Coming next to Downtown’s Embarcadero — a 5.7-acre

over-the-water park next to the USS Midway Museum

Freedom Park will be a tribute to San Diego’s military history

Sometime in early 2028, a 5.7-acre over-the-water park will be opened alongside the USS Midway Museum on the Downtown Embarcadero — a tribute to the San Diego region’s rich military history.

On its completion, Freedom Park will boast an array of features, including nature gardens, memorials and monuments, play elements, and concessionaires. Developed by the USS Midway Museum and the Port of San Diego, Freedom Park’s overall design will be handled by RICK, a San Diego company formerly called Rick Engineering Company.

RICK is the prime design consultant for the park and will be responsible for developing all civil engineering and landscape architecture. Sub-consultants involved on the engineering, landscape architecture team include BSE Engineering, Triton, Engineers, Ninyo & Moore, and Wimmer, Yamada & Caughey — all from San Diego, and Gallagher and Associates of Virginia Beach, Virginia.

“Visitors will enjoy the beautiful surroundings but have no idea about the complex engineering that made it all possible,” says Nick A. Dorner, RICK’s project manager for Freedom Park, responsible for the extensive coordination of the project.

“This is among California’s most structurally complex over-the-water parks,” Dorner said. “In a typical park, engineers have unlimited space below ground to position water, sewer, electrical, communications and storm drain systems.  At Freedom Park, we have minimal space to contain all the infrastructure.  Everything must fit together seamlessly.”

Top Photo: A rendering of Freedom Park.

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Saab selects San Diego as U.S. innovation hub

Swedish defense industrial giant Saab’s U.S. subsidiary is opening an innovation hub in San Diego named Skapa, the company’s president and CEO said in an interview April 24. “We have innovation hubs in Sweden and one in the U.K, so we thought, ‘Why don’t we set something up in the U.S.?’” Saab President and CEO Micael Johansson told National Defense in a phone interview.
Skapa is Swedish for “to create, to make, to shape,” a press release said.
Having an innovation hub in the United States will pave the way for research opportunities with Saab’s U.S. customers as well as government organizations such as the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Johansson said. “It will help us quickly get traction in the U.S., and that is quite attractive to us,” he added.

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State awards $120 million in tax credits to eight

companies to generate more than 2,000 full-time jobs

The state has awarded $120 million in tax credits to eight innovative companies in California that will generate more than 2,100 full-time jobs with an average annual salary of over $100,000, and bring in an estimated $15.5 billion in private investment over the next five years.

The funding, from the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development’s (GO-Biz) California Competes program, is going to companies expanding their operations in California and supporting the type of cutting-edge industries that the state is known for.

One of those companies is Controlled Thermal Resources, which received a $30 million tax credit to help construct a facility near the Salton Sea to sustainably extract lithium and other critical minerals from geothermal brine in Imperial County.

The other companies and their tax credit:

Pacific Steel Group: $30 million

Moxion Power Co.: $25 million

Elve Inc.: $15 million

MicroVention Inc.: $7,500,000

Tau Motors Inc.: $7 million

Paired Power Inc.: $3,500,000

Juanita’s Foods: $2 million

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A new California ruling tries to hold down your health care costs.

Here’s how it works

By Kristen Hwang | CalMatters

You won’t notice it right away, but a new California state agency took a major step last week toward reining in the seemingly uncontrollable costs of health care.

The Office of Health Care Affordability  approved the state’s first cap on health industry spending increases, limiting growth to 3 percent by 2029. This means that hospitals, doctors and health insurers will need to find ways to cut costs to prevent annual per capita spending from exceeding the target. Between 2015 and 2020, per capita health spending in California grew more than 5 percent each year, according to federal data.

A board appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Legislature on April 17 approved the new regulations in a 6-1 vote.

Health and Human Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly, who chairs the board, said the regulations recognize that Californians are struggling every day to pay for health care  and the state has a role in helping them. “We have a place in making sure it becomes more affordable,” Ghaly said.

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Carlsbad to build solar energy farm at Maerkle Reservoir

Carlsbad is working with consultants and industry experts to build a solar energy farm on 30 to 40 acres the city owns at the Maerkle Reservoir.

