If you dropped the scorecard, it may help to note that U.S. Bancorp CEO John Grundhofer's appetite for a California network does have its limits. His $155 million offer for Scripps Bank parent Scripps Financial Corp., or $22.01 per share just before disclosing the deal, is about twice Scripps Bank's book value. That's the weakest premium that Grundhofer has paid in San Diego. Peninsula Bank sold for 3.5 times book and Bank of Commerce at an unprecedented 5.0 times book. Then again, the dive in U.S. Bancorp's stock price has diminished the gains of BofC and Peninsula shareholders to a level closer to Scripps' shareholders' premium.

Seven Scripps officers and directors will make out; as a group they owned 2.17 million shares, or 31.3 percent of the common, at year-end 1999. Chairman Bill Nelson held 578,068 shares or 8.3 percent of the total. Alfred B. Salganick held 7.1 percent. Chris McKellar held 4.1 percent. The Thomas W. Sefton Trust was the largest holder at 10.2 percent. CEO Ron Carlson's and CFO Catherine Wright's holdings were modest.

Minneapolis-based Grundhofer is picking up assets of $650 million, enough reason for more visits to San Diego. Carlson, 65; banking executive v.p. Doug Evans, 52; and trust executive v.p. Rich Roncaglia, 50 are set with continuing "leadership positions" in the merged operations, but a shudder went through Scripps' talent pool when the U.S. Bank deal was disclosed. (Rumors had circulated that Wells Fargo was conducting due diligence before the U.S. Bank announcement.) U.S. Bank's need for Scripps' 275 employees is less than its need for Peninsula and Bank of Commerce employees, where some seasoned executives and staff have departed, depleting the ranks of familiar faces and community contacts. The Peninsula office in Downtown, for instance, is being closed and merged into the old BofC/U.S Bank office across Kettner Boulevard in One America Plaza. What to do with the Scripps office across the lobby from Peninsula? Similar overlaps exist in La Jolla and elsewhere.

U.S. Bank, which currently is replacing Peninsula signs, now operates 17 offices in San Diego County and 140 in California totaling $5.5 billion in deposits, still smaller than San Diego-based California Bank & Trust. Scripps will add nine offices when the deal closes in the fourth quarter.

U.S. Bank reportedly is looking at Beverly Hills-based City National Bank, too.

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Meanwhile, banker emeritus Peter Q. Davis, first to sell out to U.S. Bank and unable to stay still in semi-retirement, says he's not backing off his endorsement of Dick Murphy for San Diego mayor, despite being "disappointed in Dick's lack of support of Downtown and the ballpark in particular." Davis chaired CCDC, was among the architects of the ballpark deal. "I remain convinced that the No. 1 factor in selecting a mayor should be character; Dick is a man of character," says Davis, who endorsed Murphy immediately upon conceding to his own third-place defeat in the February primary. "I don’t know where Dick's getting his advice, but it’s bad regarding Downtown."

Murphy opposed the City Council's most recent authorization of a $10 million increment to be spent on the project. Roberts called for the Padres to match the city's spending. The Padres put up $20 million.

Says Davis of Roberts, "His support of the ballpark is extremely vague and hard to follow. With Dick, you know what you’re getting. I hope he changes his mind on Downtown."

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Scott Wilson has bailed out of Peninsula Bank and joined Bank of Coronado.See Metro Movers.

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Leon Reinhart puts First National Bank's profit in perspective. See Darts & Letters.

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Walker Digital, the $500 million business invention company that created Priceline.com, has opened up its West Coast office in Carlsbad. Jeff Stiefler, former president of American Express, runs the show as its president.

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Operating from offices on Columbia Street in Downtown San Diego, Bay Logics Inc. says its real estate software is now being used to manage more than 5 billion square feet of leased or owned properties. The software also is managing more than $100 billion in lease related expenses annually. "We were able to achieve this enviable record because of the significant cost savings realized by our more than 280 clients, many of whom are the leading multi-unit operating companies in the United States," says Sam Borges, president and CEO of Bay Logics. Customers include Sears, Starbucks and Staples.

