Campfire’s octopus, chorizo, and celery-root entrée.
Gage Forster
San Diego, CA
Opinion: San Diego Needs to Protect Civil Society and Shared Values in Challenging Times
At Prebys Foundation, we believe in the power of community. That’s why we developed our strategic plan in deep collaboration with nonprofit leaders across San Diego County. What we heard from them was exciting.
They wanted our region to lean into its many strengths — as a border community rich in human and biological diversity, as a leader in medical research and healthcare, as a dynamic center of arts and culture, and as a proud military town that had also become a globally relevant center of innovation and entrepreneurship. Most of all, they hoped we would help this region become a place of purpose, opportunity, and belonging for everyone who calls it home.
And yet, as we move into 2025, we find our community facing a new and sobering set of challenges: federal restrictions on speech about equity and climate, freezes on long-awaited grant awards, intimidating attacks on nonprofits, restrictions and rollbacks to research and science, on-again-off-again contracts, the vilification of our fellow human beings, and real or threatened cuts to critical programs that help impoverished families, struggling students, dedicated veterans, Americans vulnerable to discrimination, established refugee and immigrant communities, and even emerging scientists.
To put it mildly, this moment is disorienting. As the boxer Mike Tyson famously said, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” Seeing so many important organizations, programs, enterprises, and communities — not to mention vulnerable populations — taking so many blows has caused many of us to pause, reflect, and reaffirm our values.
For us in our work, those values are clear. We still believe in belonging and the idea of a San Diego that leans into its world-leading strengths by also embracing the talents, gifts, interests, and many faces of excellence of our diverse and vibrant community.
Unfortunately, values alone don’t keep the lights on. They don’t usher in the next breakthrough in cancer research or deliver meals to shut-ins or ensure that children have enough to eat or craft a work of art that might save a life or inspire a future leader. As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wisely noted, “a budget is a moral document.”
The choices we make in funding — what we support and what we cut — reflect our true priorities as a society and who we are as a people. How we make those cuts—through democratic governance, open dialogue, and transparency — matters just as much.
To be clear, I don’t agree with those who see no room for legitimate disagreement about government spending, social policy, immigration, or even diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. Americans do have divergent views on our best path forward, and there’s value in open debate. But when these concerns metastasize into incivility, coercion, and erasure, something is profoundly wrong, and the push-and pull of democratic dialogue becomes impossible. It’s no wonder that the majority of nonprofit leaders in America, including large numbers in San Diego, report feeling deeply dispirited.
We share their concern. Cuts to Medicaid and other lifelines that keep families healthy and stable will make Americans less healthy, our communities more stressed, and the healthcare providers we ultimately all depend on weaker. Similarly, slashing funding for medical research will slow down and eliminate new cures and new treatments that over time would touch every American family. Pretending that variables like race, gender, culture, and even language have no bearing on medicine, how patients are treated, the illnesses they suffer, or how they respond — despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary — will result in worse care for every single one of us.
In San Diego, the stakes are personal for another reason. Medical research and life sciences are areas where America leads the world, and San Diego and California lead America. Why would anyone want to undermine that leadership and with it one of our most important economic drivers?
Like so many places in America, much of what defines our community are the qualities of grace so easily forgotten and sacrificed in moments like this. Our rich arts and culture scene — from traditional organizations to individual artists — is shaped by the beautiful mix of cultures, peoples, and perspectives that come together in this special corner of America. The arts certainly enrich our lives here, but they also fuel our economy, feed our creativity and innovation, and foster civic dialogue in a time when we need it most. Do they also speak truth to power and sometimes offend the mighty? Sure, and that, too, is an essential part of their value in a vibrant community and a free society.
Much more could be said about this — about our young people and the opportunities they seek, their thirst for nature and art and meaning; about all the people in our midst feeling targeted by hatred, racism, and antisemitism simply because of who they are, worried about holding onto rights and freedoms they hoped were secure; about the importance of the environment to a region sitting between the desert and the ocean. The point is not to list everything that feels vulnerable now, but to underscore why this moment deserves the courageous care and exquisite attention of everyone in a position to offer it.
