San Diego-area transit officials will step up bus and trolley service on the coast today to help Fourth of July celebrants get around.
The transit system is also offering a special promotion for the holiday – riders who pay a regular fare or use a pass can bring along a friend at no extra charge.
Five bus routes operated by the Metropolitan Transit System – 8, 9, 27, 30 and 901 – will include more frequent runs as they pass through Mission Beach, Pacific Beach, La Jolla and Coronado. Other bus routes will operate today on a Sunday schedule.
The San Diego Trolley will also run on a less-frequent Sunday schedule, although MTS will add extra trips late in the evening for those watching fireworks. More information is available at www.sdmts.com. –S.S.
Coalition needs helpers to clean up beaches, park
Leaders of some environmental organizations, community groups and government agencies have formed a coalition to reduce the amount of trash left at beaches over the Fourth of July weekend.
Yesterday, the San Diego Clean Beach Coalition placed trash and recycling containers at Pacific, Mission and Ocean beaches, as well as in Mission Bay Park.
Employees for the city of San Diego will pick up the containers on Independence Day and afterward.
Also, the coalition will sponsor two cleanups at Belmont Park in Mission Beach – 8 to 11 a.m. tomorrow and 9 a.m. to noon Monday.
More information about the coalition can be found at cleansd.org.
In addition, the San Diego chapter of the Surfrider Foundation will hold its annual Morning After Mess Cleanup Day from 8 to 11 a.m. tomorrow. That event will encompass six beaches from Oceanside to Ocean Beach. Details are available at surfridersd.org. –M.L.
Permanent border passes will go into effect Sept. 9
Participants taking part in a temporary SENTRI pedestrian-lane program, along with regular border crossers who travel on foot, are being encouraged to sign up for regular SENTRI passes as the pedestrian lane becomes permanent on Sept. 9.
According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, SENTRI participants will be able to use both the designated vehicle lanes and the designated pedestrian lane, which will be the nation's first. About 5,000 participants enrolled in an experimental program that tested demand for a pedestrian SENTRI lane. These participants must now sign up for regular passes to continue using the program, according to the agency.
It takes six to eight weeks to process applications for the program. The fee is $122.25. Prospective participants may apply by visiting cbp.gov/travel. –L.B.
2 additional ambulances tapped for busy weekend
SAN DIEGO: San Diego Medical Services Enterprise will staff an additional two ambulances in the city of San Diego to meet the increase in emergency medical calls over the Fourth of July weekend, officials said.
With the additional ambulances, the city will have 31 ambulances available throughout the weekend.
Last year, SDMSE responded to 325 emergency medical calls on July Fourth, a record high in San Diego.
“Historically, July Fourth is the busiest day of the year for ambulance transports,” SDMSE spokesman Michael Simonsen said.
SDMSE is the city of San Diego's ambulance provider. For more information, go to SDMSE.com. –T.M.
Tax seminar at USD is for nonprofit groups
SAN DIEGO: State Controller John Chiang and Assemblywoman Lori Saldaña will host a tax seminar for nonprofits Monday at the University of San Diego.
The free, daylong event is designed to teach nonprofit executives about employment taxes, charity law and other subjects. The seminar is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. at the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice at USD.
For information or to reserve a seat, call (213) 833-6010 or go to sco.ca.gov. –J.M.
Councilman seeks update to Mission Trails plan
SAN DIEGO: San Diego City Councilman Jim Madaffer, chairman of the Mission Trails Regional Park Task Force, is seeking city funding to update the park's 23-year-old master plan before he is termed out of office in December.
A master plan update would outline any future changes and improvements for the 5,800-acre recreational haven. The plan was last updated in 1985.
Madaffer is proposing to allocate $200,000 for the first phase of the update, on top of the $70,000 previously designated.
He is also recommending $309,000 be spent to build restrooms at the equestrian staging area off state Route 52's Mast Boulevard exit near Santee. The proposed allocations need approval from the City Council.
Madaffer wants a memorandum of understanding to be signed between the city and Mission Trails Regional Park Task Force that would spell out the master plan update process and a timeline for completing the work. –H.G.
Arts and humanities dean is appointed at UCSD
LA JOLLA: A new dean of arts and humanities has been named at University of California San Diego.
Seth Lerer, a professor of English and comparative literature at Stanford University who previously served as director of undergraduate students in English at Princeton, will begin in January. Lerer is widely recognized for his research in medieval and Renaissance studies, comparative studies, the history of scholarship and children's literature. –T.S.
Staff writers Steve Schmidt, Mike Lee, Leslie Berestein, Tony Manolatos, Jeff McDonald, Helen Gao and Tanya Sierra contributed to this report.