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San Diego construction was valued at more than $4.3 billion during 1999, making it the strongest year of the decade, reports the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce. The chamber's Economic Research Bureau says the inflation adjusted value of building in 1999 represents the highest amount of construction since 1989. The latest boom differs from the '80s, which was larger and characterized by sprawl; this one is more of a "building up" within existing areas, the bureau says.

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The North American Native Bankers Association will host a "Tribal Ownership of Banks Conference" at the Hyatt Islandia Hotel on July 12-14. "To our knowledge, this is the first time in the history of this country that a group of Native American people are being brought together for the express purpose of the attendees becoming owners of banks," says Frank Riolo, NANBA chairman and president of Borrego Springs Bank, owned by the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay. "We are very proud that this involves Indian people."

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Ricardo Guajardo, chairman of Bancomer, Mexico's second largest bank, announced the merger of his bank with Spain's Banco Bilbao Vizcaya. The two banks will operate in Mexico under the name BBVA-Bancomer with assets in excess of $32 billion. Bancomer is the leading bank in Baja California with more than 30 branches.

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If the "experts" are right, we all soon will be dying to get data using our cell phones and new wireless devices we have yet to imagine. Wireless devotee Bradley J. Fikes — who spent a year without a landline connection to his home — checks in online with a lengthy discussion on the options, pricing and technology available today. To learn more, click here.

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Set to deliver the commencement address for National University's class of 2000 is William J. Bennett, the political pundit and author. About 3,000 students are eligible to participate in the July 16 ceremony.

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The $230,000 build-out of the Legoland corporate office at Pacific Ridge Corporate Centre in Carlsbad has gone to White Construction Inc. Travis Shain is project manager; Dewey Vaught superintendent.

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With Phase I a sell-out, The Olson Co. has moved ahead of its schedule and is releasing for sale town homes, lofts and single-level units in its Village Walk project on India Street in Little Italy.

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Crown Bay, an 86-unit residential and commercial project at Fourth Avenue and K Street Downtown has held its ceremonial groundbreaking. Located on one of the last remaining parcels in the Marina District, this one is a six-story mid-rise. The managing member of the development team is Intracorp San Diego.

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Antonio Martinez Zaragoza, Baja California state secretary of economic development, says that by the end of May the state had created 40,300 new jobs, which represents 90 percent of the year’s goal of 45,000 new jobs.

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Meridian Capital Partners, a medical finance company, has secured a $60 million credit facility to provide funding to providers, says Mitch Patridge, partner and co-founder of San Diego-based Meridian. Many traditional lenders have left the health care market just when it most needs funding sources, Patridge says, noting that Meridian can "fund even the most difficult transactions ranging in size from $500,000 to $20 million." Getting the word out to medical communities on the availability of the funds is the "largest hurdle we face," he says.

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In the 9-year period beginning July 1, 1990, San Diego County's population grew by 372,100, putting it at 2,883,500 as of July 1, 1999, the Chamber says. In that decade, 421,639 people were born in the county while 163,497 died. Also in that time period, 144,923 immigrated here from other nations. That contrasts with the domestic migration figures — people who moved here from within the United States — where the county had a net loss of 30,965 people in the decade. That trend has since flipped, with people now moving here in greater numbers than they leave. The decade's decline was influenced by the 96,325 people who left San Diego between 1993 and 1996, when you should have been out buying a bigger home.

Sandra Fuentes Berain, who holds the rank of ambassador in the Mexican Foreign Ministry and was a past ambassador to France and Canada, was the guest of honor at a recent reception hosted by the Greater San Diego Chamber of Commerce. Angelika Villagrana, the chamber's director of public policy department, organized the event, which was attended by around 60 community and business leaders, as well as the honorary consuls of Spain and Japan.

