Connect with us

San Diego, CA

Morning Report: Chavez, the Business Candidate

Published

on

Morning Report: Chavez, the Business Candidate


In our final installment of Q&A’s with candidates in the special election for Board of Supervisors, our Jim Hinch speaks to Carolina Chavez, a Chula Vista City Councilmember. 

Chavez was born in Tijuana in the early 1980s and grew up on both sides of the border. She started her career as a reporter, but then went on to work as an economic development liaison for several Baja California mayors. 

Chavez has also served on the board of directors for the San Diego Chamber of Commerce and emphasized her ability to bring businesses — and “good actors” — to the table in her interview with Hinch. Chavez also said she valued input from community members. 

When asked why she was running for supervisor, Chavez said she understood San Diego’s binational identity better than any other candidate — and would work to center that worldview in her policymaking. 

Advertisement

She also spoke on San Diego’s “super sanctuary” policy, homelessness, housing and the meaning of political parties in 2025.

Read the full Q&A here. 

Federal Public Health Grant Cuts Hit San Diego County

San Diego County learned last week that the Trump administration will likely pull back $40 million in public health grant funding.

The three impacted grants support more than 90 county positions in County Public Health Services focused on disease prevention and lab duties. They also fund $8.4 million in county-contracted work on vaccines, wastewater testing, rapid response epidemiology testing and more. Some of the grant dollars have also backed a new county public health lab that’s set to open in May and a mobile public health lab.

County Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer assailed the cuts in a Thursday press release.

Advertisement

“We’re not talking about theoretical grants. We’re talking about the people who track outbreaks, test water after sewage spills, and sound the alarm when something’s wrong,” Lawson-Remer wrote in a statement. “This is how we protect lives.”

Lawson-Remer’s office said the county may now be “unable to equip or staff” the public health lab as planned. She also warned that vaccinations in homeless shelters, an updated county public health data system and the jobs of frontline disease investigators are also now at risk.

The supervisor said that the county is “currently assessing options to preserve core public health functions despite the sudden loss of federal funding.”

California is among the states that sued the Trump administration earlier this week to try to save some of the grant funds.

About the City’s Shuttered Motel Shelter

The Pacific Inn Hotel & Suites in downtown San Diego on March 20, 2025. / Ariana Drehsler for Voice of San Diego

Last week, our Lisa Halverstadt revealed that the city is on the hook for $77,000 in monthly rent through June for a now-former motel shelter downtown. The city opted to close the shelter for homeless seniors due to costly building issues which led us to wonder: Has the city tried getting out of rent payments since it’s no longer using the property?

Advertisement

Here’s all city spokesperson Matt Hoffman would say on the matter: “The city is actively working with the property owner on this transition.”

The city’s lease provides a process to forgo rent payments when all or part of the motel building needs major repairs, but Hoffman wouldn’t clarify if the city has tried to take advantage of it.

Hotel Investment Group CEO Darshan Patel, whose company portfolio includes the Little Italy motel and who signed the 2022 city lease, didn’t respond to questions from Voice this week.

A few readers noted that Patel’s company listed the Pacific Highway property as a redevelopment opportunity last July. Per the LoopNet posting, “preliminary plans call for a 24-story, 234-unit luxury apartment tower.”

In an email to Voice of San Diego last Friday, Patel acknowledged his company listed the property for sale with a year left on the city’s lease but noted that “redevelopment properties of this sort are in escrow for years before the transaction closes.”

Advertisement

At the time of the listing, Patel wrote, a possible city lease extension was still on the table, but the city decided against moving forward. As of last Friday, Patel wrote that he wasn’t aware of “what areas of the building the city is or is not utilizing” that might set the stage for reduced rent and defended the building he’s been renting to the city.

“It is an older building so maintenance issues are to be expected; however, we do not believe there to be any issues with this building that are greater than those of similar size and age,” Patel said.

In Other News

The Morning Report was written by Will Huntsberry and Lisa Halverstadt. It was edited by Andrea Lopez-Villafaña.



Source link

Advertisement

San Diego, CA

Game 21: San Diego Padres at Los Angeles Angels

Published

on

Game 21: San Diego Padres at Los Angeles Angels


San Diego Padres (14-7) at Los Angeles Angels (11-11), April 19, 2026, 1:07 p.m. PST

Watch: Padres.TV

Location: Angel Stadium – Anaheim, Calif.

Listen: 97.3 The Fan

Advertisement



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

San Diego, CA

Solans, Luna, Guilavogui help RSL beat slumping San Diego, extend unbeaten streak to 6 games :: WRALSportsFan.com

Published

on

Solans, Luna, Guilavogui help RSL beat slumping San Diego, extend unbeaten streak to 6 games :: WRALSportsFan.com


— 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.

Advertisement

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.

Advertisement

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

Advertisement



Source link

Continue Reading

San Diego, CA

How San Diego Has Quietly Emerged as One of America’s Great Dining Destinations

Published

on

How San Diego Has Quietly Emerged as One of America’s Great Dining Destinations


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.

Campfire’s octopus, chorizo, and celery-root entrée.

Advertisement

Gage Forster

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.

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. 

Advertisement

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.

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.

Wildland’s spicy Italian sandwich.

Advertisement

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.





Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending