Category: Featured

  • Cultural Fashion Show Benefits Community Center

    Video Credit: Brian Myers By Brian Myers The former Pearson Ford EcoCenter building on El Cajon Boulevard was transformed into a runway last week for a fashion show to benefit the La Maestra Foundation. The international fashion show featured culturally significant attire from the United States’ more recent immigrant and refugee communities. Traditional clothing from…

  • How Health Reform Will Change City Heights

    By Megan Burks There’s 124 days before the Affordable Care Act kicks into gear for most Americans. That’s when the new Obamacare health plans go into effect and when you’re supposed to be enrolled in one. For many, counting down the days elicits some degree of frenzy – health insurance policies are confusing already, and…

  • How Planning Groups Can Jump-Start Involvement

    By Megan Burks Planning Director Bill Fulton called San Diego’s process for bringing neighborhood voices into budget talks “a truly extraordinary one” last week. He was talking with a diverse group of residents, mostly from neighborhoods south of Interstate 8, at a Community Budget Alliance training designed to stoke community engagement in city planning. The…

  • TRUST Act Moving Toward Passage

    By Adrian Florido One afternoon in late June, about a hundred people, mostly young Latinos, marched to Escondido Police Headquarters. They were kicking off a caravan to Sacramento. “We’re pushing for the governor to sign the TRUST Act this year, because it’s important,” Viviana Gonzalez, an activist and undocumented immigrant, told the crowd. “Communities like…

  • Emerald: Why We Need to Invest in the Fire-Rescue Department

    By Marti Emerald In May, the San Diego City Council scraped together the final dollars needed to build a fire station in Mission Valley. The long-awaited approval gave Fire Chief Javier Mainar a sense of relief. He said he had been waiting for a station in the valley since he first became a firefighter, 30…