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"The best smoothies in town" is the promise of owner Mark Anderson and manager Alan Gretz of the about-to-open WildSide Cafe and Rebel Juice Bar on the Downtown corner of Seventh and C. The juice joint theme is one of rebellion, says Anderson, that is, rebellion against unhealthy diets, vividly illustrated with posters of rebels in modern American history.
Anderson knows first hand about such things as healthy eating. In the past year, the highly mobile San Diegan has lost 80 pounds by switching from fats to fruit- and vegetable-based drinks. Gretz, of Imperial Beach, will be on site to oversee serving of smoothies, salads, soups and sandwich wraps beginning in early July. Anderson might be familiar to former local comedy fans. He owned the San Diego Improv until he closed it a few years ago. He still has Improvs in Phoenix, Dallas and Washington, D.C., and soon will open one in Baltimore.

The first $2.6 million in construction contracts were awarded to five minority- or women-owned businesses for the Market Creek Plaza project at the intersection of Market Street and Euclid Avenue. Project developer is Jacobs Center for NonProfit Innovation. Contracts were awarded to Cats Excavating, $953,000; IEPacific, $644,000, sewer and storm drains; Bendix Electric, $606,000; Quality Engineering, $50,000 for inspection; and Pereira Plumbing and Fire Sprinkler, $588,000 to install water and fire supplies. The project is expected to generate 360 jobs during construction.

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Malin Burnham, chairman of the Burnham Cos., will receive the Multiple Sclerosis Society's most prestigious award July 19 at the society's seventh annual MS Recognition Awards Dinner Gala. He was selected for his personal involvement in the community and in charitable organizations. The dinner at the San Diego Hyatt Regency, expected to be attended by more than 500, is a fund-raiser for MS. Entertainment will be by the Four Freshmen, and Sheriff Bill Kolender will emcee.

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Ground has been broken in Kearny Mesa for a 17,000-square-foot regional headquarters for Digitec Business Systems, San Diego’s sixth largest office equipment dealer. Designed by architect Bruce Steingraber of Progressive Builders Inc., the nearly $2 million building more than doubles the size of the Ronson Road location of Digitec for the past seven years. The project was planned before a recent merge with Imagine Technology Group Inc., of Chicago, says Michael Sherman, Digitec CEO. The new offices should be ready by fall.

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As the merger plan called for — you can read the July 1999 issue of San Diego Metropolitan to get the full scoop at www.sandiegometro.com/1999/july/ index.html — Stephen L. Baum has taken the CEO's slot at Sempra Energy. Baum, 59, succeeds Richard D. Farman, who will remain chairman of Sempra Energy and a director until he retires Sept. 1. Baum also then will become chairman.

As chief executive, Baum leads Sempra Energy's efforts to expand its business in the $160 billion U.S. retail energy services market, as well as in international energy markets, wholesale energy trading, and telecommunications and technology, while maintaining service at its two Southern California distribution utilities. He has served as vice chairman, president, COO and a member of the board of Sempra Energy since June 1998, when the company was formed by the merger of Enova Corp. and Pacific Enterprises.

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When you grow from five to more than 75 attorneys in eight years, space can get tight. Facing that scenario, the Fred Muto-led San Diego office of Cooley Godward is locking up 135,000 square feet of space in a new three-building project being built at 4435 Eastgate Mall. The new digs should be ready late next year. The law firm has signed a 10-year lease.

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Professional speakers lead a life on the road, so they have wide latitude in determining where to call home. Many choose San Diego. And they keep coming. The newest is The Center for Excellence, led by Sarano Kelly, which has moved here from New Jersey. Kelly's outfit joins a group of expert talkers that includes motivational speaker Jim Cathcart, economists John Stoessinger and Arthur B. Laffer, management guru Ken Blanchard and sales experts Tony Alessandra and Bill Bachrach. In addition, Tony Robbins started his self-help workshops here. The Center for Excellence is known best for its 15-month executive coaching program. Kelly will be speaking for free at a brown bag luncheon — noon to 1:30 p.m. — on July 28 at the Hyatt Regency San Diego.

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Traditionally a time to honor the best and brightest in the building industry's sales and marketing forces, this year’s SAM 2000 awards dinner also will take on a humorous tone. With the theme of "Life in the Future," the Sept. 30 event will poke fun at some of the far-out and far-fetched predictions made about 21st century living. Serving as master of ceremonies will be comic Frank King. Those interested in entering the competition have until noon, Aug. 4, to turn in their entry packets. For more information, call BIA Events Director Sheryl Schane at (858) 450-1221, Ext. 104.

