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Continued advances in internet technology

make it a viable option for  high-speed internet

Viasat Report by Jane Reuter

More than a third of the world’s population — nearly 3 billion people — have never been online. Because satellite internet can reach almost anywhere, it is perfectly designed to deliver broadband speeds to many areas throughout the U.S. and worldwide, even in unserved and underserved regions. Plus, Viasat has been hard at work on a revolutionary new type of satellite constellation designed to make broadband services available globally over the next few years.

And while satellite internet has been helping fill connectivity gaps for decades, changes in technology and the ability to build satellites with far greater capacity make it a great choice for consumers throughout the U.S., not just in rural and remote locations where cable and fiber can’t or won’t go.

Here’s a look at what satellite internet is, where it’s going, and how it has the capability to connect the unconnected around the globe.

Satellite internet is interent access delivered through a wireless connection created by signals transmitted between a satellite and an antenna (or dish) on a home or business. Unlike land-based internet services such as fiber, cable, or DSL, it doesn’t rely on wires to transmit data. It’s also different from wireless networks like LTE or 5G, which depend on nearby towers for connectivity. Notably, satellite internet can also be used at a temporary location like a construction site or emergency shelter, or on moving objects like aircraft, ships, trains, and more.

What are the benefits of satellite internet?

For one, its vast coverage. Satellite internet can be used just about anywhere, providing a high-quality connection to more places than nearly any other type of service. That includes off-the-grid locations with no other options, and rural and remote sites that otherwise would have limited options or poor connectivity. Of course, for applications such as aircraft or ships, it’s just about the only way to gain a connection.

Top Image courtesy of Viasat

Home builders can now apply for affordable housing incentives in the City of San Diego’s beach communities following action by the California Coastal Commission to certify the city’s Complete Communities program in the Coastal Overlay Zone.

Complete Communities includes planning strategies that create incentives to build homes near transit, provide more mobility choices and enhance opportunities for places to walk, bike, relax and play. 

Complete Communities: Housing Solutions is an opt-in program that incentivizes the construction of affordable and market rate homes in multi-family and mixed-used commercial areas located near transit. At the same time, it aims to invest in neighborhood amenities such as parks and plazas. 

In order to participate and receive project incentives, developers must provide a minimum of 40 percent of the homes available to moderate, low, and very low income residents; replace any existing affordable units that are removed; construct a promenade or pay into a fund for neighborhood amenities; and meet other requirements that help achieve the city’s Climate Action Plan (CAP) goals.

By Dave Schwab, sdnews.com

Opponents of removing the 30 feet height limit in Midway District have filed a new lawsuit claiming the city failed to comply with updating an environmental impact report before the measure could be voted on. The lawsuit was filed on Aug. 31 by Save Our Access. The suit responds to a second measure placed on the Nov. 8 ballot, which asks for a re-vote on lifting the current Midway 30-feet height limit.

“This (removing height limit) is not about the sports arena,” said John McNab, SOA spokesperson. “This is about cramming 150,000 to 250,000 (projected build-out of the sports arena, NAVWAR, and other housing projects) people into Midway, which will wreck traffic and the quality of life for everybody while denying people access to the coast. They’re (City) playing games and lying to the public. This is called getting Shanghaied.”

In November 2020, nearly 57 percent of San Diego voters supported Measure E, which would have removed the 30 feet Coastal Height Limit within the Midway-Pacific Highway Community Plan area. However, Judge Katherine Bacal ruled the City failed to do an updated Environmental Impact Report prior to placing Measure E on the ballot, which led to a redo of the ballot measure.

Dr. David Brenner, who spent 15 years as vice chancellor for health sciences at UC San Diego, has been named the next president and chief executive officer for Sanford Burnham Prebys. He will assume his new role on Sept. 14.

At UC San Diego, Brenner guided the nearly $2 billion expansion of health sciences that included the opening of the Jacobs Medical Center and the Altman Clinical and Translational Research Institute, where scientists try to speed research discoveries into new drugs and therapies.

He also led the development of the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science, centered on justice, equity, diversity and inclusion in its approach to public health research, education and service.

Brenner is a leader in the field of liver research and is widely respected for his work advancing laboratory discoveries to the clinic setting.

