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SAN DIEGO (CBS 8) – As fire season kicks into high gear, Cal Fire and the County of San Diego are warning residents to protect their homes from wildfires.

Cal Fire recommends maintaining a 100 foot buffer zone around your home, which includes clearing dead brush and keeping plants and trees well-maintained.

“We have zones of treatment, where you get closer to the house and you need less and less vegetation to reduce the intensity of fire as it comes closer to a home,” said one Cal Fire representative.

Fire inspection teams have visited almost 6,000 properties in rural areas over the last month, working with homeowners to help clear their properties.

Article source: http://www.ktvu.com/news/27403250/detail.html

Newswise — Capitalizing on UC San Diego’s unique ability to address environmental threats to public health, a new center based at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego will target emerging contaminants found naturally in common seafood dishes as well as man-made chemicals that accumulate in human breast milk.

With $6 million in joint funding from the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation, the new Scripps Center for Oceans and Human Health will track natural chemicals known as halogenated organic compounds, or HOCs. Human-manufactured varieties include polybrominated diphenyl ethers, or PBDEs, chemicals that until recently were manufactured and broadly used in commercial products as flame retardants in the textile and electronics sectors.

Less is known about the natural versions of HOCs that accumulate in marine mammals such as seals and dolphins and have been identified in top predators that humans consume such as tuna and swordfish. While PBDEs are well known for their toxicity and have been linked to a variety of human diseases, including cancer and thyroid ailments, the origin and transmission of their natural counterparts are poorly understood.

The Scripps Center for Oceans and Human Health will investigate the biology and chemistry behind these natural contaminants in the Southern California Bight, from Point Conception in Santa Barbara south to Ensenada, Mexico.

“The new Center for Oceans and Human Health is uniting leading experts in oceanography and medicine, two areas that make UC San Diego one of the best and most unique universities in the world, to address an emerging threat to public health and safety,” said UC San Diego Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla. “UC San Diego is proud to be leading this effort in collaboration with other prominent institutions around the San Diego region.”

“The Scripps Center for Oceans and Human Health is focused on addressing to what extent nature contributes to the production and transmission of these toxins in the marine environment,” said Bradley Moore, director of the new center and a professor of oceanography and pharmaceutical sciences at Scripps and the UC San Diego Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. “Southern California waters will be the focus of our study, in part because our state has the highest reported incidence of polybrominated chemicals in human breast milk in the world.”

Scientists have recently become aware that polybrominated compounds appear to enter the marine environment not only as man-made chemicals but also as naturally produced chemicals synthesized by marine microorganisms and algae. Samples from dolphin blubber have revealed hundreds of HOCs that can be separately traced to human and natural sources.

“Humans are susceptible because of the food we consume, like tuna, and there is some evidence that these compounds may be increasing in the coastal ocean due to global change, such as nutrient input from human activity,” said Lihini Aluwihare, a Scripps associate professor of marine chemistry and geochemistry and the new center’s co-director. “The center will focus on biochemical synthesis pathways in tiny microorganisms all the way up through the marine food web to tracing these compounds into humans.”

“Scripps Institution of Oceanography is extremely proud to be the home of the new Scripps Center for Oceans and Human Health,” said Catherine Constable, interim director of Scripps. “After almost 110 years, Scripps continues to expand the scope of its contributions to science and society. Our leadership in marine science extends to matters of public concern, and the environmental contaminants that this new center will be studying provide an excellent example of this kind of work.”

To cover such a wide swath of research, the center will include other local scientists at Scripps’s Center for Marine Biotechnology and Biomedicine, San Diego State University’s Graduate School of Public Health, UC San Diego’s School of Medicine, and the Salk Institute for Biological Studies.

“It’s fascinating and a bit alarming that chemicals related to banned PBDEs are also produced naturally in the environment,” said Moore. “What makes them? And to what extent? While we don’t know the answers to these fundamental questions, our aim is to provide some answers so that we can begin to understand nature’s contribution to these toxic compounds that bioaccumulate in the fish we consume.”