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With an earlier effort to place a "strong mayor" proposition on the November ballot having lost its political legs, the San Diego Chamber and County Labor Council have joined forces to take the discussion to the neighborhoods. The last of the 6-7:30 p.m. sessions are scheduled for July 6, Inn Suites, 2223 El Cajon Blvd.; July 11, Doyle Recreation Center, 8175 Regents Road; July 13, Birdie Taylor Library, 4275 Cass St.; and July 18, Rancho Penasquitos Library, 13330 Salmon River Road.

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As the population gets older, stays healthier and is decidedly more wealthy, housing developers are taking notice. In San Diego, Starwood Capital Group has put its Starwood Opportunity Fund into a partnership with Senior Resource Group. Operating under the Senior Resource Group name, the company will develop, market and manage full-service retirement communities. Based in San Diego, Senior Resource Group has been doing that for 13 years. Starwood's money will help it expand faster. Expected to begin construction in the next 12 months are senior communities in the cities of San Diego, Los Angeles and Santa Barbara. No specific sites have been publicly identified.

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Mission Valley now has its own Costco. The 147,000-square-foot warehouse is in the new Fenton Marketplace just west of Qualcomm Stadium. John Wynns is the store manager. It’s the 11th Costco in San Diego.

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James F. McCabe, president of Bank of America Mexico, was in town recently as the guest speaker for the U.S.-Mexico Chamber of Commerce monthly Breakfast Club meeting. He provided an update on the Mexican economy and how the situation may change depending on which party wins the country's presidential election this month. Among those from San Diego and Tijuana who turned out to hear McCabe were Russell Bennett, director of International Services for Sharp Healthcare; Baranard Thompson, principal of MIRA Consulting; Rene Lorena Teran, principal of Polaris Consultants; Jorge F. D'Garay, a Tijuana political PR guru; Dr. Ricardo Felix, head of Latino community relations for Viejas Enterprises; Michael Grisdale, president of International Visitors Council of San Diego; and Oscar Padilla, founder of Padilla Insurance. For future events call Marizza Paoli, deputy executive director of the USMCC, at (619) 233-1544.

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Aurelio Flores Peña, president of the Business Coordinator Council of Tijuana (Consejo Cordinador Empresarial), says that various business organizations in Baja California have developed guidelines for the distribution of a $2.3 million state grant to small businesses. (For information on the guidelines, call Angelika Villagrana, (619) 544-1361, at the San Diego Chamber.)

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Lost in the bustle surrounding the Rock and Roll Marathon, Operation Clean Sweep 2000 quietly (at least until the after event party) celebrated its 10th anniversary by bringing together more than 900 volunteers, including 200 U.S. Navy and professional civilian divers, to clean San Diego Bay. Sponsored by the Port Tenants Association and the Port District with help from the U.S. Navy, this year’s event concentrated on San Diego’s South Bay from Chula Vista to Crosby Street Park. Among the objects salvaged from the bottom of the bay: a fully operational wheel chair (without occupant) and a shopping cart with a television. Next year’s target: Harbor Island and the North Embarcadero.

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To direct the $620 billion retail chain drug industry through the tricky realm of e-commerce takes vision and experience. Regis McKenna, who helped launch Apple Computer, Intel Corp., Genentech Inc. and The Byte Shop, will bring both of those qualities to San Diego when he gives the keynote address during the premier of National Association of Chain Drug Stores' new Bricks 2 Clicks Conference being held in conjunction with the Pharmacy, Managed Care & Technology Conference Aug. 26-30 at the San Diego Convention Center.

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San Diego Opera has received two major foundation grants to support Operation: Opera, its education and outreach programs, through June 30, 2003. The Maxwell H. Gluck Foundation of Los Angeles has renewed its underwriting of the touring San Diego Opera Ensemble and the Puppet Opera Theatre with a new three-year grant of $900,000. The Helen F. Whitaker Fund of Mechanicsburg, Pa., has made a one-time grant of $300,000, also spread over three years, to provide general support for 15 other Operation: Opera programs not funded by the Gluck Foundation.

