MacKenzie Elmer

Jan 13, 2025 | voiceofsandiego.org | MacKenzie Elmer

Two-parter this week. We’re going to make a pit stop on the topic of San Diego’s non-compostable, compostable product market. And then finish off with what new San Diego City Council President Joe LaCava told me about his upcoming tenure as one of the region’s most powerful agenda-setters.  The plastic bag company I wrote about a few months ago wanted me to let you all know that they re-upped their certification with a European company, TÜV AUSTRIA, to produce compostable plastic bags.

Jan 9, 2025 | voiceofsandiego.org | MacKenzie Elmer

Mortar and shell casings and plastic caps littered Fiesta Island’s dog beach just west of a barge used by SeaWorld San Diego to launch its fireworks displays. Below the waterline, ignition wires tangled around sprouting bright green seagrass. This is just some of the evidence collected by Natalie Clagett from Coast Law Group, a local environmental law firm, that put SeaWorld on notice it would sue the company for pollution caused by its pyrotechnics.

Jan 6, 2025 | voiceofsandiego.org | MacKenzie Elmer

The most powerful person on San Diego City Council says SeaWorld’s nightly fireworks shows over Mission Bay “should be stopped.”  SeaWorld San Diego hosts nightly fireworks shows during the summer months as well as during major holidays. The marine theme park faced criticism over its shows in the past, but a spate of bird deaths in Mission Bay following consecutive days of pyrotechnics last Fourth of July reignited calls from bird activists to end the noise.

Dec 16, 2024 | voiceofsandiego.org | MacKenzie Elmer

Trout is the closest my family ever came to landing fresh seafood in central Wisconsin.  The trout’s progenitors are steelhead, native Pacific Ocean residents who fight river currents to mate in the cool headwaters of Western rivers. But other than pan-fried lakeshore lunches, I have no idea what to do with most fish I encounter – especially any of the 100 local species that might turn up at San Diego’s Tuna Harbor Dockside Market on Saturday mornings.  I tried once.

Dec 10, 2024 | voiceofsandiego.org | MacKenzie Elmer

San Diego Supervisors learned a key lesson Tuesday: Their fire chief can impose stricter fire safety rules on battery storage projects without their blessing. And that’s just what San Diego County Fire Chief Tony Mecham will do until the state updates California’s fire code related to renewable energy battery installations.