Daily Business Report: Dec. 4, 2023
Knives are out for Mayor Gloria’s homelessness tactics
Mayor Todd Gloria has repeatedly tangled with NBA giant Bill Walton
and homeless advocates, including some who once supported him
By Lisa Halverstadt | Voice of San Diego
A disparate group of supporters rallied to make Todd Gloria mayor three years ago with the belief he’d put a serious dent in the city’s homelessness crisis.
Activists cheered Gloria’s campaign pledge to end enforcement of homelessness-related offenses they had decried under his Republican predecessor while NBA legend Bill Walton, a longtime San Diego booster, thought Gloria had what it took to reduce homelessness.
Now Walton and some advocates who voted for Gloria have buyer’s remorse – and they have been very vocal about it.
Months after Gloria took office, homeless advocates protested the Democrat’s continued use of police to address homelessness. Their opposition only ratcheted up as Gloria committed to increasing crackdowns on homeless camps and later, aggressively pushed a homeless camping ban.
Walton’s frustrations erupted at a press conference last September. Unlike the advocates, he wanted Gloria to crack down more on those camps. He also wanted Gloria to resign.
The conflicting beefs are emblematic of a raging nationwide debate over whether local leaders should take a more punitive approach to homelessness or focus solely on linking homeless people with housing and services. These divides have long bedeviled politicians like Gloria who face criticism no matter which position they choose, including if they try to cater to both sides.
Yet Gloria’s critics also aren’t entirely divided. They agree that Gloria hasn’t done enough on the city’s foremost humanitarian scourge and push back on the mayor’s pronouncements that his efforts are making a significant, positive difference. They also don’t understand his strategy and believe he hasn’t kept his campaign promises.
“He has lied about who he is, what he’s done and what he’s going to do,” Walton wrote in an email to Voice of San Diego.
Photo courtesy of Voice of San Diego
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County awarded grant for bicycle and pedestrian safety program
The County of San Diego has received a $125,000 grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) to support its Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Program. This grant will allow the county’s Department of Homeless Solutions and Equitable Communities to promote safe practices for pedestrians and bicyclists and provide education about the importance of sharing the road.
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$10 million gift will name the new Acute
Care Tower at Sharp Memorial Hospital
Sharp HealthCare Foundation has received a $10 million gift from local philanthropist Laurie McGrath and the Laurie C. McGrath Foundation to support the modernization of the Sharp Metropolitan Medical Campus. The gift will name the McGrath Tower, a new, seven-story acute care tower at Sharp Memorial Hospital.
Expected to be completed in 2030, the future McGrath Tower will provide 152 new beds to serve the growing San Diego Community for many generations to come, replacing the original Sharp Memorial Hospital, which opened its doors in 1955.
The McGrath Tower is part of the Sharp Metropolitan modernization project, a 10-year, $900 million campus transformation that broke ground in May 2022 and is scheduled for completion in 2030.
New California rules target flavors in kids’
medication, leading pharmacies to end service
By Shreya Agrawal | CalMatters
More than 3,000 California pharmacies earlier this month ended a service they long provided to help the medicine go down, and it’s unclear when they’ll restore it.
The pharmacies suspended their practice of flavoring medication because they’re awaiting rules from a state regulator charged with applying federal guidance that characterized the service as drug compounding, meaning the mixing of prescription medication.
Medicines that are commonly flavored include flu syrups, like Tamiflu, and various antibiotic prescriptions, including amoxicillin and Augmentin. Parents are worried about the change, especially as respiratory diseases and infections become more prevalent during the winter.
Brenda Alvarez of Anaheim said her four kids don’t like taking unflavored medication. “It’s harder for them to get the medication, especially when they’re sick, because the taste is just really bad,” she said.
North Island Credit Union provides teacher
grants for projects across San Diego County
As part of its commitment to help educators create innovative learning opportunities for their students, North Island Credit Union has provided 10 grants of $500 each to underwrite class projects across San Diego County. The credit union grants will fund a diverse range of programs illustrating the creativity and commitment teachers bring to their classrooms and communities. Since the creation of the program in 2012, the credit union has awarded $185,000 in teacher grants to support classroom programs.