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The Community Economic Development Certificate program at SDSU starts again Sept. 9 when participants embark upon an eight-month set of classes designed to combine business and economic concepts and their application in community development. Founded in 1995 by SDSU's College of Business Administration, the program is aimed at those who are community activists and organizers, says Hal Brown, associate dean and CED director and founder.

Recent graduate Dieudonne Ossavou, a 1987 immigrant from Africa and now a CED specialist with the Alliance for African Assistance, credits the program with having "rekindled a fire inside me to make a difference." Classes meet from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. two Saturdays a month. Registration deadline is Aug. 18. The cost of $1,150 can be discounted when three or more enroll from the same company, and financial aid is available for those who qualify.

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Robert Mueller, principal of Robert Mueller Construction Inc., will build eight homes on estate sites he purchased at the 380-acre gated golf course community, The Meadows Del Mar. They will be among the 134 homes in the community. A second generation builder with 25 years in the business, Mueller will design homes of 4,600 to 5,000 square feet with five bedrooms, four-plus baths, libraries and four-car garages. Prices begin at $1.4 million.

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For the fourth consecutive year dividends on Bank of Coronado stock increased, reports William R. McLaurin, president and CEO, who welcomed shareholders to the bank's 20th annual meeting. Directors re-elected are Dr. Philip R. Akre, chairman; Lester B. Snyder, McLaurin, John R. "Jack" Lewis, Ronald L. Beaubien, Mary Kay Forsyth and Nikolas J. Barbarine. Resigning from the board for health reasons was Marco Palumbo, a founding director.

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Construction has reached the halfway mark on six opulent multimillion dollar homes on Poway's Street of Dreams, one of which will be the setting for the 2000 American Society of Interior Designers Designer Showcase Sept. 30 through Nov. 5. More than 15 local interior designers will decorate 29 spaces in the 6,500-square-foot Country French-style estate built on a two-acre lot. That house, along with five others, will be part of the five-week home show at Heritage Golf Estates also beginning Sept. 30. The ASID-sponsored Designers Showcase will be open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

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Information on how to start a business or expand an existing one is just a few keystrokes away for those interested in San Diego city economic development. A new page at the city's Web site answers most questions on business expansion and retention, obtaining permits, relocation, financing and has links to other pertinent sites. To access the page, click on www.ci.san-diego.ca.us and choose the business section.

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Applications are being accepted for appointments to San Diego’s first Redistricting Commission to be composed of seven volunteers who are registered voters. This is the first time a group of citizens will re-draw boundaries for the city's eight council seats, reports City Clerk Charles G. Abdelnour. In the past the City Council has made the final decisions. Forms are available at the city clerk's office, city libraries, community service centers and on the city clerk's Web site, www.ci.san-diego.ca.us/city-clerk. Nominations must be made between July 3 and Aug. 2. Appointments will be made by Nov. 1.

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The city of San Diego has been recognized by the Government Finance Officers Association as one of the four "Best Practice" governments in the country for monitoring department and program effectiveness in its fiscal process. Best Practices are defined as innovative programs that warrant consideration by other governments. The recognition was announced in a special issue of the association's Government Finance Review magazine.

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Laura Buxton, Oscar Padilla, Marti Emerald, Bob Dynes and Laurie Black are among the freshly interviewed movers to make it to "The Heart of San Diego," Fred Lewis' acclaimed program airing nightly on ITV. Laurie Blaaaack? The complete schedule, including John Moores, Ian Campbell, Sandra Pay, Sandy Goodkin and Ed Fike, is on Page 45.

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Jurors who rode public transportation to the courthouse saved more than 1.3 million miles in the first year of the Jurors Free Ride program, a cooperative venture of Superior Court, public transit providers and the Air Pollution Control District. The plan was designed to eliminate transportation obstacles for jurors' service and is financed through discounted travel from the Metropolitan District Transit Board, a court subsidy and the waiver of juror mileage fees. About 22,196 jurors used free tickets an average of 2.7 days.

