Little Italy is hosting one heck of a street party this weekend: the Little Italy FESTA, complete with live music, delicious food and Gesso Italiano, Italian chalk painting.
The lively festival – running strong for the past 20 years – takes place Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the heart of Little Italy.
This year, highlights include live music on three stages, cooking demonstrations and chalk artists creating unbelievable masterpieces before the eyes of attendees. The family-friendly event will also boast plenty of activities for kids including a fun zone with inflatables, face painting and balloon art.
Attendees can also partake in game of stickball or a bocce ball tournament.
Of course, the FESTA will also feature plenty of delicious Italian food served al fresco throughout the neighborhood known for its Italian eateries.
Many restaurants will participate in the event, including Extraordinary Desserts on Union Street, which will host its “Dessert Festa” on its patio from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. The free event will feature the unveiling of master pastry chef Karen Krasne’s newest cake creation, Black Velvet, a vanilla bean-soaked chocolate cake layered with cream cheese mascarpone whip cream and salted chocolate cocoa nibs.
Guests can enjoy free dessert samples, plus two traditional cake walks with prizes, including that new Black Velvet cake. A DJ will play some tunes while a chalk artist entertains the crowd there, too.
For more Little Italy FESTA details, visit the event website and check out the event map here.
The body of Thomas Eric Duncan, the first person to be diagnosed with and die from Ebola in the United States, will be cremated, state health officials say.
Duncan's body was removed from the hospital where he had been treated in isolation within hours of his death on Wednesday, Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital officials said.
His remains have been transported for cremation, Texas Department of State Health Services confirmed, but they did say where or when it would happen.
Patients with the Ebola virus are still contagious after death, so medical personnel must be cautious when handling Duncan's body and will follow the strict guidelines of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Duncan's family has agreed to cremation, a process that will kill any virus remaining in the body so tthat his ashes can be returned to them. No protective gear would be needed to handle cremated ashes.
Duncan's mother and nephew returned to North Carolina Wednesday, NBC 5 learned.
"This is a difficult time for the family, and our thoughts are with them," said Dr. David Lakey, Texas health commissioner. "We will continue to treat Mr. Duncan with dignity and respect, and we're taking great care to make sure there is no additional risk that others could be infected."
Duncan's death raised concerns about how workers handling his body could be kept safe from the virus that took his life Wednesday, since Ebola can survive in bodily fluids as long as they remain wet and at room temperature.
The Centers for Disease Control has given guidance for how to handle an Ebola victim's body safely, and Lakey told reporters that officials would "continue every effort to contain the spread of the virus and protect people from this threat."
Any hospital employees who handle the body of someone who died of Ebola must wear personal protective equipment, including a scrub suit, cap, gown over the suit, eye protection, face mask and more. They must remove the equipment in a prescribed manner and wash their hands very carefully.
The body of a person who died of Ebola must be wrapped in multiple leak-proof plastic bags and disinfected, according to CDC guidelines.
Duncan's hospital room and surrounding hallways were cleaned and disinfected by a hazmat crew from CG Environmental - Cleaning Guys, the company that cleaned the apartment where Duncan had stayed. The 13-member crew also removed bedding, clothes and protective equipment for incineration.
The crew finished early Thursday morning. "It was an all-night job," company vice-president Brad Smith said.
The San Diego Museum of Art is blending culture and cocktails together in a pop art-themed party next week inspired by the works of Andy Warhol.
“Culture & Cocktails” will take place from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the museum located at 1450 El Prado in San Diego’s Balboa Park.
It will be centered around the museum’s newest exhibition: “Gauguin to Warhol: 20th Century Icons from the Albright-Knox Gallery,” which showcases some of the most iconic modern art through the 20th century.
To that end, the evening mixer – free for supporting museum members and $20 for non-members – will feature a pop art makeup station, a Warhol-style photo booth, arts crafts, Mod-themed treats and a Campbell’s Soup Bloody Mary craft cocktail.
Attendees are encouraged to come dressed in their Mod-best, including go-go boots or other stylish accessories. A DJ and go-go dance troupe will also provide entertainment at this 21+ event. Tickets are available here.
