City, Home Start offer mortgage assistance

The City of La Mesa has partnered with Home Start to provide a Mortgage Assistance Program to help eligible households in La Mesa with past due mortgage balances that have been impacted financially due to the coronavirus pandemic. Home Start began accepting applications on Wednesday, October 13, 2021, and will continue until program funds are exhausted.

Program applications and eligibility information is available on Home Start’s website at home-start.org/city-of-la-mesa-mortgage-assistance/. The City has allocated $338,000 in Coronavirus Aid Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) funding for the Mortgage Assistance Program. Eligible applications will be reviewed on a first come, first serve basis.

Helix football game first to be featured on new Cox channel

Cox Communications’ YurView network has partnered with the California Interscholastic Federation this year to bring local high school sports, including football, basketball and volleyball, on Channel 4 in San Diego and Channel 118 in Orange County, as well as streaming on YurView.com.

The first game will be Helix High against Granite Hills High at Granite Hills on Oct. 29 at 7 p.m. and will air live on Channel 4 and streamed live at YurView.com. Sponsored by Team Mazda of El Cajon, the game will also be replayed on Nov. 2 at 7 p.m.

“We are so very excited to bring live local high school sports to our communities across the county and throughout Southern California,” said Gary Seideman, Market Manager, Yurview Network. “We will be announcing the full line up of games in the next few weeks.”

Virtual reality tour of AWP program

Oct. 4, the East County Advanced Water Purification (East County AWP) Program unveiled a 360-degree virtual reality tour video. Viewers are greeted by the Program’s “Big Deal” animated mascot and are then immersed into a guided tour of water facilities where they can look all around by simply moving their computer mouse or phones to anywhere in the video they want to see. Locations include the Ray Stoyer Water Recycling Facility, the East County AWP Demonstration Facility and Lake Jennings.

Viewers who have a virtual reality headset for cell phones can take engagement one step further by “stepping into” the video. Program representatives will also begin scheduling opportunities for community groups, schools and scouts to view the video using Program-provided virtual reality goggles starting in October.

“Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, we averaged more than 1,000 people annually touring our facility, many of whom were eager students wanting to learn about this important water resource,” said Kyle Swanson, director of the East County AWP. “This virtual tour helps to refill the learning need and will also be helpful while the East County AWP progresses towards the construction phase,” said Swanson.

Scheduled to be complete in 2025, the Program will use four advanced water purification steps to produce water that is near-distilled in quality. After the advanced water purification process, the purified water will be blended with water in Lake Jennings and treated again at the R.M. Levy Water Treatment Plant before being distributed as drinking water.

In addition to providing a new local water supply, the Program will eliminate the need to send most of East County’s wastewater to the City of San Diego’s Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant, where it is currently treated and then discharged into the ocean.

To watch the 360-degree virtual reality video and learn more about the Program, visit eastcountyawp.com/177/Videos.

MTS launches PRONTO fare system

Transit riders now have a new way to pay for fares after the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) and North County Transit District (NCTD) officially rolled out the PRONTO collection system on Oct. 1.

The month-long Ride Free with PRONTO promotion ended Sept. 30. Riders will now need to add money to their PRONTO card or app to ride public transit. The transit agencies distributed more than 120,000 PRONTO cards and 100,000 app downloads for free between August and September to prepare riders for the transition.

“Offering a month of free rides and issuing free PRONTO cards helped riders convert to PRONTO and learn about the new system,” said Nathan Fletcher, MTS Board Chair and Chair, San Diego County Board of Supervisors.

PRONTO cards include features such as fare capping, instant account reloads and free transfers for up to two hours on one-way fares.

“Equitable access and flexibility are two pillars that really distinguish PRONTO,” said Tony Kranz, NCTD Board Chair and Deputy Mayor of Encinitas. “The system is accessible across most mobile devices, online, at stations, the MTS Transit Store, NCTD Customer Service Centers and at retail locations.”

Some of the best features of PRONTO include:

Fares: Fares will remain the same cost as before. There will be no extra costs for riding with PRONTO.

Best Fare: Riders will always get the best fare. A rider will never be charged more than a Day Pass in a given calendar day or a Month Pass in a given calendar month regardless of how many trips/taps they make. (Fare capping does not apply to COASTER.)

No Advance Purchase Necessary: Riders will not need to buy a month pass in advance. Riders can earn-as-they-go by adding money to their PRONTO account during the month. Every time someone taps to board a vehicle, the appropriate one-way fare is deducted from the balance. But they will never be charged more than the value of Month Pass no matter how many times they ride.

Real Time Tracking: Riders will be able to track their progress toward a Day or Month Pass on the PRONTO app or online account.

Back to Basics: Riders will still have the option to buy a Month Pass in advance for all buses, Trolley and SPRINTER. COASTER will require up-front payment for a Day or Month Pass, and the SPRINTER/BREEZE monthly pass is on sale now.

The PRONTO app can be downloaded for free from the App Store and Google Play, and enables riders to quickly add money and purchase one-way fares and day and monthly passes. The PRONTO card is available at participating Vons and Albertsons and more than 70 other retail outlets as well as the Transit Store, Customer Service Centers, and ticket vending machines.

The Ride PRONTO website will allow people to register cards and purchase fares, review order history, add payment methods, set up a customized dashboard, and more.