Daily Business Report: Thursday, May 5, 2022
Sports betting giants compete in placing
ballot measures on California ballot
CalMatters
The battle over sports betting is heating up, with at least two of four competing initiatives poised to land on the November ballot unless state lawmakers can strike a deal to avert a costly ballot box fight.
On Tuesday, online sports betting giants FanDuel, DraftKings and BetMGM submitted 1.6 million signatures backing their measure; around 1.1 million of those will need to be valid for it to qualify for the ballot. If approved, it will join another eligible measure to allow in-person sports betting at tribal casinos and four horse race tracks.
FanDuel, DraftKings and BetMGM are pitching their measure — which would require gaming companies to pay a $100 million licensing fee and be licensed in 10 other states in order to do business in California — as one that would generate “significant revenue to fund homelessness housing and mental health treatment and provide financial support for California Tribal nations,” initiative spokesman Nathan Click told CalMatters’ Grace Gedye.
But many Native American tribes are campaigning against the gaming companies’ initiative.
“The out-of-state online gaming corporations’ flawed measure is full of loopholes and deceptive promises,” said Roger Salazar, a spokesperson for Californians for Tribal Sovereignty and Safe Gaming, which is backing another proposed ballot measure that would exclusively allow tribes to offer online and in-person sports betting. “These out of state operators don’t care about California. 90 percent of the profits from this measure go to these out of state corporations, leaving only pennies for the homeless.”
TOP PHOTO: Credit: © Can Stock Photo / MarkoAliaksandr
Geneticist Craig Venter sells his La Jolla
research center to UC San Diego for $25 million
J. Craig Venter, the maverick biologist who helped revolutionize science through the role he played sequencing the human genome, has sold the elite biomedical research center he built in La Jolla to UC San Diego, his alma mater.
The 75-year-old Venter told the Union-Tribune that UCSD paid $25 million for the building, which will expand the university’s already huge effort to find ways to prevent, diagnose and treat disease, especially those arising from bad genes.
Philanthropists Keith Behner and Cathy Stiefel
fund Brazil sustainability initiative
J. Keith Behner and Cathy Stiefel, who established the Behner Stiefel Center for Brazilian Studies at San Diego State University in 2014, have made a new gift to the center to support the study of climate change and sustainability in the largest country in South America.
The initiative will engage faculty from across SDSU with scholars from Brazil, a nation ravaged by decades of deforestation in the Amazon rainforest. In a three-pronged approach, it seeks to:
• Advance research on environmental issues by funding visiting scholars from Brazil with expertise in sustainability, and investing in SDSU faculty research on the topic;
• Provide resources for Brazil-based SDSU student research experiences; and
• Promote critical knowledge exchange via community engagement.
Read more…
Researchers transform an amorphous
solid into a new lithium-ion battery material
Researchers at the University of California San Diego and Boise State University have developed a new approach to making novel lithium-ion battery materials. The approach transforms a non-crystalline material into a crystalline one—by cycling it with lithium.
Using this approach, the team transformed a non-crystalline (amorphous) material called niobium oxide into a novel crystalline Nb2O5 anode with exceptional lithium storage and fast cycling. This process can potentially be used to make other lithium-ion battery materials that cannot be easily made via traditional means.
The study, jointly led by researchers in the labs of Shyue Ping Ong, a professor of nanoengineering at the University of California San Diego, and Hui (Claire) Xiong, a professor of materials science and engineering at Boise State University, was published May 2 in Nature Materials.
Michael Blackburn joins Jacko Law Group
Jacko Law Group PC, a San Diego-based law firm that provides securities and corporate counsel to the financial industry and beyond, announced that it has added senior attorney Michael Blackburn.
Blackburn’s practice areas include SEC and FINRA regulatory counsel, corporate law, governance and due diligence, real estate law, and intellectual property.
Blackburn has served as chief compliance officer and legal counsel for multiple FINRA and SEC-regulated entities
Prior to joining Jacko Law Group, Blackburn served as outside general counsel for TENICA and Associates LLC, where he oversaw legal matters for the well-known IT-consulting firm. His specialties included intellectual property, real estate and corporate law matters. Previously, he served as senior vice president of compliance and a chief compliance officer for multiple investment advisory and broker-dealer firms in New York City.
Researchers use electrical shock to control
development of bacteria communities
Clusters of microscopic bacteria exist all around us. These invisible communities, known as biofilms, are found in habitats ranging from our skin surface to sewer pipes and play integral roles in environments spanning healthcare to agriculture.
Molecular biologists and physicists at the University of California San Diego have joined forces to develop a novel method of using electrical shocks to control the development of communities of bacteria. Their findings, obtained with a newly developed technology, are significant from a medical perspective. In areas where bacteria growth is a concern, biofilms can lead to chronic infections, especially in locations such as hospitals where antibiotic resistance is a major health threat.
SDSU poised to join Pell Grant
Program aimed at fighting recidivism
San Diego State University has been invited to participate in a nationwide initiative to reduce recidivism and help incarcerated individuals access federal need-based financial aid to pursue educational programs. The Second Chance Pell Experiment provides Pell Grants for incarcerated individuals enrolled in participating programs.