The San Diego Museum of Art’s “Culture & Cocktails” sundown events are held every few months, focused around different themes and exhibits.
Ebola victim Thomas Eric Duncan, who died Wednesday in Dallas after becoming the first person to be diagnosed with the deadly virus in the United States, had told doctors not to resuscitate him to prolong his life, the hospital that treated him said Thursday.
Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital detailed Duncan's care and death in a statement it released Thursday afternoon hoping to "correct misconceptions" about the much-scrutinized Ebola case and about Duncan's treatment.
Duncan died when his heart stopped at 7:51 a.m., the hospital said. He had told his doctor the care team "should not perform chest compressions, defibrillation or cardioversion to prolong his life," according to the hospital.
Because Duncan's blood type was not compatible with Fort Worth doctor Kent Brantly, he did not receive the same type of serum transfusion as an NBC News freelancer being treated for Ebola in Nebraska, the hospital said.
The hospital says Duncan was the first Ebola patient to receive the investigative antiviral drug Brincidofovir, and his doctors gave him the drug as soon as it could be obtained after consulting with experts across the country, the CDC and the FDA.
Some have questioned why Duncan did not receive the drug ZMapp, the hospital reiterated the drug was not available. According to the CDC and the drug manufacturer, it has not been available since Aug. 12, 2014.
Texas Health Presbyterian, which has come under fire from Duncan's family and others about his initial trip to the hospital, said it wanted to correct some misconceptions about his first visit.
"Our care team provided Mr. Duncan with the same high level of attention and care that would be given any patient, regardless of nationality or ability to pay for care. In this case that included a four-hour evaluation and numerous tests," the hospital said. "We have a long history of treating a multicultural community in this area."
The hospital said the team of 50 nurses and doctors who cared for him, as well as the entire Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas community, are grieving the loss of Duncan.
The president of the California Public Utilities Commission said Thursday that he will not seek reappointment when his term ends at the end of the year. Michael Peevey made the announcement amid criticism of improper and unethical dealings with Pacific Gas & Electric Co. while the CPUC was deciding the penalty for the deadly PG&E pipeline explosion in San Bruno four years ago.
Peninsula senator Jerry Hill and San Bruno Mayor Jim Ruane have long maintained that the CPUC is too cozy with utility companies it is supposed to regulate. On Thursday they held a press conference on the steps of the CPUC building in San Francisco to announce that Hill would introduce a measure to remove Peevey from his post should he be reappointed by Gov. Jerry Brown.
Moments after the news conference concluded, Peevey announced he would not seek a new term as the CPUC president and issued the following statement:
“I originally planned to make the following announcement at the CPUC’s regularly-scheduled Voting Meeting on October 16th, but instead I am moving the announcement to today to state that I will not seek reappointment to the CPUC when my term expires at the end of this year. Twelve years as President is enough. The Governor, of course, will make a decision as to my successor in due time.”
Peevey said he will address this decision at the Dec. 18 commission voting meeting—his last as president.
“Now we can try to build the Public Utilities Commission back to what it was designed to be and what its intended mission is and that’s public safety, safe utilities at a reasonable rate,” Hill said. “That’s their mission and they got sidestepped from that.”
A new batch of emails released this week by PG&E disclosed apparent quid pro quo arrangements between Peevey and a PG&E executive who was fired last month after a first set of emails showed improper communications between the CPUC and PG&E over the San Bruno case. The U.S. attorney’s office is now formally investigating the series of email exchanges detailing the discussions between the CPUC and PG&E.
“As far as I’m concerned it’s an arrogant situation that existed at the Public Utilities Commission,” Ruane said. “The head of that arrogance is gone and hopefully we’ll be able to go forward with an arm’s length relationship between the utility and the regulator.”
In a series of reports over the past two years the NBC Bay Area Investigative Unit has exposed the cozy relationship between the CPUC and regulated utility companies.
Last April NBC Bay Area cameras caught Peevey at a conference in wine country with representatives from utility companies instead of at a senate hearing in Sacramento. Hill requested Peevey’s presence at the hearing to answer questions about a confidential, internal report that criticized CPUC leaders for maintaining a too-close relationship with regulators and failing to make safety a priority.
