Daily Business Report: Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2022
State lawmakers have 3 days to hammer out agreements
on hundreds of complex, controversial bills
By Emily Hoeven | CalMatters
It all comes down to this.
The two-year legislative session ends Wednesday night at midnight, giving Gov. Gavin Newsom and state lawmakers just three days to hammer out agreements on complex, controversial bills and budget items encompassing everything from nuclear power to abortion to youth vaccination.
According to veteran Sacramento lobbyist Chris Micheli, legislators still need to determine the fate of about 525 bills, or about 175 per day. (Newsom on Friday signed a pile of less contentious bills already sent to his desk.
Looming over the frenetic negotiations is the Nov. 8 general election, which adds an extra layer of political complexity when it comes to voting on controversial proposals — especially for lawmakers running for contested seats in the state Assembly and Senate.
And then are the internal politics stemming from the ongoing battle to lead the Assembly: Current Speaker Anthony Rendon, a Lakewood Democrat, reiterated as recently as this past weekendthat he intends to hold onto his crown when the next legislative session begins in January. But Assemblymember Robert Rivas, a Salinas Democrat, has for months began angling to assume the powerful position that helps shape the Legislature’s policy agenda and influences which bills stand a chance of making it into law.
In many ways, these next few days mark the end of a policymaking era: More than a quarter of the Legislature’s 120 members won’t be coming back next year, the largest turnover in at least seven years. Whom Californians elect to replace them could have a significant effect on the future policy debates and laws coming out of Sacramento.
Top Photo: Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon attends a floor session at the state Capitol on Aug. 1, 2022. (Photo by Rahul Lal, CalMatters)
Illumina Genomics Forum to feature
tennis legend Chris Evert
Illumina Inc., a global leader in DNA sequencing and array-based technologies, today announced that it will feature International Tennis Hall of Fame member Chris Evert as a special guest at its inaugural Illumina Genomics Forum (IGF) on Oct. 1.
Evert, who was diagnosed with stage 1C ovarian cancer earlier this year, will participate in a fireside chat discussing how genomics can improve early cancer detection, lead to more proactive, effective treatment of cancer, and help save lives.
During the session, Evert will discuss her ovarian cancer diagnosis and personal treatment journey.
After her younger sister passed away from ovarian cancer in 2020, Evert’s doctors discovered that she had a rare inherited genetic mutation commonly linked to ovarian cancer, which ultimately led to the early discovery of her own cancer.
Today, Evert’s doctors are optimistic about her prognosis because the cancer was detected early.
IGF will take place in San Diego from Sept. 28 through Oct. 1. For more information and to register for the conference, go to illuminagenomicsforum.com.
Jamul Casino recruits Scott Lake as chief marketing officer
Jamul Casino has recruited Scott Lake to its team as its new chief marketing officer. He brings more than 25 years of experience in senior marketing management roles with world-class hotel and casino properties around the globe. Lake will be at the helm of Jamul Casino’smarketing program.
Lake’s background includes eight years with Sands China Ltd., most recently serving as senior vice president of loyalty marketing and strategic analysis.
He led five key properties in Macao, SAR (also known as “The Las Vegas of Asia”), including the The Venetian Macao, The Londoner Macao, The Parisian Macao, The Plaza and Four Seasons Hotel Macao, and Sands Macao.
He was responsible for executing the casino marketing calendar and events, attracting a combined total of 98.2 million annual visitors and comprising 11,000+ hotel rooms, 150+ restaurants, and 850+ duty-free retail shops across four malls. He also worked for Caesars Entertainment Inc. for 13 years, including positions as director for VIP marketing and director for national casino marketing.
Father Joe’s Villages receives grant to help
people and pets stay together at shelters
Father Joe’s Villages hA received a $548,000 grant from the California Department of Housing and Community Development’s Pet Assistance and Support Program.
The funds will support efforts to keep neighbors in need and their animal companions together by providing pet-friendly shelter programs.