For our part, we are painfully aware that philanthropy cannot fill the gaps being left by federal disinvestment in our community and its nonprofit institutions. We will not pretend otherwise. We know that moral leadership is defined by two moments — when you have power, and when you don’t. No matter how dispirited leaders in our sector may feel right now, we must remember that neither situation is ever fully a given.
Alexis de Tocqueville had it right when he described this country’s civil society as a uniquely precious asset — the goodness at the heart of its greatness. He acknowledged the messiness of what were then called associations, but he asked: “What political power could ever substitute for the countless small enterprises which American citizens carry out daily with the help of associations?” His answer, perhaps even truer today: None.
A country is not a boxing match, and our civil society, along with the values of mutuality, justice, and shared interest it enshrines, should be no one’s punching bag. It is, in fact, the cure to so much of what ails us.
We remain committed to that vision. We fund work that builds a dynamic, equitable, inclusive, and healthy future for San Diego, and we will continue to do so. We will also continue to collaborate with our coalition of the willing — nonprofit and civic leaders, fellow funders, and anyone determined to strengthen our community by making it better for all of us.
Most of all, what we can and will do in this moment is stand alongside our extraordinary community as it navigates this challenging time, and we will work with it to push for the resources, freedom, support, and decency that allow it to play so valuable and distinctive a role in American society.
Grant Oliphant is CEO of the Prebys Foundation, a major independent foundation working to create an inclusive, equitable, and dynamic future for people across San Diego County. The foundation invests in excellence and opportunity across the arts and culture, medical research, health and well-being, and youth success.
San Diego, CA
Solans, Luna, Guilavogui help RSL beat slumping San Diego, extend unbeaten streak to 6 games :: WRALSportsFan.com
SANDY, Utah — SANDY, Utah (AP) — Sergi Solans had two goals and an assist, Diego Luna added a goal and two assists, and Real Salt Lake beat San Diego FC 4-2 on Saturday night to extend its unbeaten streak to six games.
Morgan Guilavogui scored his first goal in MLS and had an assist for Real Salt Lake (5-1-1). The 28-year-old designated player has five goal contributions in his first six career games.
RSL hasn’t lost since a 1-0 defeat at Vancouver in the season opener.
San Diego (3-3-2) has lost three in a row and is winless in five straight.
Luna opened the scoring in the fifth minute when he re-directed a misplayed pass by Duran Ferree, San Diego’s 19-year-old goalkeeper, into the net.
Moments later, Solans headed home a perfectly-placed cross played by Luna from outside the right corner of the 18-yard box to the back post to make it 2-0. Solans, a 23-year-old forward, flicked a header from the center of the area inside the right post and past the outstretched arm of Ferree to make it 3-1 in the 37th minute.
Guilavogui slammed home a first-touch shot to give RSL a three-goal lead in the 45th.
Marcus Ingvartsen scored a goal in the 14th minute and Anders Dreyer converted from the penalty spot in the 66th for San Diego.
Ingvartsen has five goals and an assist this season and has 10 goal contributions (seven goals, three assists) in 16 career MLS appearances.
Rafael Cabral had three saves for RSL.
Ferree finished with five saves.
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/soccer
When John Resnick opened Campfire on a quaint little street in Carlsbad, Calif., in 2016, some locals weren’t sure what to think. The coastal enclave wasn’t exactly awash in innovative, chef-driven establishments, so it was a shock to see the dining room consistently full. Early on, one woman wondered aloud to Resnick, “Where did all these people come from?”
It’s a moment he remembers vividly. “I was struck by her statement, because I think she was surprised that so many other people in Carlsbad were there,” Resnick says.
The rest of the culinary world would take some time to catch up to what was happening. In 2019, when Michelin expanded to rate restaurants throughout all of California—not just the San Francisco area—Addison was the only one in San Diego to earn a star. But since emerging from the pandemic, the region’s food scene has grown dramatically. Driven by outstanding farms, ingredients, a bumper crop of talented chefs, and a G.D.P. approximately the size of New Zealand or Greece, San Diego County has become one of America’s most underrated dining destinations.
Perhaps no single restaurant is a better emblem for this shift than chef William Bradley’s Addison, which opened in 2006. After landing his first star, Bradley knew he wanted more. To get them, he transformed his French-leaning fare to serve what he calls California Gastronomy, which combines the cultures of SoCal with impeccable ingredients and wildly impressive techniques, prizing flavor over flair. Michelin responded, awarding Addison a second star in 2022, and making it the first Southern California three-star restaurant just a year later. The accolade has created a halo effect, attracting culinary tourists from around the world.