In June 2013, before the CPUC was set to vote on the San Bruno penalty, the Investigative Unit uncovered that Peevey accepted an honor from a union that represents employees from PG&E and other utility companies. And, late last year NBC Bay Area found that Peevey accepted more than $165,000 worth of gifts and travel in six years from nonprofit and special interest groups funded by utility companies.
Hill said the issues exposed by NBC Bay Area, the pressure San Bruno city officials and lawmakers put on Peevey to step down and the recent email communications paint a very clear picture.
“The conclusion when you connect all the dots,” Hill said, “is the man had to go one way or another.”
NBC Bay Area's cameras found Peevey at a public speaking engagement in Los Angeles late Thursday afternoon where he said he had no comment.
If you have a tip for the Investigative Unit email theunit@nbcbayarea.com or call 888-996-TIPS.
A majority of Americans want a ban on incoming flights from West African countries experiencing an Ebola outbreak, an online survey for NBC News reveals.
The survey, conducted by SurveyMonkey and then weighted for age, race, sex, education and region to match U.S. Census data, found that 58 percent of Americans support the ban.
Twenty percent of respondents opposed a travel ban, and the rest said they didn’t know.
The survey was conducted a day before the first person diagnosed with Ebola inside the U.S. died Wednesday.
Beginning this week, CDC and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will screen people traveling from or through Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone at five major U.S. airports.
San Diego International Airport, known locally as Lindbergh Field, is not among them. Our airport is more of a destination airport than a hub.
The only carrier with a direct flight from Europe is British Airways, spokesperson Rebecca Bloomfield told NBC 7.
While the CDC is working hand in hand with other airports worldwide, Bloomfield said the organization has not contacted airport administrators here about the potential spread of the Ebola virus through air travel.
The airport does have an isolation area between Gates 21 and 22 in Terminal Two established years ago to corral any communicable disease.
Wednesday night Laura Johnson returned home from a business trip in Munich.
“I washed my hands at least six times if that helps and saved my little hand sanitizer,” Johnson said.
Johnson agrees the potential for panic is great but didn't get a sense of that from other passengers on her flight.
Rafi Feliciano just returned from two years teaching in Korea and said she experienced temperature sensors at an airport in China.
“I was making sure I hope I do not have a fever,” Feliciano recalled. “I don't want to be quarantined. I want to get home okay.”
One British Airlines flight arrives each day around dinner time from London Heathrow Airport. The average flight carries 320 passengers.
Under the new screening guidelines released Wednesday, an estimated 150 people would be checked each day at New York's JFK International and the international airports in Newark, Washington Dulles, Chicago and Atlanta.
Former "Saturday Night Live" cast member Jan Hooks has died, a representative for the actress confirmed to NBC News. She was 57.
Hooks was a cast member on "SNL" from 1986 to 1991 — memorably portraying people from Nancy Reagan to Hillary Clinton, Jodie Foster to Sinead O'Connor — and made cameos in the NBC sketch comedy show in cameos until 1994.
She later joined the cast of "Designing Women" during the '90s and guest-starred as Jenna's mom in an episode of "30 Rock" in 2010.
Details on her death were not immediately available.
Check back for details on this breaking news story.
October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and some San Diego restaurants are supporting the cause by offering menu items to raise funds for breast cancer charities. From drinks to dessert, here are some ways to dine locally with a purpose this month.
AVANT at Rancho Bernardo Inn (Rancho Bernado)
AVANT will raise awareness for breast cancer by donating $1 for every signature Dutch Mule sold throughout October. The drink uses pink grapefruit – the perfect, colorful touch for the cause. Patrons will also enjoy pops of pink throughout the venue this month, including pink holes, balls and flag sticks on the golf course that the restaurant overlooks.
Bang Bang (Downtown San Diego)
This popular downtown San Diego sushi spot will join in the fight against breast cancer this month by donating half of the proceeds from its “Hello Kitty Roll” to the Susan G. Komen Foundation. The specialty roll ($16) combines spicy tuna, shrimp tempura and avocado wrapped in pink soy paper with bay scallops, topped with tempura flakes with chili aioli and eel sauce.
