FEATURED THIS WEEK 

Escondido’s Award Winning Students
Escondido students from schools across the City were recognized at this week’s City Council meeting for their creative recycled art! To view all the entries, including the winning art work, visit the City’s Recycling Division’s Facebook or Instagram. 

Stone Brewing Named “Facility of the Year”
The California Water Environment Association has awarded Stone Brewing – Escondido the coveted P3S* Facility of the Year in Southern California. The award recognizes high performing leaders in the areas of waste management and pollution prevention. Read more here: Link 

Good News About Escondido’s Unemployment Rate
Escondido’s unemployment rate has dropped below the county average to 3.1% this month. This and other regional economic indicators are included in the San Diego Regional EDC’s “Economic Pulse.”

Scooter Competition Attracts International Riders
The City’s Sports Center hosted the 3^rd Annual SoCal Spring Scooter (SSS 2) Competition on Saturday, April 21, 2018. The event was a huge success with 94 scooter riders competing in a total of 6 skill divisions from beginner to pro categories, over the course of the 8-hour competition.  International riders from as far away as New Zealand participated in our PRO Division that was won by Wyatt Anderson of Arizona.  2^nd place- went to Raymond Warner of Murrieta, CA, and Jauwan “Juju” Smith of Nevada took 3^rd place. 

Grand Avenue Median Facelift Project Begins Next Week
Over the past few months, city staff members have been working with private sector stakeholders and the Downtown Business Association to come up with a plan to beautify the medians along Grand Avenue. Several of the medians are no longer able to accommodate attractive, permanent landscaping due to an overgrowth of the existing tree roots. This has resulted in the need for constant, short-term replanting just to maintain minimum appearance standards. 

As part of the plan, the City will be removing the eucalyptus trees in the medians and planting new, drought-tolerant trees and plants. The Downtown Business Association has committed to investing grant funds they received from the county into the project. Plans for beautifying the medians in this semi “short term” effort are consistent with the Transnet grant application approved by city council on February 14, which will involve a much larger and longer term project. 

Tree removal work along Grand Avenue will begin Monday, April 30 and take approximately four days to complete. The entire project from start to finish (including tree removal) will take approximately eight weeks. The work schedule will not disrupt Cruisin’ Grand, the Farmers Market or the May 20 Street Faire.