“There is a lot of interest in the potential combined toxicity of the suite of HOCs—natural and man-made—to humans,” said Aluwihare. “People have done tests with individual model compounds, but we really don’t know how they act together.”

In addition to Moore and Aluwihare, the project includes Eric Allen, William Fenical, and Paul Jensen of Scripps; Christina Chambers, Jae Kim, and Michelle Leff of UC San Diego School of Medicine’s Department of Pediatrics; Eunha Hoh, Melbourne Hovell, and Penelope Quintana of San Diego State University; and Joseph Noel of the Salk Institute.

In a separate award on Oceans and Human Health also funded jointly by the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation, Scripps marine biologist Amro Hamdoun will lead a new effort to understand the molecular processes that determine whether marine pollutants will move from the environment into humans and marine animals. The ultimate goal of this work, led by Hamdoun and co-investigator Geoffrey Chang of UC San Diego’s Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences and the Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, is to determine why some chemicals accumulate in marine organisms, and ultimately in humans, while others do not.

Hamdoun and Chang will be merging cellular studies with biochemical and biophysical studies of an important family of proteins known as “drug transporters.” These proteins act as cellular bouncers, keeping noxious chemicals out of cells. Unfortunately, these same transporters play a crucial role in drug efficacy and retention. They can also be a problem in the treatment of diseases, such as drug-resistant cancers, where they act to keep out the drugs used to kill the cancer cells.

Their collaboration will develop models of transporters from a wide range of organisms that predict how the transporters will work.

“Obviously, having these new structures of marine transporters will enable us to design better pharmaceuticals, but one innovation is that we will apply this to predicting which kinds of toxic industrial chemicals are going to be problems for these cellular bouncers,” said Hamdoun. “This information will be essential for designing safer chemicals that do not accumulate in our bodies.”

“This collaboration is an exciting opportunity to combine and highlight two distinct disciplines at UC San Diego,” said Chang, “synergistically addressing important issues related to marine science and medicine.”

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Article source: http://biz.yahoo.com/zacks/110401/50518.html?.v=1

Dwight Freeney struggled in 2012, his first season as a 3-4 OLB. (Paul Sancya/AP)

If the San Diego Chargers could find any silver lining in Melvin Ingram’s extremely unfortunate ACL tear, it was that two veteran pass rushers — Dwight Freeney and John Abraham — still sat unsigned on the free-agent market. The Chargers wasted little time snatching up the 33-year-old Freeney, who will take Ingram’s spot at outside linebacker and provide a veteran voice to a relatively young defense.

But here’s the rub: Not only do the Chargers have to show they can adjust their defense to get Freeney in his preferred 4-3 set, they also still have numerous holes elsewhere on the roster.

Freeney said all the right things last offseason when the Colts’ new coaching staff transitioned to a 3-4 look. The results on the field never met expectations, though. After being hobbled by a high-ankle sprain early, Freeney finished the year with 5.0 sacks (his lowest total since registering 3.5 while missing seven games in 2007) and a career-low 12 tackles.

It was a bit of a lost season for the longtime Colt.

San Diego’s challenge will be to get him back in a situation he is more comfortable with — Freeney notched 102.5 sacks over 10 Indianapolis seasons playing defensive end in a 4-3. Does San Diego have the horses to be successful with a hybrid 3-4/4-3 defense?

Sliding to a 4-3 look with Freeney at DE might create other problems. The responsibilities of the three current starting linemen (Corey Liuget, Kendall Reyes and Cam Thomas) would be different, and San Diego would either have to adjust to a nickel package or fit its 3-4 linebacking pieces into a varied scheme. The latter choice could be difficult, since neither Manti Te’o nor Donald Butler really looks capable of playing outside and Jarret Johnson is more of a two-down player.

Which brings us to talking point No. 2 from above: The Chargers’ lingering needs elsewhere. Freeney (or a player with similar pass-rush abilities) became a must-have after Ingram was lost for the season. However, San Diego has been less aggressive elsewhere on its roster, leaving question marks at …

• Wide receiver: The Chargers are putting a lot of faith in third-round pick Keenan Allen (who’s coming off a knee injury) and their underachieving lot from last season, which includes Malcom Floyd, Danario Alexander, Vincent Brown, Robert Meachem and Eddie Royal. While Philip Rivers continues to take most of the heat when this team falters, he had very little help in the passing game last season.