At Sanford Burnham Prebys, he will continue his research on fibrotic liver disease and liver cancer, using this as the foundation for preventing and treating liver disease. Brenner is a former editor-in-chief of Gastroenterology, the premier journal in the field.

Better Business Bureau Serving the Pacific Southwest (BBB) has named five winning companies for its 2022 BBB Torch Awards for Ethics in San Diego County. The award honors businesses that go above and beyond to operate with integrity and raise awareness about marketplace trust.

1. The Educated Pet: Category I winner (1 to 5 employees)

2. The Law Offices of David P. Shapiro, San Diego Criminal Defense Attorneys: Category II winner (6 to 10 employees)

3. Santee Lakes Recreation Preserve: Category III winner (11 to 50 employees)

4. Optima Office: Category IV winner (51 to 150 employees)

5. Anderson Plumbing, Heating & Air: Category V winner (151+ employees)

Frontier Airlines to add seasonal nonstop flights

between Orlando, Fla. and San Diego

Frontier Airlines will add seasonal nonstop service between Orlando, Fla. via Orlando International Airport (MCO) and San Diego International Airport between Nov. 5, 2022, and Jan. 3, 2023. Flights will operate daily between the two destinations. The flights were last offered by Frontier Airlines in March and April 2021. 

 With the addition of the seasonal Orlando route, Frontier Airlines offers nonstop service to four other destinations – Dallas, Texas, Denver, Colo., Las Vegas, and Phoenix. To view schedules, fares, and flight times, visit flyfrontier.com. 

The Registrar of Voters is seeking poll workers for the Nov. 8 Statewide General Election. Poll workers play an essential role in elections and can serve their community while earning $16 per hour.

Under the Voter’s Choic Act,  vote centers replace traditional polling places. Vote centers are open throughout the county for an extended period before Election Day. Rather than a single day of service, poll workers are now needed to staff vote centers up to 11 days in the two weeks before Election Day.

English speakers who are bilingual in Arabic, Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, Laotian, Persian, Somali, Spanish or Vietnamese are also needed.

• Attending a two-day, paid poll worker training

• Opening/closing a vote center

To be a poll worker, you must apply online. 

The University of San Diego (USD) named Sahmie S. Wytewa as the new Tribal Liaison for the university’s Center for Inclusion and Diversity. 

Sahmie is Piikyasngyam (corn clan), a member of the Hopi Tribe from the village of Misongnovi in Second Mesa, Ariz. Wytewa’s role will build on USD’s mission and vision to strengthen partnerships and programming in support of Native-Indigenous students and communities. Some of Wytewa’s goals are to show up authentically for Native-Indigenous students and faculty and also to connect with local tribal nations.

“One of the goals of the Center for Inclusion and Diversity is to create a campus culture that celebrates diversity and inclusive excellence,” said Regina Dixon Reeves, vice provost for diversity, equity and inclusion and the director of the Center for Inclusion and Diversity. “Sahmie Wytewa’s work within the Office of Tribal Liaison will be a great compliment to the work being done within the Center for Inclusion and Diversity, while growing our connection with our Native-Indigenous communities.”

The American Council on Exercise (ACE) announced an expansion of its health coaching education and training via the acquisition of the Dr. Sears Wellness Institute (DSWI). DSWI will join ACE as part of a new division, ACE Health and Wellness. 

“We are proud to be joining forces with DSWI to grow the field of health coaching,” said Cedric X. Bryant, ACE president and chief science officer. “DSWI has an outstanding reputation and is well respected in allied health and healthcare, where there is tremendous growth opportunity for lifestyle behavior change education and training.” 

Bryant will oversee the new ACE Health and Wellness division with former President and CEO of DSWI, Bob Hodgin. Hodgin will lead day-to-day operations as ACE health and wellness executive vice president.  

“DSWI is proud to join a mission-driven organization like ACE who has been committed to health and wellness coaching for over twenty years,” said Hodgin. 

The Senate Rules Committee has appointed Frank Robinson and Paulina Gonzalez-Brito to the CalAccount Blue Ribbon Commission. The statute creating this new committee includes specific requirements for the appointees; Gonzalez-Brito fills the position for a public banking advocate and Robinson fills the position for an individual with banking expertise.

