GANG AND DRUG SWEEPS SNAG 26 SUSPECTS IN LA MESA
June 11, 2012 (La Mesa)—La Mesa Police Department reports that a Special Enforcement Detail arrested 26 people last month. The unit targets gangs, drug deals, and serial criminals. After executing four search warrants, the unit resulted in seizure of over $20,000 in drug sales cash, two guns, over 7 ounces of methamphetamine, 5 pounds of marijuana, and 2.2 ounces of heroin. La Mesa Police also located a stolen vehicle on June 8 and pursued it from the parking lot of the Heritage Inn on Fletcher Parkway to the Campo Road/Bancroft area, where the drive was arrested for auto theft, evading a police officer and drug possession. Later that same day, officers spotted two people in a vehicle who appeared to be casing the same parking lot. A pursuit ensued and the two were taken into custody in San Diego for charges including evading police, drug possession and felony warrants.
SAN DIEGO STUDENT AMONG 15 FINALISTS AT GLOBAL GOOGLE SCIENCE FAIR
San Diego Jewish Academy eight grader Jonah Kohn’s project uses tactile sound to enhance music for people with hearing loss through vibrations June 11, 2012 (San Diego)–San Diego Jewish Academy (SDJA) eighth grade student Jonah Kohn was recently notified that he is one of five finalists in his age group out of a total 15 finalists in the 2012 Google Science Fair, which received thousands of entries from over 100 countries worldwide. His project, Good Vibrations: Improving the Music Experience for People with Hearing Loss Using Multi-Frequency Tactile Sound, has the potential to affect millions of people with hearing loss by enhancing their ability to enjoy music. The project was inspired in a loud classroom where he and a friend were playing chords on a guitar, but couldn’t hear the music over the noise. After experimenting, they learned they could hear the music clearly by placing their teeth lightly on the head of the guitar’s neck. “No matter how loud the classroom was, I could hear the guitar,” said Jonah. When asked to come up with a middle school science project, Jonah connected his inability to hear the guitar to the experience of individuals with hearing loss and hypothesized that his experience hearing it by using his teeth might enable him to find a way for people with hearing loss to have a superior experience of music. To conduct the experiment, Jonah built a device that converts music to vibrations and delivers them to users’ bodies. Jonah’s test group consisted of people with normal hearing, cochlear implants and hearing aids. The groups listened to both modern and classical music first with speakers only, and then with speakers in tandem with his device. There was no effect on people with normal hearing, but the majority of subjects with hearing loss experienced a significant increase in their enjoyment. “Cochlear implant users experienced a 93% increase in their enjoyment of the music,” stated Jonah. Jonah’s project won first place at the California State Science Fair and placed first at the Greater San Diego Science and Engineering Fair. Jonah will fly to Google headquarters in Mountain View, California on July 21 to present his project to the Google Science Fair judges and compete for $100,000 in scholarships and other prizes. According to the World Health Organization, 278 million people worldwide have moderate to profound hearing loss in both ears, which makes the implications of Jonah’s research extraordinarily impactful. “I was surprised to make it to the regional top 90, and amazed to be chosen for the final 15. I feel very honored to be selected by judges who are top scientists from around the world and I’m excited to be a part of this competition.” About SDJA: Serving infants to high school seniors, San Diego Jewish Academy challenges students to achieve their full academic potential and become individuals of strong moral and ethical character, while inspiring them to make Judaism a vital and relevant aspect of their lives. For more information on San Diego Jewish Academy, visit www.sdja.com. For more information on Jonah Kohn’s project and the Google Science Fair, click here.
