Southern California continues to face evolving threats from natural disasters—from wildfires fueled by extreme heat and drought to floods and debris flows following record-breaking rainfall, to the ever-present risk of earthquakes. For residents and business owners alike, year-round preparation is no longer optional. It’s essential.
Cox Communications understands the critical importance of reliable connectivity before, during, and after an emergency. Whether it’s keeping families and neighbors in touch, powering remote work and school, or ensuring hospitals and first responders have the connectivity they need to serve the community, Cox is committed to maintaining the strongest network in even the most extreme conditions.
To provide resilient service during a disaster, Cox continues to invest in network and product upgrades. Over the last 10 years, Cox has committed more than $19 billion to these efforts with $400 million earmarked for expanding services in underserved communities over the next few years. These investments aren’t just about gaming and productivity at work, but rather they’re designed to handle maximum strain such as that which can come with an emergency.
Southern California’s wildfire season is now a year-round phenomenon given the cycle of risks: dry and windy conditions in one season followed by rain and flooding the next. Cox holds regular readiness exercises, reviews its business continuity plans, and works collaboratively across departments to make sure employees are trained and ready to respond to a range of natural disasters.
When dangerous weather patterns—like our infamous Santa Ana winds—spark wildfire risk, utility companies may implement a Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) to reduce the potential of an ignition. When this happens, even in areas where Cox is required to maintain backup power for its network, your home equipment may not work unless you have a backup power source on your premises. Cox stays in close contact with local utility providers and public safety agencies to monitor events and protect its infrastructure.
While Cox is at the ready as a community partner, there are things community members can do on their end to better prepare for an unexpected event.
Keep a corded landline and battery backup for phone service. Cox Voice customers should have a corded phone on hand and a fully charged backup battery for their phone modem. Call 855-324-7700
Follow and get updates on Cox’s social media accounts especially @coxcalifornia. In the event of a PSPS, wildfire, or other natural disaster, Cox will post service outage updates, tips, and other important information on this handle.
Download Cox apps. Don’t wait until there is an emergency to get Cox apps. ● Cox app gives you the ability to check on outages, stay up to date with text alerts, and manage accounts. ● Cox Contour app lets customers access the latest news and weather anytime as well as stream their favorite content on smartphones and tablets.
Stay connected with Cox’s WiFi backup internet service. Cox now offers Stay Connected, a WiFi backup solution powered by unlimited 4G LTE cellular data and a four-hour battery. This service automatically switches to cellular internet when your primary connection goes down keeping you online during outages caused by power shut offs or natural disasters.
Keep a portable generator on hand. Back-up power? Yes, please. If your power goes out, a generator may prolong your services if your Cox service location still has power. Check your generator’s owner’s manual for details on power capacity and safe operation.
Update contact information. Get ahead of wildfire season and update your preferred contact information with Cox to receive emergency and outage notices.
Be aware of disaster relief protections. You could be eligible for consumer disaster relief protections if your Cox Voice service goes out during a state of emergency declared by the California Governor’s Office or the President of the United States. Disaster relief protections include a waiver of a one-time activation fee for establishing remote call forwarding.
Know your evacuation zones and emergency contacts. Take time now to identify your local evacuation zones, emergency shelters, and public safety contact numbers. Program them into your phone and keep a printed list on hand, along with an emergency go-bag with stocked essentials.
A perfectly designed home rarely happens by accident. Those kitchens that feel effortless and rooms that seem to tell a story the second you walk in? They’re usually the work of someone who knows exactly what they’re doing.
It’s knowing which ideas will actually work, which materials will hold up over time, and how to turn a collection of choices into a space that feels intentional. That’s where a professional interior designer comes in.
For the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) California San Diego Chapter, the goal is to help people see interior design as more than just the finished look. Behind every well-designed space is a process built on technical expertise. Designers are educated in everything from professional software and construction details to building codes, space planning, materials, and functionality.
Courtesy of ASID
“People don’t always realize how much goes on behind the scenes,” Kirsten Recce , current president of the ASID California San Diego Chapter, says. “Our designers are not just doing furniture placement and color selection and picking out new fluffy pillows. That’s not what they’re trained for.”
ASID members bring formal education, continued learning, and industry knowledge to their projects, helping create spaces that are not only beautiful, but designed to work. A paint color that changes completely depending on the lighting. A material that looks beautiful in a showroom but doesn’t make sense for everyday life. A layout that photographs well but doesn’t function for the people living there. These are the details where professional guidance can make all the difference.