Scripps Terrace Business Park, a 56,798-square-foot project on Scripps Ranch Boulevard, was sold for $4.3 million by Glenborough Properties represented by Randall LaChance and Chris Loughridge of Voit Commercial Brokerage's San Diego office. Buyers of the eight-tenant, fully leased building, Theresa Spencer and Thomas Kaiser as tenants in common, were represented by Theresa Spencer of Industrial Brokers.

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A water fountain will be the focal point for the Mediterranean-style Carlsbad Company Stores' phase II expansion. Conceived by WET Designs, creators of many elaborate water features including fountains at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas, it will combine mosaic tile with fiber optic technology of choreographed sequences controlled by computer.

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InSITE 2000, the fourth edition of an arts project organized jointly by organizations in the United States and Mexico, will open Oct. 13 and run through Feb. 25, 2001. The work of 33 artists from both countries will range from new media and installations to performance, film and video. InSITE 2000 will be accompanied by special events including symposia, lectures, performances and a film series. The event is coordinated by the nonprofit Installation Gallery of San Diego and the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes in Mexico. As the dates near and schedules are developed they will be posted online at www.inSITE2000.org.

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SummerFest 2000, the 15th annual La Jolla Chamber Music Society's concert series will benefit from the SummerFest Gala Aug. 19 at the Rancho Santa Fe home of John and Becky Moores. The $600 ticket price will raise funds for the series of 11 chamber music concerts, celebrations, workshops, lunchtime and evening events, composers- and visual artists-in-residence, an art exhibition and more. The gala will include a champagne reception, dinner catered by the Hyatt Regency, and an intimate concert by SummerFest artistic directors David Finckel, cello; Wu Han, piano; Chee-Yun, violin, and Andrés Díaz, cello. For tickets, call David Pierce, director of development, at (858) 459-3724.

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Reynolds Communities and Standard Pacific Homes were the big winners in the Building Industry's Greatest BIG Awards, produced by the Home Builders Council of the 1,266-member Building Industry Association of San Diego County. Reynolds received five awards, Standard Pacific Homes six, and both received finalists awards.

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Comedienne and former sitcom actress Margaret Cho will be one of four grand marshals for the San Diego Lesbian and Gay Pride parade July 22 along University Avenue in Hillcrest. Joining her will be Hollywood comedy writer and Advocate columnist Bruce Vilanch, and two 11th grade students from Salt Lake City who are suing an education official for not allowing a high school gay club to meet at school.

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San Diego Dialogue on July 28 presents the second in its 2000 series of Forum Fronterizo policy luncheons. Irwin Jacobs, CEO of Qualcomm, and Dr. Luis de la Calle, deputy secretary of international trade negotiations at Mexico's Secretaría de Comercio y Fomento Industrial, will discuss "Regional Strategies for the Global Economy: Perspectives from San Diego and Mexico." Cost to attend the 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. luncheon at the Westin Horton Plaza is $50 for general admission, $30 for students and $450 for tables of 10. For more information call (858) 534-8638 or log on to www.sddialogue.org.

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After earlier setting a record with a $4.68 million sale at Harbor Club, Willis Allen Co. brokers Ann LeBaron and Dale Bowen now have sold a 27th floor condo in The Meridian for $1.595 million.

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Due to information inadvertently obtained from The San Diego Software and Internet Council's up-to-the-minute Web site, San Diego Metropolitan last month ran an out-of-date listing for a June 10 financial meeting on Internet and start-up companies. Metropolitan regrets the error.

With $21,000 in cash prizes at stake, the 20th annual U.S. Open Sandcastle Competition is set for July 30, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., in Imperial Beach. It’s part of a weekend-long celebration. Call (619) 424-3151 for information.

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Casey Gerry Reed & Schenk, which was established in 1947 and bills itself as the oldest plaintiffs' law firm in San Diego, is joining with three national firms to form Herman Middleton Casey & Kitchens. The so-called "superfirm" will specialize in high-profile consumer actions against corporate defendants.

