CULINARY FUNDRAISER BENEFITS LITERACY
At the San Diego Council on Literacy’s eighth annual “Eat.Drink.Read. A Culinary Event for Literacy,” foodies will savor imaginative bites and brews prepared by the region’s finest chefs on Thursday, May 18 from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at the San Diego Air & Space Museum in Balboa Park.
The popular event features original dishes created by celebrated local chefs — with each bite inspired by the chefs’ favorite books. This year’s theme will include cuisine created in homage to “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs,” “Babbling Beth, the Story Chef” and “Have You Filled a Bucket Today?”
Beer and spirits from local breweries and distilleries will accompany the cuisine, allowing samplings from a wide variety of craftsmen.
New this year: Celebrity judges, including food writer and Food Network host Troy Johnson, will dole out awards to chefs in the following categories: Best Dish (non-dessert), Best Dessert, Best Table Display and Best Pairing of Book with Dish Concept.
“Eat.Drink.Read.” raises money needed to support the organization’s 29 affiliated programs that provide free literacy assistance annually to more than 170,000 children, families and adults throughout San Diego County.
“One in five adults in San Diego possess below-basic literacy skills,” council CEO Jose Cruz said in a news release. “Many of these adults are also parents, and their children become adversely affected by low-level reading skills at home. We work to address this problem through our literacy programs which are funded, in part, through Eat.Drink.Read.”
Tickets are $75 at bit.ly/2nPiftx.
‘PIRATE DAYS’ TO INVADE EMBARCADERO
On the weekend of May 20 and 21, the Maritime Museum of San Diego will host a two-day “Pirate Days” celebration from 10 a.m.–4 p.m. Live music, costume contests, sword fights, cannon firings, weapons demonstrations, live parrots, a mermaid grotto, and scavenger hunts, will all be a part of the festivities.
Tickets, which also include access to the Maritime Museum, are $17 for adults and $9 for children 3–12, with 2 and under free. Participants are all encouraged to wear pirate or mermaid costumes and those who do will each receive a $2 discount at the door. For $7 more, guests can enjoy a 45-minute historic bay cruise on the “Pilot” boat around San Diego Bay. In addition, tickets to a performance of “Boarded” aboard the tall ship Californian will also be available.
This event precedes Disney’s release of “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales,” on May 26. Attendees will have a chance to win a four-pack to an advance screening of the film.
For more information or to purchase tickets to Pirate Days, visit sdmaritime.org or call 619-234-9153 x101.
CITY ATTORNEY RENEWS CALL TO TEST RAPE KITS
On April 25, one day before “Denim Day” — an 18-year-old international campaign encouraging people to wear denim to raise awareness to rape and sexual assault — San Diego City Attorney Mara W. Elliott called upon the city to test every rape kit in its possession.
Kits are tested for DNA evidence and the data collected is shared with other jurisdictions through the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System (CODIS).
Audited in 2014, San Diego was found to have amassed a huge backlog of untested rape kits. San Diego Union-Tribune reported last year that approximately 2,400 still needed to be sent to San Diego’s crime lab for testing, and since then, the number has risen to 2,873.
“When rape victims submit to an ordeal that can take up to four hours, the evidence they provide should be fully analyzed and shared for maximum value in solving crimes and preventing future crimes,” Elliott said. “Other cities test every kit. San Diego should test every kit.”
Elliott conceded that not all tests will lead to an arrest in the investigation, but an analysis could yield DNA matches that can benefit other cases.
Denim Day was launched in 1999, and the campaign was based on a decision that was overturned in the Italian Supreme Court because the victim was wearing tight jeans. Justices thought she had to have helped her assailant remove the jeans, therefore giving her consent. The following day, the women in the Italian Parliament wore jeans in solidarity and “Denim Day” was born and has been held every April since, as part of Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
THOUSANDS SHOW UP FOR CLIMATE MARCH
Thousand of San Diegans participated in the People’s Climate March on April 29, calling on local leaders to “support a just and rapid transition to 100 percent clean energy and to oppose the Trump administration’s rollback of climate policies the protect the planet,” according to a news release by climate change action group San Diego 350.
The local event began with a rally at Waterfront Park in front of the historic County Administration Building. Marchers walked through Downtown to gather outside City Hall.
The local march was organized by a coalition of environmental, social justice, labor and faith organizations, and took place in solidarity with the People’s Climate Mobilization on the same day in Washington, D.C. Hundreds of other sister marches were held around the U.S. and the world.
Organizers said the administration’s failure to take climate change seriously denies San Diegans — and their children and grandchildren — the nation’s enshrined freedom to pursue the American dream. Coming on the 100th day of the Trump administration, they said, this march was a rejection of the policies that threaten our freedom, future, health and communities: policies that reject climate science and strip protections based on gender, race, immigration status, religion, sexual orientation and disabilities.
“The federal government is out of step with the needs of our families, our communities and the planet,” said Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez-Fletcher, one of the rally speakers.
“The progress we’ve made in California on workers rights, immigration rights, and reducing carbon pollution is too important to let them stop us. Californians are resisting rollbacks and are fighting for 100 percent clean energy, access to transit, protection for immigrants and healthy communities — and by demanding a more democratic and accountable structure for San Diego’s transportation agency.”
Follow 350.org to support the climate change and climate injustice movement.
READING CINEMAS OFFER NEW MOVIE EXPERIENCE
San Diego movie lovers can enjoy the latest Hollywood blockbusters, while saving money at the box office and concession stand, thanks to super savings available at Reading Cinemas Grossmont in La Mesa and Town Square in Clairemont.
Starting Friday, May 5, Reading Cinemas is introducing new, lower ticket pricing of $8.50 for most movies along with concession discounts including endless popcorn all day, every day.
Tickets will cost $10 to see movies filmed in Titan XC, a new, premium motion picture experience featuring state-of-the-art digital projection on one of San Diego’s biggest movie screens, and immersive multi-channel Dolby Atmos sound. This is currently exclusive to Reading Cinemas Grossmont, located at 5500 Grossmont Center Drive in La Mesa, directly off the 8 and 125 freeways.
Guests who purchase an extra-large popcorn for only $6 will receive free refills to share with friends and family all day long.
For advance tickets and show times, visit ReadingCinemasUS.com.