GLP-1 Treatments, Semaglutide or Tirzepatide Medical Weight Loss in Imperial Beach, CA

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In theatres from director Chris Miller and Paramount Pictures comes the tale of a village and its secrets with the SMURFS.

Tucked away in the woods, Papa Smurf (John Goodman) is leading his village in singing and dancing. Each Smurf is good at something but No Name Smurf (James Corden) is having a hard time finding out what that ‘something’ is. While spending a little time alone, No Name looks to the sky for answers and listening is Jaunty (Amy Sedaris), a sentient book who wants to help. Staying in secret, the book has good reason as the evil Razamel (JP Karliak) wants to bring all the books together to take over the world.

Razamel’s assistant Joel (Dan Levy) has been tasked with finding the Smurf village and when Papa Smurf is taken, No Name and Smurfette (Rhianna) are on the case. The first place to look is with Razamel’s brother Gargamel who wants to trust his brother but, well, that’s a dead end. Papa Smurf left them a clue and it leads to Mama Poot (Natasha Lyonne) and brother Ken (Nick Offerman).

Razamel, as with all bad guys, underestimates the power of the Smurfs, friendship and what happens when you find that one thing that bring you joy!

Goodman as Papa Smurf gives the voice of calm and reason in the midst of chaos when Razamel Smurf-naps him. Knowing that his village has leaders that can take care of everyone, he also knows they just have to believe in themselves. Offerman as brother Ken is not interested in really getting into the mess with Razamel/Gargamel but realizes that it is because of a history with their father. Offerman always cracks me up and, in this case, his vocals match the attitude.

Corden as No Name Smurf is just trying to find himself. For me, all I hear is Biggie asking where Mr. Dinkles is (2016 TROLLS reference). The insecurities are set aside then he believes he can do magic that can help all the Smurfs. Rhianna as Smurfette is fine but personally I just don’t feel smurfy about it. I was expecting a bit, well more – more enthusiasm, more excitement – just more. Since the film is geared to a certain audience, it isn’t a deal breaker.

Karliak gets double duty voicing both Razamel and Gargamel and yet he manages to give them each their individual voice. They may be brothers but Karliak gives them each a vocal personality and I loved it. Lyonne as Mama Poot is her usual hilarious self and it is the voice that makes the fluffy being such personality. I have to say I’m going to be looking for a Mama Poot character to put on my desk absolutely.

Levy as Joel reminds me of a over zealous intern that is hoping for a permanent job by doing whatever dastardly deed the boss wants. Even when he tries to be “evil”, it only made me laugh even more. Sedaris as Jaunty is a book with a heart of gold who wants to help No Name but also knows that the wizards want her for evil purposes.

Other Smurfs and wizards include Sandra Oh as Moxie Smurf, Jimmy Kimmel as Tardigrade, Octavia Spencer as Asmodius, Nick Kroll as Chernobog, Hannah Waddingham as Jezebeth, Alex Winter as Hefty Smurf, Maya Erskine as Vanity Smurf, Kurt Russell as Ron, Xolo Mariduena as Brainy Smurf, Hugo Miller as Clumsy Smurf, Chris Miller as Grouchy Smurf, Billie Lourd as Worry Smurf, Marshmello as Turtle, Spencer X as Sound Effects Smurf and Chris Prynoski as Quiet Smurf.

SMURFS is definitely a family-oriented film filled with all the themes of friendship, adventure, meeting new friends, knowing where you belong and standing up for what’s right. Those are excellent reasons to take the entire family to see it. The Smurfs became a part of pop culture in 1981 when Hanna-Barbera began airing the animated show. My kids were glued to the television screen every moment it was on screen. Created by artist Peyo as they were originally called Les Schtroumpfs.

The animation is bright, colorful and everything one would expect of a story that included the Smurfs. There blue skin is highlighted by bright white clothing and iconic tipped hats making them impossible to not recognize. Children still giggle today when they see them just as much as they did forty-four years ago (that’s right, I did the math!). The characters are charming and there is no doubt about that. In this film, there is humor for the kids and for the adults as well. So, load up on the snacks and prepare for a good time together.