The grant will support expenses – including staffing, pet suplies and food, veterinarian care, training classes and the creation of a pet bathing area – involved in welcoming companion animals to all Father Joe’s Villages’ facilities.
Along with accepting pets, the grant will also make it easier for clients to leave their pets in a safe, comfortable crate or cage while they search for jobs or go to work.
Pets are a source of comfort for their human companions as well as a part of a client’s family.
The acceptance of pets at all Father Joe’s Villages shelters ensures that no one must choose between access to resources or their beloved pets.
The grant ensures that, along with accepting pets, Father Joe’s Villages staff will support clients by providing supplies, enrichment items (like toys and puzzles) and a safe place for pets to stay while their owners seek resources, such as jobs and housing.
Palomar College opens fall semester
with increased number of on-site students
The Fall 2022 semester began at Palomar College onAug. 22, with all locations offering a variety of on-site course offerings, comprehensive student services, and all libraries open.
Palomar will have three times the amount of on-site students than last fall. All facilities across the Palomar Community College District are open, including:
• San Marcos Campus
• Escondido Education Center
• Rancho Bernardo Education Center
• Fallbrook Education Center
For the safety of students, faculty, staff and visitors, health requirements remain in place, including mandatory daily health screenings for anyone who comes to a Palomar site. Vaccinations are not required, but facial coverings are strongly recommended indoors.
Palomar College offers 16-week full semester courses and condensed courses that are 8 and 4 weeks in length. Registration remains open and information can be found at Palomar.edu.
Also in operation are several programs for high school students within the District who are pursuing completion of courses with Palomar College that are transferable to four-year institutions.
Mayor announces appointments to city’s
Commission on the Status of Women
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria announced his appointments to the newly-revived City Commission on the Status of Women. In doing so, the mayor also nominated former U.S. Congresswoman Susan Davis to serve as the commission’s chair.
In addition to Davis, Mayor Gloria is appointing Laurie Black, Marlyn Carrillo, Dr. Lakeya Cherry, Wendy Urushima-Conn, Gail Friedt, Joy Utomi Hartmann, Solange Jacobs, Sophie Tarazi, Dana Toppel and Natasha Wong to the Commission on the Status of Women.
The Commission on the Status of Women was first established in 1973 as the “Advisory Board on the Status of Women” to advise the mayor, City Council and other agencies of city government. To learn more about the commission, visit onboard.sandiego.gov/board/4383. Gloria revived commission, which had been inactive for more than two decades, this past spring.
Cue Health launches Cue Care Nationwide
Cue Health Inc., a health care technology company that puts diagnostic information at the center of care, announced the nationwide launch of Cue Care, its same-day, at-home, test-to-treatment solution. Patients in any of the 50 states who test positive using Cue’s COVID-19 tests can now use the Cue Health App to:
• Consult virtually and on-demand with a healthcare professional about their test result;
• Obtain an e-prescription — if medically indicated — for a medication to treat the virus; and
• Get the medication delivered – usually within hours — conveniently and safely at home or the medication will be made available for pckup at their local pharmacy.
Within a few weeks, Cue Health anticipates expanding this new service to patients who test positive on any COVID-19 test, including at-home antigen tests. The Cue Care antiviral delivery service costs between $79 and $99 and includes a televisit with a health care professional and delivery of a medication, the cost of which is currently covered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Genome Insight launches cancer care
test with Ajou University Medical Center
San Diego-base Genome Insight, a cancer whole genome platform company, is launching a pilot program in Ajou University Medical Center to test the use of Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) in routine cancer care setting.
Cancer patients at various stages in the treatment journey will be eligible to receive WGS testing if the clinician notices potential clinical benefits for that patient. Genome Insight will provide its proprietary cancer WGS analysis and interpretation solution to Ajou University Medical Center.