The Carlsbad Municipal Water District recently completed a feasibility study and is on track to select a development partner by the end of the year, Intergovernmental Affairs Director Jason Haber said Tuesday at a meeting of the Carlsbad City Council, which oversees the water district.

The reservoir covers about 17 acres of the district’s property in a little-seen eastern corner of the city near the border with Oceanside and Vista. The photovoltaic panels would be installed on vacant property the district owns just north of the reservoir.

Up to 8 megawatts could be generated by the system, said the city’s Senior Engineer Keri Martinez. A single megawatt is to supply 650 average homes annually, according to SDG&E.

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Mahesh Krishnan elected to Halozyme’s Board of Directors

Halozyme Therapeutics Inc. announced the election of Mahesh Krishnan, M.D. to its board of directors. Dr. Krishnan has more than 20 years of experience in health care, biotechnology and health services. Dr. Krishnan currently serves as group vice president of growth at DaVita Inc., one of the largest providers of kidney care services in the U.S. He was co-lead of the DaVita Venture Group, where he oversaw strategic partnerships in technology and research and development within the organization.

Sempra named a Best Employer for Diversity by Forbes

Sempra has been named to Forbes Best Employers for Diversity in 2024, marking the sixth consecutive year the company has earned a spot on the annual list recognizing strong workforce development and employee engagement practices. The Best Employers for Diversity 2024, presented by Forbes and Statista Inc., were identified in an independent survey from a sample of over 170,000 U.S.-based employees working for companies employing at least 1,000 people within the U.S.

Cetera names Michael Molnar head of corporate development

Cetera Finanial Group, he premier financial advisor Wealth Hub, has named Michael Molnar its head of corporate development. Molner, a Wall Street veteran who has been a buy-side investor, an investment banker and a sell-side analyst, previously led corporate development, M&A and succession planning for Avantax Inc., acquired by Cetera Holdings in November 2023. Molnar orchestrated more than 20 acquisitions that helped nearly double the size of Avantax’s employee-based RIA.

Finopotamus launches the 2024-25 Payments Industry Leaders Forum

Finopotamus, the only online resource providing in-depth technology coverage exclusively to credit unions, announced the launch of the inaugural Payments Industry Leaders Forum, the second in a Finopotamus series of knowledge portals focused on key industry topics. The publication’s first offering, the Digital Banking Industry Leaders Forum, was launched in Q4 of 2023. Finopotamus was created by industry veterans W.B. King, John San Filippo, and Roy Urrico.

Provisio Medical announces FDA clearance of Provisio SLT IVUS system

Provisio Medical announced FDA clearance of the Provisio SLT IVUS System. Sonic Lumen Tomography (SLT) technology addresses a critical unmet need for vascular specialists by providing automatic, real-time, accurate, numeric measurements of the flow lumen of blood vessels without the complexities of image interpretation. Provisio Medical’s catheter is the world’s first integrated intravascular imaging and support crossing catheter and enables vessel lumen measurement and visualization simultaneously.

Alaska Airlines expands presence in Southern California

Alaska Airlines is expanding service at two of its major hubs in Southern California with new routes and additional capacity to popular West Coast destinations as part of the carrier’s ongoing commitment to growth in the state. It will add its 39th nonstop destination from San Diego with service to Las Vegas. It also will start new service between Los Angeles and Pasco, and bring back guest favorite Los Angeles to Reno.

COOLA celebrates 20 years of innovation

COOLA has been creating organic, innovative suncare for 20 years. As sunscreen and skincare consumers have evolved, COOLA is making a move to ensure its packaging fully represents its future. Building beyond its lifestyle-brand legacy, COOLA is looking to reflect its expertise and superiority in SPF by revealing a brand-new look that conveys its focus on efficacy and innovation while still embracing its organic, Southern California heritage.

Polaris unleashes lineup of cordless cleaners to meet every need

Polaris, the leading manufacturer of premium automatic pool cleaners, has added to its robotic offering with a new lineup of cordless cleaners to accommodate any backyard pool or spa. The Polaris Freedom, which debuted last spring, was the first Cordless Robotic Pool Cleaner launched by the iconic brand. Now Polaris builds on the success of FREEDOM with the advanced FREEDOM Plus, PIXEL and the groundbreaking new Spabot cleaners.