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Dr. Jose Jorge Ruiz, director of the Tijuana Economic Development Council, says that Maynard Barton, operations director of Hollywood Ribbon Co. will be the keynote speaker at "Introducing Manufacturing in Tijuana Seminar" to be held in Los Angeles on July 18. Hollywood Ribbon Co. has operated a maquiladora in Tijuana since 1987.

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Flavio Olivieri, president of the South County Economic Development Council, says that the council, the California Trade & Commerce Agency and the Secretariats for Economic Development and Tourism of Baja California have created a regional economic development marketing group named "The Economic Development Team of the Californias." It will be comprised of government and private interests located on or near the California/Baja California international border.

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The desert of Mexicali-San Felipe has been chosen for filming television commercials by French automaker, Renault. Carlos Guillen Armenta, local Baja tourism department representative, says shooting will take place from July 3-5, 2000.

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Gustavo Perez, deputy executive director of the South San Diego EDC, met with Alex Cheung, president of the Southern California Chinese Association of Commerce, to discuss the inclusion of 100 Chinese industrialists in the Council's Economic Summit X set for October. The Chinese are seeking joint venture investment opportunities in San Diego and Baja California.

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Gaston Luken Aguilar, president of Proxima Gas (a Mexican company) says his company has won the bid for the construction of the second binational natural gas pipeline into Baja California. Partnering with Proxima Gas are Sempra Energy International of San Diego, and PG&E National Energy Group. The pipeline will extend 204 miles starting at a connection to El Paso Natural Gas Co. located near Ehrenberg, Ariz. traveling to Rosarito Beach. Once the pipeline is built, El Paso Natural Gas will supply the gas to the yet to be constructed new power generating plant in Rosarito. The pipeline will supply natural gas to industries, businesses and residences, eventually replacing the need for gas cylinder deliveries to local businesses.

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Management of the Treo@Kettner Condominium project has been awarded to Ninteman Construction Co. Located at Kettner and A, the $55 million 24-story, 320-unit project starts construction in October. It will take two years to complete.

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The Consumer Center for Health Education and Advocacy, which has provided assistance to more than 4,500 low-income San Diegans since opening in May 1999, is receiving $830,000 from an $8.5 million private grant. The monies come from The California Endowment and are part of the largest private grant of its kind, ever. The local funding has been matched by $589,000 a year for five years from San Diego County and $150,000 from the Alliance Health Care Foundation.

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Michael J. Stepner, dean of the Newschool of Architecture and a key early advocate of Gaslamp Quarter preservation, is among 82 planners in North America to have been selected into the Fellows of the American Institute of Certified Planners.

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The 320,325-square-foot Carlsbad Spectrum II building at 5781 Van Allen Way has sold for $16.3 million to RREEF, one of the nation's largest pension fund advisers. The seller was a subsidiary of Koll Development, which built the project. Nick Psyllos of CB Richard Ellis represented both parties in the deal.

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If this is the summer the kids learn to swim — or dad learns to surf — lessons could be just around the corner from the office. Long-time local swim school, Ensign's Aquatics owned by Suzanne Ensign, has begun instruction at the Wyndham Hotel's Emerald Fitness Center, on Broadway and Columbia, Downtown. And one of the teachers is Monica Lamb, center director, says Ensign, who has four other school sites.
Ensign has taught swimming for 20 years and run the aquatics business for 10. She was a history major in college, but "always loved the water," which led her to become a personal swim trainer, coach to Olympic hopefuls and participants, a teacher at the University of Florida and SDSU, and coach to the former Swim San Diego team in La Jolla.

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The digital phones landlubbers now carry in their pockets, purses, briefcases, backpacks and cars may soon have counterparts at sea. Cubic Communications Inc., a subsidiary of Cubic Corp., has been awarded an initial $3.4 million contract from Harris Corp. to join a team building the next-generation maritime communications network for MariTEL, the nation's leading provider of Marine VHF Radiotelephone communications. If all goes as planned, commercial and recreational boaters operating within 50-100 miles of the coast will be able to call, fax and even receive e-mails on a wireless network that is priced about the same as those now used on land. The system should be deployed in the Gulf of Mexico by year’s end, and nationwide in two years. Cubic's initial contract calls for installing its equipment on 30 towers in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.