In the end – adventure comes out of the blue!

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The pay is among the lowest in San Diego County. The morale is low. And sewage-laced ocean water has made an already demanding job even more challenging.

There has been little incentive to join or stay as a lifeguard in Imperial Beach. But city officials said last week that an overhaul of the Marine Safety Division, including salary and staffing increases and merging with the fire department, is underway.

A report prepared in October 2024 for the city by San Diego-based The Centre for Organization Effectiveness revealed that Marine Safety has dealt with long-term, systemic issues.

“Three reoccurring themes of concern came up in every discussion with the Lifeguards: salary, contaminated water, and low morale,” according to the report. “However, the unstable MSD (Marine Safety Division) culture will continue to impede the development of MSD leadership and adversely impact departmental operations unless there is a significant organizational realignment.”

Some members of the City Council did not respond to requests for comment about the report and others deferred questions to the city manager’s office. In September 2023, the council unanimously awarded The Centre a $93,000 contract to conduct the review.

At the time, Councilmember Carol Seabury said that because lifeguards continued to deal with Tijuana River sewage problems, “I think I’m for raising anything that they need to help them do their job better.” Mayor Paloma Aguirre agreed, saying that such a review would be “the first step in how we continue to compensate them and hopefully increase that compensation that they all deserve so much.”

Compensation was one of the most cited reasons for low morale, according to the report. When compared to 13 other lifeguard agencies from across Southern California, base pay for those in Imperial Beach fell significantly below the average. For example, the average at other cities for a seasonal lifeguard is $27.65 per hour compared to $25.40 for Imperial Beach, $36.10 for the average “lifeguard II” position compared to $30.06 in Imperial Beach, $90.70 for the average lifeguard chief role compared to $75.78 in Imperial Beach. The lifeguard captain position in Imperial Beach, earning $59.13 an hour, was the second-lowest in the county. Del Mar followed at $37.36. The average was $62.89.

The report recommended that the city raise the base salaries, a move that council members committed to last month when adopting budgets for the next two fiscal years. Marine Safety had the most notable investments, with spending plans increasing from $1.8 million in the current year to $2.2 million in 2026 and $2.3 million in 2027. Salaries for full-time lifeguard positions largely drove those hikes, which were budgeted to jump from $694,000 to $826,000 in 2026 and $877,800 in 2027. Increases of nearly $160,000 through 2027 for part-time salaries were also earmarked.

Labor groups representing city employees, including lifeguards, are wrapping up negotiations with the city, which are likely to reflect raises the city committed to in its new budgets.

The city is also negotiating its Municipal Services Agreement with the Port of San Diego, which owns the Imperial Beach pier and contracts with the city to provide municipal services, such as public safety, in the area. Such an agreement includes reimbursement for some of those services. An updated agreement should be up for a port board vote by the end of the year, a port spokesperson said. Part of the discussions, City Manager Tyler Foltz said, involve considering whether lifeguards should receive special pay for performing rescues in polluted ocean or river water.

Special pay was also recommended in the report. Specifically, it suggested a flat rate whenever lifeguards would have to enter the water during sewage-related beach closures.

The waters off Imperial Beach are contaminated with sewage and other toxic chemicals that spill over from Mexico due to its insufficient and outdated wastewater treatment system. Bacteria levels consistently exceed health standards and anyone who comes into contact with the ocean or the Tijuana River runs the risk of getting sick. Though progress to fix and expand treatment facilities is underway on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border, relief can’t come soon enough for residents, beachgoers and lifeguards, who typically pursue the job because they enjoy being in the water.

Foltz said that even with improvements underway, he does not anticipate conversations about special pay to go away.

“We hope the water quality issues go away, but unfortunately, we’ve seen this same issue occurring for quite some time,” he said. “So, we are not putting a pause on those discussions. We think it’s important to keep moving forward.”

The ongoing pollution has forced Imperial Beach lifeguards to adapt. They use mobile showers that are attached to their trucks to decontaminate, dry suits to protect themselves from direct contact with polluted water, and boats as another measure to limit getting in the water.

