Daily Business Report-Jan. 4, 2019
Tower 180° (Courtesy of Hammer Ventures)
25-story office building Downtown
slated for completion in summer 2019
Tower 180°, a 360,000-square-foot Class A office tower located in the heart of Downtown San Diego at First Avenue and Broadway, is slated to be completed by summer 2019, announced developer Hammer Ventures.
Construction is currently in progress on the lobby and building exterior. The exterior of the annex building is complete at First Avenue and Broadway, which offers a visual preview to the exterior of the primary 25-story tower that is currently being glazed with a minimal and contemporary architecture.
The five new retail tenants, which will be located on the ground floor and basement, will be announced soon, according to a Hammer Ventures spokesman. Lease offerings range from 10,000 square feet to 100,000 square feet. CBRE brokers are marketing the tower.
____________________
Upcoming major events at the
San Diego Convention Center:
Minefaire 2019
January 5-6 | 10,000 attendees
Mary Kay Leadership Conference
January 16-23 | 8,000 attendees
San Diego Travel & Adventure Show
January 19-20 | 14,000 attendees
Society of Thoracic Surgeons 55th Annual Meeting
January 26-30 | 5,000 attendees
IPC APEX EXPO
January 29-31 | 8,000 attendees
____________________
Zooglider robot promises priceless view of how
marine life is responding to climate change
Oceanographers and engineers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography have collaborated to modify a common physical oceanography instrument to be able to image zooplankton as it glides through the ocean.
The robot, dubbed Zooglider by Scripps biological oceanographer Mark Ohman, uses as its platform a Scripps-developed glider known as Spray. Ohman and Scripps instrument developers outfitted the torpedo-shaped Spray gliders with a camera (called Zoocam) and a device researchers call Zonar that gathers acoustic data about zooplankton — free-drifting microscopic marine animals –in the manner of a sonar instrument.
Zooglider can acquire images of zooplankton every five centimeters (two inches) to depths of 400 meters (1,300 feet) or more as it channels seawater into an on-board sampling tunnel.
The new instrument represents a breakthrough in that it enables observations of microscopic life in its habitat and provides information about that life in spatial context. This advances scientists’ ability to acquire quantitative data about microscopic life within defined areas, a fundamental pursuit of biological oceanographers who study how marine organisms interact with and are influenced by the physics and chemistry of their surroundings. Zooglider also promises a priceless view of how marine life is responding to climate change.
____________________
Transit district completes full
implementation of rail safety system
North County Transit District (NCTD) has achieved full implementation of the federally-mandated Positive Train Control (PTC) safety system for 58.5 miles of track it controls within the San Diego County portion of the Los Angeles-San Diego-San Luis Obispo Rail Corridor. NCTD is one of only four agencies across the country that has completed PTC implementation by the federally-mandated deadline of Dec. 31, 2018.
PTC is an integrated command, control, communications, and information system that alerts train engineers when certain unsafe conditions exist, and stops the train when conditions warrant. PTC is designed to prevent train-to-train collisions, derailments caused by excessive train speed, train movements through misaligned track switches, and unauthorized train entry into work zones. This system increases the safety of all who use the rails.
____________________
Realtors group hosts workshop
on performance strategies
The Pacific Southwest Association of Realtors (PSAR), a trade group for San Diego-area Realtors, will host a “Peak Performance Strategy Workshop,” a Tony Robbins seminar presented by Stephen Litman, from 9 to 10 a.m., Monday, Jan. 14, at the PSAR East County Service Center, 1150 Broadway, El Cajon. Admission is free for PSAR members and $20 per person for nonmembers. Topics will include how to integrate a three-step process to creating lasting change by identifying what is holding you back from reaching your true potential.
Additional topics will include the five habits of effective communication and developing a success cycle, along with how to develop an unshakable mindset and determine clear targets. Litman, a former real estate agent, has worked with the Anthony Robbins Companies and Robbins Research International Inc. since 2015. He is a graduate of George Washington University with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and marketing. To RSVP, call (619) 579-0333 or visit www.psar.org.
____________________
California leaps to defense of Obamacare
in fight that pits blue states against red ones
By Ben Christopher and Elizabeth Aguilera | CALmatters
California is once again defending the Affordable Care Act, leading a coalition of Democratic states against a small army of Republican lawmakers seeking to undo the Obama administration’s signature healthcare law.
On Thursday, state Attorney General Xavier Becerra and 16 other attorneys general appealed last month’s ruling by a federal judge in Texas that declared the entirety of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, unconstitutional.
“I’ve seen how the ACA has transformed lives and I’ve seen it up close,” Becerra said in a phone call with the press this morning. “That is why so many of us are committed to defending the ACA.”
Many legal experts, both liberal and conservative, have predicted that the Texas ruling will be overturned by a higher court. Last month, Judge Reed O’Connor of Fort Worth ruled on a lawsuit filed against the federal government by top law enforcement officers and other elected leaders of 20 states, including Texas and Florida. That legal coalition of red states argued that the individual mandate, which requires people to either buy insurance or pay a fee, was unconstitutional. The Texas judge agreed—and argued that the health care law should be nixed in its entirety.
In 2012, the United States Supreme Court gave the green light to the mandate, arguing that Congress had the right to penalize the uninsured through its power to impose taxes. When Congress eliminated that fee as part of its sweeping change to the federal tax code last year, Republican lawmakers argued that the mandate could no longer be upheld as a tax.
Though the federal Justice Department disagreed that the entire law should be struck down, it declined to defend either the individual mandate or the requirement that insurance providers offer coverage to those with pre-existing medical conditions.
Last month, Becerra and this same blue coalition of lawmakers requested that the Texas court’s decision be suspended while the legal challenge makes its way through the court system. That process took another step Thursday as the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals must now decide whether to take up the challenge.
“We are going to take it wherever we need to take it,” said Becerra.
Since passage of the Affordable Care Act eight years ago, some 5 million more Californians get coverage through expanded Medi-Cal, private plans under the state’s Covered California exchange, and the ability of young people under age 26 to stay under their parents’ insurance. That represents a quarter of all Americans covered under the law. In addition, about an eighth of the state’s budget is derived from the $25 billion the federal government provides to subsidize Affordable Healthcare Act plans and the expansion of Medi-Cal.
CALmatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.
____________________
Personnel Announcements
Patrick McKeever makes partner at Perkins Cole law firm
The Perkins Cole law firm announced the election of Patrick McKeever to partner. McKeever, based in the San Diego office, is a member of Perkins Coie’s Patent Litigation practice. He handles complex patent disputes in district courts around the country and before the U.S. Patent Office’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board. McKeever’s cases have involved a wide variety software and computer-related technologies. He represents a mix of FORTUNE 500 and emerging companies.
