San Diego, CA
Encinitas Rotary Club highlights past year’s accomplishments at ‘changing of the guard’ meeting
At a recent Encinitas “Animal House” Rotary Club “changing of the guard” meeting, outgoing president Dr. Kent Pollock recapped the highlights of the past year, according to a news release. In trying to name his personal favorite, Pollock said in the news release, “It’s really hard to choose the accomplishment that stood out. I fully enjoyed all of it. Bikes to orphanages in Mexico, raising money for Ronald McDonald House, and all of the community service that we did almost weekly. Working together with other community service groups like Community Resource Center Encinitas and the Rancho Coastal Humane Society. Building positive relationships with so many service-oriented people and working together to make our town and world a better place. My experience in Rotary, and particularly as president, has been life changing.”
Pollock, an Encinitas resident, is also a chiropractor and owner of North County Chiropractic on 2nd Street in Encinitas.
Courtesy of Josie Colvin
President-elect Mark Berning hands the Rotary Bell to incoming 2024-2025 Encinitas Rotary Club president Daphne Fletcher.
The club proceeded to “demote” Pollock, who, along with Mark Berning, the new president-elect, passed the “Liberty Bell” to incoming club president Daphne Fletcher. Encinitas Rotary’s 85th president, and fifth woman president, Fletcher is the CEO of Ledge Media and HPN Books, which publishes history books all over the country, including “Encinitas: Our History and People and Tribute to San Diego County Fire Departments.”
In 2022, while serving as the club’s International Board Chair, Fletcher spearheaded the largest fundraiser in the club’s history: a Rotary International Global Grant that raised $250,000 for maternal health care in Uganda and was a joint effort between more than 15 Rotary Club chapters worldwide. Fletcher was inspired to organize the fundraiser after hearing the story of one of the club’s guest speakers, Jolly Okot, a Nobel Peace nominee who works to educate and empower women in Northern Uganda after surviving the civil war. That same year, Fletcher also headed up a fundraiser that raised nearly $50,000 towards humanitarian efforts for those impacted by the conflict in Ukraine. For these initiatives, Fletcher was honored with the Encinitas Rotary Club’s Humanitarian Service Award.
President-elect Mark Berning, who is also on the board of directors of the San Dieguito Heritage Ranch Museum, is the founder and organizer of the Heritage Ranch Haunted Ghost Town, a big annual fundraiser, was awarded the Encinitas Rotary Club Rotarian of the Year a few years ago for his community service efforts.
Courtesy of Josie Colvin
Outgoing Encinitas “Animal House” Rotary Club President Dr. Kent Pollock receives a ceremonial gavel plaque at the “demotion” party.
Rotarian Paul Dwork was also recognized for his key role in organizing Merlin’s Magic this past year. The local event, hosted by Dwork AKA Merlin the Magician, features renowned magicians from across the U.S. who regularly perform at Los Angeles’ Magic Castle and other major venues. As with its inaugural show in 2023, which attracted more than 400 attendees and raised over $20,000 for charity and scholarships, this year’s event sold out, prompting discussion about adding a matinee show next year.
Rotary International celebrates its 120th anniversary in February 2025. The Encinitas Rotary Club, founded in 1939, fosters lifelong friendships and drives social impact through numerous local, regional, and international causes. Local efforts include an annual Encinitas Wine Festival that raises nearly $100,000 each year for area charities, a program called Home Team that aids seniors with household repairs, and the preservation of historic landmarks and environmental cleanups, such as those held at Cottonwood Creek and area beaches, and $10,000 towards student scholarships at SDA.
Regionally, the Encinitas Rotary builds a house in Mexico every year through Project Mercy, and internationally, in addition to the Uganda and Ukraine projects mentioned above, $10,000 was raised to light up via solar panels an entire village in El Nido, Philippines, to help school children study at night.
The Encinitas Rotary Club holds meetings every Wednesday at noon at the Encinitas Elks Lodge, 1393 Windsor Road. The club invites newcomers to enjoy a delicious buffet-style lunch, inspiring guest speakers, and camaraderie. Learn more at EncinitasRotary.org. –-Encinitas Rotary news release
Originally Published:
San Diego, CA
Military bases in San Diego County increase security following Iran attacks
SAN DIEGO (CNS) – Military bases in San Diego County and nationwide have increased security measures due to last weekend’s U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran, prompting traffic delays near base entrances, enhanced ID checks and access restrictions.
