Officers respond to false alarm at bank in RSF VIllage

Sheriff''s deputies and RSF Patrol officers responded to a call that turned out to be a false alarm on July 30 at 12:58 p.m. at Pacific Western Bank in the RSF Village.
RSF Patrol Chief Matt Wellhouser said authorities are investigating whether the false alarm was the result of a technical malfunction.

Flower Hill Promenade
renovation plans receive key vote of support

By Karen Billing

The Carmel Valley Community Planning Board July 22 voted 11-3 in support of plans to renovate Flower Hill Promenade. The renovation includes replacing the UltraStar Cinemas with a Whole Foods, as well as adding new retail and boutique office space and a four-level parking garage.
The older area of the mall will receive a facelift with a "California coastal" look and connect with the new area via a courtyard. The project will now move to the San Diego City Planning Commission and then the San Diego City Council in October and, if approved, will begin construction in early 2011. Developer Protea Properties hopes to open the Whole Foods by mid 2012.

San Dieguito Union High School District eliminates
19 classified positions

By Matt Liebowitz

At its July 20 meeting, the San Dieguito Union High School District eliminated and/or reduced 19 positions, resulting in 15 classified employees being laid off for the 2010-2011 fiscal year.
The decision to eliminate these positions, as well as to reduce the hours and/or months of several other classified contracts, is a result of the state budget crisis, explained Terry King, associate superintendent of Human Resources.
The positions that were eliminated or reduced are: Computer support technician purchasing agent, campus supervisors, office assistants, locksmith, custodial staff, bus drivers, administrative secretary, and executive assistant.
The changes take effect Sept. 7, 2010. The reductions and eliminations will net the district $745,054.

Opening Day at the Races The 2010 seven-week racing season kicked off with Opening Day festivities and The “One and Only Truly Fabulous Hats Contest”on July 21 at the Del Mar racetrack. (Above, l-r) Daran Grimm, Darcy Smith and Valerie Cooper; (Below) Daniella Lopez. See more photos on pages 16 and 17. Photos/Jon Clark

‘Summer Night Concert Extravaganza’ at The Bridges The Bridges at Rancho Santa Fe celebrated the season July 24 with its fifth annual “Summer Night Concert Extravaganza” featuring Wayne Foster Entertainmen(below ). (Top) Jim Hagen, Donna Johnson, Mark Hoeschulte and Gloria Anderson. See more photos on pages 12 and B8. Photos/Jon Clark

Fresh start planned for
Cielo Farmers’ Market

By Matt Liebowitz

After a failed initial attempt, the Cielo Village Farmers’ Market is back with new vendors, new management, and a new plan for success.
In mid September, about 30 vendors will set up shop in Cielo Village, at the corner of Del Dios Highway and Calle Ambiente in Rancho Santa Fe. On Fridays, from 3:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m., vendors will sell an assortment of locally grown fruits, vegetables, flowers, meats and fish, and handmade crafts.

Profile Michael A. Lobatz, M.D

Physician who rehabilitates ‘brain injured’ troops joins
RSF Foundation’s Armed Forces group to assist military families

By Arthur Lightbourn

Dr. Michael Lobatz has seen first hand the damage that a blast from a roadside explosive device can inflict on a Marine and the repercussions often experienced by the soldier’s family.
As a neurologist and medical director of Scripps Rehabilitation Center in Encinitas for the past 12 years, Lobatz has been involved in the treatment of some 100 active military who suffered concussive brain injuries from improvised explosive devices (IED’s) in Iraq or Afghanistan.
Scripps Memorial’s inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation center was approached at the beginning of the current wars to treat the overflow of active duty brain-injured casualties because of its experience in neurological rehabilitation and its proximity to Camp Pendleton Marine Base.

Local golfer Danny Ochoa bounces back from serious injury to take fifth at 2010 Callaway Junior World Golf Championships

By Karen Billing

Torrey Pines High School golfer Danny Ochoa took fifth place at the 2010 Callaway Junior World Golf Championships, held July 12-16 at Torrey Pines South Course. Danny shot a 76, 71, 71 and 73 and, at 15 years old, was the youngest player in the 15-17 field. Only one other U.S. player placed higher.