• Offensive line: Rookie D.J. Fluker should step in and start at right tackle, but does anyone in San Diego really feel comfortable with the remainder of this situation? If the season started today, the Chargers probably would line up the highly inconsistent King Dunlap at left tackle and journeyman Chad Rinehart at left guard — reliable guard Louis Vasquez left in free agency and joined the rival Broncos.

The Chargers reportedly have been in the mix for free-agent tackle Max Starks, though nothing has come of that pursuit yet. Fluker was the only draft choice the Chargers made up front, focusing elsewhere for the final six rounds. That decision could backfire.

• Cornerback: Gone is the 2012 (and 2011 and 2010) starting duo of Antoine Cason and Quentin Jammer. For now, their replacements are Derek Cox, a free-agent signing who graded out as the 71st-best corner in football last season on Pro Football Focus; Shareece Wright, a 2011 third-round pick with zero career starts under his belt; 2013 fifth-rounder Steve Williams, who surprised just about everyone by declaring for the draft following his junior year; and Johnny Patrick, claimed off waivers from New Orleans.

Is that group stout enough to hold up against, for example, Denver’s high-powered aerial attack?

• Running back: Ryan Mathews still has to prove that he’s capable of staying healthy and being a No. 1 back. He has just two (fairly cheap) years left on his current contract, so time is running out in that quest. None of the backs behind him — Danny Woodhead, Ronnie Brown or 2012 seventh-rounder Edwin Baker — are guys that you’d want to base a game plan around, either.

• Depth on defense: Mentioned cornerback above, but the Chargers’ D-line depth essentially boils down to ex-Packer Jarius Wynn and a group of undrafted free agents. There also are more uncertainties than the Chargers would like at linebacker, with 2009 bust Larry English, D.J. Smith, Tourek Williams and others.

The Chargers also converted Marcus Gilchrist from corner to safety, to provide Brandon Taylor with competition alongside Eric Weddle. One of those two has to step up in a big way.

San Diego ought to be thrilled that Freeney remained available after Ingram fell — the former Colts star will be welcomed with open arms by the Chargers’ players and fans. He might still have a couple of big seasons left in the tank, too.

Much of that depends, however, on how exactly San Diego is able to utilize him and, in turn, on how the rest of the Chargers adjust to multiple fronts on defense.

Plus, even if Freeney returns to his former QB-dropping self, will he have enough help elsewhere to make the Chargers contenders? There remains plenty unsettled in San Diego, even with Freeney coming on board.

Article source: http://www.sandiego6.com/news/local/story/Former-President-in-San-Diego-for-Clinton-Global/l6Q3BJh9E0aw2NsIUSkWwQ.cspx?rss=800

Myrtle Cole, who’s running for San Diego’s District 4 council seat, sees herself as an heir to former Councilmen Charles Lewis and George Stevens.

From Lewis, who was elected in 2002 and died two years later, Cole took his vision of building a “Gaslamp East,” a mixed-used corridor of shops, housing and restaurants in the city’s southeastern neighborhoods reminiscent of downtown’s successful Gaslamp District. It’s her development plan.

From Stevens, Lewis’ predecessor who held the seat for more than a decade and died in 2006, Cole has updated his idea for fighting negative perceptions about the district. Stevens famously held a mock funeral to rid the name “Southeast” from the city’s lexicon because he believed it evoked drugs and violence. Cole wants to bury the newer shorthand “Southeastern” for the same reasons. She would like the public to identify the district’s communities by their names — Encanto, Valencia Park, Paradise Hills and 14 others.

“I have them in me, I think,” Cole said of Lewis and Stevens in an interview. “I’m going to be standing on their shoulders.”