HIGH-POWER LIVING: SOLAR FUELS HOUSE AND VEHICLE FOR LOCAL COUPLE—WITH ALL THE COMFORTS OF HOME
“It’s just the right thing to do.” – Gene Dolphin How Kathy and Gene Dolphin walk their talk every day By Faith Attaguile June 11, 2012, (San Diego) — When the energy “crisis” hit California in 2001, Kathy and Gene Dolphin got angry. The roving blackouts and triple-digit rate increases in California caused by Enron’s market manipulations tipped the scales. The soaring electric bill pushed them over the edge. That was when they decided to go solar. “I can’t say that I had pure motives,” Kathy said. “I just wouldn’t let anybody have that kind of control over me again.” How it all began The Dolphins live in a cozy two-bedroom, one-bath stucco cottage in the wonderfully diverse neighborhood of San Diego’s Normal Heights. A spacious 2-car garage almost doubles the living space of their 600-square foot home. Serving as the “gas-up” space for their new electric car, the garage also holds their washer and drier and doubles as a workspace for their many projects. The decision to go solar after the 2001 Enron scandal didn’t come out of the blue. Kathy and Gene had been consciously downsizing their energy needs for several years before then. Their journey began at a 1999 Ocean Beach fall fest celebration hosted by the OB Peoples’ Co-op. Fascinated by the fest’s solar-powered stage and sound system, the Dolphins began thinking about energy in a different way. The first thing they did was build a small solar oven out of cardboard. It was a real eye-opener for them. “Once we witnessed how a solar oven works,” Kathy said, “it changed our way of thinking. The solar oven uses reflectors, and as the sun moves across the sky, you move the oven. We experienced a direct connection to a beautiful source of powerful energy. And it was free!” Pausing, Kathy exchanged a smile with Gene. “That little solar oven taught us something big,” she continued. “A light went off in our heads. We realized that it’s not just about us. It’s about adjusting to the reality around us, being a part of it. The sun is for every living thing on this planet!” Shrinking their energy footprint From there the Dolphins began taking steps that moved them toward greater energy efficiency. Here are some of the first things they did: They purchased plug strips and turned them off after each use to cut the slow energy drainage from phantom loads that come with all electric gadgets these days. When old appliances bit the dust they bought energy-efficient models. They replaced all light bulbs with more efficient compact fluorescent lights (CFLs). Recently they exchanged those with light-emitting diodes (LED)s because, Kathy said, “LEDs are safer, last forever and are even more efficient than CFLs.” A strikingly distinctive project Kathy and Gene undertook was to install a solar light tube in the ceiling of their tiny kitchen. Not to be confused with a skylight, the light tube’s diffuser projects an amazing amount of light into the kitchen during the day, without glare … and without overheating the room. Biting the energy bullet after Enron It was after the Enron scandal that the Dolphins took the solar energy world by storm. In 2004 they had Home Energy Systems install a rooftop 2.1KW PV (photovoltaic) system consisting of 33 panels. Martin Learn, the company’s owner, is now a good friend. Their new PV system produced all the electricity they needed … and still sent excess back into the grid. “The beauty of it all,” says Gene, “was watching the meter go backwards after the system was installed.” But when they bought a new Nissan LEAF this year, the Dolphins needed a system upgrade to provide the extra electricity a charging station would require. Eight years of development in solar technology were on their side. When Home Energy Systems replaced 11 of their old solar panels with newer, more efficient ones, Kathy and Gene were able to double the amount of electricity generated by their system. They could now charge up their new electric car … for free! “People need to understand the numbers,” Martin Learn said. “Think about it. It costs about $3.50 (25 kilowatt hours) to drive 100 miles on baseline SDG&E electricity. It costs about $20.00 to drive the same distance on gasoline these days (figuring 21 mpg at $4.00/gal). I keep asking people, what are you waiting for?” Next target: Water Actually, the first solar product the Dolphins installed wasn’t their PV system. It was the rooftop solar hot water heater that they installed in 2001. Noting that they originally hooked it up to a 40-gallon hot water tank, Kathy lamented, “That was stupid. We don’t use 40 gallons of hot water in a week and it takes a lot of energy to keep that water hot!” So when their tank finally died last year the Dolphins linked their solar water heater to an electric on-demand tankless system. Now, if the water they need is hot enough from the rooftop solar heater, it will pass through the on-demand heater without triggering it. “Another way to save on energy,” says Gene. “Water and energy are connected.” What about irrigation? With all this activity going on, it was natural for the Dolphins to begin thinking about how they used water and what they could do to decrease that use. First they tackled the grass in their front yard. Why? “Because it involved a constant use of water,” Kathy explains. Now, instead of water-sucking grass, there are beautiful, fragrant drought tolerant plants and wonderful, curving pathways of river stone wandering through their small front yard. Garlic, Peruvian ground cherries, day lilies, parsley, onions, peppers, fennel, escarole, red mustard, stevia and an array of fragrant herbs dot the area. But even these plants need water.