“The water quality became like the blanket over everything,” said Marine Safety Division Capt. Jason Lindquist, who said he was one of the driving forces behind the report. He added that any agency can have issues with salary and organization, but “the water being dirty every day, and then the air now is also found to be dirty” has made recruiting, retention and improving morale a big challenge.

The review also highlighted issues with the division’s workload, staffing structure and training needs.

Lifeguards, who offer services for approximately 4 miles of oceanfront coastline, often assist other agencies, making the daily workload unpredictable, even with a drastic decrease in public beach attendance over the last six years because of contaminated water. From 2018 to 2023, visitors to the beach steadily dropped from 2.1 million to 694,000, according to the report. Lifeguards also want more open swim time and pier jumping training to grow more comfortable in their work environment. But due to water quality issues, local training is nearly impossible. The department has found a temporary fix by buying time to swim in Coronado swimming pools or training in San Diego Bay.

One of the report’s biggest recommendations has already been implemented: relinking the Marine Safety and Fire departments. And it appears to be going smoothly, according to Lindquist and Fire Chief John French. Lifeguard services were once part of Imperial Beach’s fire department, a structure that is common in some cities. But in 2015, the city decided to break them off.

The first visible sign of the transition is a new lifeguard vehicle branded with “Imperial Beach Fire Rescue.”

French said his goal is to create a more cohesive organization and bring the lifeguards up to the fire department’s high standards.

“Lifeguards always kind of get that reputation of being a laid-back organization and I just want to change that culture, while having people enjoy what they do,” he said.

According to the report, lifeguards expressed career aspirations that extended to other city departments as cross-border pollution remains a huge hindrance to the division. Per the report’s suggestions, the city is looking at increasing staffing and exploring more cross-training opportunities with law enforcement, the fire department and others.

The department’s systemic issues predate many of the current employees, the review found. But the appointment of Tyler as city manager in 2023 marked “a significant first step in mending that perceived conflict and the impetus for the current review,” the report added.

Its results “really validate the concerns” of the lifeguards, said Erika Cortez-Martinez, the city’s chief administrative officer, who added that the city is implementing the report’s most important recommendations.

During the six-year window analyzed by Voice, only 22% of the roughly 83,000 new homes permitted were priced for moderate incomes.

July 16, 2025

Coronado and Imperial Beach are about as opposite as two California beach communities can be. One exclusive, wealthy, Republican leaning. The other working class, Democratic, not-so-long-ago affordable and not too high on most vacation lists.

But they do share one key fact: Neither permitted a single unit of affordable housing between 2018 and the end of last year, according to an analysis by Voice of San Diego and KPBS.

Even Del Mar, which is much smaller and has a reputation for being openly hostile to home building, permitted 74 homes that are considered affordable during the same period.

Cities that want to build affordable housing must have “the money and the will,” said Stephen Russell, CEO of the San Diego Housing Federation, a group that represents affordable home builders.

Imperial Beach and Coronado are in opposite positions, said Russell. One has more will and less money. The other has more money, but not much will.

“They are one of the richest and one of the poorest coastal communities in the county,” Russell said. “Imperial Beach wants more affordable housing… Coronado does not have the will to do affordable housing.”

Hawaiian Gardens apartments in Imperial Beach on Dec. 2, 2024. / Ariana Drehsler for Voice of San Diego

Affordable housing comes in two main types: the subsidized kind and the naturally-occurring kind, frequently referred to as capital -“A” affordable housing small-“a” affordable housing.

Cities report both types to the state Department of Housing and Community Development each year.

In the case of Coronado and Imperial Beach, they reported neither naturally occurring or subsidized affordable housing between 2018 and 2024. The only new homes permitted in both jurisdictions were for people with “above moderate” income.

I asked the mayor of Imperial Beach, Paloma Aguirre, and a former mayor of Coronado about the findings.

Aguirre was recently elected to the County Board of Supervisors but has not been sworn into the new role yet.

“I’ve fought across the board to make housing more affordable,” Aguirre wrote in a statement sent by one of her campaign staffers. “The biggest challenge for small cities like Imperial Beach isn’t a lack of will to build affordable housing but a lack of funding.”