Brockton Villa (La Jolla)
This La Jolla restaurant plans to donate $1 from each “Berry Parfait: Pinked Out” dessert to breast cancer research. The light, sweet treat mixes special house-made granola with strawberry Greek yogurt, fresh strawberries and raspberries, topped with locally-produced honey.
The Commons Bar (Downtown San Diego)
This Gaslamp Quarter bar will serve up a specialty cocktail for the cure this month: the Pink Palmer. The drink is a frozen blend of Seagram's Sweet Tea Vodka, Svedka Citron Vodka, lemonade and fresh lemon. The best part: $2 from every sale of the drink will be donated to the Susan G. Komen Foundation.
CUCINA Urbana (Banker’s Hill); CUCINA Enoteca (Del Mar); Fish Public (Kensington)
Throughout October, CUCINA Urbana and CUCINA Enoteca will donate $1for every bottle, carafe or glass of CUCINA private label wine to the Breast Cancer Angels organization. Meanwhile, Fish Public will donate $1 for every dessert ordered to the organization. As part of the #CUCINAgoesPINK event, all three restaurants are featuring a special Pink Dessert of pomegranate panna cotta, dragon fruit foam, pickled pomegranate seed, feuilletine and rose crystal.
Searsucker (San Diego, Del Mar) and Herringbone (La Jolla)
San Diego Chef Brian Malarkey’s restaurants have partnered with Cline Cellars to offer the Cashmere Blend throughout this month. The wine is available for $40 per bottle and $10 per glass at all three eateries and 100 percent of the proceeds from sales of the Cashmere Blend will be donated to the Susan G. Komen Foundation.
A trolley-like ride. Quicker. More reliable.
Those were the words used to describe a new rapid transit bus service that’s launching on Sunday that will connect San Diego State University to downtown San Diego.
City and transportation officials gathered Thursday for a ribbon cutting ceremony at the service’s median station at University Avenue and Park Boulevard, on the edge of the Hillcrest and North Park neighborhoods.
Starting Sunday, the Rapid 215 bus will provide service throughout the day, whisking passengers from the San Diego State University area to downtown in 10-minute frequencies with limited stops.
City officials lauded the project as an environmental boon and a more efficient option for those who don’t want to rely on their car to get downtown.
This is “not just a choice for people who don’t have cars, but a choice for people who do have cars,” said San Diego City Council President Todd Gloria.
The rapid transit bus is part of a $44 million project to improve transit service and the infrastructure in San Diego’s urban core.
“This is one of our key traffic corridors for the city,” San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer said. “This is going to be a benefit to North Park, City Heights and the college area.”
The new Rapid 215 is among several new rapid bus services launching around the county. In June, the Rapid 235 began service, connecting passengers from North County to downtown San Diego.
The Rapid 215 will run every 10 minutes during weekday rush hours and every 15 minutes during most non-rush hours and weekends.
Its stops include the San Diego Zoo, the Naval Medical Center and, in downtown, Horton Plaza and the courthouses.
For a full map of stops and those of other rapid transit services, click here.
Picking the perfect pumpkin is one of the most important decisions you make in October. Here are some places you can go gaga for gourds in the San Diego area.
Bates Nut Farm
15954 Woods Valley Rd., Valley Center
760-749-3333
Sept. 24 – Oct. 31
Each weekend at the Bates Nut Farm features special events like the Scarecrow Contest and the Costume Contest and Parade, in addition to food trucks and live music. Free Admission.
Lavender Hill Pumpkin Farm
1509 East Mission Rd., Fallbrook
760-715-8495
Sept. 27 – Oct. 31
For the true pumpkin enthusiast, Lavender Hill Pumpkin Farm grows over 35 types of pumpkins ranging from miniature varieties to ones weighing in at over 300 pounds. Free Admission.
Pumpkin Station
(Multiple dates and locations)
Bonita Pumpkin Farm: 5437 Bonita Road
Chula Vista: 900 Otay Lakes Rd.
Del Mar: 15555 Jimmy Durante Blvd.