WGS captures a near complete overview of genomic characteristics of a tumor in one test. It enables discovery of all types of genomic mutations, including single nucleotide variants, copy number alterations, insertions/deletions, and structural variants, many of which are targets for precise diagnosis and treatment but hardly detected by common medical tests. Potential direct benefits of cancer WGS include an opportunity to test new cancer drugs in a clinical trial and the development of new biomarkers for precision oncology.
Teradata announces ClearScape Analytics
Teradata has announced ClearScape Analytics, the significantly expanded and newly named analytics capabilities that span the entire suite of Vantage products. Teradata Vantage’s industry-leading analytics have long been the cornerstone of the platform’s appeal to enterprise customers for its ability to accelerate data insights and time to value. With these new capabilities, Vantage customers can now take advantage of the most in-database analytic functions anywhere in the market and critical artificial intelligence/machine learning model management tools (i.e., ModelOps) to meet the growing analytic demands of their organizations.
ClearScape Analytics’ new in-database time series functions span the entire analytics lifecycle, from data transformation and statistical hypothesis tests, to feature engineering and machine learning modeling. Because these functions are built into the database, they are highly performant and require limited data movement.
Dr. Diana Ramos appointed California Surgeon General
Governor Gavin Newsom announced the appointment of accomplished public health leader Dr. Diana Ramos as California Surgeon General. Ramos has more than three decades of cross-cutting experience and expertise with a focus on health equity and reproductive health. She currently serves at the California Department of Public Health’s Center for Healthy Communities, where she oversees the state’s public health and prevention programs.
Ramos, 55, of Laguna Beach, has served as a public health administrator at the California Department of Public Health’s Center for Healthy Communities since 2021. She has been an adjunct assistant clinical professor at the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine since 1999.
SDSU repeats as a ‘Best of the Best’ for LGBTQ students
Assessing the commitment to LGBTQ students at colleges and universities across the United States, Campus Pride Index selected only 40 as the “Best of the Best.” For a second straight year, San Diego State University is one of them.
SDSU again earned a perfect five-star score for LGBTQ programs, practices and policies that make a safer and more inclusive environment. It is the only California university, public or private, included in this year’s Best of the Best, a distinction Campus Pride said it reserves for universities that “have shown themselves to be deeply committed to LGBTQ students.”
SDSU’s score reflects such features as its major and minor in LGBTQ+ Studies in the College of Arts and Letters, The Pride Center, a Pride Employee Resource Group, various awareness initiatives and the Lavender Graduation ceremony started in 2009.
Located on Campanile Drive, and currently filling some staff vacancies, The Pride Center aims to provide a space where LGBTQIA+ and ally community members can explore, expand, evolve, and embrace their understanding of sexual orientation, romantic orientation, gender identity, and gender expression.
USD professor travels to Baja California
to mentor local high school students
Twenty-nine Hoover High School students, enrolled in science leadership programs with Ocean Discovery Institute, recently returned from Bahía de Los Ángeles in Baja California after working alongside scientists and professors to study how the island communities in the region are affected and enriched by marine ecology.
Perla Myers, professor and executive director of the Jacobs Institute for Innovation in Education, and member of Ocean Discovery Institute’s Science Advisory Board, mentored students for several days during this Introduction to Research course. Their daily activities included research excursions, community building, time for reflection and writing, opportunities to engage in health and wellness activities, lectures with guided note-taking, synthesis through concept-mapping, and exam preparation. The two-week journey culminated in a celebration where students shared their experiences, learning and appreciations with the Bahía community in Spanish.
UC San Diego named 5th best public university
The University of California San Diego has been ranked 5th among the nation’s best public universities for its award-winning faculty and alumni, academic performance and impactful research. The new 2022 Academic Ranking of the World Universities (ARWU) ranking
was released by ShanghaiRanking Consultancy, which also named UC San Diego 16th among colleges in the nation and 21st in the world.
Established in 2003, the ARWU evaluates over 2500 institutions for its final list of the best 1000 universities in the world.