Still, one of the biggest misconceptions about hiring an interior designer is that it’s reserved for massive renovations, luxury homes, or people who already know exactly what they want. The process can feel intimidating. Where do you begin? Is a designer worth the investment? What if you only need help with one room?
ASID’s answer: start with one hour.
ASID’s Spruce Up events break down one of the biggest barriers between homeowners and professional design: knowing where to begin. Held twice a year, the community program gives homeowners the chance to work directly with an ASID designer through a one-hour, $125 consultation in their own home. Whether you’re looking for advice on furniture placement, window treatments, kitchen and bath updates, remodeling ideas, vacation rentals, color selections or something else entirely, the upcoming September 2026 event offers an approachable way to get expert guidance before committing to a full project. Signups are open through Sept. 7, with consultations taking place Sept. 21 through Oct. 31. Proceeds benefit ASID San Diego’s educational and community programs. Register here!
Courtesy of ASID
“It’s a great opportunity for people who are in that exploratory phase,” Recce says. “Maybe they’re not sure they want to hire an interior designer yet, or they think it sounds daunting or expensive. This gives them a chance to discover what working with a designer is actually like.”
Design is personal. A good designer isn’t just creating a beautiful room; they’re helping create a space that fits the way someone lives.
“We’re a resource to all of San Diego County,” Recce says. “It doesn’t cost anything to pick up the phone and call and ask. We’ll answer.”
Mai Vue was just 34 weeks pregnant when she delivered her baby. Her pregnancy had been complicated, and she’d had a recent second trimester pregnancy loss, which led to her receiving specialized care from Sean Daneshmand, MD, a Scripps Clinic perinatologist who oversees high-risk pregnancies. Dr. Daneshmand and his team took care of Mai during her pregnancy, through the birth of her healthy baby girl and beyond. Mai was part of a program Scripps launched to provide support to new moms in the weeks and months after delivery. The postpartum program, known as Scripps Health’s Fourth Trimester Continuum of Care, provides care for women with high-risk pregnancies to optimize their health after childbirth and reduce the risk of complications in future pregnancies. Click here to learn more.
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It’s estimated that one in five people in the U.S. will develop skin cancer at some point in their lives. When you factor in living in a sun-soaked city like San Diego and the outdoorsy lifestyle that comes with it, that figure can jump to as high as one in three, which makes early detection and intervention all the more important. Dermatologists at Bighorn Mohs and Dermatology Center are using innovative imaging methods and advanced surgical techniques to diagnose and treat skin cancer. For certain cancers in sensitive spots, like the face, dermatologists perform Mohs surgery, removing skin tissue layer by layer until reaching healthy, cancer-free tissue. They also use a process called immunohistochemistry to view tissue samples taken during Mohs surgery in far greater detail than previous methods. Read more about how Scripps is advancing skin cancer care here.
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When endurance athlete Isaac Sanchez learned he had cancer, he felt blindsided. He was healthy, surfed often and was training for an Ironman triathlon. But he had to put that on hold to undergo treatment. His physicians at Scripps Cancer Center developed a plan to treat the cancer in his tonsil and lymph nodes that included six-and-a-half weeks of near-daily radiation and weekly chemotherapy. He also worked with a Scripps Cancer Center dietitian to enhance his nutrition to promote strength and healing. Today, Isaac’s back to doing what he loves. Read more of his story here.
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While glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agents have been used to treat Type 2 diabetes for more than 20 years, their recent emergence as weight-loss wonder drugs marked a new frontier in medicine. But their effectiveness has left some patients wondering what to do once they’ve reached their goal. Stopping the medication could mean regaining some, if not all, of the weight. A Scripps Clinic internal medicine physician recently conducted a small study of whether GLP-1 patients who had reached their goal weight could maintain that weight by taking their regularly prescribed injection every other week instead of weekly. Spoiler alert: 30 of 34 patients did. Read more about the study here and what that may mean as pharmaceutical companies roll out oral GLP-1s.
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Chemotherapy and radiation have long been considered gold standards of cancer treatment, but they can cause severe side effects. A promising new approach called theranostics—a combination of “therapeutics” and “diagnostics”—could offer patients with certain types of metastatic cancers new hope. It’s a two-step process that uses a drug that binds to specific receptors on cancer cells. Advanced imaging detects this radioisotope, allowing doctors to then use a second radioisotope that binds to the cancer cells and destroys them. Click here to learn more about how specialists at Scripps Cancer Center are using theranostics.
For more nutrition, wellness, and healthy living tips, sign up for the San Diego Health newsletter here.