El Cajon: 415 Parkway Plaza, Westfield Parkway parking lot Mission Valley: 1640 1/2 Camino Del Rio, Westfield Mission Valley parking lot
National City: 3030 Plaza Bonita Rd., Westfield Plaza Bonita parking lot
Rancho Bernardo Pumpkin Farm: 13421 Highland Valley Road
Sept. 26 –Nov. 2
With seven locations throughout the county, Pumpkin Station offers giant slides, games and other kiddie rides in addition to pumpkins. The Bonita and Rancho Bernardo locations even have an 8-foot-tall corn maze. Visit their website for a free Train Ride coupon.
Peltzer Farms
39925 Calle Contento, Temecula
951-695-1115
Sept. 28 – Oct. 31
The complete farm experience features pig races, a corn maze and a petting farm alongside homegrown pumpkins and squash. Free admission.
Oma’s Pumpkin Patch
14950 El Monte Rd., Lakeside
619-390-2929
Sept. 23 – Nov. 1 Tuesdays – Saturdays
Oma’s Pumpkin Patch gives each child a Jack Patch Pumpkin and admission to all activities, like the hay ride and the Hay Bale Maze. $8 per child, one adult free per paid child, $4 each additional adult.
Mountain Valley Ranch
842 Highway 78, Ramona
760-788-8703
Sept. 27 – Oct. 31
Mountain Valley Ranch also grows maize and popping corn and offers visitors a walk through the corn maze.
Suzie’s Farm
1856 Saturn Blvd., San Diego
619-662-1780
Saturdays in October beginning Oct. 4
Suzie’s Farm will host a Pumpkin U-Pick every Saturday in October, culminating in a Pumpkin Palooza on Oct. 18 that will feature live music and activities. Free admission.
Julian Mining Company
4444 State Hwy 78, Wynola/Julian
951-313-0166
Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays in October
The fall-themed Harvest Tour Package deal includes a hayride, cider press and petting zoo in addition to the pumpkin patch. $9 adult/$7 child Harvest Tour Package Deal.
Farm Stand West
Farm Stand West, 2115 Miller Ave., Escondido
760-738-9014
Fran's Original Farm Stand, 1980 Summit Dr., Escondido
760-504-0101
Sept. 30 – Oct. 31 closed Mondays
Two locations featuring a U-Pick patch, as well as a Fall Harvest Festival and Boutique on Oct. 25 and 26 that will host local artists and bakers
Summers Past Farms
15602 Olde Highway 80, El Cajon
619-390-1523
Oct. 1 – 31
The pumpkin patch at Summers Past Farms is open all week long with refreshments on the weekends. Enjoy!
Billionaire Microsoft founder Bill Gates has bought weight-loss magnate Jenny Craig’s horse training center in Rancho Sante Fe for $18 million.
"The family has enjoyed visiting the San Diego area with friends and family for many years and has purchased the Rancho Paseana property in Rancho Santa Fe, California," a spokesperson for the Gates family told NBC 7 in a statement.
Craig’s property, about 20 miles north of San Diego, is a thoroughbred training center. Gates’ teenage daughter jumps horses competitively; he already owns a home at the Del Mar Country Club.
The deal closed in mid-September, according to published reports.
The property encompasses 229 acres and has a seasonal stream and a premium 3/4-mile race track, according to the listing. It also includes a guesthouse and an office, an olive orchard, five barns and a veterinarian’s suite, according to reports in the Wall Street Journal.
It was originally listed for $30 million.
Last month, Gates topped Forbes’ list of the richest Americans for the 21st straight year.
San Diego homicide investigators arrested three suspects in a violent street fight that led to the death of a man described as a “happy-go-lucky” kid.
A 23-year-old man who lived on Ridgeview Drive in the Webster area of San Diego, died early Thursday as a result of several stab wounds to his torso, officials said.
The young man was a sweet, nice guy, neighbor Mitchell Vassilou told NBC 7.
“He helps me all the time. I do yard work or in my back yard,” Vassilou said. “Boy, he picks up stuff fast. He was just, just a nice kid.”
A fight broke out on the street between a group of men and women at approximately 11 p.m. Wednesday, San Diego police said.
Someone called 911 from the neighborhood located just north of State Route 94 and east of Interstate 805.