ON THE SILVER SCREEN: DARK SIDE OF THE MOON
By Brian Lafferty June 11, 2012 (San Diego) – I attend every screening with a pen and small notebook in hand. I have a strong visual memory, but it never hurts to jot down certain things I may later overlook. For Prometheus, I wrote only three brief sentences before I put the notebook down. This film had the tractor beam effect on my eyes. I sat fully entranced, unable to look away. This magnetic tug begins at the outset with the death of a humanoid alien on prehistoric Earth, and its body disintegrating in the water. Flash forward to 2093, when Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and a crew of scientists and explorers descend upon a distant moon with a surface possibly capable of sustaining human life. They discover the ruins of a long-dead civilization. Later, they battle an alien being that threatens to kill the entire team. Prometheus starts out, for lack of a better word, slowly. For a while, it’s primarily concerned with the awe of exploration. Ridley Scott and cinematographer Dariusz Wolski express it with a parade of epic, engaging images. They employ an extremely limited color palette. While the titular ship’s interiors are colored with dark-toned blues, yellows, and greens, the moon is practically devoid of color. The crew’s flashlights illuminate the ruins’ black tunnels in a moody effect that requires a theatrical viewing to be one hundred percent effective. Sometimes cinematography is less about the quantity of colors and lighting and more about what the filmmakers do with them. Scott and Wolski find beauty and poetry in the moon’s barren, nearly colorless surface. Wolski uses a wide-angle lens to film the moon and its ruins’ labyrinthine tunnels. The epic-looking deep focus that results is the primary cinematographic hook. After this exploration comes action and suspense. At some point, maybe halfway in, everything goes awry. The pacing turns from slow to a steady increase of urgent rapidity. It transforms into an action film, but not disconcertingly. The change is organic, and it still retains the magnetism present in the preceding scenes. Pietro Scalia’s natural and unforced cutting contributes heavily to this. Prometheus isn’t flawless, but then what is? The acting by everyone is pedestrian, except for Michael Fassbender as the Android. Noomi Rapace first made her mark this side of the Atlantic with the 2010 Swedish import, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and its two sequels. Last year, she made her Hollywood debut supporting Robert Downey Jr. in the sequel to Sherlock Holmes. Prometheus is her first leading role here in the States. I don’t know what it is, but there’s something about Hollywood that prevents her from shining like she did in Dragon Tattoo. It’s like this. Suppose someone transmits an image, but before he does, he scrambles it. This scrambled image is then sent to another area, where his counterpart unscrambles it. For some reason, the unscrambled image doesn’t add up the same way. I’m not saying Rapace isn’t good. She gives a solid, serviceable performance. I don’t see the same actress I saw back in 2010. The script may be exposition-heavy, but it honestly didn’t bother me much. I was too engrossed by the images. Ridley Scott is renowned as a visual director, and this is true for at least the early portion of his career. Alien’s claustrophobic sets; Blade Runner’s visual portmanteau of neo-noir and futurism; Legend’s lush colors and lighting; and Thelma & Louise’s epic scope of the modern American West are all exemplary of his visual prowess. Prometheus further illustrates his mastery of the movie camera. B+ Prometheus is now playing in wide release. A 20th Century Fox release. Director: Ridley Scott. Screenplay: Jon Spaihts and Damon Lindelof. Original Music: Marc Streitenfeld. Cinematography: Dariusz Wolski. Cast: Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron, Idris Elba, Guy Pearce, and Logan Marshall-Green. 124 minutes. Rated R. Brian Lafferty welcomes letters at brian@eastcountymagazine.org. You can also follow him on Twitter: @BrianLaff.
