Daily Business Report: Dec. 28, 2022
Get ready for another round of new City Hall
San Diego is about to embark on the most serious effort to rebuild City Hall since 2009
By Scott Lewis | Voice of San Diego
Yes, the story of 101 Ash St. is a story about a building, its asbestos, messy politics, huge sums of wasted taxpayer dollars and undisclosed partnerships with hidden profits.
But it was also just a chapter in the ongoing story about San Diego’s decrepit City Hall and the failed attempt more than a decade ago to rebuild it – a failure broker Jason Hughes helped engineer and a failure which later led to the city’s commitment to purchase two office towers, deals on which Hughes made nearly $10 million. One of those towers remains unusable but they are both now fully within the city’s control.
The city still has workers that need a place to work.
So guess what’s back?
San Diego is about to embark on the most serious effort to rebuild City Hall since 2009.
After the City Council and mayor decided to purchase 101 Ash and Civic Center Plaza outright and settle part of the major litigation it was dealing with, it formed the Civic Center Revitalization Committee Working Group and Stakeholder Roundtable (the CCRCWG&SR as it’s now commonly known) is coming close to finalizing its recommendations. And the group is coalescing around one simple message: The now six blocks the city owns around City Hall should be redeveloped with the goal of building a new City Hall and new affordable and work force housing.
The group voted to support a recommendation that the city build a new City Hall at the site of the now City Operations Building at 1222 First Avenue, which is across the street from the existing City Hall and includes the main downtown fire station. City Hall is officially known as the City Administration Building.
Top Photo: The City Operations Building at 1222 First Ave. in Downtown San Diego. (Credit: City of San Diego)
Virgin Atlantic adds Viasat Wi-Fi to its newest planes
When passengers boarded Virgin Atlantic’s new Airbus A330neo aircraft for its inaugural VIP flight, they were treated to social spaces, business class privacy doors, and an optional upgrade to a private suite — and both paid and free internet access provided by Viasat.
Virgin Atlantic flew its first Airbus A330neo aircraft from London to Tampa Bay Nov. 2. Guests onboard the exclusive flight included a contingent of aviation media.
“Virgin Atlantic uses Viasat Wi-Fi on these new A330neo’s, and my God — it’s fast,” wrote Gilbert Ott of God Save the Points. “I felt incredibly jaded about Wi-Fi claims coming into this flight but was shocked to be able to stream and work efficiently throughout. “This is the first time in my life where Wi-Fi wasn’t noticeably slower or more difficult to use than on the ground.”
Cubic Transportation Systems opens
new Global Engineering Centre in Perth CBD
Cubic Transportation Systems, a division of Cubic Corporation, has officially opened the new Global Software Engineering Centre in Perth, Australia. CTS President Jeff Lowinger and Senior Vice President of Product and Engineering Galen Chui were in attendance to welcome the team to the new location.
Over the past several years, CTS has expanded its presence in the Western Australian capital and now employs more than 60 highly skilled people who play an integral part in the business’s global success.
The new facility at 263 Adelaide Terrace in Perth’s CBD will provide the space and facilities for the global team to continue building world-class transportation solutions. The Global Centre was officially opened on Monday, 12 December, and will accommodate the team of 65 CTS employees and allow for new testing and product engineering areas.
General Atomics contributes to first recorded fusion
ignition at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Precision components fabricated and processed by General Atomics (GA) helped to facilitate a record-breaking Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) experiment at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). During the experiment, conducted on Dec. 5, 2022, a total of 2.05 megajoules (MJ) of energy were delivered to the target assembly, resulting in 3.15 MJ of fusion energy output. The target components that were used in this historic experiment were produced and characterized at GA and provided to LLNL for final assembly and proofing ahead of the experiment—part of the long-standing relationship between the two organizations under the ICF program.
Scientists uncover new organizing principles of the genome
By James Devitt
A team of scientists including mechanical engineers at the University of California San Diego has uncovered the physical principles—a series of forces and hydrodynamic flows—that help ensure the proper functioning of life’s blueprint. Its discovery provides new insights into the genome while potentially offering a new means to spot genomic aberrations linked to developmental disorders and human diseases.
“The way in which the genome is organized and packed inside the nucleus directly affects its biological function, yet the physical principles behind this organization are far from understood,” explains Alexandra Zidovska, an associate professor in New York University’s Department of Physics and an author of the paper, published in the journal Physical Review X (PRX) on Dec. 23, 2022. “Our results provide fundamental insights into the biophysical origins of the organization of the genome inside the cell nucleus.”
San Diegans at Sea
PHILIPPINE SEA (Dec. 26, 2022) U.S. Navy Quartermaster 1st Class Alexandra Marseden, from San Diego, records course changes on the bridge of the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Bunker Hill (CG 52). Bunker Hill, part of the Nimitz Carrier Strike Group, is currently underway in 7th Fleet conducting routine operations. 7th Fleet is the U.S. Navy ‘s largest forward-deployed numbered fleet, and routinely interacts and operates with 35 maritime nations in preserving a free and open Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jordan Jennings)
Southwest Airlines draws regulatory scrutiny
as thousands more flights canceled
Southwest Airlines accounted for 86 percent of canceled domestic flights Tuesday, drawing the attention of U.S. regulators amid a days-long meltdown of holiday air travel that began with a winter storm late last week. More than 2,900 U.S. flights were canceled Tuesday among all carriers, with Southwest accounting for more than 2,500 of the total. The airline wasn’t flying 63 percent of its scheduled flights Tuesday — even as other carriers appeared to recover. Among other major domestic carriers, about 2 percent of flights were not operating as planned, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware.
Enlaza Therapeutics raises $61 million in seed financing
Enlaza Therapeutics, a La Jolla-based covalent biologic company, raised $61 million in seed funding. The round was led by Avalon Ventures, with participation from Lightspeed Venture Partners, Frazier Life Sciences, and Samsara BioCapital. The company intends to use the funds to advance its proprietary WarLock platform and build a pipeline of covalent biologices with an initial focus on developing novel, differentiated cancer therepeutics with targeted efficacy and low toxicity.
PowerFlex receives $100 million investment
PowerFlex, an EDF Renewables North America affiliate and leading provider of intelligent solar, storage, and electric vehicle (EV) charging solutions for commercial and industrial customers, announced a $100 million investment from Manulife Investment Management on behalf of investors. With this transaction, Manulife IM holds a minority stake in PowerFlex and has joined its board of directors; EDF Renewables retains majority ownership. Manulife IM has also acquired a portfolio of existing operating assets to serve as the basis for a dedicated financing vehicle for future projects.
Shield AI raises another $60 million
Shield AI — which develops platforms and planes for autonomous flying systems, targeting the U.S. military and its allies as customers — has raised $60 million in funding, money that it will be using to continue developing its technology. The money is coming in as an additional part of Shield AI’s Series E, and it brings the total round to $225 million. Shield AI announced the previous $165 million tranche in June, which gave the startup a valuation of $2.3 billion.
Scientists confirm smallpox vaccine also teaches
T cells to fight monkeypox virus disease
There’s even more reason to think a vaccine developed against smallpox can help the body fight against mpox (monkeypox virus disease) as well, according to researchers at La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI). Their new study, published in Cell Host & Microbe, is the first to provide evidence that the vaccinia vaccine MVA-BN (brand name JYNNEOS) should also train virus-fighting T cells to recognize mpox sequences. “This study gives us confidence that T cell response induced by the JYNNEOS vaccine should be able to also recognize mpox virus,” says LJI Professor Alessandro Sette, who co-led the new study with LJI Instructor Alba Grifoni.