The Naval Air Station North Island on Coronado ports three aircraft carriers, including the San Diego-based USS Abraham Lincoln, which led some of the first-wave attacks on Saturday.
Naval Base Coronado warned motorists of possible traffic delays at all base entry points due to the increased security measures.
Targets included Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps command and control facilities, Iranian air defense capabilities, missile and drone launch sites and military airfields.
The U.S. operation, dubbed “Epic Fury,” and Israeli operation, “Raging Lion,” began striking targets at 1:15 a.m. Eastern Time Saturday.
As of Tuesday, at least six U.S. service members had been killed in action.
The strikes also killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Hosseini Khamenei, who had been Iran’s supreme leader since 1989, making him the longest-serving head of state in the Middle East.
Iran’s offensive forces claimed to have struck USS Abraham Lincoln with ballistic missiles, but according to an X post from U.S central Command, “The Lincoln was not hit. The missiles launched didn’t even come close. The Lincoln continues to launch aircraft in support of CENTCOM’s relentless campaign to defend the American people by eliminating threats from the Iranian regime.”
Those with concerns regarding the heightened security can contact San Diego County’s Office of Emergency Services at 858-565-3490 or oes@sdcounty.ca.gov.
Copyright 2026, City News Service, Inc.
San Diego, CA
SD Unified moves forward with layoffs of classified employees
SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Less than 3 weeks after the San Diego Unified School District finalized a new contract with teachers, the school board voted unanimously on Tuesday to move forward with layoff notices for other district employees.
The layoffs affect classified employees — workers who are employed by the district but are not teachers and are not certified. That includes bus drivers, custodians, special education and teacher aides, and cafeteria workers.
The district says it is eliminating 221 positions — 133 that are currently filled and 88 that are vacant — to save $19 million and help address a projected $47 million deficit for the next fiscal year.
Preliminary layoff notices will go out on March 15, with final notices by May 15.
The district estimates about 200 classified employees will receive preliminary notices, but of them, about 70 are expected to lose their jobs based on union-negotiated bumping rules.
Bumping allows employees with more seniority to move into another position in the same classification, thereby “bumping” a less senior employee out of that role.
Lupe Murray, an early childhood special education parafacilitator with the district, said the news came as a shock after the teacher strike was called off.
“When the strike was called off, I’m like, ‘Yes!’ So then when I got the email from the Superintendent, I’m like, ‘Wait, what?’ So, I think everyone was shocked,” Murray said.
The district says it sends out annual layoff notices, as all districts in the state do.
Before Tuesday’s board meeting, classified employees rallied outside, made up of CSEA (California School Employees Association) Chapters OTBS 788, Paraeducators 759, and OSS 724. They were joined by parents, students, and the San Diego & Imperial Counties Labor Council, AFL-CIO.
Miguel Arellano, a paraeducator independence facilitator with San Diego Unified and a representative of San Diego Paraeducators Cahpter 759.
“What do we want? No layoffs! When do we want it? Now!” the crowd chanted.
Arellano said he felt compelled to act when he learned about the potential layoffs.
“The first thing that went through my mind was that I need to speak up. I need to protect these people,” Arellano said.
Inside the meeting, the board heard emotional, at times tearful testimony from classified employees before voting unanimously to move forward with the layoff schedule.
Superintendent Fabi Bagula said the district has tried to protect classrooms from the cuts.
“We have tried our best to only, I mean, to not touch the school. Or the classroom. But now it’s at the point where it’s getting a little bit harder,” Bagula said. “What I’m still hoping, or what I’m still working toward, because we’re still in negotiations, is that we’re able to actually come to a win-win, where there’s positions and availability and maybe even promotions for folks that are impacted.”
Arellano warned the layoffs could have a direct impact on students.
“We are already spread thin, so, with more of a case load, it’s going to be impossible to be able to service all the students that we need to have,” Arellano said.
Follow ABC 10News Anchor Max Goldwasser on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
San Diego, CA
Scripps Oceanography granted $15M for deep sea, glacier science
The Fund for Science and Technology, a new private foundation, granted Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego $15 million for ocean science Tuesday.