EARTHTALK® E – THE ENVIRONMENTAL MAGAZINE
Written and edited by Roddy Scheer and Doug Moss June 11, 2012 ( Norwalk, CT) — Dear EarthTalk: I own a small business and would like to do what I can to minimize its impact on the environment. Can you help me? — Jacob Levinson, New York, NY There are many ways to green up any business, large or small—and an added benefit might just be saving money. Just like individuals, businesses can measure their carbon footprints to get a sense of where they are starting from and to get some initial ideas of areas to focus on to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) offers a free “Simplified GHG [greenhouse gas] Emissions Calculator” to help small businesses get started. Another option is to enroll in TerraPass’s “Carbon Balanced Business” program, which helps commercial entities measure and then offset the greenhouse gas emissions they are responsible for generating. Beyond carbon footprints, there are many other things businesses can do to minimize their environmental impacts. The non-profit Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) reports that, first and foremost, businesses should shift the paper paradigm—the average office tosses out about 350 pounds of paper per year per employee. “Reducing your waste and purchasing paper with post-consumer recycled content can help save trees and nudge the pulp and paper industry, one of the most environmentally destructive industries in the world, toward a less damaging path,” NRDC reports. Some easy ways to do this include: setting printers to use both sides of a page (or designating a “draft tray” filled with paper that’s blank on one side); buying copy paper with a 30 percent or more post-consumer recycled content; collecting used paper separately for recycling; and stocking bathrooms with post-consumer recycled tissue products. Getting more energy efficient is another way to save the Earth while saving money too. NRDC recommends taking advantage of the fact that most utilities offer free or inexpensive energy audits, whereby an engineer examines operations and provides a report about how to save on energy costs. Turning off lights and electronics at the end of the work day can save bundles of energy. “Plug all your appliances into a power strip and you’ll only have to flip one switch at the end of the day,” suggests NRDC. Also, setting computers to “sleep” or “hibernate” when inactive will further reduce a business’s footprint. And NRDC says to lose the screensavers: “Flying toasters and slideshows can use up about $50 of electricity in a year.” Lastly, when shopping for new office appliances, look for the EnergyStar label which means that the federal government has rated the particular unit highly in terms of energy efficiency. Cutting water waste will also make a business run greener. The group says to install faucet aerators and low-flow toilets, check for and fix leaks, landscape with water efficiency in mind and recycle gray water where applicable for nonpotable uses such as watering gardens. Lastly, NRDC suggests creating a greener work environment, given that “employees are on the front lines of any sustainability initiatives” a business chooses to make—perhaps by creating a green team “with members from all divisions of the organization to help implement plans and bring new ideas to the table.” Those looking to take their businesses down a green path should consult any of the free “Greening Your Business” guides on NRDC’s website. CONTACTS: EPA, www.epa.gov/climateleadership/smallbiz/footprint.html; NRDC Greening Your Business, www.nrdc.org/cities/living/gbusiness.asp. Dear EarthTalk: Diesel exhaust from trucks, buses, large ships and farm equipment is especially unhealthy. What progress has been made in curbing diesel pollution? –– Jackie Mitchell, Barre, MA Gasoline-powered passenger cars plying American roads have been subject to strict pollution limits for some three decades already, but only recently have tougher standards for diesel-powered trucks, trains, barges and other soot-belching vehicles gone on the books across the country. Traditionally, older diesel engines produce less carbon dioxide per mile driven than gasoline-powered vehicles, but they produce more of the pollution associated with localized environmental trauma—such as smog and soot in the air—that can trigger respiratory and cardiovascular problems and have been linked to lung and other cancers. Thanks to the work of the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), American Lung Association (ALA) and others, though, the U.S. government has adopted increasingly stringent rules governing how much particulate pollution and other toxins are allowed to come out of diesel engines. In 2001, these groups convinced Congress to pass strict new pollution limits on heavy-duty trucks and buses. Three years later similarl standards were applied for non-road vehicles, including construction and farm equipment. These laws were designed to clean up