However, when officers arrived, they found the victim bleeding in the road. He was rushed to Mercy Hospital where he was pronounced dead hours later.
Officials said they don’t have a number of how many people were involved in the fight or what may have prompted the incident.
Thursday evening, investigators announced they had arrested three San Diego men: 26-year-old Monty Dashon Jackson, 35-year-old Marlin Wayne Jackson and 36-year-old Anthony Erten Hayes.
All suspects were booked into jail on murder charges.
With the city of San Diego poised to adopt tough water restrictions next month, it would seem many residents are already well aware of the upcoming changes.
So much, in fact, many San Diegans are already reporting water wasters among their neighbors and nearby businesses.
The city's Public Utilities department is reporting a big increase in complaints, and so is the water conservation group San Diego Coastkeeper.
“I would say those complaints have probably risen three or four times than what we normally see,” said Matt O’Malley, the organization's president.
He said he’s been flooded with emails including photographs of the offenders.
“We may not all see this in our daily lives, but when you start seeing all of these pictures come in, you realize how big of a problem it really is," he said.
NBC 7 has received similar emails, and the NBC 7 Facebook page has been seeing many posts complaining about excessive water use.
Some residents are using an app called Vizsafe to post videos and "drought shame" water wasters.
So what should you do if you see an offender? O’Malley suggests a face to face conversation. If that fails, he says call the local municipalities.
Most cities in San Diego County have adopted water restriction rules, but not all of them are the same. To find out the restrictions in your neighborhood check ACWA.com and click on the water information tab to find your local water agency.
The issue of whether to increase San Diego's drought level to a "Drought Alert" will soon go before the ctiy council.
If they vote to move to Level 2, restrictions that are now voluntary would become mandatory in an effort to cut water usage 20 percent.
The community’s generosity during the May firestorm is turning into new equipment for San Diego firefighters.
The San Diego Fire Rescue Foundation has donated $42,000 worth of new gear to the department. The money came from people and businesses who wanted to thank firefighters after a series wildfires ripped through the county earlier this year, according to Wendy Robinson with the foundation.
The equipment includes an air supply cart, which will provide oxygen to firefighters when they go into confined spaces, and six pediatric rescue carriers. Until now, the department only had rescue carriers for adults.
“When we encounter pediatric emergencies that require the helicopter to perhaps hoist someone along with the paramedic, we really had no capability to safely do that for our smallest patients,” Fire Chief Javier Mainar said.
Firefighters also received 15 new iPads.
“During the wildfires, one of the biggest challenges we faced was providing (our team) with situational awareness,” Mainar said.
“The iPads will allow us to use mapping programs that will provide that common operating picture for everyone,” he added.
The San Diego Fire Rescue Foundation raises money for firefighting equipment and training that aren’t in the city’s budget. The air supply cart, pediatric rescue carriers and iPads came from the department’s wish list.
Firefighters demonstrated the new equipment Thursday at Station 10 in the College Area. The event was part of Fire Prevention Week.
The family of a 48-year-old San Diego killed in a hit and run last week is pleading for the driver responsible to come forward.
Glenn Tanida was dragged several hundred feet in the collision on Sept. 30 in the 7000 block of Appian Drive in Bay Terraces.
Investigators seized a vehicle of interest – a plum-colored semi truck -- to perform evidence testing on in connection to the hit and run.
Tanida’s brother, Andy, is calling for the driver to identify himself and come forward to police.
The family who called police said they noticed something fishy about the semi truck, which they had seen numerous times before.
“It looks like it was painted and he moved down his labeling, like he moved it down on the cab,” said a family member who did not wish to be identified.
The family member also said that blood matter, tissue and a T-shirt was found underneath the cab of the truck.
Investigators have not yet made any arrests in the case, though they say they have talked to the owner.
It could take weeks for the crime lab to process the crime scene evidence.
A 24-year-old man is accused of exposing himself in front of a Chula Vista elementary school, according to police.
The alleged exposure happened around 8:45 a.m. Thursday at McMillin Elementary School on Santa Cora Avenue.
After receiving several 911 calls, officers discovered Justine Sison in the bathroom of a nearby restaurant. Sison tried to punch the officers as they arrested him, but they weren’t injured, according to police.
