, the City Council on Monday authorized the expenditure of a $2.45 million grant awarded to the City of San Diego to help end people’s homelessness in East Village.
San Diego was one of eight communities across the state last October to be awarded a portion of $48 million in Encampment Resolution Funding (ERF). Nineteen other communities received ERF grant funds in the first round in early 2022.
Grant awarded to SDHC affiliate to support homeownership program for people of color
A new grant awarded to a San Diego Housing Commission (SDHC) nonprofit affiliate will provide additional financial support for expanded efforts to help more people of color become homeowners in the City of San Diego. The $184,000 grant from the National
Fair Housing Alliance will provide funds for programs that help households of color prepare for homeownership and/or purchase a home. These activities include debt reduction, credit counseling, peer mentors, homeownership navigators and community educators, as well as down payment or closing cost assistance grants and credit-building loans.
Living and working
Construction employment grows in California
Construction employment climbed in 30 states and the District of Columbia from November to December and 42 states added construction jobs during the past 12 months, according to a new analysis of federal employment data released by the Associated General Contractors of America today. Association officials said demand for many types of commercial construction projects remain strong and that firms would likely have added more people if they could find workers.
In December, 30 states and D.C. added construction employees, while industry employment declined in 20 states. California added the most construction jobs over the month (7,500 jobs, 0.8 percent).
SDG&E announces natural gas commodity price to decline 68% compared to January
After hitting historic highs this winter due to unprecedented market conditions in the Western United States, San Diego Gas & Electric announced Tuesday that the February natural gas commodity price has declined by 68% compared to January 2023, plunging from $3.45 per therm to $1.11 per therm. The typical residential customer’s gas bill (commodity plus delivery charges and other mandated fees and taxes) is expected to decrease to $110 in February, from $225 in January.
High natural gas demand caused by cold weather coupled with the partial closure of a major third-party pipeline that provides gas to the West and limited gas storage in California has caused extreme volatility in gas prices.
SDG&E does not set the commodity price for natural gas. Instead, natural gas commodity prices are determined by national and regional markets. SDG&E buys natural gas in those markets on behalf of residential and small business customers, and the cost of buying that gas is billed to those customers with no markup, meaning SDG&E does not profit from the movement of gas commodity prices.
Arts and events
“Collage” returns to Casa del Prado
This month, the City of San Diego’s Civic Dance Arts has brought back its critically acclaimed dance show to the historic Casa del Prado Theater in Balboa Park. “Collage 2023: Dance Matters” made its victorious comeback on Friday night and will continue on Feb. 10-11 and Feb. 17-19.
The elite performance encompasses skilled and professionally trained dancers and showcases beautiful theatrical lights, eye-catching set pieces and exquisite costumes. The concert incorporates diverse dance styles, including tap, jazz, ballet, hip-hop, modern and musical theater.
For more information, showtimes and to purchase tickets to participate in person or virtually, visit civicdancearts.org.
Japanese Brush Annual Art Show
A free art exhibit from a local group of Japanese Brush artists will be available for viewing at Casa del Prado Room 101 on March 25 and 26 from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. The show also features a tea ceremony and live musicians. This is their first show since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Walk-in weddings at the Waterfront
“Walk-in” services without an appointment on Feb. 14 will be offered for lovebirds living in the moment only at the County’s historic Waterfront Park Downtown office. Ceremonies will be offered at one of the waterfront marriage arbors or indoors in the newly renovated ceremony rooms. Appointments are required for all other times and locations.
Assessor/Recorder/County Clerk Jordan Marks said, “We are excited to offer walk-in services for Valentine’s Day at our beautiful waterfront downtown location and make love more memorable with a magical marriage service for hundreds of San Diegans across the County this Valentine’s Day!”
Appointments for love can be made using our award-winning online booking system at www.sdarcc.gov or by calling (619) 237-0502. The cost of a non-confidential marriage license is $70.00. If the couple would like their ceremony to be performed by one of our wonderful County staff, the cost is an additional $88.00. Ceremonies are offered in English and Spanish.
Free yoga for Valentine’s Day
Fit Athletic, San Diego’s top luxury fitness club, is hosting a free yoga class at the Rady Shell on Sunday, Feb. 11 at 9:30 a.m. Led by Viktoria Talbot, the class will be approximately one hour long and is open to the public. Parking is limited, so it’s recommended to arrive early or walk, if possible. Space is limited and event entry is first come, first served.