new diesel engines, but the millions of older diesel engines still on American roads, work sites and waterways continue to cause pollution problems. Newer state laws in California, Texas and New York calling on owners of older diesel vehicles to retrofit their engines with emissions reduction equipment has helped clean the air in those states. And regional public-private partnerships administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s National Clean Diesel Campaign have also helped put a dent in diesel emissions from the trucking, rail and shipping sectors. Even though the clean-up of diesel engines has only been mandated in the U.S. within the last 10 years, the positive effects are already noticeable. A recent report (“State of the Air: 2012”) issued by the ALA found that, in urban areas across the U.S., ozone-causing smog is down 13 percent, soot levels are 24 percent lower and short-term particulate pollution is down some 28 percent over the last decade. Meanwhile, California’s Diesel Risk Reduction Plan, which calls for cleaner-burning diesel fuels, retrofitting of older engines with particle-trapping filters, and the use in new diesel engines of advanced technologies that yield some 90 percent fewer particle emissions, has already cut diesel particle emissions by 75 percent there, with 10 more percentage points worth of clean-up expected by 2020. “Together, these regulations will prevent tens of thousands of deaths and hospitalizations each year,” reports EDF. “The billions of
CLOUDY AND COOLER TODAY
June 11, 2012 (San Diego) — No sweltering summer heat today!Gary Kelley brings you the latest forecast at Your Online Weather:
NEW FIRE IN EL MONTE VALLEY
June 10, 2012 (Lakeside) – San Diego County’s third wildfire in one day has charred several acres in El Monte Valley on the north side of Lake Jennings near El Monte Park. No structures are threatened, according to Cal Fire. “Two water helos and two bombers out of Ramona are knocking it down pretty quick,” reader Charley Barranco e-mailed ECM late today. “Only white smoke is showing.” A post at Wildland Firefighting at 7:06 p.m. contained the following additional information: cation: El Monte Rd. – Lakeside, Ca. Acres: 5 to 7 ROS: Moderate ROC: Fire burning uphill away from El Monte Road just east of Lake Jennings Drive. Structures: are not currently threatened Special Hazards: Large powerlines eveywhere around the fire Resources: Cal Fire, Heartland Fire & USFS response Radio Frequencies: CDF CMD-3 Weather Info: Windy & cool If you have updates or eyewitness reports, please post in the comments section below. Sign up at the top right side of our homepage to receive FREE Viejas Wildfire & Emergency Alerts and a FREE weekly copy of East County Magazine via email. You can also receive shorter text alerts on your mobile device by following ViejasAlerts on Twitter.
CHIEF’S CORNER: WHAT TO DO DURING A WILDFIRE
By Sam DiGiovanna June 10, 2012 (San Diego County) Listen to your portable radio for reports and evacuation information. Back your car into the garage or park it in an open space facing the direction of escape. Close garage windows and doors, but leave them unlocked. Confine pets to one room. Arrange temporary housing. When advised to evacuate, do so immediately. Wear protective clothing. Take your emergency kit. Lock your home. Follow the evacuation route that your local officials have identified.
WILDFIRE IN LAKESIDE
Update June 10, 2012 6 p.m. – The Horse fire has been stopped at 12 acres, Lakeside Fire Chief Andy Parr told ECM. Fixed wing aircraft and helicopters were used to battle the blaze under a unified command with Cal-Fire. No homes were lost, Chief Parr confirmed. Update 3 p.m.: ECM photographer Dennis Richardson is at the scene. "Winds are blowing and the fire is burning west toward Santee," he said. He confirmed that flames are threatening at least one home. Incident Page Network reports fire is now eight acres. June 10, 2012 (Lakeside)–The Horse Fire, a three to five acre brush fire in Lakeside’s Eucalyptus Hills area near Highway 67, has potential to reach 50 to 100 acres, according to a post by a senior member at WildlandFire.com. Cal-Fire’s Mike Mohler confirmed that Heartland Fire has been dispatched to the scene. Cal-Fire and the U.S. Forest Service have also been called for a full wildland fire response. According to posts on WildlandFire.com, structures are threatened on Crazy Horse. Powerlines are listed as special hazards in the area, which may slow firefighting efforts. View a map at http://www.scribblemaps.com/maps/view/8j60cnSRBx. Sign up at the top right side of our homepage to receive free Viejas Wildfire & Emergency alerts via email and also receive a free weekly copy of East County Magazine with top news, events and festivals for our region. You can also get free brief text alerts on your mobile device by following ViejasAlerts on Twitter. We recommend all of the above to stay safe and informed at home, at work and on the road.