The suspect faces charges of felony resisting arrest with violence, possession of marijuana and indecent exposure.
McMillin Elementary sent a letter home to parents about the incident. Police do not believe any students saw the man exposing himself.
Senators Bill Nelson (D-FL) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) sounded the alarm Thursday in Miami Beach about the potentially crippling effects that climate change and rising sea levels could have on the city, accusing skeptics of “avoiding reality.”
At a Thursday news conference, Nelson warned that if no action is taken, massive and expensive infrastructure projects – like the one that gave Miami Beach a new system of underground pumps to combat tides – could “be our future.”
Senators Nelson and Whitehouse came to Miami Beach as the king tide rolled into South Florida, a phenomenon when the sun and moon exact a powerful pull on the earth to threaten city streets. It used to mean about a foot of water on Purdy Avenue in Miami Beach, but thanks to a $15 million investment by the city in several permanent underground pumps, the street is dry.
"What we're gonna have to do on the coast of Florida, spend millions of dollars with pumping and trying to keep out salt water intrusion — that's gonna be our future," said Nelson, a veteran Democrat who grew up across Biscayne Bay from the site of Thursday's news conference.
Over the past 50 years, the sea level has risen five to eight feet in South Florida, Nelson said. "And that will continue to rise," he added, "unless we change the way we are treating this home we call planet earth."
Seventy-five percent of Florida's population lives near the coast. Sea level rise threatens the entire state, but its effects are seen most acutely right now, right here.
"We're really standing here at ground zero. There's just about nowhere else on the planet where there's more at risk from sea level rise so fast," said prominent marine researcher Dr. Mike Heithaus, who is dean of FIU's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
The Union of Concerned Scientists released a map this week showing if seas continue to rise at projected levels, much of the west side of Miami Beach will be underwater by 2045.
Sen. Nelson was asked, “What do you say to your colleagues, so many of whom, including the governor of this state, don't seem to believe the science involved here?”
"Well, they're avoiding reality," Nelson replied.
Sen. Whitehouse, a Democrat from Rhode Island, leads a Senate task force on climate change.
"By the way, 90 percent of the heat from climate change has gone into the oceans. There's no debate about that," Whitehouse said. "And unless you want to repeal the law of thermal expansion, the sea level's gonna continue to rise."
Speaking as students from Mast Academy at FIU tested the bay's waters behind them, both coastal state senators said every nation needs to cut carbon emissions.
Pumps and sea walls, they say, will eventually not be enough to hold back the sea. Climate change must be fought at its source.
EPA administrator Gina McCarthy, who was also in attendance, agrees.
"The time for action is now. The president has called for it, EPA is taking it," said McCarthy. "Folks, how are we going to pump our way out of this challenge if we don't start now to take action to mitigate the release of carbon emission pollution which is fueling this changing climate?"
Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine said the bay and the ocean aren't Republicans or Democrats. Everyone is affected by rising sea levels, and everything must be done to fight climate change.
He said his city's efforts are just beginning, and he plans on spending up to $500 million on pumps all over Miami Beach in the coming years.
A new luxury hotel, boasting a rooftop pool, beer hall and two restaurants, broke ground this week right in the middle of the Gaslamp Quarter.
Construction crews started Wednesday on Pendry San Diego, a 12-story, 317-room hotel developed by Robert Green.
Bordered by Fifth and Sixth avenues along J Street, Pendry will try to capitalize on tourists seeking to stay in the heart of San Diego’s action.
Green hopes to make the new hotel into a food and night life destination downtown.
“A development of this caliber, which will provide so many important jobs and economic benefits to the community, has not been undertaken in downtown San Diego for many years,” he said.
Pendry will feature a lounge, spa, fitness room and plenty of meeting space, in addition to the beer hall and restaurants.
But eager guests will have a while to wait. The new hotel does not open until 2016.
Robert Green's company has ventured into the hotel realm before by building the Park Hyatt Resort Aviara.
Pendry San Diego will be managed by Montage Hotels and Resorts, which runs hotels in Laguna Beach, Beverly Hills and Hawaii.