 “Frank Robinson and Paulina Gonzalez-Brito bring decades of much-needed experience in banking issues, especially in underserved communities, to the commission,” said Senate President Pro Tempore Toni Atkins, committee chair.

Frank Robinson is the managing director and diverse markets executive for corporate social responsibility at MUFG (Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc.) Union Bank. Paulina Gonzalez-Brito is the chief executive officer of the California Reinvestment Coalition. 

After recently completing the first phase of an $88 million renovation, upgrading and refurbishing 97,000 square feet of meeting space, Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina announced a collaboration with Orange County’s Brewery X as part of the new culinary programming being created at the resort. The resort will be the first Brewery X restaurant in San Diego and will open as Brewery X Harbor Island in 2023. 

Brewery X, whose motto is Brew Local, Drink Social, will start out as a poolside pop-up during summer weekends and then move into the lobby lounge during the winter months. 

Brewery X’s genesis started from San Diego where CEO Clayton Wellbank and Chief Brewing Officer Trevor Walls met at San Diego State University when Trevor was brewing out of his garage in Ocean Beach. 

University Credit Union (UCU) has formed a partnership with UC San Diego by providing one-on-one consultations on campus, financial education and workshops, student internships, sponsorship of athletic and alumni events, and the establishment of the Staff Association Scholarship Fund to provide financial aid to employees pursuing professional development activities. The partnership will also include the opening of a UCU advisory center in the Price Center, six new ATMs across campus, as well as co-branded UC San Diego credit cards and UC San Diego Athletics debit cards.

“As an organization that prioritizes the success of all higher ed institutions in California, we are honored to have this opportunity to partner with another important institution,” said David Tuyo II, CEO and president of UCU. “The values between UCU and UC San Diego are perfectly aligned and I believe that we can make a real difference in meeting the financial needs of our Triton community.”

Cue Health Inc., a San Diego health care technology company, has appointed David Tsay, M.D. , as its chief medical officer. Tsay comes to Cue with more than 20 years of experience in clinical medicine, research, and health technology. Most recently, Tsay served at Apple, where he led an Apple Health clinical team in developing new health products, including FD-cleared products in cardiovascular health.

As Chief Medical Officer, Tsay will help define future Cue diagnostic products and services. He will also lead engagement across a wide range of health care stakeholders, driving communication, collaboration, and ecosystem alignment in support of Cue’s health care initiatives.

Prior to Apple, Tsay served as associate chief transformation officer at New York-Presbyterian, one of the nation’s most comprehensive academic health care delivery systems. 

 Investors, analysts, and other interested parties may view a live webcast of the Innovation Roadmap session of the Illumina Genomics Forum on Sept. 29, which will be hosted by Francis deSouza, chief executive officer, and Alex Aravanis, chief technology officer of the company. The session will be held from 9-10 a.m. 

On the same day, from 11:30 a.m. to noon, Francis deSouza, Joydeep Goswami, chief strategy and corporate development officer and nterim chief financial officer, and Alex Aravanis, chief technology officer, will host a conference call with analysts, investors, and other interested parties to discuss the Innovation Roadmap session and address questions. 

Interested parties may access the live webcast of the Innovation Roadmap session of the Illumina Genomics Forum through the Investor Info section of Illumina’s website at investor.illumina.com. Individuals may access the live investor conference call with Illumina management through the same page 

Neomorph Inc.,  a San Diego venture-backed biotechnology company, announced the appointment of Bell Zhong as the company’s chief financial officer. Zhong brings to Neomorph more than 17 years of investment banking and corporate finance leadership experience in the health care and life sciences sector.

Zhong joins Neomorph from Raymond James where he was a managing director covering the biotechnology sector, responsible for advising companies of all stages of development on a wide array of financing and strategic transactions. Prior to Raymond James, Zhong spent over 13 years at J.P. Morgan Securities, where most recently he served as executive director in the firm’s leading Healthcare Investment Banking practice. To-date, Zhong has advised on over $100 billion of strategic transactions including mergers and acquisitions, spin-offs, divestitures, and licensing as well as more than $35 billion of equity and equity-linked capital markets transactions. He received his Bachelor of Finance & Accounting degree from New York University Leonard N. Stern School of Business.

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