Tyler Foltz, the city manager of Imperial Beach, also pointed out that some affordable housing projects have been approved in recent years.

The projects would create dozens of affordable units, Foltz said, but so far, the developers on those projects have not taken the step of applying for building permits.

In housing jargon, the projects have been “entitled” rather than permitted. That means they have all the necessary approvals from the city to proceed, but do not yet have building permits.

People walk around in Coronado on June 8, 2025. / Ariana Drehsler for Voice of San Diego

For one reason or another, the builders involved in those projects haven’t proceeded to the next step of getting building permits, as they have in other cities across the county.

“Following entitlement, it is the responsibility of the developer to finance and construct the projects,” Foltz wrote in an email.

Richard Bailey was Coronado’s mayor between 2018 and the end of 2024, the time frame of Voice’s analysis.

Bailey said that Coronado, because it is expensive, is not an ideal place to build affordable housing.

“I wouldn’t say Coronado is hostile to subsidized housing, we’re just realists,” Bailey wrote in a text. “The reality is that there is no good or cheap way to build below-market rate housing which is why it hasn’t been effective in higher-priced areas throughout California – it’s just the economics of development.”

Bailey said that it is cheaper to build in poorer parts of San Diego and so it makes the most sense to build affordable housing in those areas where it is cheaper to build.

But progressive housing advocates have a problem with that theory: If all affordable housing gets built in poorer parts of town, then a disturbing cycle is perpetuated. Poor people are packed into parts of town with less access to good parks, schools and jobs. Rich communities get richer and poor communities poorer.

San Diego County, like most of California, is far away from creating enough houses to support the population. Demand for housing far outpaces supply, which has led to head-spinning price increases.

Within the building that has happened, affordable housing makes up a relatively small portion.

During the six-year window analyzed by Voice, roughly 83,000 new homes were permitted countywide. Of those, roughly 22 percent were priced for people with moderate income or below.

Voice of San Diego is a nonprofit news organization supported by our members. We reveal why things are the way they are and expose facts that people in power might not want out there and explain complex local public policy issues so you can be engaged and make good decisions. Sign up for our newsletters at voiceofsandiego.org/newsletters/.

This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Coming to Digital from writer/director Jang Jae-hyun and Well Go USA is the story of faith against the darkness for THE PRIESTS.

In Seoul, Father Kim (Kim Yoon-seok) discovers that a young girl of his parish, Young-shin (Park So-dam) may be possessed by a demonic spirit. Attempting to get approval for an exorcism with the Dean of clergy (Kim Eui-sung), Father Kim realizes that those who make the decision agree to it but not officially. What he does need is help and is being assigned a deacon to assist. Deacon Choi (Gang Dong-won) is a slightly wild young man but agrees be part of the exorcism. Almost immediately, after meeting with the former Deacon of Father Kim’s, Choi begins to have strange dreams.

Although Choi believes he is being sent to assist Father Kim, he is also being told to watch his every move by the superiors. When he finally meets Father Kim in person, he is just as flippant as he was on the telephone. The two men prepare for the ritual as Choi begins to record what is happening, never realizing the horror that awaits. He, like the Deacon before him, can’t get away fast enough leaving Father Kim alone.

Coming to terms with his past and running out of time, Choi and Father Kim waste no time in the final battle for a young girls’ very soul.

Yoon-seok as Father Kim is a man who clearly understands what it takes to be part of exorcisms. He also realizes that the church he is a part of won’t officially condone what he is doing yet also isn’t going to stand in his way. There is a history between Father Kim and Young-shin as the priest is not going to stop until there is a resolution. Yoon-seok gives his character an emotional dedication but also a hardened outer shell that keeps others at bay. The story is intense and Yoon-seok is one hundred percent in the game!

Dong-won as Choi is a Deacon who doesn’t exactly follow the rules all together. When given a chance to be part of Father Kim’s ‘mission’, he agrees to keep an eye on him for the church as well. Dong-won gives a character of a young priest who has his own traumatic past that he covers up with an attitude that might be out of the realm of a priest. Becoming part of what Father Kim is doing offers him insight into what it takes to be a man of the cloth with faith for those who need him.

