San Diego, CA
San Diego City Council passes resolution supporting striking hotel workers
In a largely symbolic move, the San Diego City Council on Tuesday threw their overwhelming support behind the more than 700 hotel workers on strike at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront.
In a 7-0 vote, they approved a resolution that calls for a “fair and just” conclusion of the dispute that has embroiled the workers and the Hilton San Diego Bayfront hotel since Aug. 31, when the last contract expired.
The resolution accords no funds or resources to support the workers or their cause. But it sends a message of solidarity with workers as the strike pushes into its third week.
One by one, every council member present spoke about fairness and the courage it takes to strike. They lamented the long distances some workers have to commute to their jobs at San Diego hotels and they said it’s tough to need work two jobs to make ends meet.
Roughly 700 unionized hotel workers are striking at the 1,190-room Gaslamp Quarter hotel in a bid for higher wages, staffing increases, improved protections from harassment and reduced workloads. The union has said that efforts to reach an agreement with the hotel started in July and didn’t succeed in time for the contract expiration.
“We will continue to strike until we get a FAIR contract,” a Facebook page of the union states.
Hilton did not provide a statement on Tuesday. Before the strikes began, Hilton had said it was “committed to negotiating in good faith to reach fair and reasonable agreements.”
At Tuesday’s council meeting, hotel worker Rosa Carillo said in Spanish that San Diego is in an “economic crisis” because of high rents. “We are not living. We are surviving,” she continued. She said workers should only require one job to get by. If hotel workers are stretched thin working multiple jobs, they can’t spend time with their children or properly tend to them. “We are very worried,” she said.
In two public notices, the union has said it wants raises that would bring “wages in line with our cost of living in San Diego.”
The union has juxtaposed “record high” hotel profits against lagging worker wages. Data from CoStar, a real estate data and analytics company, shows that both profit and labor costs were up in 2023 compared to 2022 nationwide.
Beyond voicing support in council chambers, the resolution ratifies what city council members have been saying throughout the strike. Lee joined strikers last week. On Monday, the strike’s 16th day, Joe La Cava posted a selfie with workers, with the hashtag #onejobshouldbeenough. Council President Sean Elo-Rivera and council members Stephen Whitburn, Raul Campillo, Henry Foster III, Marni von Wilpert and Vivian Moreno have each marched with workers, sent staff or sent messages of support in the strike’s first days.
In public comment at the meeting, Bridget Browning, the union’s local president, said she and the striking workers were moved and inspired by the council’s support.
“When I started in 1997, literally the only city council person who cared about us was Juan Vargas from District 8,” she said. “The rest only cared about TOT,” or the Transient Occupancy Tax, a city tax collected by tourism lodging properties.
Tuesday’s vote, with seven of nine council members in favor and two absent, reflects the current council’s stance on labor.
“I’m certainly proud to not only be joining this resolution, but to simply recognize that we are living in a pro-labor city and that we are here to stand with our workers,” said Councilmember Kent Lee, who represents District 6.
Von Wilpert she hopes the hotel will deliver a “win-win.”
“We support our hotels,” she said. “We think they’re wonderful, and we think the workers who work there are wonderful and there can be a win-win situation here if hotel management can come back to the negotiating table and do what’s right for our workers.”
No talks were scheduled as of late Tuesday.
San Diego City Council’s resolution is not unique. In July, Minneapolis’s City Council support striking workers with a resolution. Los Angeles City Council did the same last year, compelling Hollywood studios to negotiate with striking writers.
Staff writer Lori Weisberg contributed to this report.
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San Diego, CA
Former Mariners manager Scott Servais joining Padres’ player development
The Padres are again bringing another former manager into the organization.
This time, it’s Scott Servais coming aboard as a special assistant in player development, the Union-Tribune confirmed.
The Athletic first reported the addition of Servais, who was fired by the Seattle Mariners in August amid a disappointing 64-64 start to the season.
Servais was 680-642 over nine seasons in Seattle, winning as many as 90 games twice. But the 57-year-old Servais had just one postseason appearance in Seattle and was let go after the Mariners lost the AL West lead while falling from as high as 13 games over .500.
Mike Shildt was coming off quite a bit more success in St. Louis, but he too landed in San Diego after his surprising firing, initially as a consultant before the 2022 season.
Shildt, who ultimately replaced manager Bob Melvin after the 2023 season and has been extended through 2027, had no prior experience in San Diego or with President of Baseball Operations A.J. Preller.
That’s not the case with Servais, who was part of the managerial candidate pool before Andy Green was hired ahead of the 2016 season and was the Texas Rangers’ senior director of player personnel while Preller was in that front office.
A former major league catcher of 11 seasons, Servais also worked with Ryley Westman and Mike Daly, the Padres’ farm director and assistant farm director, respectively, while in Texas.
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San Diego, CA
La Jolla Country Day student scores with his hockey puck passing machine
Since he was 4 years old, La Jolla Country Day School seventh-grader Oliver Cottrell loved practicing hockey and watching Pittsburgh Penguins games with his father in his free time. The only problem? His practices didn’t always align with his friends’ schedules.
Oliver developed a solution in the form of an automated hockey puck passer as part of Country Day’s after-school program and competed in the Greater San Diego Science & Engineering Fair. In the past year, his creation garnered him local recognition and a spot in a national competition.
The machine, fueled by Python programming and Raspberry Pi, a single-board computer, captures several photos of the player and recognizes a ball sensor on the player’s helmet. Once the target is identified, the wheels start spinning, shooting pucks toward the player.
Oliver settled on his idea in September 2023, ahead of the January deadline for the 2024 San Diego science fair.
