BUNGLING BURGLARS IN LEMON GROVE’S “HISTORY ALIVE” SERIES JUNE 2
Printer-friendly version By Helen Ofield May 31, 2016 (Lemon Grove) — The “History Alive” lecture series concludes on June 2 at 7 p.m. in the H. Lee House Cultural Center, 3205 Olive, Lemon Grove, with a hilarious look back at Lemon Grove’s criminal element, 1955 – 1964. Helen Ofield asks, “Where are the great cat burglars?” From the weekly “Crime Log” edited by the old pro, Max Goodwin, in the former Lemon Grove Review, she learned that would-be crooks were consistently caught in air vents, dumpsters, closets and you-name-it while attempting to purloin all manner of goods, from the ridiculous to the ludicrous. Bring your funny bone and anybody else, age 18 and over, who wants to join the line-up. Printer-friendly version
A BAD DAY ONLY GETS WORSE FOR PADRES
Printer-friendly version By Liz Alper Photo courtesy @Padres on Twitter May 31, 2016 (Seattle) – A Tuesday matinee? It’s more likely than you think! James Shields got the start today against Hisashi Iwakuma for Seattle. The Mariners got the ball rolling–literally–in the first with Kyle Seager’s line drive single that scored Robinson Cano to take a 1-0 lead. In the second, Shields walked Cano with the bases loaded. Luis Sardinas was walked in and the Mariners led 2-0. Nelson Cruz singled, scoring two and the Mariners went up 4-0. As if that weren’t bad enough, Seager launched a three-run homer and the Mariners’ lead was extended to a touchdown, 7-0. In the third, the Mariners extended their lead to double digits with former Padre Seth Smith’s three-run homer to make the score 10-0. In the fourth, Seattle got another homer thanks to Franklin Gutierrez and the Mariners took a 12-0 lead. Smith added another solo shot in the fifth and the Mariners went up 13-0. That was Smith’s sixth home run of the season. Why not more home runs? Adam Lind hit his sixth of the season, a three-run bomb to center to give the Mariners a 16-0 lead. The Padres DID get on the board in the sixth with Travis Jankowski’s two-run homer and the score was 16-2, so this game wasn’t completely hopeless. Matt Kemp homered also and the score was 16-3. Hector Sanchez homered in the seventh to cut the Mariners’ lead to 16-4. The slaughter finally ended and the Mariners took game two. The Mariners are coming to Petco for the second half of the home-and-home. Game three is tomorrow night at 7:10. King Felix Hernandez will start for the Mariners against Christian Friedrich. Printer-friendly version
LOCAL VETERANS WITH DISABILITIES TO EMBARK ON INCREDIBLE JOURNEY WITH HELP FROM NO BARRIERS WARRIORS AND WELLS FARGO
Printer-friendly version Southern California servicemen join Warriors to Summits team to overcome personal barriers and traverse the Wind River Range in WY this summer East County News Service May 31, 2016 (San Diego) – Local residents Christopher Laha, a Marine Corps veteran and Johnny Walker, an Army veteran, will join 11 other servicemen and women with various disabilities for a challenging week-long trek across the Wind River Range in Wyoming this June 11 – 17. No Barriers Warriors and Wells Fargo & Company have selected two teams of 13 veterans with disabilities to participate in the 2016 Warriors to Summits Expeditions I or II. Both expeditions are equally grueling journeys on opposite ends of the U.S. Warriors to Summits participants from 2014, 2015 and 2016 will have the opportunity to apply for an inaugural alumni trek this October in Colorado’s San Juan Range. All three expeditions are sponsored by Wells Fargo. The team members will push their boundaries through this transformative journey while reflecting on their past, recognizing where they are now and developing a vision for their future. “Warriors to Summits received hundreds of applications and nominations from across the country,” said John Toth, Director for No Barriers Warriors. “I’m really excited about this amazing group of veterans – they hail from 17 states, have incredible stories and now have the opportunity to break barriers and discover what’s within them is stronger than what’s in their way.” The veterans face life altering disabilities ranging from emotional and physical trauma to chronic pain and amputated limbs. Some experience combat flashbacks and survivor’s guilt, while others continue to struggle with readjusting to civilian life. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) are common disabilities among the warriors. Veterans were chosen based on attitude and their physical and mental ability to successfully participate. Laha, 33, sustained his injuries while deployed for a second time in Iraq. His unit’s first deployment was made into a book, McCoy’s Marines. Laha is a Purple Heart recipient. He resides in Escondido, CA with his wife, brother and service dog. Walker, 34, sustained his injuries over the course of serving with the Army in Kosovo, South Korea and Iraq. He was born and raised in San Diego, CA and still lives there with his wife and children. The Warriors to Summits experience includes three phases. Phase I: Thorough Preparation, which includes an introduction to the experience and the preparation for physical and emotional growth. Phase II: Transformative Experience, which includes focused curriculum on helping the veterans achieve a No Barriers mindset. Phase III: Meaningful Engagement, which includes the development of a personal action plan and active participation in community service. Warriors to Summits is one of many experiences No Barriers Warriors offers to empower veterans with disabilities to overcome barriers and unleash their potential. The 2016 Warriors to Summits Expedition Series will serve more veterans than years past by funding three expeditions across the United States, a first for the Warriors to Summits experience. To learn more about Laha and Walker, as well as the other 24 veterans selected to participate in the 2016 Warriors to Summits Expedition Series, visit WarriorsToSummits.org. About No Barriers Warriors No Barriers Warriors is one of several programs of No Barriers USA, whose mission is to unleash the potential of the human spirit. No Barriers Warriors is the only program that improves the lives of veterans with disabilities through curriculum-based learning in challenging environments. Experiences serve as both an opportunity for growth and catalyst for change, as warriors stretch boundaries, build teams, innovate through adversity and step up to lead and serve others. No Barriers Warriors expeditions use mountains as both a metaphor and a training ground. Experiences are comprised of three phases: thorough preparation, transformative experience, and meaningful engagement. Every curriculum based experience is geared toward facilitating transformation, establishing a lifelong rope team and giving warriors the tools to live a No Barriers Life. About Wells Fargo’s Commitment to Military and Veterans Wells Fargo has been committed to servicemembers, veterans and their families for more than 160 years. In 2012, the company created the Military Affairs Program to expand our outreach to members of the military, veterans, and their families who may be facing financial hardships as part of our commitment to helping communities succeed by being a part of the solution. Wells Fargo’s program has surpassed its original three year, $35 million goal by donating more than $68.5 million toward programs to help servicemembers, veterans, and their families achieve and maintain homeownership, attain successful career transitions, and succeed financially. Wells Fargo has: Donated or is in the process of donating to wounded warriors more than 300 Real Estate Owned (REO) properties valued at more than $49 million. Hired more than 5,800 veterans, and participated in more than 750 military job fairs since 2012. More than 150 team members are on military leave at any given time. Launched Hands on Banking® for Military, a financial education program that has been viewed by more than 230,000 since July 2013. Donated well over $19.5 million to military and veteran related nonprofits since 2012. Printer-friendly version
LARGE CROWD PROTESTS TRUMP IN SAN DIEGO; 35 ARRESTS INCLUDE CITY ATTORNEY CANDIDATE
Printer-friendly version By Miriam Raftery Photos: Left: Trump in San Diego by Shor Masori, courtesy of San Diego Jewish World, a member of the San Diego Online News Association. Right: Police in riot gear, courtesy of Nadin Abbott,Reporting San Diego. Cover: Protesters, by Nadin Abbott. May 28, 2016 (San Diego) –Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump spoke to a crowd of several thousand people at the San Diego Convention Center yesterday, while a crowd estimated by police at at least 1,000 people protested outside. The protesters included representatives from labor, the Democratic Party, Mexican Americans, Muslims, women’s rights advocates and an array of progressive groups who urged that voters oppose Trump’s divisive politics. Trump sounded his familiar themes denouncing illegal immigration and calling for a wall, slammed trade deficits with Mexico, China and other nations, said he would eliminate Common Core in education, inexplicably