City News Service

The Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego has placed the odds of reaching an average amount of precipitation in Southern California this year at just 20%.

A record 79 COVID-19 deaths were reported by San Diego County public health officials Friday, along with 2,847 new COVID-19 cases and 437 positive intensive care patients.

An appeals court Friday overturned a San Diego Superior Court judge's ruling that would have reopened San Diego County restaurants amid COVID-19 restrictions, finding that the judge issued "an overbroad injunction that was unsupported by the law."

San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria was unanimously elected as the San Diego Association of Governments' vice-chair Friday by its Board of Directors, where he will serve alongside Encinitas Mayor Catherine Blakespear, who was unanimously elected chair in December.

According to the EDD, total non-farm employment in San Diego County decreased by 5,300 jobs month-over-month — from 1,424,900 to 1,419,600 — while farm employment contracted from 9,200 to 8,600.

With the third week of the winter quarter drawing to a close at UC San Diego, the university reported Friday that COVID-19 positive test rates among its students have fallen to less than 1% since classes resumed on Jan. 4, far below the San Diego County average of 12%.

The National Weather Service has issued an excessive-heat warning, effective from 10 a.m. Tuesday to 8 p.m. next Monday.

The department is looking to fill over 400 positions, and willing to pay tens of thousands of dollars in signing bonuses to attract new employees.

It's going to feel a lot like summer across much of San Diego County starting Wednesday.