LendSure Mortgage introduces P&L Loan Program
LendSure Mortgage Corp. announced the launch of their new Profit & Loss (P&L) Loan Program. LendSure’s latest loan solution offers a simplified and user-friendly process for business owners seeking capital in a complex financial landscape. LendSure’s P&L Loan Program is designed to cater to business owners and self-employed investors with fluctuating seasonal income or cash businesses.
Wiliot nanmed to Fast Company’s list of Next Big Things in Tech
Wiliot, the Internet of Things pioneer whose IoT platform is enabling trillions of “things” to gain intelligence, announced that its ambient IoT Pixels and Visibility Platform has been named to Fast Company’s third annual Next Big Things in Tech list. The esteemed award program honors the technology breakthroughs that promise to shape the future of industries — from health care and security to artificial intelligence and data.
Japan OKs CSL and Arcturus Therapeutics’ COVID vaccine
Global biotechnology leader CSL and Arcturus Therapeutics announced that Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare granted approval for ARCT-154, a self-amplifying COVID-19 vaccine for initial vaccination and booster for adults 18 years and older. The approval is based on positive clinical data from several ARCT-154 studies, including an ongoing 16,000 subject efficacy study performed in Vietnam.
Alexandria Real Estate Equities partners with Lilly
to expand Lily Gateway Labs to San Diego
Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc., the first, preeminent, longest-tenured and pioneering owner, operator and developer of collaborative life science, agtech and advanced technology mega campuses in AAA innovation cluster locations, announced an exclusive partnership with longstanding tenant Eli Lilly and Company to expand Lilly’s innovative Gateway Labs model to the San Diego life science cluster.
Avidity Biosciences announces collaboration with Bristol Myers Squibb
Avidity Biosciences Inc., a biopharmaceutical company committed to delivering a new class of RNA therapeutics called Antibody Oligonucleotide Conjugates (AOCs), announced a global licensing and research collaboration with Bristol Myers Squibb focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of multiple cardiovascular targets with potential cumulative payments of up to $2.3 billion.
Utah Fertility Center hires Dr. Yetunde Ibrahim to its team
Ivy Fertility, a collaborative network of globally-renowned fertility clinics, including one in San Diego, welcomes Yetunde Ibrahim, M.D., to its team of physicians at Utah Fertility Center. Ibrahim is a board certified reproductive endocrinologist and infertility specialist. She is practicing in thePleasant Grove location, and is now accepting new patients. Ibrahim brings a wealth of past experience and expertise to the Ivy network.
Inseego announces availability of its next generation router
Inseego Corp., a leader in 5G edge cloud solutions, announced the launch of the Inseego Wavemaker 5G indoor router FX3100 for T-Mobile for Business customers. This compact, cutting-edge FWA device provides ultra-fast, reliable, and secure connectivity, empowering enterprise customers to stay connected and productive like never before. Designed to meet the diverse needs of modern businesses, the FX3100 offers fast, secure, reliable, and affordable connectivity for up to 64 Wi-Fi capable devices,
nLorem unveils limited edition holiday ornament
n-Lorem, a nonprofit foundation, has released a limited edition holiday ornament that will support its mission to find and provide treatments for nano-rare patients (30 or fewer patients worldwide affected by a single gene mutation). The flat, shatterproof ornament will be sent to anyone who donates at least $25 to the organization. Donations support the 100 patients already accepted for potential personalized treatments for free, for life and future patients.
Asteres Inc. awarded AllSpire Health GPO purchasing contract
Asteres Inc., an industry’s leading provider of ScriptCenter automated lockers and kiosks for prescriptions and personal care products in retail, hospital, and Veteran’s Affairs/Department of Defense (VA/DoD) pharmacies announced a new group purchasing contract agreement with AllSpire Health GPO to create new savings opportunities for their member hospitals. ScriptCenter, Asteres’ innovative technology, provides a quick and convenient prescription pickup destination for hospital employees.
