News & Updates

Who’s waiting for you? Get there faster with FasTrak!

Being stuck in traffic is never any fun, but you aren’t the only one waiting. When you can’t afford to be late, get to your destination faster with FasTrak on the I-15 Express Lanes and South Bay Expressway. The I-15 Express Lanes provide 20 miles of congestion-free travel between SR 163 and SR 78. Carpools, vanpools, clean-air vehicles, and transit can ride the Express Lanes for free while solo drivers pay as little as fifty cents. South Bay Expressway FasTrak customers save up to 80% on tolls between Chula Vista and Otay Mesa, with easy connection to East County and Mexico. Paying tolls on South Bay Expressway is easy. In addition to pre-paid FasTrak accounts, customers can use convenient automated cash and credit machines located at the northbound entrance and southbound exit ramps.

Pick up a FasTrak transponder at a participating Costco and receive $5 in free tolls. Priced at $34.99, each activated account will receive $40 in pre-paid tolls.

Already love FasTrak? Here are some ways to save.

  • Refer-A-Friend and you’ll both receive $10 in free toll credits when your friend opens an account.
  • One lucky FasTrak customer will win $50 in free tolls every month during 2015. All you have to do is drive on the toll road. Every one-way trip you take counts as one entry.
  • Baseball is back in San Diego. Save up to 50% off Padres tickets this season when you buy tickets online with our group password: SANDAG15.

Get more information on FasTrak, the I-15 Express Lanes, South Bay Expressway, and current free toll promotions today.

About FasTrak:
FasTrak is the electronic toll system that allows customers to use any toll road, bridge, or express lane in California without stopping to pay. To participate, drivers must have a prepaid FasTrak account and a transponder properly installed on their windshield when they use a FasTrak toll road or bridge. The correct toll is automatically deducted from a prepaid account.

Community Partner of the Month: Make-A-Wish® San Diego

05 Make a Wish Foundation
The Chamber is proud to announce its newest Community Partner, the Challenged Athletes Foundation! Make-A-Wish San Diego grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions in San Diego and Imperial Counties to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy. Since its inception in 1983, the San Diego chapter has granted more than 3,500 wishes to children in our community. In the coming year, the organization anticipates granting over 200 wishes for children in our community, and hosting over 200 Wish Kids from other states to grant their wish in San Diego. At Make-A-Wish, the goal is simple: to come into a child’s life during a difficult time and provide hope and a much-needed break from the daily challenges they are forced to face. For more information about Make-A-Wish San Diego, visit us online at www.sandiego.wish.org or call us at (858) 707-WISH.

Wishes generally fall into one of these categories:
I wish to have…
I wish to be…
I wish to go…
I wish to meet…

Vision
Make-A-Wish® San Diego believes in the power of a wish®. It is their purpose to provide children and their families with a life-affirming experience in the midst of a very challenging time. A wish has the power to change a child’s mental state, provide desperately-needed respite for a family, and allow the child’s and his/her family to experience a sense of normalcy. The organization’s vision is to grant a wish to every eligible child in San Diego and Imperial Counties. Make-a-Wish serve schildren from all areas of both counties and our demographics span every socio-economic and ethnic demographic. No eligible child is ever turned away, and a family’s financial status, race, or religion has no bearing on whether or not a child will receive a wish.

Wish Referrals
Their vision is that every eligible child will experience a wish come true. If you know a family with a child between the ages of 2 ½-17 battling a life-threatening medical condition, please ask them to visit wish.org/refer or contact the Make-A-Wish office at 858-707-9474. A child can be referred by a parent/guardian, medical professional treating the child or the child themselves.

Christine Altrock, DDS: Creating Great Smiles


Christine AltrockDr. Christine Altrock and Dr. Brian Fabb are excited to introduce themselves to the San Diego community, as these recently engaged doctors purchased a dental practice together in Pacific Beach. One of their first tasks with the established practice was upgrading the technology in the office, making patient communication more streamline and offering more services to their patients, including: Invisalign orthodontics, in-office tooth whitening, live photos and videos of the oral cavity, and the latest in esthetically pleasing dental biomaterials. They utilize text message and email-based appointment reminders, and have Pandora Radio and Netflix-capable televisions mounted on the ceilings of treatment rooms to make patients’ appointments breeze by with fun distractions.