So-dam as Young-shin has the rough part of the film with very frightening scenes of possession and trust the demon isn’t playing. I have always those thought who portray possessed individuals go through hours of make up and prosthetics to put on a performance that is meant to fill the audience with fright and terror, So-dam does so beautifully.

Other cast include Son Jong-hak as Monsignor, Lee Ho-jae as Father Jeong, Nam Ill-woo as Abbott, Kim Byeong-ok as Professor Park, Cho Soo-hyang as Agnes, Park Woong as Bishop, and Jeong Ha-dam as Shaman Young-joo.

Well Go USA Entertainment is a theatrical and home entertainment company specializing in bringing the best Action, Genre and Independent films from around the world to North American markets. As a leader in independent film distribution, Well Go USA Entertainment’s titles can be seen across a variety of platforms including theatrical, digital, subscription and cable VOD, packaged media and broadcast television. Well Go USA Entertainment currently releases three to five films per month. To see more please visit www.wellgousa.com.

THE PRIESTS is an intense story that has so many moving parts. Of course, it is about a young girl tormented by a demon(s) but it is also the story of two priests who each have past trauma of their own. The major issue for them is keeping their personal feelings about the past out of their minds as to not interfere with the exorcism. Actors Yoon-seok and Dong-won are absolutely fantastic together giving the audience riveting moments of what it takes for these two men to come together with faith in what needs doing.

This is an amazing and dark story that easily falls into the category of very cool possession films with its cinematography and special effects. I have been a fan of this genre since I was knee high to a grasshopper so when I say this one needs to be added to the list of must-see, believe it. What is even more spectacular is that the story really does bring more mental frights than the gory. That gives it high marks on my scary o’ meter because, honestly, I would rather you scare me with the unknown than a bucket of gore.

The film has made its awards rounds including nominations and wins from the Buil Film Awards, Women in Film Korea Awards, KOFRA Film Awards, Max Movie Awards, Chunsa Film Art Awards, Baeksang Arts Awards, Asian Film Awards, Korean Film Producers Association Awards and Blue Dragon Film Awards.

In the end – they are always here!

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This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Coming to theatres in time for the Fourth of July weekend from director Gareth Edwards, Amblin Entertainment and Universal Pictures is the story of JURASSIC WORLD REBIRTH.

It has been several years since the last take on the dinosaurs and Earth is becoming a problem for the creatures. The cause of it is that the environment, air, weather etc., just do not help their survival. One place where they are managing to survive are several tropical locations are similar in many respects to what they need, be can thrive and it be forbidden for anyone to go there.

Martin Krebs (Rupert Friend) meets with Zora Bennett (Scarlett Johansson), a woman with a certain set of skills that Krebs needs to take on a special mission. He asks that she go to the dinosaur island to obtain blood samples that can create medicine to save lives. After striking a deal, they go to the one person who would know how to find the exact dinosaurs needed – Dr. Henry Loomis (Jonathan Bailey) who agrees to go along. Zora finds help, and a boat, from longtime friend Duncan Kincaid (Mahershala Ali).

Out in the ocean, dad Reuben (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo) is sailing with daughters Teresa (Luna Blaise), Isabella (Audrina Miranda) and Teresa’s boyfriend Xavier (David Iacono). As the boat glides through the water, they are bumped by something strange. What they could never have imagined it what was circling them! Kincaid hears a distress call coming from Reuben and makes the decision to go and rescue them. It takes no time before the boat becomes the new target.

Racing to get to the island, if they thought they were any safer on land, they would be wrong as Reuben and his family are separated from those on the boat once again. Knowing they are under a serious time constraint, Zora, Krebs, Duncan and Dr. Loomis continue on to get their samples are met by some amazing animals but they are different dinosaurs, genetically different. In the jungle, Reuben and his family remember hearing the others talk about a village and believe it might by where they can meet up with the others.

Each step they take brings them closer to creatures who do not want them on their island and survival means staying one large step ahead of anything chasing them, including a Distortus Rex!