LUXE Bidet named Hermes Creative Awards 2024 Gold winner

LUXE Bidet, the #1 bidet attachment provider in America, shared its recent success at the esteemed Hermes Creative Awards for its project “LUXE Bidet – Good Clean Fun,” featuring a host-read with Conan O’Brien. The company’s advertisement, led by Conan O’Brien, has been honored as a 2024 Gold Winner, signifying a remarkable achievement in creative excellence and industry recognition. LUXE Bidet celebrates winning the 2024 Hermes Creative Gold Award for its exceptional bidet attachment project.

Oberon Fuels and Sunvapor commission solar steam project

Oberon Fuels, a renewable fuels producer, and Sunvapor, a renewaboe heat provider, commissioned a solar steam project under the first purchase agreement in the U.S. for industrial solar steam. This agreement will eliminate upfront capital requirements to deploy solar steam, while enabling Oberon to as much as double output capacity and slash the carbon intensity of renewable fuels — critical for industrial customers seeking renewable fuels to achieve pressing net-zero commitments.

Wildcat receives 100th patent for battery materials innovation and technology

Battery materials pioneer Wildcat Discovery Technologies announced it received its 100th patent, reinforcing its industry-leading innovation and advancing its strategy for U.S.-based cathode materials manufacturing. Wildcat has been developing battery materials since 2006 and plans to build a plant in the United States to manufacture lithium iron phosphate (LFP) in late 2026, lithium manganese iron phosphate (LMFP) in 2027, and disordered rock salt (DRX) in 2028. The company has received patents for cathode active materials (CAM) innovations, novel electrolytes and anodes, and various other battery-related technologies.

The Hawaii baseball team decided it was far too early to call it a season.

Though a conference championship remains statistically improbable, UH clawed its way back to .500 in the Big West by beating UC San Diego 15-10 on Sunday and completing a three-game weekend sweep in La Jolla, Calif.

It was the first time UH swept a team on the road since it did it against UCSD on its last visit to Triton Ballpark in May 2022.

The Rainbow Warriors (25-15, 9-9 BWC) broke out the bats for the second straight day, compiling 15 hits with home runs from Kyson Donahue and Sean Rimmer, plus 12 team walks. Donahue’s three-run shot in the third, his team-best fifth of the year, was his second in as many days.

UH built a nine-run lead in the fourth inning when a pitch with the bases loaded hit Naighel Ali‘i Calderon. The margin grew to as large as 12 when Donahue hit a double down the rightfield line, followed by a sacrifice fly by Dallas Duarte.

UCSD (26-14, 13-8) scored nine runs in the final four innings to make the final more respectable.

Harrison Bodendorf got the start and went three innings with one run allowed. Itsuki Takemoto (2-1) worked a scoreless fourth to pick up the win.

Donahue and Jake Tsukada drove in four runs apiece. Duarte went 3-for-5 and Jordan Donahue, Matthew Miura and Rimmer recorded multi-hit games.

Freshman Kerim Orucevic went 3-for-3 after entering as a pinch hitter for UCSD.

The Tritons will be a full-fledged Division I member the next time UH and UCSD play. This is their final season as a transitional D-I team that is ineligible for the postseason.

The ‘Bows return home for another quick turnaround for a game against a local Division II opponent. UH hosts Hawaii Hilo (19-30) for the Vulcans’ season finale at 6:35 p.m. Tuesday.

Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.

SAN DIEGO, Calif. (KGO) — A deal to send a second pair of pandas from China to California is now official.

More than a week after agreeing to send pandas to the San Francisco Zoo, the Chinese government signed an agreement to send two more bears to the San Diego Zoo.

That deal was originally announced in February.

San Francisco Zoo to receive giant pandas from China, Mayor Breed announces

The names of the male and female pandas are Yun Chuan and Xin Bao.

It has been five years since the San Diego Zoo last had pandas.

2 giant pandas are moving to San Diego Zoo in a rare loan from China

China is sending two giant pandas to the San Diego Zoo – the first time it has granted new panda loans to the United States in two decades.

The zoo will now begin to upgrade enclosures so the animals have a larger living space.

Once everything is approved, the two bears could arrive by the end of summer.

The pandas coming to San Francisco are expected to arrive in 2025.