News and other links from San Diego

It’s been a while since I had a roundup of interesting news and other titbits that caught my eye. Below is a listing of some of the stories that did. Please leave a comment listing other stories that caught your attention.

• The San Diego County Bicycle Summit will be held this weekend at the Omni Hotel in downtown San Diego.
• La Jolla’s streets are dangerous to ride on and Residents for Torrey Pines Safety is working to make it safer for all its users.
• The new District 9 has two candidates running for a seat at City Council. They were asked what they intended to do to ensure the safety of bicyclists in their district and both Marti Emerald  and Mateo Camarillo had some ideas.
• Diane Yee’s paper on the sub-par bicycling mode share in San Diego was featured in the Union Tribune.
• Sales tax revenue increased over the past 18 months. This means that bicycle projects now have more funding as they are, in part, funded by Transnet.
• Lakeside will soon get its first “wheel friendly” park that will be open to skateboarders and bike riders of all ages.
• Solana Beach approves new off-street parking manual which includes parking accommodations for bicycles prompted by a letter from Douglas Alden, Solana Beach’s bicycle and pedestrian advisory committee chair.
• The city of San Diego is finally starting to count the number of bicyclists in the city in order to better accommodate them.
• Even though the House again failed to take action and instead voted to extend the Federal Transportation Bill by 90 days here is a writeup by Edward T. McMahon on why bicycle belong.
• Gas prices are projected to go even higher. The San Diego County Bicycle Coalition has a solution to solve your gas expense woes.
• Rady Children’s Hospital finally acknowledges the benefits of bicycling as a way to get some exercise. I hope they will now redesign their hospital to make it friendly and pleasant to actually ride to.
• SDSU re-evaluates whether skateboarders will be allowed on the campus’ bike lanes.
• Steve Atkinson, co-anchor at San Diego’s ABC affiliate, KGTV, talks about the joy he derives from his daily rides before heading into work. Maybe one of these years he’ll decide to actually ride to work in a suit and be a source of even greater inspiration.
• Rear Adm. Dixon Smith, who assumed command of the service’s Southwest region in December, rides to work everyday. Perhaps this will inspire the rest of the base to do the same.
• David Grant writes about his memories of riding around San Diego in the early 60s and about getting his bicycle stolen on the day JFK showed up in town.
• Carlsbad City Council approves a $242,000 contract with Urban Place Consulting Group that will help realize Carlsbad’s  vision to make the village “a family-friendly destination that is both pedestrian and bicycle oriented—a place where people’s jobs, homes and recreation are within a short walk of each other.”
• A group of tea-party members angry about a (supposed) United Nations plot to make Escondido more livable disrupted a meeting earlier this month. I was unaware that U.N. members rode their bicycles to their meetings to discuss world matters but am happy that the U.N. is foisting their vision for a more humane world on the City of Escondido.
• Not everyone is happy about the Bayshore Bikeway. Two individuals claiming to represent the interests of Barrio Logan wrote a letter to the Union Tribune to express that anger.
• The Encinitas Farmers’ Market will offer incentives to all patrons who bike to the market
• Chula Vista’s Bonita Vista Middle School releases a guide to encourage students to bike to school [pdf link].
• Nathan Fletcher’s plan to make San Diego the world’s most bike friendly city didn’t come without some criticism.
• Adam Pollack writes about the importance of having complete, integrated bicycle infrastructure if San Diego wants to up its game in attracting more riders.
• The two men accused of killing Jordan Hickey plead not guilty
• The firefighters who picked a fight with two bicyclists last month have been jailed.
• The San Diego Reader has a writeup on electric bicycles.
• The San Diego Gay and Lesbian News profiles Carin Scheinin who will be riding the AIDS/LifeCycle bike ride.
• Registration is open for the Chula Vista BMX Supercross World Cup