Cole has longtime ties to city politics. She worked in various council offices since the early 1990s, most recently as an office manager for outgoing District 4 Councilman Tony Young, as well as on city campaigns. Her most recent job, as a coordinator with the local home health care workers union, linked her with the city’s labor movement. The San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council, the region’s union umbrella group, and the local Democratic Party have endorsed her.

She moved to San Diego from Arizona in the 1970s to work as a police officer for the Community College District.

Cole and I sat down earlier this week to talk about the big issues facing the district.

On Healthy, Affordable Groceries and Locally Owned Restaurants

Cole wants to bring a breadth of new food options to the district, such as supermarkets like Ralphs or Vons, and seafood and steak restaurants.

She’s already met with interest groups representing San Diego restaurants and independent grocers and plans to lean on labor for help bringing supermarkets to the district. Mickey Kasparian, who heads the union representing food and commercial workers, told her he would help.

“I’m depending on him as well as other community leaders,” she said.

Cole also plans to work with the area’s newly reformed business improvement district to help train local business owners in sustainable practices.

Her Gaslamp East idea will help attract healthy and diverse food options, she said. Updates to development blueprints, known as community plans, just began in district neighborhoods in and around Encanto and in Mountain View. Cole said she’s spoken with city planners who told her the best location for the kind of mixed-use development she envisions is along a half-mile stretch of Imperial Avenue between 61st and 63rd streets.

On District 4′s Demographics

The district’s Hispanic and Asian populations now outnumber its black population, even though blacks have long held political power.

Cole, who is black, said she plans to hire Asians and Latinos on her staff and have newsletters and other correspondence in Spanish.

“I want my office to reflect the community,” she said.

On the Influence of the Jacobs Center

Cole was non-committal on the $500 million housing and retail development plans of the nonprofit Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation. She said she wanted to share her opinions with the center’s new CEO before she aired them publicly.

She is against building a Walmart in the district. The Jacobs Center has been in negotiations with the company for more than 18 months to anchor part of its development. She said she’d rather break off talks with Walmart and start again with a different company even if it took longer to get something built.

“I’m not a person to settle,” Cole said. “I’d rather have the best for the next 50 years than settle for wages that are almost poverty wages.”

On Public Safety

District 4 suffers from two major public safety problems. The district has a reputation as a crime haven, even though it has had the third-lowest overall crime rate in the past three years. But an outsized share of San Diego’s murders occurs in District 4.

Cole plans to meet with the city’s gang commission and neighborhood leaders to better understand the district’s violent crime challenges.

Many of the problems, she said, spring from a lack of jobs and economic development. She wants to promote job-training programs for ex-felons and make it easier for them to get jobs despite their criminal histories.

Seeing the district as a collection of neighborhoods will also help change perceptions about crime, she said. She thinks installing more community signs throughout the district will help.

Her experience as a police officer would help her understand the Police Department’s needs and prioritize public safety funding in the budget, she said.

Cole’s Achilles’ Heel

Cole used to live in the city’s Redwood Village neighborhood. It’s part of the newly reconfigured District 4, but this election will take place under the old lines. Cole moved into the old District 4 in late December, just beating the residency requirement for the election.

The move is a frequent topic at campaign forums, and Cole struggles to address it. At a forum last week, Cole was asked how long she’s lived in the district. She didn’t answer directly and instead emphasized how long she’s worked in the community.

“This district came to me,” she said.

Her supporters face the same problem. A Cole campaign flier paid for by a labor PAC says she’s, “lived and worked here for more than 20 years.”

Cole admitted the flier could have been phrased more accurately.

Her residency continues to come up, she said, because opponents have nothing better to attack her with.

“There’s nothing else to say about me,” she said.

Get in Touch With Her

Office phone + email: 619-735-4526 + myrtle4citycouncil@gmail.com

Website: myrtle4citycouncil.com

Facebook: Myrtle Cole for City Council

Article source: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/mar/31/san-diego-companys-liver-cancer-drug-reaches-late-/

By Katie Euphrat

Above: San Diego City Council District 4 candidate Myrtle Cole has strong backing from a big group of political leaders, including Mayor Bob Filner and Congressman Juan Vargas. KPBS reporter Claire Trageser caught up with Cole on one of the last weekends before the special election.

