HORSING AROUND: MAGIC HORSE ART SHOW FEATURES ART CREATED BY THE HORSES
Printer-friendly versionThe Magic Horse Therapeutic Riding Center hosts an art fair and live auction on Sunday, December 13th from 12:00 noon to 4:00 p.m. at the Lakeside VFW Hall, 12650 Lindo Lane, Lakeside 92040. Admission and meal costs $25, or reserve a table for six including wine for $150. The event includes a live auction, opportunity drawing, creative activities for children, and T-shirt. Auction and drawin include items donated by local businesses and art by local artists, and artwork created by the horses! The Magic Horse provides life-enhancing differences for disabled people and their families. Owner/instructor Robin Pawl has helpd youngsters make amazing improvements in their abilities to sit, speak, and walk. A no-host bar supports the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW). Contact Robin Pawl at (619)672-6935 to contribute auction or drawing items, sponsor a rider or horse, contribute to a scholarship fund, buy tickets ot obtain more information. Printer-friendly version
MUSIC TEACHER ARRESTED IN SANTA YSABEL FOR CHILD MOLESTATION & PORNOGRAPHY; SHERIFFS SEEK ADDITIONAL VICTIMS
Printer-friendly version December 10, 2009 (Santa Ysabel) — Yesterday U.S. Marshal’s agents in coordination with the San Diego County Fugitive Task Force arrested Mark Kinney, 47, his residence in Santa Ysabel. Kinney’s arrest came after an extensive investigation by detectives from the Sheriff’s Child Abuse Unit with the assistanceof the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and the San Diego District Attorney’s Office. He is charged with eight counts of lewd acts with a child, two counts of manufacturing child pornography for non-commercia purposes, and one count of possession of child pornography. Kinney is a musician and a private music instructor.Sheriff’s Investigators are concerned because many of his students are children. Therefore, there is the possibility of unreported victims. Kinney maintained a music studio in Ramona. However, he taught private lessons throughout San Diego County. Anyone with related information about Mark Kinney or anyone who believes they may have been victimized is urged to call Sheriff’s Detective Chris Davis at 858-974-2310. Printer-friendly version
MEMORIAL SET FOR SYCUAN EMPLOYEE DEREK DREIS
Printer-friendly version December 10, 2009 (Lakeside) — Derek C. Dreis, age 45, of Lakeside died suddenly of a blood clot that stopped his heart on Saturday, December 5th. For the last 10 years, he has worked for Sycuan Casino and Resort as an assistant shift supervisor on the security department. He spent his free time enjoying the outdoors, listening to and playing good classic rock music, and accompanying his family on many outings. He is remembered as a "gentle spirit who was courteous, respectful, and generous to all he met" according to a release sent to East County Magazine. Dreis is survived by his devoted parents, Walter and Judy Dreis, his loving sisters Nicole Dreis Rockstead and Denise Dreis, and his neice Avalon Rockstead. Memorial services will be at El Cajon- Lakeside- Santee Mortuary, 684 S. Mollison Avenue (on the corner of Mollison and Washington) on Friday, December 11 at 2:00 p.m. A reception will be held directly after the service at Bongiovanni’s Restaurant. Printer-friendly version
BOOK REVIEW: THE STRAIGHT-UP TRUTH ABOUT THE DOWN-LOW
Printer-friendly version The Straight-Up Truth About the Down Low By Joy Marie Book Review by Dennis Moore December 9, 2009 (San Diego) — While having dinner at a friend’s home this past Thanksgiving, my friend told me that her friend’s husband had left her after more than 30 years of marriage for a man that he had been having a homosexual relationship with for years. This occurrence, which seems to be more commonplace than previously thought, is the topic profiled in The Straight-Up Truth About The Down-Low, a book written two co-authors using the pseudonym Joy Marie. The topic of this book seems to be our dirty little secret, at least in the black community, mostly because of the damage it has caused the family structure and because of fears of exposure to HIV. The CDC has now confirmed the link between men on the down-low and the spread of the HIV infection to black women by means of heterosexual sex with homosexual men. African-American women are being infected at a rate of 23 black women to every 1 white woman. Religious people in the black community are also often inclined to hide perceived unseemly unions between members of the same sex. Sure, we have heard of the Catholic Church sexual scandals, but we didn’t seem to associate it that much with the black community. This book was not written to bash homosexuality. The authors are not homophobic women, but truthful women willing to be truthful about debilitating experiences. They are not bashing gays because they do not feel they should judge anyone. The betrayal, deception and unfairness of ensnaring women and ruining their lives because some men lack courage to live their own truths–that’s what the authors are standing up against. They believe that when the public is armed with information, women will have a fair chance of not being victimized by the down-low. In the book, women share their stories of betrayal, pain and survival, possibly another reason why the authors had initially chosen to publish their book under a pseudonym. Marie recently informed me that her husband had died, which has made her more inclined to come from up under that pseudonym. So, what is the “Down-Low?” Marie states; “The ‘down-low,’ ‘DL,’ ‘Tha Low,’ ‘Tha low Low,’ all refer to men who secretly have sex with other men while in sexual relationships with women. She may be his wife, girlfriend, or just a friend with benefits, but the down-low specifies that she is not ‘in the know’ about his homosexual activities. These men do not consider themselves gay or bisexual because they do not wish to be associated with the perception of gay, effeminate men. In fact, they actually shun all labels. Some of them consider their secretive homosexual lifestyle to be just another extracurricular activity.” She elaborates, “Although the term ‘down-low’ originated in the African-American community to indicate something on the ‘hush-hush,’ it is now used to describe men of all races who have sex with other men undercover. We have found that this behavior is not new, nor is it specific to black men who have sex with men. White men who engage in this same dangerous behavior are said to be ‘in the closet.’ From our research, we have discovered there is really no difference between Black men being on the down-low and any other men being in the closet – they are all closeted homosexuals. These men come in all ages, races, shapes, sizes, professions, and even religions. Most are hard to detect at first glance. Some of these men have been practicing this lifestyle for many years and therefore have become very skillful at hiding their true identities. They believe that what they do privately is their own business and what we don’t know won’t hurt us.” In talking with Marie, who uses her pseudonym out of fear for her safety, she informed me that women also participate in this “Down-Low” lifestyle. The point that Marie wants to get over to the reader is that there is an insidious behavior in our community and society, that is destroying the fabric of male-female relationships, thereby casting a cloud of suspicion over even genuine relationships. The Straight-Up Truth About The Down-Low was written by two women, who met on the Internet while seeking answers to their newfound reality, a reality that now many women share. Marie has indicated to me that they had loved, trusted, and shared their lives with men who lived a lie. Together, the authors had vowed to dedicate their lives to helping other women who would find themselves victims of down-low men. Joy Marie’s intent is to make other women aware of the dangerous, promiscuous sexual practices that actually take place in the “down-low” lifestyle. If I could take just a bit of editorial license in this matter, and as I have a 16-year old daughter that will one day grow up into a woman, and possibly marry, I wouldn’t want her to have to share such a story of betrayal, pain and survival such as Joy Marie has endured. That pain is exemplified in this excerpt: “You can’t believe it. It can’t possibly be true. No, not him – and no, not you, but somewhere deep in your heart, you know it really is true. All the pieces of the puzzle were there, but you couldn’t and didn’t want to connect the dots because your heart refused to believe what your brain and your intuition were telling you. What happened to your dream, your life, and your sense of security? Something suddenly snatched it all away, but where were you? Why didn’t you see it coming?” In talking to Marie, she wanted me to know how this book, this crusade, has basically consumed her life. She speaks of receiving calls from similarly-situated women in distress over the matter, and she wanted to emphasize certain points for clarity. Joy
SANTANA VARSITY TEAM LEADS AFTER 5TH WEEK OF ACADEMIC LEAGUE MATCHES
Printer-friendly version December 10, 2009 (San Diego’s East County) – With a 5-0 record, Santa High School ‘s varsity team is in first place after the fifth week of the Grossmont Union High School District’s Academic League matches, besting Helix 85-24. “There were a couple of close matches as well as some strong performances by several teams,” said Steve Haiman, co-coordinator. Due to a misprint in the schedule (which incorrectly listed home matches at both El Capitan and Grossmont), the junior varsity match between the two teams was not held. So moderator Ruth Weiss improvised, having the home-team Grossmont Foothills JV team take on some parents and spectators just for fun. The Vaquero varsity team did arrive in time for its matchup. Granite Hills and West Hills are tied for the lead at four wins and no losses each. Wednesday, December 16th matches will be the last held before the winter break. Play will resume January 13th, 2010. For complete standings and results, click here. Printer-friendly version
ACADEMIC LEAGUE # 4 FEATURED MATCH: GROSSMONT AT SANTANA
Printer-friendly version By Steve Haiman Co-coordinator, GUHSD Academic League December 9, 2009 (San Diego’s East County) — The layoff for Thanksgiving did not slow up the four teams in week four’s featured match with the Santana “Sultans” hosting the Grossmont “Foothillers”. In, fact all of the teams got right down to turkey…pardon the pun…from the very opening question right down to the last one. They were amazingly, evenly matched teams! In Junior Varsity action, with 11 minutes left in the 25 minute match, a time out was called to substitute players. The score board read: Grossmont, 41 and Santana, 50. The Sultans, coached by Ms. Brooke Crocker, and captained by Garet Webster with able assistance from Nate Tessin and Karen Wolfe pulled ahead with 7 minutes left and never looked back. That is not to say that the Foothillers, coached by Ms. Brianne Jones, captained by Patricia Tan and supported by Forest McKenzie did not make a super effort to try and catch up. Of special note, Emily Harris, from Grossmont, sported a neat team shirt that read: “Academic League Rocks”, along with pom poms. In Varsity action, while Grossmont got off to a early lead, Santana kept crawling back to bring the score within 15 points (GHS, 95 and Sant., 80) with 6 minutes left in the 35 minute match. With 2 minutes remaining, the Sultans pulled ahead of the Foothillers. It was now nail biting time for 1st year GHS coach Brianne Jones and long time Sultan coach Brooke Crocker. With less than a minute left, Grossmont got the Toss-up question correct and pulled to with 4 points of taking the lead again. Time ran out during the 5 point bonus, and the Grossmont team was unable to answer the 3 part question correctly. This left the final score: Grossmont 101 and Santana 105. These are really high points scored by two teams in any one match and it was sad that one of the teams had to lose. Grossmont was very skillfully led by captain Stina Schwebke with strong assistance from Eric Wilkins and David Taylor. For its part, Santana was captained by the very able Scott Hung with a great team effort by Thomas Bennett, Jason Toma, Ian Davies and Connor Wilson. Moderator and Social Science teacher Ms. Michelle Tribble kept the match moving with humor, alacrity, and superior judgment. The audience of over 35 people were enthralled by such well matched, well informed teams. And while Academic League matches are free, the keen level of competition displayed by these fine young people could have resulted in charging admission with no one asking for their money back! In other match news: Moderator and retired GUHSD Librarian Cathy Tschiltsch reported that the Helix at El Cajon match had a standing room only audience. Moderator Brian Andersen reported that his two matches featuring Monte Vista at Steele Canyon were very close ones, with the varsity match 10 points apart with 5 minutes left in that match. View the complete week four Academic League results here. Printer-friendly version