Daily Business Report-Sept. 26, 2016
You can check your registration status anytime by visiting sdvote.com or by calling the Registrar’s office at (858) 565-5800.
Registrar of Voters Cautions Voters
To Double-Check Registration Status
The Registrar of Voters is urging voters to double-check their registration status on its website after some residents got letters from an organization called the Voter Participation Center claiming the residents aren’t registered to vote.
The organization’s letters offer a pre-filled voter registration form that may include incorrect or outdated information or information for persons who don’t live at the address. The letters are causing some confusion because in many instances, the voter is properly registered to vote.
The Voter Participation Center is not a government agency and is not affiliated with the San Diego County Registrar of Voters. The California Secretary of State reports the Voter Participation Center sent out over 405,000 letters to San Diego County residents.
“It is important that organizations conducting voter registration drives through the mail ensure that their voter data is up-to-date and accurate,” said California Secretary of State Alex Padilla. “Causing confusion right before an election is wrong.”
You can check your registration status anytime by visiting sdvote.com or by calling the Registrar’s office at (858) 565-5800. If you receive anything in the mail regarding your voter registration and you have questions, call the Registrar’s office.
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$6.7 Million Awarded to Scripps-Based
Long-Term Ecological Research Program
The National Science Foundation awarded $6.76 million over the next six years to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography’s San Diego-based California Current Ecosystem program, part of the foundation’s Long-Term Ecological Research program.
Launched in 2004, CCE-LTER employs a multidisciplinary approach to discover the inner workings of the California Current Ecosystem, located in the eastern portion of the clockwise flow of the North Pacific Ocean that circulates just off California’s shores. The renewed funding for the program’s third phase allows scientists to continue studies of the mechanisms underlying changes in the ecosystems off California’s coast to help forecasting future changes in the region. The multi-layered program includes at-sea experiments, physical-biological modeling, and ocean observations using ships, gliders, moorings, and satellites.
Read more…
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Certona Reports $30 Million Investment
San Diego-based retail personalization technology provider Certona announced its second round of funding since the company’s inception 12 years ago. Certona has received a $30 million growth investment and minority recapitalization led by Primus Capital, a private equity firm out of Cleveland and Atlanta.
The funding will be used to grow market share, accelerate product development and expand services and support for existing and new clients.
Certona works with retailers to better personalize their customers’ shopping experiences.
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Salk Institute Professor Honored
For Groundbreaking Work
Clodagh O’Shea, an associate professor in the Salk Institute’s Molecular and Cell Biology Laboratory, is among the first recipients of a grant from the Faculty Scholars Program, a new partnership of Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Simons Foundation for early career researchers whose work shows the potential for groundbreaking contributions in their fields. O’Shea is one of 84 Faculty Scholars who will receive $100,000–$400,000 per year over five years to support their pursuit of innovative research.
O’Shea is at the forefront of cutting-edge technologies to design synthetic viruses and other genetic devices that are controlled and able to selectively target cancer cells. Each time a virus infects a cancer cell and multiplies, the virus kills the cell by bursting it open to release thousands of viral progenies, which go on to target other cancer cells. Synthetic viruses designed to lock onto and rupture cancer cells while leaving normal cells intact could result in a novel cancer therapy with virtually no side effects.
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General Atomics Battery
Chosen for Navy Submersible
General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems announced that it has signed a contract with Lockheed Martin to provide Lithium-ion Fault Tolerant battery systems for use on the U.S. Special Operations Command new dry combat submersible, a long endurance delivery vehicle capable of transporting divers in a dry environment. The battery system will power the DCS propulsion and internal support systems.
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Barbey Family Emergency and Trauma
Center Opening at Scripps Memorial
Scripps Health on Friday cut the ribbon on the Barbey Family Emergency and Trauma Center on the Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla campus. The new $33 million facility includes 51 private beds, four ambulance bays and the latest medical technology for treating everything from cuts and falls to major life-threatening injuries.
The 33,000-square-foot center, which officially opens for business today, is six times larger than the space it replaces in the campus’ original hospital building. The new center is located on the first floor of the Prebys Cardiovascular Institute.
As part of San Diego County’s trauma system, the Barbey Center is an element of a nationally recognized model that has treated thousands of patients with serious injuries over the past three decades. The center is equipped with a mobile fluoroscan X-ray device that can be used to quickly create detailed images of bones and joints, giving doctors a baseline for follow-up examinations. Overhead imaging devices are available throughout the entire trauma area, allowing for x-rays to be taking on two patients simultaneously.
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Property Taxes in County
Reach All-Time High
By City News Service
The total amount of property tax charges in San Diego County and the number of bills that are being mailed out starting Friday reached all-time highs, the Treasurer-Tax Collector’s Office announced.
The total charge will be $5.66 billion for this fiscal year, compared with the previous high of $5.37 billion in 2015-16. The county is mailing out more than 989,000 bills, about 2,000 more than last year.
“With high demand and a limited supply, the price of housing is on the rise in the county, which means property taxes are also up,” Treasurer-Tax Collector Dan McAllister said. “That’s a good sign for the economy — the housing market is coming back stronger than ever.”
The first installment can be paid between Nov. 1 and Dec. 12 — since the usual deadline of Dec. 10 falls on a weekend.
Payments can be made online at sdtreastax.com, by phone at (855) 829- 3773, or by visiting county offices in downtown San Diego, Kearny Mesa, Chula Vista, El Cajon or San Marcos
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Gov. Brown Vetoes Welfare Bill
To Give Parents Free Diapers
A bill that would have allowed welfare parents in California to receive $50 a month worth of free diapers was vetoed Sunday by Gov. Jerry Brown.
The bill, known as AB 492, was authored by Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego, and co-authored by Senator Joel Anderson, R-San Diego.
“Our ongoing support for working parents is essential to building an economy that works for everyone, starting with our youngest children,” Gonzalez said. “While the governor may not be ready to tackle this issue yet, we’ll continue making the case until California’s diaper need is met.”
The bill would have offered a monthly $50 supplement via Electronic Benefit Transfer system per child age 2 or younger to parents enrolled in CalWORKs who also qualify for the childcare benefit, according to Gonzalez.
The monthly supplement would have only been used on diaper purchases, helping address a major barrier to parents seeking to enter and remain in the workforce by making childcare more accessible, Gonzalez said.
In his veto message, Brown said the proper time to discuss the proposal was during the state’s budget process since it requires increased funding.
“This is the best way to evaluate and prioritize all new spending proposals, including those that increase the cost of existing programs,” Brown said. “This process is even more important when the state’s budget is precariously balanced.”
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Aerial Maneuvers
U.S. Navy Blue Angels perform a aerobatic maneuvers with their F/A-18 Hornets during the 2016 Marine Corps Air Station Miramar Air Show over the weekend. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Ariana Castro)