FFST, funded by the estate of the late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, was started in 2025 with a commitment to invest at least $500 million over four years to “propel transformative science and technology for people and the planet.”
“Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego is pushing boundaries for exploration and discovery across the global ocean,” Chancellor Pradeep Khosla said. “This visionary support from the Fund for Science and Technology will enable Scripps researchers to advance our understanding of our planet, which has meaningful implications for communities around the world.”
The grant, the largest of its kind since Scripps joined UCSD in 1960, will go toward research in three areas: monitoring of environmental DNA and other biomolecules in marine ecosystems, adding to the Argo network of ocean observing robots, and enhancing the study of ocean conditions beneath Antarctica’s Thwaites Glacier, often referred to as the “Doomsday Glacier.”
Scripps Institution of Oceanography has used Argo floats for more than two decades to track climate impacts in our oceans. NBC 7 meteorologist Greg Bledsoe reports.
“The Fund for Science and Technology was created to support transformational science in the search of answers to some of the planet’s most complex questions,” said Dr. Lynda Stuart, president and CEO at the fund. “Scripps has a long tradition of leadership at the frontiers of ocean and climate science, and this work builds on that legacy — strengthening the tools and insights needed to understand our environment at a truly global and unprecedented scale.”
Scripps Director Emeritus Margaret Leinen will use a portion of the grant in her analysis of eDNA — free-floating fragments of DNA shed by organisms into the environment — in understudied parts of the ocean to collect crucial baseline data on marine organisms, according to a statement from Scripps.
“In many regions, we know very little about the microbial communities that form the base of the ocean food web or that make deep sea ecosystems so unique,” Leinen said. “Without data, we can’t predict how these communities are going to respond to climate change or what the consequences might be. That’s a vulnerability — and this funding will help us begin to address it.”
Using autonomous samplers that can collect ocean water for eDNA analysis, as well as conventional sampling, scientists will use tools to “reveal the biology of the open ocean and polar regions.”
According to Scripps, the international Argo program has more than 4,000 floats that drift with currents and periodically dive to measure temperature, salinity and pressure. Standard floats can record data up to depths of 2,000 meters (6,560 feet), while newer Deep Argo floats can dive to 6,000 meters (19,685 feet).
The grant funding announced Tuesday will allow for Scripps to deploy around 50 Deep Argo floats along with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and NOAA’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory.
Sarah Purkey, physical oceanographer at Scripps and Argo lead, said this leap forward in deep ocean monitoring comes at a crucial time because the deep sea has warmed faster than expected over the last two decades.
Thwaites Glacier is Antarctica’s largest collapsing glacier and contains enough ice to raise global sea level by roughly two feet if it were to collapse entirely. According to Scripps, prior expeditions led by scientist Jamin Greenbaum discovered anomalously warm water beneath the glacier’s ice shelf — contributing to melting from below. Greenbaum now seeks to collect water samples and other measurements from beneath Thwaites’ ice tongue to disentangle the drivers of its rapid melting.
This season’s Antarctic fieldwork will “test hypotheses about the drivers of Thwaites’ rapid melt with implications for sea-level rise projections,” the statement from Scripps said.
“The ocean holds answers to some of the most pressing questions about our planet’s future, but only if we can observe it,” said Meenakshi Wadhwa, director of Scripps Institution of Oceanography and vice chancellor for marine sciences at UCSD. “This historic grant will help ocean scientists bring new tools and approaches to parts of the ocean we’ve barely begun to explore.”
-
World7 days agoExclusive: DeepSeek withholds latest AI model from US chipmakers including Nvidia, sources say
-
Massachusetts1 week agoMother and daughter injured in Taunton house explosion
-
Wisconsin3 days agoSetting sail on iceboats across a frozen lake in Wisconsin
-
Denver, CO1 week ago10 acres charred, 5 injured in Thornton grass fire, evacuation orders lifted
-
Maryland4 days agoAM showers Sunday in Maryland
-
Louisiana1 week agoWildfire near Gum Swamp Road in Livingston Parish now under control; more than 200 acres burned
-
Florida4 days agoFlorida man rescued after being stuck in shoulder-deep mud for days
-
Oregon5 days ago2026 OSAA Oregon Wrestling State Championship Results And Brackets – FloWrestling
