Daily Business Report-Nov. 13, 2020
A man bikes along Mission Beach in San Diego on Sept. 9, 2020. (Photo by Anne Wernikoff for CalMatters)
Largest county backslide yet on coronavirus
CalMatters
Eleven counties moved into more restrictive reopening tiers Tuesday in the largest backslide since the state introduced its new reopening framework in August. It also marked the first week that no counties moved forward into a less restrictive tier.
San Diego, Sacramento and Stanislaus regressed into the most restrictive purple tier, a category that now contains more than half the state’s population and prohibits restaurants, gyms, movie theaters and places of worship from operating indoors. Additional counties are teetering on the edge of more restrictive tiers, and some — including San Francisco — preemptively shut down indoor dining. Others, including Placer County, refuse to enforce the tighter restrictions.
The latest whiplash of openings and closures is likely to exacerbate tensions between counties and the state, while also widening the rift between Newsom and the business community. Disneyland announced more furloughs Monday, blaming the state’s “untenable” coronavirus rules, and a group of restaurants recently sued California government agencies to reclaim millions of dollars in liquor and health fees.
_______________________________________________
Union-Tribune editorial director to offer
writing tips at S.D. Press Club virtual event
Matthew T. Hall, editorial and opinion director at The San Diego Union-Tribune, will share his favorite writing tips for the San Diego Press Club’s next “Write Better Right Now,” a one-hour, writing webinar from 6 to 7 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 17.
The free webinar, held over the Zoom online meeting platform, is open to the public and will include Hall sharing writing tips he’s learned during his 25-year career, followed by a question-and-answer time. Zoom membership is not required to participate in the webinar. The webinar will be recorded and a web link will appear on the Press Club website for viewing at a later date.
Moderator on Nov. 17 will be Luis Cruz, community and public relations director, The San Diego Union-Tribune and The San Diego Union-Tribune en Español.
To register for the Nov. 17 webinar, visit www.sdpressclub.org. The webinar is part of the Press Club’s “Nuts & Bolts” series.
Hall has worked since 2001 at The San Diego Union-Tribune, where he manages the Ideas and Opinion section, writing and editing editorials, and overseeing editorial cartoons, commentaries, letters to the editor and a podcast called “Name Drop San Diego.”
_______________________________________________
Level 3 Design Group sets stage
for Courtyard Marriott renovation
An extensive renovation is currently underway at the Courtyard Marriott in Mission Valley. Level 3 Design Group is completing the interior design for the expansive project. Located on historic Hotel Circle, (the site of the very first hotel in Mission Valley), the hotel will showcase a new Marriott brand standard design scheme with semi-custom public spaces. Lead designer Julia Johnson is at the helm in creating the updated look.
In addition to the rooms, the Courtyard will provide other accoutrements such as expanding the fitness center to better accommodate and increase capacity for its military guests, and repositioning the bar to the middle of the lobby for a more inclusive feel upon entry to the hotel.
“The new central lobby bar is visually stunning; it’s a wow factor,” said Johnson. “It is a departure from the standard Courtyard design, but it’s going to be perfect for this property’s large guest volume. It will help differentiate it from the local competitors.”
The 323-room hotel is well positioned to be complete by the second quarter of 2021, hopefully accompanied by a grand reveal.
_______________________________________________
California grappling with higher number
of inconclusive lab tests on coronavirus
CalMatters
Less than two weeks after Gov. Gavin Newsom opened a $25-million lab to double California’s coronavirus testing capacity, the facility is grappling with a “higher number than expected” of inconclusive test results due in part to a chemical reaction failing to occur,
Health and Human Services Secretary Mark Ghaly said. He added the problem has since been resolved.
Rodger Butler, a spokesperson for the California Health and Human Services Agency, said approximately 5 percent of the tests conducted in the lab’s first week came back inconclusive, compared to 2 percent currently. The lab has processed 40,000 tests so far.
In addition, some test results have taken more than five days to turn around — despite the fact that diagnostics company PerkinElmer is obligated under its $1.4 billion contract with California to provide test results within 24 to 48 hours. The lab is returning 92 percent of tests within 48 hours.
_______________________________________________
Visaic acquires video platform provider YARE Media
Visaic Inc., a provider of cloud-based content delivery solutions, announced the acquisition of successful Vancouver-based streaming platform company YARE Media. Together the companies will offer a scalable cloud-based content delivery and fan engagement product for sports/esports, entertainment and enterprise.
Under the terms of the transaction, Visaic will acquire all outstanding shares of YARE.
Founded in 2016, YARE launched a streaming platform that enables sports properties to quickly enter new territories, gather valuable analytics, and deliver high quality video to connected devices. The service has been embraced by amateur sports associations, professional sports leagues, and major media organizations.
In October, Canadian Business ranked YARE in the top 50 of their annual 2020 Startup List, which is the definitive ranking of Canada’s Top New Growth Companies.
_______________________________________________
Nuvve to become publicly listed company
to accelerate vehicle-to-grid technology
Green energy technology company Nuvve Corporation, a leader in vehicle-to-grid technlogy, and Newborn Acquisition Corp., announced the signing of a merger agreement to take Nuvve public.
The companies also announced the signing of purchase agreements with institutional investors for the investment of approximately $18 million in the combined company through a PIPE and bridge financing. Upon closing of the business combination, the combined company will be named Nuvve Holding Corp.
