12TH ANNUAL WOMEN’S HALL OF FAME INDUCTION CEREMONY

The Women’s Museum of California, is hosting the 12th Annual San Diego County Women’s Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and dinner March 16 at the University of California, San Diego, to honor five women that have made a difference in San Diego County. Dr. Constance Carroll is being inducted for being a trailblazer as the first female Chancellor of the San Diego Community College District. Carroll led statewide efforts to provide equitable funding for community colleges and is an activist in improving educational opportunities for women, minorities and disadvantaged students. As a significant contributor to improving the lives of women in San Diego, Betty Evans Boone made efforts to increase the hiring of female lawyers in San Diego in the 1960s through her community service work and mentoring. Irma Castro is being inducted for her work in creating structural change to improve women’s lives. As an advocate for social justice and Filipino American community empowerment, Aurora Soriano Cudal spent the last twenty years demonstrating outstanding leadership, excellence in community service and extensive coalition building in San Diego. Dorothy Hom (1932-1999) was an instrumental force in forming the Chinese Historical Society of Greater San Diego and Baja California and was one of the founders of the Gaslamp Quarter District. The event will begin at 5 p.m. For more information visit womenshalloffamesd.org.

HORTON PLAZA ENDS FREE VALIDATED PARKING

Westfield’s Horton Plaza announced Monday, Feb. 4 that they are implementing new procedures to change the existing rules that allowed patrons three free hours of parking with validation. The new policy requires mall visitors, parking on the multi-level structure, make a minimum purchase of $10 at any one of the mall’s stores, movie theaters or restaurants, to now qualify for three hours of parking. According to Westfield’s website, the parking rate for Horton Plaza is $2 every fifteen minutes with $60 maximum. The three-hour parking validation is offered Monday through Saturday between 10 a.m. and 9:30 p.m., Sunday from 11:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. with the parking attendant located on level 1 across from Travelex.

PARKING EASIER IN LITTLE ITALY

The Little Italy Parking District of the Little Italy Association (LIA) announced new parking measures as part of a strategic plan that will increase available parking spaces and highlight alternative means of transportation. The LIA has been working with the City of San Diego, MTS, area developers, local businesses and residents to create a unified effort in three core areas to ease parking frustrations. Those efforts are 1) to create more surface street parking, increasing the number of available spaces with perpendicular spaces and mitigating employee and resident use, 2) develop an employee parking program to free up spaces for visitors and 3) to open public parking spaces in new and existing developments by working with building owners and tenants to allow public parking. The LIA is also making efforts to educate association members about available programs, resources and alternative means of transportation. Along with public parking spaces, the 2013 plan includes opening once-closed lots for use on weekends, updating parking meters and bringing in new cycling spaces for bicycle. There are also two Car2Go designated spaces and three valet stations in Little Italy. The Little Italy Association has launched its own app that includes a section for parking that makes the popular destination easier to get to and around. It is free to download from the iTunes app store and Google Play for Android by searching for Little Italy, San Diego. More information on the parking district programs can be found at littleitalysd.com.

KPBS SOLICITS SUGGESTIONS FOR “ONE BOOK, ONE SAN DIEGO”

Thursday, Feb. 15 KPBS kicked off event its seventh annual One Book, One San Diego program, presented in partnership with the San Diego Public Library. Approximately 75 librarians, teachers, literary gurus and others attended the kick off event. The popular book-sharing program is the only one in the country managed by a television or radio station and it boasted 20,000 participants in 2012. Suggestions for 2013’s featured books are now being accepted through March and several will be selected. You must be a resident of San Diego County to participate. Criteria include that the fiction or non-fiction is of high literary quality with strong narrative and well-developed characters; themes must resonate with local and/or global communities; inspires discussion and even action; available in paperback and hardcover; author must be alive; have professional reviews; be in print and available in large quantities and appropriate for high school study and people from all backgrounds. A final requirement is that you have read the entire book in order to nominate it for One Book, One San Diego.  Book selections will be decided by the One Book committee and announced in May. A series of community events, which may also include the author, will follow the announcement. Previous book selections included Moloka’i, about a seven-year-old Hawaiian girl; Into the Beautiful North, about a young female taco shop owner who travels to San Diego to bring men back to her Mexican village of Tres Camarones; and Sky of Red Poppies, about a young daughter of a prominent family with secrets and set against 1960s Iran when the politically divided country was ruled by the Shah. All past selections can be reviewed on the website. To learn more or nominate a book, visit kpbs.org/one-book/2013/.

SAN DIEGO TOURISM AUTHORITY REPORTS RECORD YEAR

At its annual meeting held recently at the San Diego Sheraton Hotel and Marina, the San Diego Tourism Authority spoke to the state of tourism in the region, giving it high marks and highlighting the significant economic impacts made in 2012.  San Diego saw 32.3 million total visitors in 2012, which contributed $18.3 billion to the region’s economy. That is a 6.6 percent increase over 2011. Half of those visitors, 16.1 million, visited San Diego overnight. Local attractions in the area had a combined attendance of 14.3 million, the highest in 10 years and almost a four percent increase over last year. Hotel occupancy rates also rose to 71 percent, a 2.9 percent increase. San Diego is considered one of the top five travel destinations in the country, according to Joe Terzi, President and CEO of the San Diego Tourism Authority (SDTA) in a press release. The San Diego Convention and Visitors Bureau changed its name to SDTA in January. Tourism also boosts the local job market, accounting for 160,000 – or 13 percent – of the county’s jobs. “It is important that we not only recognize the economic value of tourism to San Diego, but also that tourism is good for the people,” Terzi said in the same release. “Tourism has the ability to improve communities, our neighborhoods and the quality of life for our residents.” Their 2012 annual report is available upon request by visiting sandiego.org.