Berry beet tartlets at San Diego’s three-star stalwart Addison.
Eric Wolfinger
“Earning three stars forces the global dining community to pay attention to a place that may not have been on their radar before,” says chef Eric Bost, a partner in Resnick’s four Carlsbad establishments.
Resnick recruited Bost, who spent time at award-winning outposts of Restaurant Guy Savoy, to run Jeune et Jolie, which he led to a star in 2021. They’ve since taken over an old boogie-board factory down the street and converted it to an all-day restaurant and bakery, Wildland. The space also hosts an exquisite tasting-counter experience called Lilo, which was given a Michelin star mere months after opening in April 2025. And as Resnick and Bost grew their successful Carlsbad operation, chef Roberto Alcocer earned a Michelin star for his Mexican fine-dining spot Valle in nearby Oceanside.
The stylish tasting counter at Michelin one-star Lilo in Carlsbad.
Kimberly Motos
About 25 miles to the south, another affluent coastal community is going through its own culinary glow up. In La Jolla, chef Tara Monsod and the hospitality group Puffer Malarkey Collective opened the stylish French steakhouse Le Coq. Chef Erik Anderson, formerly of Michelin two-star Coi, is preparing to launch Roseacre. And last year, Per Se alums Elijah Arizmendi and Brian Hung left New York to open the elegant tasting-menu restaurant Lucien, lured by the ingredients they’d get to serve. “A major reason we chose San Diego is the quality and diversity of the produce,” Arizmendi explains. “San Diego County has more small farms than anywhere else in the U.S., and its many microclimates allow farmers to grow an incredible range of ingredients year-round.”
Wildland’s spicy Italian sandwich.
Gage Forster
Chef Travis Swikard has also been a tireless advocate for the region’s ingredients since he returned to San Diego, his hometown, and opened Mediterranean-influenced Callie in 2021. There’s no sophomore slump with his latest effort, the French Riviera–inspired Fleurette in La Jolla, where he’s serving his take on classics like leeks vinaigrette and his San Diego “Bouillabaisse” with local red sheepshead fish and spiny lobster. Its food is bright, produce-driven, and attentive in execution, while the dining room maintains a relaxed and unpretentious style of service. And Swikard sees that approach cohering into a regional style with a strong network of professionals behind it.
“It’s really nice that we are developing our own identity, not trying to be like L.A. or any other market, just highlighting what’s great about the San Diego lifestyle and ingredients,” he says. “Similar to New York, a chef community is starting to develop where chefs are supporting each other. There is a true sense of pride to be cooking here.”
Top: In La Jolla, Lucien serves ocean whitefish with tomatoes turned into concasse, sabayon, and other expressions.
Authors
Little Debbie is officially expanding its doughnut range.
On April 14, the brand announced a new sweet snack: Chocolate Old Fashioned Donuts. The company says there was “massive consumer demand” for the original Big Pack Old Fashioned Donuts, which quickly became a top seller. Now, they’re just giving the people what they want.
The new snack is a chocolate old-fashioned cake doughnut finished with a sweet glaze and is launching in two formats:
- The Big Pack Carton: This box contains six doughnuts in a retro-inspired package that reflects the brand’s heritage.
- Single-serve doughnuts: There are also 3-ounce, individually wrapped Chocolate Old Fashioned Donuts, which the brand suggests pairing with a morning coffee or eating on a midday break.
The original, which includes six individually wrapped cake-style doughnuts with a vanilla glaze, first hit stores in June 2025 and, according to the brand, has been “consistently selling out.”
“We saw an incredible response to the Old Fashioned Donut we introduced last year,” said Scott Brownlow, Little Debbie’s brand manager, in a press release. We’re doubling down on what works and giving both loyalists and new fans an irresistible reason to head back to the store.”
Little Debbie’s Chocolate Old Fashioned Donuts are rolling out now to major retailers, grocery stores and convenience stores nationwide. As with the original Old Fashioned Donut, they become a permanent addition to the brand’s snack lineup.
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