Nuvve’s proprietary V2G technology enables it to link multiple electric vehicle (EV) batteries into a virtual power plant to provide bi-directional services to the electrical grid in a qualified and secure manner. The VPP can generate revenue by selling excess power to utility companies or utilizing the saved power to reduce building energy peak consumption.
_______________________________________________
Litigation attorney Amy West elected to
San Diego Family Law Bar Association board
Primus Family Law Group senior litigation Attorney Amy West has been elected to the San Diego Family Law Bar Association’s 2021 Board of Directors. Her three-year term begins Jan. 1, 2021.
West has been practicing family and criminal law for 16 years. She is certified by the California Board of Legal Specialization as a Specialist in Family Law. She joined Primus Family Law Group LLP as a senior litigation attorney in October 2019.
Prior to joining Primus, West worked as a senior litigation attorney at Klueck & Hoppes, APC from July 2017 to October 2019. Prior to joining KH, she owned West Maldonado Law Group for two years and, prior to that, she was the owner and partner at Rhoads & West from 2004 to 2015.
During her 16 years in practice, West has been the lead attorney on 40 full trials, including a rape jury trial, a fraudulent conveyance civil trial, countless family law trials, and several contempt trials. She tried an international move-away case solo against three attorneys on the opposing side, and won. West has also been the lead attorney on approximately 50 domestic violence restraining order and/or civil restraining order evidentiary hearings.
West also teaches Evidence, Trial Practice, and Case Updates Continuing Legal Education for local bar associations.
_______________________________________________
Two-birds-one-stone strategy shows promise
in RNA-repeat expansion diseases
A new strategy for treating a variety of diseases known as RNA-repeat expansion disorders, which affect millions of people, has shown promise in proof-of-principle tests conducted by scientists at Scripps Research.
The results suggest that someday, a handful of well-targeted drugs might be able to treat the more than 40 human disorders—including Huntington’s disease and variants of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)—that arise from RNA-repeat expansions.
“This study lays a foundation for the development of drugs that can address multiple repeat-expansion diseases by targeting shared abnormal structures on their RNAs,” says the study’s principal investigator Matthew Disney, PhD, professor of chemistry at Scripps Research.
In RNA-repeat expansion diseases, mutant genes contain excess DNA in the form of dozens or even hundreds of repeating short strings of DNA “letters.” In cells where these mutant genes are active, that DNA is copied out into RNA molecules on the way to being translated into proteins. The resulting abnormal RNAs can cause trouble in a variety of ways, such as by folding up into structures that are toxic to cells.
_______________________________________________
Richard Hernandez joins Bank of Southern
California as chief banking officer
Bank of Southern California N.A., a community business bank headquartered in San Diego, announced that Richard Hernandez has joined the company as executive vice president, chief banking officer. He will be responsible for leading the bank’s commercial banking teams with a focus on building strong, lasting customer relationships, growing loan and deposit production, and expanding the company’s customer base throughout Southern California.
Hernandez has more than 20 years’ experience in the banking industry. Prior to joining Bank of Southern California, he served as executive vice president for Pacific Western Bank, overseeing commercial banking regions located in Los Angeles County and Ventura County.
Hernandez, a long-time Southern California resident, earned his bachelor’s degree from California Lutheran University. He apreviously served on the board for Casa Pacifica in Ventura County and the Boys and Girls Club of Las Virgenes.
_______________________________________________
Scripps, Kaiser Permanente extend
cardiovascular partnership
Scripps Health and Kaiser Permanente have signed a five-year comprehensive agreement, continuing a legacy of working together for the good of the community.
Under the agreement, Scripps will continue to be the exclusive provider of cardiac surgery and interventional cardiology (at Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla) to the nearly 630,000 Kaiser Permanente members across San Diego County. Scripps is consistently recognized by U.S. News & World Report as the region’s leader for cardiology and heart surgery, a distinction reflective of the exceptional skills of the cardiovascular physicians of Kaiser Permanente and Scripps Health.
“This agreement extends our close working partnership that has been built over the past 40 years around quality, medical management, and patient satisfaction,” said Scripps President and CEO Chris Van Gorder. “In today’s health care environment, collaboration is more important than ever before. Through it, we make the best use of our infrastructure and leverage our expertise to best serve the community.”
_______________________________________________
Ambassador of the Kingdom of Barain to
the U.S. to be featured speaker at event
Shaikh Abdulla bin Rashid Al Khalifa, ambassador of the Kingdom of Bahrain to the United States, will be the featured speaker at the President’s Lecture Series, hosted in conjunction with the Charles W. Hostler Institute on World Affairs. The lecture, titled “Bahrain: An Open Dialogue,” takes place from 1-2 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 19 via webinar. The event is free and open to the public. Reservations are required and can be made online.
On June 23, 2017, His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa appointed Shaikh Abdulla bin Rashid bin Abdulla Al-Khalifa as the ambassador of the Kingdom of Bahrain to the United States. Previously, in 2010, he was appointed as governor of the Southern Governorate of the Kingdom of Bahrain, the largest in size. Shaikh Abdulla also played an active role in drafting the National Anti-Drug Strategy in conjunction with the regional office of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, which was launched in 2016. Shaikh Abdulla also served as a member of the Bahrain Olympic Committee from 2008 and as the treasurer until 2017.
