Daily Business Report: September 9, 2026
Airbnb’s Spending Against One Tax Made Up a Quarter of San Diego Expenditure Lobbying Since 2019
By Naomi Granata | Voice of San Diego
Airbnb spent at least $672,198 to fund the opposition of a single tax in four months — roughly a quarter of all expenditure lobbying spending reported in the city since 2019.
The money helped finance an opposition campaign against a tax targeting owners of short-term vacation rentals and vacant second homes. This campaign included voter outreach by the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce and a coalition of business, labor and public safety groups that included Airbnb and argued the tax would hurt San Diegans. An Airbnb political committee also paid $300,000 to a company that specializes in canvassing.
But the spending was not visible until after the San Diego City Council Rules Committee – which decides whether proposals advance to the full City Council or, in some cases, the ballot – had already rejected the proposal.
by Karen Pearlman | Special to Times of San Diego
Two of La Jolla’s oldest surviving buildings are once again fighting to survive, more than half a century after the City of San Diego first stepped in to preserve them.
Overlooking La Jolla Cove and owned by Cove Properties, the Red Rest and Red Roost cottages at 1187 and 1179 Coast Blvd date back to 1894. They are thought to be the oldest surviving wood-framed structures in La Jolla Village.
Under a proposal now moving through the city’s permitting process, Red Rest — badly damaged in an October 2020 fire whose cause investigators ruled “undetermined” — would be demolished and removed. Red Roost would be reroofed and secured against further deterioration. No occupancy or interior work is proposed for either building.
Salk Institute researchers make progress on ALS and autoimmune disease treatments
by Dave Schwab| Times of San Diego
Salk Institute researchers have helped uncover a mechanism that could help target and kill nerve cells responsible for Lou Gehrig’s Disease (ALS), a finding that could propel new treatments for the neurodegenerative disease and other conditions, including cancer and autoimmune disorders.
Dr. Greg Lemke, a neuroscientist, immunologist and Professor Emeritus at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, and colleague Youtong Huang participated in a study published Aug. 15 in Nature Communications.
The researchers found that immune cells in the central nervous system, known as microglia, identify and destroy specific motor neurons in the spinal cords of mice with late-stage ALS, worsening the disease.