Myrtle Cole is in her element. She’s often described as soft spoken, but when surrounded by cheering supporters in her campaign office, Cole comes alive.

“You could have been any place today, any place, but you chose to be here to walk with me and I thank you,” Cole says, pumping her arms and beaming at the group.

The 63-year-old grew up in Arizona and says she moved to San Diego for the weather. She worked her way up to police lieutenant for the San Diego Community College District, then shifted to politics, advising City Councilman John Hartley on community policing, then working for councilmen Charles Lewis and Tony Young.

By Katie Euphrat

A District 4 voter opens her door to greet Myrtle Cole while she campaigns.

Share Your Thoughts on District 4

What issues matter to you in the upcoming election for the San Diego City Council District 4? What questions do you have for the two City Council candidates?

District 4′s special election is tomorrow. Find out where to vote here.

But this is Cole’s first time in the political spotlight. She is running to replace Young in City Council District 4.

On one of the last weekends before the election, Cole walked through neighborhoods of the southeastern San Diego district, knocking on doors and asking for votes. She climbed the steps to one door, and when she knocked, an elderly woman in a bright printed jacket answered.

“Mytle Cole, the candidate for Council District 4,” Cole exclaimed.

Cole touts her support from a variety of political leaders, including Mayor Bob Filner and Congressman Juan Vargas. Vargas came with her as she went door to door.

“She’s been in this community for a long time, I’ve known her for 20 years, and she has a lot of integrity,” he said. “She’s always worked for this community, she’s always worked hard.”

But some of Cole’s support has earned her criticism. She currently works for the union United Domestic Workers and receives heavy financial backing from labor, leaving some concerned her votes would always align with labor if she’s elected.

As Cole sits in her noisy campaign office on Imperial Avenue, she says she’s proud of her job supporting home care providers. And she welcomes her association with labor.

“You know what labor is? It’s working families,” she said. “I am so proud to have the endorsement and support of working families like the home care providers, like nurses, teachers, firefighters, police officers. If that’s special interest, I love it, thank you so very much for that.”

While Cole’s opponent Dwayne Crenshaw took a break from his job during the campaign, Cole continues to work at United Domestic Workers three days a week. This cuts back her time for campaigning.

“I ran out of vacation and all that, so I had to go back because I have to make a living,” Cole said. “I cannot campaign in my car.”

Cole has a diverse work history. When asked what accomplishments she’s most proud of, Cole said, “all of it.”

By Katie Euphrat

Myrtle Cole talks in her campaign office.

“I’ve done quite a bit,” she said. “I have my MBA because I want businesses not only to thrive, but really thrive here in San Diego. So I’ve done a lot that people pointed out that I didn’t realize. But I’m proud of everything that I’ve done.”

Barry Pollard, an also-ran in the District 4 primary, said he and some of the other primary candidates are concerned about Cole’s lack of history in and knowledge about District 4. Cole lived in a neighborhood that was not part of District 4 prior to redistricting, so she had to move in December to qualify as a candidate. Pollard said the group of candidates endorsed Cole’s opponent Crenshaw because they felt he had more experience living and working in the district.

But Cole said she doesn’t care about the endorsement of candidates who lost, and got the primary candidate endorsement she cares about, from pastor Ray Smith.

Now, Cole has big plans for District 4. She wants to bring back neighborhood watch programs, work on filling potholes and attract more grocery stores and sit down restaurants. To make this happen, she plans to work with Civic San Diego on new redevelopment plans.

“We’ve been neglected for far too long, far too long,” she said. “So the money will come. We’ll get the developers to come, we just have to make it easier. Civic San Diego will streamline that process and attract investors. Because the permitting process takes a lot longer in this district for some reason.”

If she wins, Cole hopes her enthusiasm will bring new life to her district. But first, that same enthusiasm has to carry her to tomorrow’s Election Day.

