Jessica Brodkin Webb

Hawthorne Country Store is hosting Chicktopia on March 11 at all three of its locations, including its Santee store at 10845 Woodside Ave. The free, annual event will feature more than 100 varieties of baby chicks for experienced and first-time poultry parents to purchase and build their backyard flock.

The San Diego Tourism Authority has chosen 10 businesses for the second cohort of their tourism accelerator program with a focus on those operated by women, veterans, minorities and members of the LGBTQ community.

Three candidates have thrown their hat in the ring to serve as Alpine’s next Honorary Mayor in the first election hosted by the Alpine-Mountain Empire Chamber of Commerce since 2019. The fundraiser event functions much like it did before the pandemic: individuals choose a charity or cause to represent in the competition, then raise funds at a dollar per vote, with all the charities benefiting regardless of who actually receives the most votes and takes the title of Honorary Mayor.