At that event last March, Oliver, a sixth-grader at the time, won the Grand Award in physical sciences. Not long after, he finished second in the California Science and Engineering Fair.
From there, he got national recognition as one of 30 finalists invited to the Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge in October in Washington, D.C. The finalists were selected from among nearly 2,000 applicants, with award winners chosen by a panel of scientists, engineers and educators.
Oliver said he loved his experience in the nation’s capital, where his invention won first place and $3,500 in the engineering category.
Over the week-long competition, Oliver met students from across the nation who shared his love for science and engineering and participated in group activities.
His busy schedule required a strong school/life balance. While that presented a challenge at first, Oliver eventually found a groove.
“After I got the hang of it, it sort of became easy to do,” he said. “So I could find different timeframes on when I can work on the science fair and when I could work on schoolwork.”
Oliver’s father, David, saw his son’s project grow as he spent nights and weekends working out the details.
“I was really proud of the amount of work he put in, because it was pretty much every day,” David Cottrell said. “[Oliver] said along the way something like ‘I feel like I have a job.’ Because it was something you have to do over time.”
Oliver’s base for his work was La Jolla Country Day, and the after-school program he attended was launched two years ago by Matt Bessler, who teaches sixth-grade physics.
With support from faculty adviser Noa Parker, Oliver went through the process of developing his invention.
Parker, who teaches seventh-grade life science and eighth-grade chemistry, said entering a competition goes far beyond simply generating an idea.
“There’s prep work … and if you’re doing an engineering project, there’s actually creating the device,” Parker said. “But after that you have to be able to express and explain the entire process and the outcomes, results and what you would have done differently multiple times during the competition.
“It’s really cool to see, especially Oliver — who was just a sixth-grader last year — now really be able to express what he did, and his networking and conversation skills have enhanced so much.”
Last year, 10 students enrolled in the after-school program were recognized in the greater San Diego competition. Their projects included testing electrolytes in different drinks, identifying ingredients in sunscreen and designing solar panels that rotate to capture the most energy.
Bessler said the faculty’s role in the program is to guide students in the right direction but leave room for their creativity to take over. After all, he added, every branch of science was on the table.
“It’s a lot of molding and helping,” Bessler said. “We won’t come up with ideas for them, so they have to bring something to us, and from that, we’ll help them brainstorm and … mold it into an actual project that will work. But it’s up to them to come with something we can work with.”
Oliver said the help with time management and organization paid off as the project pushed into its final stages.
His puck passer underwent several changes along the way. He scrapped an idea to give it an arm, and in the interest of time, he decided to keep it stationary.
Jeff Terwin, Country Day’s head of school, praised Oliver’s invention and how he represented the school in the competitions.
“Oliver truly represents what makes La Jolla Country Day School a special place,” Terwin said. “His curiosity, hard work and connections with his teachers are amazing. We couldn’t be prouder of his accomplishments — and even more of the great person he is and all he brings to our community.”
While Oliver celebrates the success of his hockey puck passer, his attention now is directed toward the next Greater San Diego Science & Engineering Fair. With the Jan. 20 deadline quickly approaching, he said he’s “close to the finish line” on a new project — a robot tutor.
The robot tutor uses a newer version of the Raspberry Pi computer, as well as speakers and cameras. The robot takes a picture of homework but doesn’t just dish out answers. Instead, it offers tips and tricks to enhance the learning experience.
To learn more about this year’s San Diego science fair and last year’s winners, visit gsdsef.org. ♦
San Diego, CA
Carlsbad too experienced, tough for Francis Parker in battle between two of San Diego’s best
Two of the top boys basketball scorers in the county hooked up Friday night.
Carlsbad High School senior Jake Hall again proved why he ‘s chasing 3,000 career points.
Francis Parker sophomore Tavid Johnson showed why he already has more than 1,100 career points.
Playing in Francis Parker’s sparkling new Vassiliadis Athletic Center, No. 2-ranked Carlsbad, the San Diego Section Open Division champions, proved to be too deep and too experienced for sophomore-dominated Parker, pulling away just before halftime and rolling to a 75-63 nonleague win.
Hall, last year’s CIF Player of the Year, averages 29.9 points per game. He finished Friday’s tilt with 28 points as Parker bumped and grinded on him all game.
“Nothing new,” Hall said. “I’ve seen every kind of defense. Honestly, we didn’t play well, but it’s a win, and we’ll take it.”
Hall’s career point total now stands at 2,610 with as many as 20 games remaining.
Jett Kenady scored 14 points. He came out late for football after playing for the Lancers’ stellear football team.
“I’ve played enough now that I have my basketball legs,” Kenady said.
Johnson, who came into the game averaging 27.7, finished with a game-high 32 points — 20 coming in the second half.
Carlsbad (13-2) led by 20 early in the fourth quarter, but Parker (11-7) rallied and cut the deficit to eight with 1:06 to play. But a basket by Trenton Mehl, who finished with 16 points, and a pair of free throws by Jordan Garner put the game away.
“We’re a young, scrappy team,” Biddle said. “And one of our best kids (junior) Ezekiel Walker) is hurt and out for the year. We like to play up. Like to test ourselves. … We’ve already played the No. 1 team in the state (Eastvale Roosevelt) and No. 3 Bellflower St. John Bosco. So this was another good test.”
Carlsbad, ranked No. 25 in the state, got a test from Parker.
“We expected a tough game and got one,” Carlsbad coach Clark Allard said. “League (play) is right around the corner, so games like this, playing on the road, can only help. Playing a tough preleague schedule worked last year. I’m hoping the same formula works again.”
Johnson finished with a game-high 11 rebounds in addition to his 32 points. Amon Andrews backed him with 10 points.
Garner led Carlsbad with nine rebounds.
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