“People want me to win,” she said. “I’ll be the first woman in Council District 4 and the first woman of color on the council floor. This is the century of the woman and I’m so glad to be a woman.”

Her excitement is at least wearing off on the elderly woman in the bright jacket who answers the door when Cole knocks.

“I’m going to look forward to seeing you do well,” the woman says.

“Yes ma’am, yes ma’am, I will,” Cole says.

Article source: http://www.wkrn.com/story/14363478/americas-cup-world-series-to-open-in-portugal

SAN DIEGO, May 20, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The recently completed redesign and renovation of the Hilton San Diego Airport/Harbor Island Hotel is creating buzz and excitement among meeting and event planners. “To ensure an opportunity to ‘test drive’ a meeting at the fabulous new facility, the hotel is offering its ‘HIP’ program (Harbor Island Perks) over select meeting dates in June, September and December of 2013,” said Susan Chung, Director of Sales Marketing. When you book a meeting or event during these months you can choose up to three special complimentary Harbor Island Perks based on the group’s size. Book 10 room nights and receive one Perk; book 20 room nights and receive two Perks; and book 30 or more room nights and receive three Perks.* Planners may select from any of the following Perks:

• Triple Hilton Honor Points for the meeting planner
• One complimentary room night for every 30 paid rooms
• One suite upgrade for every 30 paid rooms
• One complimentary upgrade to an awesome Harbor View Room
• Complimentary internet in the main general session room
• Complimentary LCD support package
• One Harbor Island Welcome Arrival Amenity
• 50% off overnight parking per vehicle
• Complimentary turndown service for overnight guests

The Hilton San Diego Airport/Harbor Island has over 8,000 square feet of flexible meeting space, including the 3,200 square foot Marina Ballroom, and indoor/outdoor venues that take advantage of the picturesque Harbor setting. For group and meeting reservations call: 619-532-5125 or contact Stephanie Tan at: stephanie.tan@hilton.com.

The Hilton San Diego Airport/Harbor Island

The 211 guestroom Hilton San Diego Airport/Harbor Island’s multi-million dollar renovation has created a resort style atmosphere at this picturesque hotel. Guests are welcomed into a new lobby, redesigned public spaces and the spectacular new Sierra Pacific Restaurant/Lounge. The completion of this latest phase of the renovation complements the recent redesign of all guestrooms that included new granite top desks, dressers, safes, flat screen HD TVs, and new balconies overlooking the Bay or Marina. Guests will enjoy the new and welcoming lobby that incorporates Hilton’s user friendly check-in pods complemented by modern decorative tiling, lighting and wall treatments, and relax in the newly redesigned lounge where club-style seating is arranged around a fireplace. Together all of these elements create a fresh and inviting environment. Additional upgrades to the hotel include the 24-hour Business Center with its private work stations, a new standard in Hilton’s “Stay Connected” program that provides complimentary wireless high-speed internet access via ATT. The property is pet friendly and parking is available on site for a fee.

Dining is a delight in the Sierra Pacific Restaurant/Lounge with its comfort seating, fresh decor and contemporary buffet station featuring The Breakfast at Hilton Buffet(R), a healthy selection of hot and cold foods. In addition, the Sierra Pacific Restaurant serves California style fare throughout the day and evening. Additional enhancements to the hotel include a new pool patio with new furnishings, and upgraded carpeting and lighting.

This beautiful and upscale hotel is ideally situated five minutes from San Diego International Airport in the Harbor Island community and offers complimentary airport shuttle service. The hotel is only three miles from the San Diego Convention Center and in close proximity to area attractions including: the cruise ship terminal, Balboa Park, the Gaslamp Quarter, Legoland, SeaWorld, San Diego Zoo, the USS Midway, Seaport Village Shopping Center, the PETCO Park Padres Games, as well as downtown San Diego.

The Hilton San Diego Airport/Harbor Island is located at 1960 Harbor Island Drive, San Diego, California, 92101. For more information and reservations: www.sandiegoairport.hilton.com or call: 1-619-291-6700.

Article source: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/11_15/b4223078651500.htm?campaign_id=rss_topStories