Daily Business Report-Nov. 2, 2018
A drone equipped with Cape Aerial Telepresence software is ready to deploy from the City of Chula Vista Police Department headquarters.
Chula Vista police demonstrate value
of drones assisting as first responders
The City of Chula Vista Police Department has completed more than 30 drone flights since Oct. 22 as part of a test program deploying drones for public safety operations. The program is being carried out with the Federal Aviation Administration, city of San Diego and San Diego Regional EDC and Cape.
This project has been made possible through the FAA Unmanned Aerial Systems Integrated Pilot Program (IPP). As part of the IPP, drones equipped with Cape Aerial Telepresence software can be deployed to a scene within two minutes from Chula Vista Police Department headquarters, to provide police with video and decision quality data. These drones are serving as first responders, assisting in incidents such as life safety, crime in progress, fleeing subjects, fire and more.
The drone program is an element of the Chula Vista Smart City Action Plan to implement technology and data tools to enhance city services, advance public safety, promote the efficient use of taxpayer dollars, engage residents and encourage growth in the local economy.
Since drone operations began on Oct. 22, a drone has been deployed more than 30 times. About 30 percent of those calls were related to some type of disturbance and about 17 percent of the time, drone pilots were able to clear a call without ground units responding (e.g., the subjects were gone), thereby keeping officers free for higher priority calls. The drone also was used to locate a felony domestic violence suspect in a transient camp surrounded by heavy vegetation. The drone pilot was able to safely direct officers to the camp while observing the suspect’s actions until he was arrested. A drone also was used successfully to locate and direct officers to arrest subjects on two other disturbance calls. These are just a few of the early successes of CVPD’s UAS pilot program. Drone pilots and patrol officers recognize the potential for even more public safety benefits as the program evolves.
A demo is available for viewing or download. Click here.
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San Diego City and Mesa Colleges secure
$400,000 in grants to assist student veterans
Military veterans at San Diego City and San Diego Mesa colleges got an early Veterans Day present with the announcement of $400,000 in new grants to bolster services at their campus Veterans Resource Centers.
The awards are aimed at increasing the numbers of veterans earning a degree or certificate or transferring to a university, and they are part of $8.5 million in additional funding for 59 Veterans Resource Centers at community college campuses throughout the state. The grants were authorized by the California Community Colleges Board of Governors. The San Diego Community College District’s Board of Trustees approved a spending plan for its grants at a meeting in October.
These are the second grants City and Mesa colleges have received this year from the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office to expand their Veterans Resource Centers. In all, City College has secured a total of $302,000 and Mesa College has received $340,000.
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Registrar of Voters sets weekend
voting hours for Nov. 6 election
If you are too busy to vote on Election Day for the Nov. 6 Gubernatorial General Election, take advantage of weekend voting hours at the Registrar of Voters office on Saturday and Sunday.
As a result of a large number of contests in the Nov. 6 election, San Diego County registered voters will receive a two-card ballot. Contests will be listed on the front and back of each card. Considering the length of the ballot, the Registrar is urging voters to plan ahead. Do your research and mark your sample ballot before coming in to vote.
“Weekend voting gives voters yet another option to cast their ballots or drop off their mail ballots before Election Day,” said San Diego County Registrar of Voters Michael Vu.
The office will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday for weekend voting at 5600 Overland Ave., San Diego, 92123 on the County Operation Center campus. The office will take calls during that same time period at (858) 565-5800.
Voters may also drop off their mail ballots outside the Registrar’s office from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. this weekend or on Monday, Nov. 5. On Election Day, the drop-off hours will be from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
The Registrar’s Office has also set up 60 mail ballot drop-off locations throughout the county. They will be accepting mail ballots during the locations’ regular business hours until Nov. 5 and then from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Election Day. Click here for the locations.
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Myra Chack Fleischer named national
president of Women for Israel Campaign
Attorney Myra Chack Fleischer, lead counsel and founder of Carlsbad-based Fleischer & Ravreby, has been named national president of Jewish National Fund’s (JNF-USA) Women for Israel Campaign. In her new position, Fleischer will call upon her many years of involvement with JNF to lead the Israel Campaign through the next year.