Johansson as Zora is a woman who, for the right paycheck, can be bought for covert missions. Quick with a sample weapon, she spends time watching everyone around her come face to face with dinosaurs. Johansson gives us a straight forward character who wants to get the job done and get as many people out alive as possible. That being said, there is just something missing here that didn’t reach like Ellie Sattler or Claire Dearing did, maybe it’s mercenary thing.

Bailey as Dr. Loomis is an Alan Grant type character who is disappointed that people seem to have lost their curiosity for dinosaurs. That, in itself, took the story into that unbelievable realm because there isn’t a kid (or grown up for that matter) that wouldn’t be all over dinosaurs living in the world. Bailey gives us a man who agreed to help find creatures that will help medicinally but I don’t get why he actually agreed to it in the first place. The character of Dr. Loomis just didn’t seem like one who would do this just because he is out of a job. His whole reasoning for going just seemed so murky. That’s not to say Bailey isn’t charming in this role, he just seems out of place in what he’s being asked to do.

Friend as Krebs is a familiar character in his actions and reasons for finding the mutant dinosaurs. His eyes roll with dollar signs and no one is going to get in his way, and I mean no one. Happy to see Friend on the screen even if his character is one I’d have thrown overboard early in the film (kidding). Ali as Duncan knows and understands Zora having worked together before. He may be on a dinosaur mission but he isn’t willing to sacrifice any one or anything and I like that about his character.

Garcia-Rulfo as Reuben is a father who obviously is clueless to the world around him. On a boat with his kids (in a forbidden area) and a boyfriend that would make excellent dino-bait, it’s just one disaster after another. Blaise as Teresa screams and runs extremely well. Iacono as Xavier is the dude all parents are afraid to find next to their daughter, he has his moments and a few of them bring laughs. Miranda as Isabell is very cute and even cuter when she meets Dolores.

Other cast include Philippine Velge as Nina, Bechir Sylvain as Leclerc and Ed Skrein as Bobby Atwater.

Director Edwards says of the film, “There is an aesthetic I’ve been chasing my whole career, that the 70s, 80s and 90s look. Now you can film with a 360 camera, put it into software and get a 3D environment. The quality is so good that it is nearly photo-real perfect.”

Okay, this is going to be as honest as I can get here as I’m actually quite disappointed in this film. In 1993, JURASSIC PARK hit theatres and just literally roared at the box office. It was and still is an amazing film filled with excitement, drama, dinosaurs, screaming and yelling (and a lot of it from the viewing audience). Audiences couldn’t get enough of the film seeing it time and time again and, like me, have it as part of a home entertainment library of films. That is followed by THE LOST WORLD: Jurassic Park (1997), JURASSIC PARK III (2001), JURASSIC WORLD (2015), JURASSIC WORLD: Fallen Kingdom (2018), and JURASSIC WORLD DOMINION in 2022. Where does this leave JURASSIC WORLD REBIRTH?

A mish-mash of easter eggs dropped here and there that really aren’t that impressive. The film seemed more focused on the human story and those stories were not that interesting. It didn’t draw me into their characters because there wasn’t backstory to characters that I could tell. Instead, it had me making comments under my breath like “Really? It’s forbidden to go into that area yet you go there with your kids?” or “Really? You fire off a flare signaling a boat that’s right in front of you?” followed by my head shaking. That is just two of many, many more times I talked to myself.

Equally disappointing are the dinosaurs themselves (sorry dinos, I know it wasn’t your fault). Trying to find a new way to tell the story shouldn’t involve creating more genetic tampering to creature dinosaurs that I didn’t fall for, especially the alien looking T-Rex. There are one or two dinos that are recognizable but the rest gave me the big meh!

If you are a die-hard fan of JURASSIC PARK then the film will be a summer joyride but if you are a JURASSIC PARK purest, one might be like my family finding a mixture of good and not-so-good about the ride. There is a bit of humor, there are characters that might seem familiar in behaviors to past characters and a few jump moments and that might be enough but it felt like maybe the franchise needs to wind down. The drink cups and popcorn footprint ‘bucket’ are pretty awesome though!

In the end – a new era is born!

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