According to the U.S. Department of Education, the program will expand the number of participating schools to 200. Since its launch in 2015 by the Obama Administration, the initiative has helped more than 7,000 students earn credentials and training.
SDSU is among 73 colleges and universities in the expansion announcement. It was timed to coincide with “Second Chance Month” for formerly incarcerated individuals reentering society, a number that increases by more than 640,000 a year.
The SDSU team, led by Professor Annie Buckley, director of the School of Art and Design, has developed an interdisciplinary degree plan including Art and Design, Journalism and Media Studies, and Communication to support critical thinking, creativity and job development. Plans call for enrolling students at two prisons in Imperial Valley.
NAIOP hosts May 19 event on ‘What Makes Mixed-Use Work
NAIOP San Diego, the commercial real estate development association, will host a market snapshot panel event on May 19 titled “What Makes Mixed-Use Work.” The event will be staged from 4 to 5:15 at the Town & Country Resort, 500 Hotel Circle North, Mission Valley.
The panel of experts will provide their professional insight on what makes a successful project in today’s environment. Their discussion will be centered on mixed-use projects and explore what the market is currently dictating.
The panel will include: Todd Majcher, Lowe, the moderator; Colton Sudberry, Sudberry Properties; Mike Hansen, City Forward; Mike McNerney, Lowe; Yehudi “Gaf” Gaffen, Gafcon; Nelson Ackerly, Kilroy; and David Gatzke, H.G. Fenton.
The cost is $50 for NAIOP San Diego members; $75 for non-members and guests; $100 after 5/12. Free for 2022 chapter sponsors.
Scripps MD Anderson to host free
Cancer Survivors Day event
Scripps MD Anderson Cancer Center will host a virtual Cancer Survivors Day event for cancer survivors, families, friends and the community at large on Wednesday, June 8 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. The inspiring event will focus on living life well. The program will open with welcome remarks by Scripps MD Anderson medical director Thomas Buchholz, M.D., followed by a cancer patient story by author Catherine Datte. Robert Bonakdar, M.D., of Scripps Center for Integrative Medicine, will present on using mindfulness meditation to help cope with stress.
Participants can take part in a mindfulness and stretch break led by Scripps fitness instructor Amy Callahan, followed by a discussion on nutrition and fitness for wellness, with Scripps registered dietician Alison Meagher and Shiley Fitness Center supervisor Teresa Hodge. The event is free, but advance registration is required, either online via this link, or by calling 1-800-SCRIPPS (1-800-727-4777).
County’s program to recruit people with
disabilities for paid internships a success
The County of San Diego in partnership with PRIDE Industries, the nation’s leading employer of people with disabilities, on Tuesday hosted its “Jay’s Program” recruitment event to provide individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities opportunities for six-month, part-time, paid internship opportunities with County of San Diego departments.
The recruitment event was attended by 20 candidates, and they had access to more than 15 individuals from county departments such as Aging and Independence Services, Department of Child Support Services, Child Welfare Services, Department of Human Resources, Land Use and Environmental Group, and the Office of Emergency Services/Fire Authority. The program exists to help those with intellectual and developmental disabilities improve their job skills and increase opportunities for future employment.
New billboards in San Diego highlight lack of
legal medical cannabis acces for veterans
“Restricting access to cannabis — increased opioid addiction and suicide.” That’s the message commuters traveling down Miramar Road in Mira Mesa are seeing, thanks to a billboard placed by veteran advocacy group, Weed for Warriors. The billboard, placed on a popular commute for veterans heading to Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, calls out the devastating impact that a lack of local access to medical cannabis in San Diego has on service members in the area.
Another billboard will be unveiled next week in San Marcos, off state highway 78.
“California, and the nation’s, veterans are dying at horrific rates from opioid addiction and suicide. A lack of local access to safe, legal medical cannabis in San Diego threatens the livelihood of veterans who depend on this medication,” said Sean Kiernan, CEO of Weed for Warriors. “Local control has severely disrupted access to a product that veterans rely on. Despite serving their country overseas, the state’s legal cannabis prohibition demonstrates veterans are being left behind.”
San Diego’s Chasin’ Dreams Farms a big winner
in FedEx Small Business Grant Contest
Chasin’ Dream Farms in San Diego has won a $20,000 grant and $1,500 in FedEx Office print and business services for being a first-place winner in the annual FedEx Small Business Grant Contest.
Chasin’ Dreams Farm received the “Entrepreneur Choice Award Winner,” a distinction bestowed by the FedEx Entrepreneur Advisory Board, which is comprised of former grant winners and small business owners from around the country.
“We are thrilled to shine a spotlight on these entrepreneurs, because at FedEx, we believe when small businesses succeed, we all succeed,” said Jenny Robertson, senior vice president integrated marketing and communications at FedEx. “We are looking forward to watching these small business owners grow and thrive, and we are honored to be part of their success stories.”
Chasin’ Dreams Farms is a maker of gluten-free snacks.