BROADWAY/SAN DIEGO ANNOUNCES 2013-14 SEASON

Broadway/San Diego – a Nederlander Presentation – launched their 2013-2014 season lineup at a hosted reception Friday, Feb. 15. The new season opens Oct. 15 with “Priscilla Queen of the Desert” and also features “The Book of Mormon,” “Evita,” “Million Dollar Quartet” and “The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber.” The 2012 Tony Award-winner “Once” closes the season, beginning Aug. 12, 2014. “We are very pleased with the productions that comprise our 2013-14 season. Audiences of all types will be thrilled with this current award-winning lineup. In addition, we hope to be able to build new and emerging audiences with the broad range of programming,” said Carl Thompson, Broadway/San Diego’s marketing director in a press release. “The Book of Mormon,” from the creators of “South Park,” will play a limited two-week engagement from May 27 to June 8, 2014 at the San Diego Civic Theatre. “Our new 2013-2014 Season includes Tony Award-winning shows, as well as timeless classics, lively 1970s disco hits and 1950s rock and roll,” said Nederlander Vice President Joe Kobryner in the release. “Plus, we are presenting one of Disney’s all-time family favorites, “Disney’s Beauty and the Beast,” which returns after its last sold-out engagement. Remaining in the 2012-13 season are “Billy Elliot” playing April 30 – May 5, “American Idiot” playing May 28 – June 2 and “Sister Act” playing June 30 – Aug. 4.

SANDAG APPOINTS TODD GLORIA AS COMMITTEE CHAIR

Announced Jan. 29, Council President and District Three Representative Todd Gloria was appointed as chair to the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG). “I am grateful to SANDAG Chair Jack Dale for selecting me for this position, and am excited about tackling this critical issue from a regional perspective,” Gloria said in a press release. SANDAG is the regional planning agency for transportation, and develops the Regional Transportation Plan to implement long-range vision for buses, trolleys, streetcars, rail, highways, major streets, bicycle travel, walking, goods movement and airport services. SANDAG has been pursuing other alternative-transportation and active-transportation projects, such as the Regional Bike Corridor projects in North Park-Mid-City and Uptown. Gloria has been a member of the Transportation Committee for the past four years. “I am well aware of the transportation-related challenges that face our region: air quality, scarcity of available land, growing population, lack of infrastructure for active transportation, funding, and a public transportation system that is not seen as efficient, are just a few,” Gloria said. “I will proudly voice District Three’s and the City of San Diego’s priorities and concerns to my SANDAG Transportation Committee colleagues, and know we will make great progress as a region in the coming year.”

ICONIC GASLAMP QUARTER ARCHWAY SIGN REFURBISHED

The Gaslamp Quarter Association unveiled the complete rehabilitation and refurbishment of the district’s iconic Gaslamp Quarter Archway on Thursday, Feb. 28, in celebration of the sign’s 21st anniversary. The Archway is located on the northeast corner of Fifth Avenue and L Street, adjacent to the Hard Rock Hotel at 207 Fifth Ave. “The Gaslamp Quarter Archway was originally built in 1991, and funded in part by Gaslamp Quarter property and business owners,” organizers said in a release announcing the event. “Serving as one of San Diego’s favorite photo backdrops for 21 years, the Gaslamp Quarter Archway at Fifth Avenue and L Street will come to the forefront as its complete rehabilitation is unveiled,” they said. Immediately following the ceremony held at the base of the archway, a celebration party was held at Dick’s Last Resort, 345 Fourth Ave. Originally dedicated in 1992, organizers said weather and constant vibration from road traffic had damaged the older sign. Repair costs totaled approximately $45,000.The rehabilitation was made possible through a collaboration with the Downtown San Diego Partnership’s Clean & Safe Program and the Gaslamp Quarter Association, a nonprofit merchant’s assessment district representing over 400 business in Downtown. Byron Wade, President and CEO of Project Professionals Corporation served as project manager on the upgrade, which was completed by West Coast Signs. West Coast Signs owner, Patrick Flahive, is the son of the archway’s original builder, Roy Flahive, who also consulted on the rehabilitation. Refurbishments included “re-painting, energy efficient electrical upgrades, structural evaluation and replacement of the original incandescent light bulbs to more energy-efficient and durable neon,” organizers said. At the re-dedication ceremony, civic leaders and representatives of Downtown businesses were scheduled to attend, including Council President Todd Gloria, San Diego Downtown Partnership President and CEO Kris Michell, Gaslamp Quarter Association board chair Darren Moore and Hard Rock Hotel Regional Manager Matt Greene. Heavenly Cupcake supplied a custom-made Gaslamp Quarter Archway dessert, and Private Domain Unplugged performed for after-party attendees. For more information visit gaslamp.org or call 619-233-5227.