With the help of volunteers all over the United States, she will oversee the fundraising goal of $26 million for Jewish National Fund’s 2019 campaign year. She has been an active member of Jewish National Fund’s Board of Directors since 2010 and previously served multiple terms as its regional president.
Fleischer has served in multiple community leadership roles, including serving as vice president of Congregation Beth Am’s Board of Directors. She has also been an active member of the San Diego Volunteer Lawyers Program, the region’s oldest and largest pro bono legal services program.
With expertise in civil litigation and family law, Fleischer is a certified family law specialist.
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Upcoming major events
at the San Diego Convention Center
• Neuroscience 2018, Nov 3-7 (30,000 attendees)
• American Public Health Association, Nov 10-14 (13,000 attendees)
• Public Responsibility In Medicine & Research 2018, Nov 14-17 (2,500 attendees)
• Community Job Fair Hosted by the San Diego Convention Center, Nov 16.
Click here for the events calendar for the year.
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City Council OKs $1.5 million settlement
with Cheetah dancers over police raids
Times of San Diego
The city of San Diego will pay nearly one and a half dozen exotic dancers nearly $1.5 million to settle claims police officers violated their civil rights during raids at their strip clubs. The City Council approved a $1.4925 million payment Tuesday to settle two lawsuits filed by 17 dancers, ending a nearly five-year-long battle.
Raids at Cheetahs on July 15, 2013, and nearby Exposé on March 6, 2014, threw a national spotlight on San Diego police tactics — raising questions about constitutional rights and whether the dancers were held against their will. In 2013, the civil suit alleges, about 15 San Diego police officers raided Cheetahs, wearing sidearms and bulletproof vests.
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Cloudbeds unveils new San Diego
headquarters and plans for growth
As part of its local expansion, software startup Cloudbeds unveiled its new San Diego headquarters alongside Congressman Scott Peters and San Diego Regional EDC at a ribbon cutting ceremony on Thursday.
The company’s newly expanded office space is full of art, a game room, outdoor working space and picnic area, and a 12-foot willow tree and turf in its common area.
Founded in 2012 by native San Diegans and UC San Diego Rady School of Management MBA graduates Adam Harris and Richard Castle, the company creates cloud-based hospitality management software and employs 24 in San Diego, with plans for further growth.
Some of that growth will be focused in San Diego. Cloudbeds is currently looking to fill technical positions to support the continued development of its hospitality software. Additionally, Cloudbeds was recently selected to take part in MetroConnect 2018, an export assistance program run by World Trade Center San Diego (WTC) – an affiliate of San Diego Regional EDC – and designed to help San Diego companies accelerate their global growth. Over the next year, Cloudbeds will work directly with WTC and EDC to expand into more global markets – specifically targeting India and Southeast Asia. The company currently supports 200 jobs across 28 countries.
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California Western School of Law
acquires development parcel Downtown
California Western School of Law has acquired a 15,000-square-foot development parcel in Downtown San Diego for $5.6 million. The property is located at the corner of Second Avenue and Cedar Street. It is adjacent to California Western’s current Downtown campus and will allow for future, contiguous expansion of classrooms and office space.
Colliers International represented the seller, Central Auto Parks LLC.
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North Island Credit Union secures
naming rights for amphitheatre
North Island Credit Union has secured naming rights for the Mattress Firm Amphitheatre in Chula Vista — renaming it the North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre — as part of a multi-year agreement with owner Live Nation. The amphitheatre opened in 1998 and currently hosts more than 30 concerts a year and attracting more than 300,000 fans annually.
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Illumina to acquire Pacific Biosciences
for $1.2 billion in all-cash transaction
Illumina Inc. has signed an agreement to acquire Pacific Biosciences of California, a Menlo Park-based firm that offers sequencing systems to help scientists resolve genetically complex problems, in an all-cash transaction valued at $1.2 billion.
The acquisition complements Illumina sequencing solutions with accurate long-read sequencing capabilities to answer a set of complex genomic questions. While Illumina’s accurate and economic short-read sequencing platforms address the majority of sequencing applications optimally, select applications, such as de novo sequencing and sequencing of highly homologous regions of genomes, are better addressed with accurate long-reads, according to company officials.
