NEW PLANET FITNESS
Planet Fitness will open its 14th club in San Diego County with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and official grand opening celebration at 4 p.m. April 26 at 641 S. Rancho Santa Fe, San Marcos. The new 25,000-square-foot club is fully equipped with COVID safety protocols in place, will feature state-of-the-art cardio machines and strength equipment, 30-Minute Express Circuit, Black Card Spa, equipped locker rooms with day lockers and showers, and more. The club hours will be Monday through Friday 5 a.m. to 10 p.m., Saturday and Sunday 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
TOP STUDENTS
• Esther DeWitt of Oceanside was recently initiated into The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi collegiate honor society at Northern Arizona University.
• Lindsey Page of San Marcos has earned a place on the Spokane Community College honor roll for winter quarter 2022.
FOOD BY THE BOX
PlusBox (+BOX) – a program designed to fight food insecurity by working alongside school districts to provide boxes filled with healthy and nutrient-rich foods for students and their families – signs on a new school in Vista. Each +BOX includes enough food for four servings and is provided weekly. +BOX is currently working with three schools and one school district to provide 500 boxes weekly. Schools include Jefferson Elementary School in Carlsbad, Vista Unified School District, Ocean Knoll Elementary in Encinitas, and now, Bella Mente Academy in Vista, a public charter school.
GRADUATION OUTDOORS
After a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Palomar College’s springtime commencement ceremony will return to campus as a live and in-person event at 5 p.m. May 27, on the football practice field near parking lots 1 and 2, accessible from the main entrance off West Mission Road.
PADDLING WITH HIPPOS
Bill Prentice, of Carlsbad will be traveling in May to Zimbabwe, Africa, to paddle 180 miles in 10 days across Lake Kariba on the Zambezi River. He is paddling to raise funds for the Challenged Athletes Foundation, San Diego. To contribute, visit CrocTour22.com.
FOR THE PETS
The Rancho Coastal Humane Society conducted another pet food giveaway for nonprofit rescues April 15. They started with 27 pallets of puppy food and cat treats donated by Mars Petcare and distributed by Rescue Bank operated by Greater Good Charities. Opening the gate at 9 a.m., the food was gone 48 minutes later.
RESTAURANT GRANTS
Applications are now open for the Restaurants Care Resilience Fund, created by with a $175,000 donation from San Diego Gas and Electric, plus SoCalGas and Pacific Gas and Electric Company. The program will provide $3,000 grants to independent restaurant owners to invest in equipment upgrades and employee retention bonuses to alleviate staffing issues and deferred maintenance caused by two years of incurring debt, losses and rising costs Applications are open through April 30 and full eligibility requirements can be found at restaurantscare.org/resilience.
WELLNESS CENTER OPENS
The Encinitas Wellness Center will celebrate its Grand Opening from 1 to 4 p.m. May 1 at 613 Westlake St., Encinitas. There will be food, music, shopping & plenty of giveaways! Featuring free yoga classes, kettlebell demos, free workouts, discounts, raffles and more
PALA SELLS ONLINE BUSINESS
Pala Interactive LLC, a North American iGaming software and services supplier owned by the Pala Band of Mission Indians, entered into an agreement with Boyd Gaming Corporation to sell the business for $170 million. Pala Interactive, founded by the Pala Band of Mission Indians in 2013, includes a player management system, casino, poker, integrated sports, social casino and poker platforms, complemented by a full suite of managed services.
THEATER UPGRADES
With a new 20-year city of Oceanside Use Agreement approved last Fall, the Oceanside Theatre Company is taking toward an expansive future for the organization and the building. The previously all volunteer management team has hired Alex Goodman as its first managing director and has plans for a multi-phase, multi-year renovation of the 1930’s-era Brooks Theater. The new agreement lays out required tenant improvements to the building, the first phase of which will be completed in the next 5 years.
MANA PAMPERS MOMS
Beauty Lounge Medical Spa and MANA SD, a local non-profit youth leadership program that empowers Latina teens to pursue higher education, announced a partnership that will honor seven local moms this Mother’s Day. MANA SD’s teen mentees can nominate their mothers to win the holiday gift – a day of pampering.
METROLINK GOES NATURAL
As of April 13, Metrolink has switched to renewable fuel, making the agency the first in the nation to completely power all its locomotives by the cleaner burning alternative. To meet its aggressive climate targets, Metrolink launched a pilot program of renewable fuel in its locomotives in early 2021. The renewable product is made of recycled natural fats and vegetable oils. It contains no petroleum fossil fuels and thus burns cleaner reducing harmful pollutants and decreasing greenhouse gas emissions of carbon dioxide by up to 80 percent.
EXCELLENCE AWARD
MiraCosta College Foundation announced that Beatriz Aguilar, director of noncredit and adult education programs at MiraCosta College, received the Excellence in Continuing Education Award from the Association of Community and Continuing Education. Since 2016, Beatriz has served in the MiraCosta College Continuing Education Department, where she develops the school’s programs and supports its faculty and students.
GREAT GOLF
Cal State San Marcos men’s golfer Matt Pennington was crowned CCAA Champion April 13 at the conference championships at Yocha Dehe Golf Course in Brooks. As a team, the Cougars placed third – its best finish since becoming postseason eligible in 2018 – with a 33-over 897.
DONATE A BUNDLE
In response to the uptick of spring animal births, the Helen Woodward Animal Center is asking for donations of a Baby Bundle. “The Things I Need” bundle provides essential items, such as baby formula, bottles, crates and more. The “Get Me to Safety” bundle provides life-saving transportation for a puppy or kitten to the Center. The “Keep Me Healthy” bundle provides newborns with vital vaccines, medicine and spay/neuter surgeries. You can contribute a Baby Bundle for a newborn in need now at animalcenter.org/babies2022.
NEW BOARD MEMBERS
The Palomar College Foundation added five new members to its Board of Directors, furthering the wealth of business, organizational and community leadership represented on the board. The new members are Katie Johanski of Hunter Industries; Tana Lorah of ClayCo; Richard Marks of RDM Management Group; Susan Miller of Oracle; and Christine Spielmaker of EDCO.
AIRPORT LINK COMING
The city of San Diego, SANDAG and Navy Region Southwest announced the updated vision for the Central Mobility Hub project today. After extensive analysis and feedback from the community, SANDAG will move forward on building a transit connection to San Diego International Airport with Downtown San Diego as the preferred location for the future Central Mobility Hub. The Central Mobility Hub will provide the San Diego region with a centrally located transit center that serves everyone going to or from the airport – whether they use the bus, Trolley, or commuter rail.
TRAINS TO BALL GAMES
The North County Transit District announced the COASTER service schedule has added 50 trips throughout the 2022 San Diego Padres season to accommodate weekday and weekend games. The schedule for the full Padres season, including the special COASTER 699 trains that provide northbound service for game times not covered by regularly scheduled COASTER service, and the full COASTER schedule can be found at GoNCTD.com/Schedules.
TOP TRAINER
Palomar College’s Head Athletic Trainer, Flecicia Heise, was named Athletic Trainer of the Year by the California Community College Athletic Association April 7. Heise has been the lead trainer since 2006.
GRANT FOR HUMANE SOCIETY
Kathy’s Legacy provided a $10,000 grant to San Diego Humane Society in support of the joint program to help domestic violence victims and their pets. Nearly half of victims stay in abusive situations rather than leaving a pet behind. Kathy’s Legacy Foundation is a nonprofit in Carlsbad, remembering Kathy Scharbarth who was murdered by her estranged boyfriend in 2011.
