North Park youth wins $100,000 chef award

On Feb. 24, North Park 12-year-old Nathan Odom won the third season of “Masterchef Junior.” As the winner, Odom received $100,000 from the Fox reality cooking show, reported San Diego’s Fox 5.

Both Odom and his opponent, Andrew Zappley, prepared a three-course meal for judges Gordon Ramsay, Graham Elliot and Joe Bastianich. Odom roasted fennel gratin and French ham with a side of shaved fennel and grapefruit salad for the appetizer. His entrée was an herb incrusted lamb chop with faya beans and white asparagus puree. And for desert, he made an Earl Grey tea tart with Meyer lemon and blood orange coulis.

Odom has been cooking since he was 6.

In a Q&A with U-T San Diego, Odom said his ideal weekend in San Diego is hanging out with some friends, going to the beach or arcade and eating some of San Diego’s local fare. His favorite San Diego restaurants include City Tacos, The SafeHouse, Santouka Ramen and Luigi’s At the Beach.

Georgia Street Bridge to be renovated

Councilmember Todd Gloria announced the Georgia Street Bridge is one step closer receiving $9.5 million in federal funds to fix its structural deficiencies. The City Council’s Infrastructure Committee recently approved the funding plan, and the full council is expected to take up the issue for final approval in March.

The Georgia Street Bridge was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988. It now requires seismic retrofitting and rehabilitation, as well as other structural improvements. San Diego has been working with Caltrans and the Federal Highway Administration to find the best engineering alternatives.

“This is a key infrastructure investment,” Gloria stated in a press release. “Today’s action ensured the historic Georgia Street Bridge will be repaired and preserved to remain a landmark between North Park and Hillcrest. I am grateful to the Infrastructure Committee for their support of this project and for the federal funds that are making the renovations possible.”

The project will focus on the bridge and the existing walls on University Avenue between Florida Street and Park Boulevard. The bridge will be partially reconstructed; vertical clearance will increase; new curbs and gutters will be added, the sidewalk on the southern side will be replaced; and bike sharrows will be added to the outside lanes.

Construction is anticipated to begin this fall and take approximately one year to complete.

City to reconsider plastic bag ban

The city of San Diego will once again consider its own plastic bag ban now that the statewide ban has been put on hold until a referendum vote decides the law’s fate in 2016.

California Secretary of State Alex Padilla certified the signatures gathered to put a referendum on the November 2016 ballet to repeal the state’s plastic bag ban (SB 270) that Governor Jerry Brown signed into law last year.

According to the American Progressive Bag Alliance, more than 800,000 signatures were submitted by Dec. 29, which is the deadline to qualify the referendum.

According to the Surfrider Foundation, Mayor Kevin Faulconer instructed the city staff to restart the environmental review process needed to bring a plastic bag ban to the City Council for a vote. Council President Sherri Lightner reaffirmed her support for the measure.

“The citizens of San Diego treasure our vibrant communities and beautiful coastline, as well as a healthy ocean, and that’s why the pollution caused by billions of these single-use plastic bags simply can’t continue,” Lightner stated in a press release.

To date, 138 California municipalities have enacted a plastic bag ban.

HBA presents ‘Pride Plaza’ development options

At the February meeting of the Hillcrest Town Council (HTC), Hillcrest Business Association (HBA) Executive Director Ben Nicholls and Walter Chambers of the Hillcrest Community Development Corporation (HCDC) presented redevelopment plans for the Normal Street corridor, also known as “Pride Plaza.” Nicholls said the plan, which has been unanimously approved by the HBA’s executive committee, involves creating a civic space within Hillcrest. Normal Street, he continued, with its extra-wide configuration, is the perfect solution.

Nichols pointed out that not only is Normal Street used for the Hillcrest Farmers Market, the LGBT Pride Parade and several annual HBA events, but that crowds attending various events throughout the year at the informal gathering space around Pride Plaza generally “spill out into the street and police have to close it.”

He said development plans would extend the public space out into the area of University Avenue / Normal Street intersection. Three options were presented at the meeting, each incorporating ideas from SANDAG bicycle lane requirements, input from the newly formed HCDC, and taking into account the needs of the Uptown Community Parking District and local businesses, something of great importance to the HBA.

“To pay for a project like this, a variety of funding sources will need to be tapped,” Nicholls said. “Some decisions will require creative funding solutions. We may not get all that we want, but we may have to make sacrifices and trade-offs.”

The plan would be addressed in phases, Nicholls said, with phase one encompassing the short block between University Avenue and Harvey Milk Street, the area closest to the business district.

“HBA and parking district money can pool funds for this phase one — there is a lot of money available if we format [the plans] in the right way,” he said.

Phase two would be the long block between Harvey Milk Street and Lincoln Avenue. Phase three would be the final block between Lincoln Avenue and Washington Street. Options presented included a variety of configurations, incorporating bike lanes, using café-style tables, light canopies, movable bollards to create a “flex-space” that could be used for parking by day and a gathering space by night, movable planters to create green space and the use of textured pavement to denote multiple use areas.

Nicholls pointed to the fact that the wide median currently in place forces those in wheelchairs to “go all the way around.” Textured pavement would provide delimiters for the multi-use areas and still allow for wheelchair accessibility.

“None of these ideas are fixed,” Chambers said. “These are concepts and nothing is written in stone.”

Chambers added that the HCDC is encouraging community input through their Facebook and Twitter accounts. Nicholls said the HBA will display renderings of the Pride Plaza in their information booth at the Hillcrest Farmers Market — viewable throughout March and April — where community members can offer ideas and suggestions. Next, they will create a “paint and planter pilot,” a temporary, replicate version of the plan and install it on the street for six months, inviting traffic reviews and community and city involvement.

For more information, visit hillcrestbia.org or find the CDC on Facebook under “Foundation for the Public Realm” or @HillcrestCDC on Twitter.

Normal Heights financial consultant awarded

Taylor Schulte, a Normal Heights resident, the founder and CEO of Define Financial, has received SD Metro’s 2015 Metro Movers award for his contributions to the financial planning profession.

“I am honored to receive the Metro Movers award and be part of this select group of San Diegans making a difference in their professions and in the community,” Schulte stated in a press release. “I started this company to provide objective, financial advice and help clients build a successful financial future, and I am thrilled to be recognized for my work.”

The award is given to those in the San Diego community who have made outstanding contributions to their jobs and are poised to add to their achievements in 2015.

Schulte founded Define Financial in June 2014, which specializes in financial planning and wealth management for people and small businesses. Before that, he worked as a financial advisor at Morgan Stanley and previously launched the San Diego operations for Beverly Hills Wealth Management. He is also a regular contributor to Uptown News sister paper San Diego Downtown News.