By Mickey Zeichick

Our next San Carlos Area Council (SCAC) meeting will be Wednesday, May 3 at 6 p.m. at the San Carlos Branch Library at 7265 Jackson Drive. Our meetings are open to the public and our speaker will be announced in the April edition of this publication.

Ms. Emma Santer, development specialist at the San Diego office of the March of Dimes (MOD), was our speaker at the March meeting. MOD helps moms, babies and families by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality.

Their work involves constant collaboration to develop innovating breakthroughs that fight these problems at their source and in our communities. They are finding answers that will help moms and babies today, tomorrow and in the future.

Prematurity and birth defects are the leading causes of infant mortality. The medical and societal costs of preterm birth is $2.1 billion.

For more information, visit their website at marchofdimes.org.

STEAM Expo

Magnolia Science Academy will once again co-host the San Diego STEAM Expo. The Expo will showcase student accomplishments in science, technology, engineering, arts and math through hands-on demonstrations and exhibits.

The event will be held March 18 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Grossmont College. This is the second year that Magnolia has partnered with Grossmont to host the event.

Navajo Planners

The April meeting of the Navajo Community Planners, Inc. will be held at the Mason Lodge on Tommy Drive.

Hopefully, a representative for the project to bring Major League Soccer (MLS) to the Mission Valley area will be presenting.

They have presented to the Mission Valley Planning Group and because the NCPI area also has a vested interest in this land, traffic, and general impact, it is anticipated this project will be presented to the Navajo neighborhoods as well.

MLS is set to award new teams to just a few cities later this year. Soccer is the world’s most popular sport and San Diego is a perfect fit by being binational, diverse, young, and we love our sports.

A group of local investors has proposed a brand new stadium, paid for without a tax increase or any public funds. The current proposal provides a variety of valuable amenities paid for with private money, upfront, made available immediately to the public.

These include approximately 55 acres of park, including an improved and enhanced river park and a new home for San Diego State University football, built in partnership with SDSU. The gifting of the private portion of the stadium to SDSU after five years would likely be the largest private donation ever made to the university.

As good as that all sounds, we need more details about the proposal. If we do not get an MLS team, what will happen to the area set aside for the soccer field? Would we still have a football stadium for SDSU? I agree it is time to do something great at this Qualcomm site.

July 4th festival

SCAC is a proud financial supporter of the July 4^th Fireworks and MusicFest returning this year to Lake Murray Park. If you would like to make a financial donation to this 501(c)(3) organization, please make your check payable to Lake Murray Fireworks and send to:

Lake Murray Fireworks C/O SCAC

Attn: Tracy Dahlkamp

PO Box 19246

San Diego, CA  92159

—Mickey Zeichick is president of the San Carlos Area Council. Reach her at [email protected] for information or to be added to SCAC’s Interested Persons List.