In April, the couple had an office Open House for the community, family, friends, and dental colleagues to tour the office and be a part of the ribbon cutting ceremony! With over 60 people in attendance, they were overwhelmed with the outpouring of support and loyalty to the office. As residents of PB, they love contributing to the overall health and well-being of their community through fundraising efforts and donating time for the American Heart Association and the Veteran’s Village of San Diego, and regularly donating blood to the San Diego Blood Bank.

If you or your family and friends need a dentist, they would love to provide you a gentle and caring dental home. Check them out at PacificBeachDentistry.com, or swing by the office on the corner of Garnet and Olney and say hello!

Office Information
Christine Altrock, DDS
Brian Fabb, DDS
(858) 272-8330
2187 Garnet Ave
San Diego, CA 92109

Westgate Hotel: Celebrating 45 Years of Sophisticated Hospitality

05 WestgateThe iconic Westgate Hotel, a Grand America Hotel, is preparing to celebrate its 45th anniversary in August 2015. Designed as a recreation of an anteroom in the Palace of Versailles, Esquire Magazine named it one of the three finest hotels in the world. Today, the Westgate Hotel continues to stand a symbol of style and one-of-a-kind European luxury in San Diego.

When it opened its doors on August 29, 1970, the Westgate Hotel ushered in a new era of hospitality and sophistication in San Diego. When the hotel was built, it was the most expensive hotel built in the country at $14.5 million. With 235 luxurious guest rooms and suites, two restaurants and a blend of Louis XV, Georgian and English Regency décor, the hotel filled in the void formal classiness that had long been absent in San Diego. Opening room rates for single occupancy were $26, $33 for a double room and suites started at $65.

To celebrate this amazing milestone, the Westgate Hotel is offering a 45th Anniversary Package featuring a deluxe room at the standard rate of $299 and a second night stay for only $45. The exclusive deal is available through December 30, 2015 and is subject to availability. Tax and gratuity are additional.

Guests will save just under $250 and enjoy an elegantly appointed guestroom offering a full array of luxury amenities. Each room, some of the largest in downtown San Diego and the Gaslamp Quarter, offers spectacular views, luxury bedding, opulent marble bathrooms with brass fixtures and imported European furniture. Reservations may be made online at westgatehotel.com or by phone at 800-522-1564.

The Westgate Hotel has played host to many celebrities and dignitaries including President Gerald Ford, Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Kate Hudson, Bette Davis, Mel Gibson, Betty Davis, Brooke Shields, Sean Connery and Meryl Streep.

Contact:
The Westgate Hotel
Linda Karimi, Hotel Communications Director
619.557.3611
westgatehotel.com

Aztec Graphics: San Diego’s Largest Selection of Prints & Posters since 1983

05 AztecAztec Graphics has been in business since 1983. Our family owned  business originally started at Kobey’s swapmeet in 1983  and then opened as a storefront for the first time in 1987 at the Campus Plaza shopping center, corner of College Avenue and  El Cajon Blvd. In 1991, we moved to our current location at 1439 Garnet Avenue, in Pacific Beach. We established ourselves as one of San Diego’s most trusted and reliable picture framers.

We have the city’s  biggest selection of posters/prints, with over 4,000 in stock. We’ve really strived to keep the business diverse by offering framing and selling a wide selection of prints, which no other frame shop offers in San Diego. We offer a  vast selection of pre-made frames, for people who are looking for fast and economical picture  framing.  So truly we have evolved the business to the point that we can fufill the needs for someone looking for a simple black pre-made frame, all the way up to the customer who is looking for a museum quality custom framing job. We like to think of ourselves as a one stop shop for everyone’s art and framing needs.

Compare Our Prices
Aztec Graphics $59.95
Michael’s $125.00
Aaron Brothers $150.00
*24″ x 36″ black metal frame, including mounting, glass and labor

We opened our first on line store in 2005.. This allows us to reach the worldwide market with our extensive poster inventory. The thing that makes us unique in the extremely competative online market, is that we’ve collected many rare out print posters dating back to the early 1970s. There are three separate platforms where we sell. They are Ebay, Etsy, and our online poster Squarespace website in which we ship worldwide. Our website is posteramerica.com. Our Etsy store name is PosterAmerica and our Ebay store name is Poster America.

Aztec Graphics
Owners: Rick, Barbara and Tim Bailey

1439 Garnet Avenue
San Diego, CA.   92109
858-272-7760
posteramerica.com