claimed California has no drought, called media “bloodsuckers” and bashed Judge Gonzalo Curiel, an Obama appointee set to hear a civil fraud trail in San Diego after the election over the now defunct Trump University. “I love you San Diego—get out and vote,” he concluded. (View video of Trump speech on CSPAN.) San Diego Congressmen Duncan Hunter were recognized by Trump for their military service. Helix Water Board member Kathleen Coates-Hedberg (photo, left, from her Facebook page) was among Trump supporters from East County at the rally. Former Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin made a surprise appearance, criticizing President Obama’s appearance in Hiroshima . Outside, the assemblage was largely peaceful until after the rally dispersed, when witness accounts indicate Trump supporters in the Gaslamp began shoving and taunting people. Bottles were throw and police declared an unlawful assembly, donning riot gear to clear the crowd, pushing them some two miles all the way back to Barrio Logan, according to Reporting San Diego. According to the San Diego Police Twitter feed, 35 people were arrested; there were no injuries or property damage reported. Arrests ranged from protesters who attempted to breach a secured area to a controversial arrest of San Diego City Attorney candidate Bryan Pease. Video shows Pease, holding a campaign sign, backing away from a police line while videotaping officers. View video of officers knocking Pease to the ground; see screenshot, right, off 10 News Facebook post. The action seems counter to Senate Bill 411 signed into law last year by Governor Brown, the ”Right to Record Act” that guarantees Californians have the right to record police in a public place in a reasonable, non-interfering manner. Pease told 10 News he was “falsely arrested” along with 20 others. Before Trump’s rally, prominent speakers denounce his candidacy. (View video from Democratic Party on Facebook and see screenshot from Jess Durfee, former party chair, left.) County Democratic Party Chair Francine Busby stated ,”San Diego has a very diverse population. We embrace our diversity… In San Diego we do not villify…We reject Donald Trump’s divisive, hateful rhetoric.” Former Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher, called Trump “unfit, unstable, and simply unqualified to be the President of the United States..He’s tapping into anger. He’s tapping into underlying racism and he’s tapping to the very worst of America.” Fletcher, a veteran, added that “There is no one who would be worse for veterans” than Trump. He accused Trump of lying about raising $6 million for veterans’ charities and noted that Trump wants to privatize the Veterans Administration. “He wants to make sure those who sacrificed so much will not be taken care of when they return.” He added that Trump got multiple deferments to dodge military service in Vietnam, yet mocked former prisoner of war John McCain. “We can’t afford a man who is going to cast veterans aside” and divide Americans on the basis of gender, race, or religion,” Fletcher concluded. “We have a choice between those who would seek to divide us and those who would seek to unite us.” Trump is running on a slogan of “Make America great again” but some protesters contend that his agenda would “Make America hate again.” (photos, right, from journalist Nicole Sours Larson’s Facebook page .) Printer-friendly version
HELIX STUDENTS HELP SAVE SEA BASS
Printer-friendly version Source: Hubbs-Seaworld Research Institute Photo: California Dept. of Fish and Game May 31, 2016 (La Mesa) — Students from Helix Charter High School in La Mesa will release tagged juvenile white sea bass into local waters off Crown Point tomorrow to restore healthy population levels as a participants in Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute’s “Sea Bass in the Classroom” (SITC), STEM education program. The program is conducted in partnership with the California Department of Fish & Wildlife and Get Inspired, Inc and funded in part by Chevron, the County of San Diego, and San Diego Gas & Electric. Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute’s Research Scientist and SITC Program Coordinator Mike Shane delivered the juvenile white sea bass – cultured at HSWRI’S Carlsbad fish hatchery – to Helix in early 2016. Helix is one of five San Diego school programs that have benefitted from expansion of the Institute’s SITC program last year due to the generous ongoing support of public and private local partners. The SITC program incorporates a hands-on learning experience into school science curriculum and couples it with field activities related to the release of cultured marine fish. The program teaches the students about aquaculture and stock enhancement as they grow, feed, tag, and finally release the fish into local waters. Each fish is tagged internally in the cheek with a very small, stainless steel coded wire tag so movement, diet, and survival information can be obtained from tagged fish that are caught in future. SITC is part of the Ocean Resources Enhancement and Hatchery Program (OREHP). OREHP is the result of an extraordinary partnership between California State resources agencies, public utility companies, sports fishing groups and the scientific community, to restore the depleted populations of recreationally and commercially important marine fish. From the 1950s to the 1980s, annual party boat catches of white sea bass in California dropped from over 55,000 to less than 3,500. Partly as a result of that, in 1983, the OREHP Advisory Panel identified white sea bass (Atractoscion nobilis) as the most appropriate species to initiate this long-term research program. Since program funding is generated by fishing license fees north of the Mexican border and south of Point Arguello, HSWRI’s fish culture, tag and release, and assessment activities are focused in Southern California. Thanks to private donor support, funding from public utility companies, and the ongoing support of sport fishers and sport fishing groups, OREHP has released more than 2.3 million fish. Adult fish have been recovered up to 15 years after release and more than 350 miles from their release site. Printer-friendly version
OBAMA MAKES A HISTORIC TRIP
Printer-friendly version “We have known the agony of war. Let us now find the courage, together, to spread peace, and pursue a world without nuclear weapons.” – President Barack Obama By Chisato Iversen On Friday, May 27th, President Barack Obama made a historic trip to Hiroshima, Japan. Obama became the first president to visit Hiroshima , site of the atomic bombing 71 years ago. Obama neither apologized nor had he blamed the Japanese for the attack on Pearl Harbor. He simply came to mourn the loss of the victims. USA Today reported Obama said, “Why do we come to this place, to Hiroshima? We come to ponder the terrible force unleashed in the not-so-distant past. We come to mourn the dead including over 100,000 Japanese men women and children, thousands of Koreans, a dozen Americans held prisoner.” On August 6, 1945 the first atomic bomb was dropped in Hiroshima, infamously known as “Little Boy.” Roughly 74,000 people were killed. Obama spoke with two of the survivors, including Shigeaki Mori. Mori was just 8 years old when the atomic bomb was dropped. The New York Times reported that after Obama shook hands with him, then they shared an emotional hug. Mori recalls the day the bomb fell. He was on his way to school when the blast pushed him off a bridge and into a small river. This protected him from the firestorm and saved his life. Since then, Mori had led the effort to recognize and honor the US airmen detained in Hiroshima who were killed in the blast as well. Obama called for a world free of nuclear weapons. In the guestbook he wrote, “We have known the agony of war. Let us now find the courage, together, to spread peace, and pursue a world without nuclear weapons.” Printer-friendly version
TECH COMPANIES TO CRACK DOWN ON HATE SPEECH
Printer-friendly version By Miriam Raftery May 31, 2016 (San Diego) – A lawsuit filed against Twitter, Facebook and Google by a Jewish youth group in France in April has resulted in major social media and Internet companies pledging to remove hate speech in 24 hours or less after a complaint is filed. The firms named in the suit, along with Microsoft, issued the promise in a joint statement with the European Commission today, Bloomberg News reports. The suit alleged that over 90 percent of posts promoting anti-Semitism, homophobia or racism remained on Twitter and YouTube 15 days or more despite being flagged. The voluntary code of conducts aims to strike a balance between freedom of expression and hate speech that may incite violence or hate, at a time when Europe has been besieged by terrorist attacks in Paris and Brussels, with foiled attacks in several other nations. Vĕra Jourová, the EU commissioner for justice, consumers and gender equality, led the creation of the code, the Guardian reports. She stated, “Social media is unfortunately one of the tools that terrorist groups use to radicalise young people and racist use to spread violence and