La Jolla News Nuggets: Point La Jolla hearing; local help for Maui school; feminine product access
City Council hearing on Point La Jolla closure set for Sept. 18
The San Diego City Council has scheduled its final hearing to determine whether Point La Jolla will be closed year-round. The meeting will begin at 2 p.m. Monday, Sept. 18, in the council chamber at 202 C St. in downtown San Diego.
The public may attend in person or view the meeting on public television within the city of San Diego on Channel 24 for Cox Communications and Spectrum and Channel 99 for AT&T. It also will be livestreamed on the CityTV platform at sandiego.gov/communications/citytv.
The California Coastal Commission is to have a hearing on the closure Thursday, Sept. 7, during its meeting in Eureka in Humboldt County (relocated from Crescent City). The meeting will start at 9 a.m. and will be livestreamed at cal-span.org/meeting/ccc_20230906-20230908/live.
The planned amendment to the San Diego municipal code would extend Point La Jolla’s annual six-month closure, currently May 1 through Oct. 31 during sea lion pupping season, to all year.
Point La Jolla is a rocky area between La Jolla Cove beach and Boomer Beach where sea lions go on land to rest and give birth. The closure also applies to the bluffs at Boomer Beach, where sea lions also haul out. Boomer Beach water access remains open via a makeshift trail.
The city enacted the seasonal closure last year to keep people off Point La Jolla to address “various reports of harassment and problematic interactions onsite between humans and the sea lion population which has grown in recent years,” according to Karen Dennison, assistant director of the San Diego Parks & Recreation Department.
A year-round closure would be in effect “until the city can adopt additional long-term strategies to manage the area,” Dennison said.
La Jolla students raise $1,500 for Maui school
Students at Stella Maris Academy in La Jolla have raised more than $1,500 for Sacred Hearts School in Lahaina on Maui, Hawaii, which was destroyed by a wildfire in August.
Stella Maris students were allowed to replace their usual uniforms with Hawaiian or tropical clothing Aug. 31 in exchange for a donation, Principal Francie Moss said.
San Diego Councilman LaCava launches program for feminine product access
San Diego City Councilman Joe LaCava, whose District 1 includes La Jolla, launched a pilot program last week to provide free menstrual products in facilities throughout the city.
Mayor Todd Gloria and the City Council have included $100,000 for the Free4Me pilot to place feminine hygiene products in city-owned facilities such as libraries, recreation centers and public restrooms at beaches.
LaCava’s introduction of Free4Me, based on a San Diego County program, came with his proclamation of Aug. 30 as “Menstrual Hygiene Equity Day” in San Diego.
LaCava launched the program to increase access to feminine products in the city, saying nearly two-thirds of low-income women in the United States face financial barriers to obtaining essential menstrual products.
“This is a pilot program that I will continue to advocate for ongoing funding and expansion into more city facilities,” LaCava said in a statement.
— Compiled by La Jolla Light staff ◆
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