DOWNTOWN’S COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER www.SDNEWS.com Volume 11, Number 4
APRIL 2009
San Diego Community Newspaper Group
Unkindest cut Two of a kind
As the Padres launch a new era, another franchise celebrates its own By MARTIN JONES WESTLIN
COURTESY KELLY HUTCHISON | DOWNTOWN NEWS
We all can relate to our first haircut–but years later, here’s your chance to see what poor li’l you might have looked like on the day of reckoning. The rendering was part of the second annual Gaslamp Art Showcase, a juried exhibit that took place Sunday, March 29 at various locations in Downtown’s Gaslamp Quarter. Some 5,000 were expected at the event, designed as a discovery tool on behalf of the historic neighborhood and its businesses. For more information on the Quarter, see gaslamp.org.
You can all come out now. Seriously. The recession—the bane of this country’s existence since the fall of 2007, the many-headed monster that’s fueled such anger at the business sector’s crimes against humanity— has run its course. The conclusive proof isn’t in the recent gains on Wall Street or the big jump in February housing starts. It has its genesis, of all places, at Petco Park, home of the San Diego Padres. Jeff Moorad, the new Padres CEO and central figure in the club’s much-anticipated turnaround, has pledged that affordability, even in these bleak fiscal times, will become the cornerstone of the local baseball experience. Scott Kaplan thinks this is an “extremely cool” thing. He said so on his Friday, March 27 radio show, the day after the Padres introduced Moorad to the outside world at a press conference. His enthusiasm echoed Moorad’s in its infectiousness—if he’s this jazzed about the new era taking shape in the East Village, imagine his delight when the recession finally does take its leave. But first things first. The Padres’ 40th campaign happens to coincide with the eighth anniversary of “The Scott & BR Show,” marked yesterday, April 1, at Downtown’s The Tilted Kilt sports pub. It’s not like many kilts were tilting at that point—the program airs on AM’s XEPRS, branded locally as “XX 1090,” from 5 to 9 a.m. But from the sounds of things, Kaplan and partner Billy
Sound ideas: Airport Authority may get FAA’s OK to implement D’town noise reduction programs BY SEBASTIAN RUIZ | DOWNTOWN NEWS
Hundreds of planes overhead every day make life in parts of Downtown a little earsplitting at times. And as residents get used to the idea that the San Diego International Airport will operate at Lindbergh Field for the foreseeable future, the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority is looking for ways to make things a bit easier on the ears. Over the last several months, the
Airport Authority has ramped up its efforts to reach out to the community for feedback on how to reduce overall airport noise. It’s come up with a list of mitigation procedures as part of a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) noise study called Part 150. Airport Authority representatives unveiled the noise-reducing measures Tuesday, March 10, during an airport noise workshop at Lindbergh field offices. “We put together the elements
that we feel that would be relevant to further mitigating [noise] and sent them to the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration),” said Dan Frazee, deputy director of airport noise mitigation. “Whether these elements will decrease the noise for individuals living within the noise [-affected area] is the criteria that the FAA will use in deciding whether to approve them.” If the FAA approves the Part 150 SEE SOUND, Page 3
Ray Smith didn’t seem to notice, much less balk at the early hour. Padres broadcast coanchors Jerry Coleman and Ted Leitner; field manager Bud Black; first baseman Adrian Gonzales; USC football coach Pete Carroll; ex-Charger Junior Seau; the Great Friends band of supporters: Everybody’s the focus of a testosterone-driven love-fest this morning, punctuated by trademark sound bites on Councilmember Donna Frye’s supposed untruthfulness and one caller’s alleged relationship with a sheep. “You can’t just say ‘sausage in the pocket’ and let the thing go. You have to explain that,” Smith quips to former Chargers quarterback Drew Brees, adding that Brees holds SEE TWO OF A KIND, Page 5
COURTESY PHOTO
Co-host Billy Ray Smith, left, muzzles Scott Kaplan, anchor of morning radio’s “The Scott & BR Show.” The pair celebrated an unlikely eight years together on Wednesday, April 1.
City borrows $103 million for deferred maintenance work The city has borrowed $103 million for capital improvements, including funds for fixes at Downtown police headquarters and Balboa Park. The city will pay Bank of America 3.9 percent interest on the loan through June of next year. The city plans to refinance the debt publicly by then prior to an interest rate increase. This is significant in that the city had been reeling from a poor bond rating for years. The city faces a $1 billion deferred maintenance bill Balboa Park’s parking lots will be resurfaced with $2.5 million of the funds, while $750,000 will go toward resealing the windows at Downtown police headquarters. The Old Globe Theatre elevator will be upgraded at a cost of $100,000. Work is scheduled to begin in August. — from staff reports