hatred. This agreement is an important step forward to ensure that the internet remains a place of free and democratic expression, where European values and laws are respected.” The definition of hate speech covered by the code of conduct is narrowly defined as “all conduct publicly inciting to violence or hatred directed against a group of persons or a member of such a group defined by reference to race, colour, religion, descent or national or ethnic origin”. But some say the agreement does not go far enough, since it does not include a ban on the verbal abuse of women online. But that may change. Facebook is backing an effort in Britain to seek contributions on how to reduce such misogynist hate speech targeting women on social media sites. Printer-friendly version
PHOTO OF THE WEEK: LAKE SAN VICENTE
Printer-friendly version May 31, 2016 (Lakeside) – Leon Thompson sent in this dramatic image showing a canopy of clouds swooping across Lake San Vicente in Lakeside, an area he calls “Coyote Highway” due to the wildlife frequenting the natural habitat in this beautiful, windswept area. Lake San Vicente is San Diego County’s largest reservoir and recently underwent the tallest dam raising in U.S. history, adding 117 feet to the reservoir that can now hold up to 152,000 acre feet of water. Printer-friendly version
SANDERS THRILLS FANS AT WARRIORS GAME
Printer-friendly version East County Magazine Photo: Twitter May 30, 2016 (Oakland) – After several campaign stops including addressing a crowd of 60,000 people in Oakland, Senator Bernie Sanders took time out to enjoy a Warriors game along with actor/activist Danny Glover at Oracle Arena, where the Golden State Warriors are playing Game 7 of the NBA’s Western Conference Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder. The winner will go on to play for the NBA Championship. According to Joe Garofoli with the San Francisco Chronicle, they arrived at halftime and Glover pulled on a Warriors “strength in numbers” T-shirt before entering the stands. Accompanied by Secret Service agents, Sanders an Glover walked to the seats – section 108 row 15, behind the Thunder basket. “Good seats but not the ones frequented by millionaires,” Garofoli says. Nearby the crowd chanted “Bernie! Bernie!” with many fans taking photos and selfies with Sanders. Garofoli, a pool reporter covering the campaign, observed, ”After your pooler stood too long in front of his seat one fan groused “get out of here. The second half is starting. This isn’t a political event.” Sanders standing out w blue Oxford shirt in sea of yellow tshirts. Afterward, when the Warriors won, the parallels were not lost on Sanders. “We came in the second half and the Warriors turned it around,” Sanders said. “The Warriors were down 3-1 and they turned it around and I think that that’s what we’re going to do, too. A very good omen for our campaign.” So was it because of him? “Absolutely. No question about it,” Sanders said and smiled knowingly. “What other explanation is there?” What If they had lost? “Hey, in politics,” Sanders said. “You gotta take your shots.” After the game Sanders dined with former Labor Secretary Robert Reich. Printer-friendly version
TRUMP BACKS OFF DEBATING SANDERS, PROMPTS #CHICKENTRUMP MOCKERY ON TWITTER
Printer-friendly version East County News Service May 30, 2016 (San Diego) — After Hillary Clinton backed out of debating Bernie Sanders in California, late night comedy host Jimmy Kimmel asked Donald Trump if he would debate Sanders. Trump said he would – provided $10 million could be raised for a charity. Sanders promptly tweeted “Game on,” agreeing to the debate. But a day later, Trump’s campaign claimed that he was only joking. Trump now says he doesn’t want to debate a second place finisher, though the Democratic primary is not yet over. However some high tech industry representatives have come forward to say that they would donate the $10 million that Trump demanded for a worthy charity, but so far the Trump campaign has ignored the growing cry for a Sanders-Trump debate, prompting a new Twitter feed with the hashtag #Chicken Trump. Twitter users had a field day mocking Trump, depicting Trump-style wigs on chickens and Senator Sanders portrayed as Colonel Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame. Sanders has said he hopes Trump will change his mind as he has on many other issues. Calling Trump a ”big tough guy,” Sanders asks, “Well, Mr. Trump, what are you afraid of? Why do you not want to see a debate here in California and obviously all across this country?” Printer-friendly version