Salon Salon in Fairbanks Village Plaza to hold July 31 benefit for babies in need

Salon Salon is hosting an event to benefit ANGELS Foster Family Network, a nonprofit organization dedicated to saving the lives of infants and toddlers by placing them with loving and nurturing families who are committed to their care, on Saturday, July 31, from 2-5 p.m.
ANGELS is the only San Diego County licensed foster agency that focuses on and exclusively meets the critical need for babies from newborn to 24 months old to bond and attach to one set of caregivers. ANGELS gives these babies an opportunity to break the cycle of abuse and neglect by recruiting foster families to provide the maximum emotional, social and intellectual development of each child.
Your donation of any amount provides the gift of an ANGEL’s trained family to babies who have been abused, abandoned and/or neglected. Last year ANGELS parented more than 100 babies, but over 50 babies were turned away due to not enough families stepping forward to participate. They need San Diego families to help save lives. Help them help the most vulnerable of all foster children … the babies, newborn to 3 years old.
Come enjoy refreshments, prizes and gifts. Bring an infant toy or a package of diapers and receive extra raffle tickets free. If you cannot make this event but would like to make a donation to ANGELS, please visit www.angelsfoster.org and click on “in honor of” to donate in Salon Salon’s name. You can help change the destiny of a San Diego foster baby. Salon Salon is located at Fairbanks Village Plaza, 16236 San Dieguito Rd. in Rancho Santa Fe; (858) 756-0082.

Popular ‘SummerFest Under the Stars’ coming again for music lovers Aug. 4

By John Lydon

Once again musicians and music lovers will converge on La Jolla on Aug. 4 for one of the great local classical music traditions, the La Jolla Music Society’s SummerFest. The annual event will feature more than 70 world-class artists and ensembles performing concerts through Aug. 27.
Christopher Beach, the society’s director, said some of the musicians return year after year.
“They know La Jolla very well,” he said, “every restaurant and pub in town. You’ll see them not only after concerts, you’ll see them at lunch. There are probably 80 artists at the festival this year, wandering around town, shopping. We’ve got one pianist who loves to come because there’s a store [here where] she goes shopping for her recital gowns every year.”
Violinist and festival music director Cho-Liang “Jimmy” Lin is one of those musicians. Lin, now in his 10th year as SummerFest’s music director, says that for him, most of the hard work is done off-season, when he fleshes out the festival’s themes, researches ideas, engages artists and plans what will be needed to pull it all off.

Don‘t miss ‘Teens, Dreams And Jeans’— An equestrian Team
Penning vent to benefit the Foster Teens of San Pasqual Academy

A unique event is taking place on Saturday, Sept.11, at 5 p.m., that promises to be highly entertaining for all who attend! “Teens, Jeans and Dreams”, a team penning competition is being held that will benefit the 140 foster teens of San Pasqual Academy.

Landscape trucks parked in RSF Village
frustrating to some, but not illegal, authorities say

By Matt Liebowitz

A truck that some business owners say has been parking for days at a time in the Rancho Santa Fe Village is frustrating some local businesses, but not breaking any rules, according to authorities.

RSF Patrol officer helps nab drunk driver in Village

A RSF Patrol officer recently helped stop a drunk driver from causing serious injury to himself or others after spotting the driver late one night in the RSF Village.
RSF Patrol Chief Matt Wellhouser said that on July 22, at about 12:20 a.m., one of his officers was parked on the side of the road at the 6100 block of Paseo Delicias, facing west.
Wellhouser said the patrol officer saw a car in his rearview mirror turn left from Via de la Valle onto Paseo Delicias, heading westbound.

Cross your fingers: August weather may improve

By Tina Safi

Winter or summer, the San Diego region often boasts the same forecast: 75 degrees, sunny and mild.
This year, however, locals and tourists are talking about a difference. June’s murkiness has entered July, and the coastal weather has gone back and forth between unbearably hot and unusually chilly.

Local resident brings personal and professional experience to fight against pediatric cancer through The Nicholas Conor Institute

By Karen Billing

The Nicholas Conor Institute for Pediatric Cancer Research is working toward building better diagnostic tools and personalized, kid-friendly treatments for children with cancer.
Local resident and co-founder Beth Anne Baber, Ph.D, brings the unique insight of being both a cancer researcher as well as a parent of a child who survived cancer. She feels “lucky and blessed” that her son Conor is now in the first grade and cancer-free, but wanted to do her part to ensure that children are the focus of lifesaving cures and high-quality treatment and have the same access to individualized care as adults.

Three former TPHS students compete and place at the World Series of Poker

By Max Sutton-Smolin

Side games and satellite tournaments abound at the World Series of Poker, held annually in Las Vegas, but the series’ $10,000 buy-in no-limit Texas Hold ’em “main event” garners the majority of its massive media and spectator attention. This year, the main event also captured the unique success stories of three Torrey Pines High School graduates.
Jesse Steinberg, David Liu and Mark Ninyo all competed and placed at the 2010 WSOP, held at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino from May 27 through July 17. The tournament is one of the biggest and most popular in the world, and the winner is semi-officially considered the world champion of poker.

UCSD receives $37.2 million to speed lab discoveries to the clinic

By Lynne Friedmann

New tools, such as integrated software for data collection and management and sophisticated technologies that measure patient responses to therapies in ways that are far more sensitive than standard clinical assessments, are at the heart of an emerging field of medicine known as translational research.

More than half of juvenile arrestees in SD region test positive for drugs

More than half of the juveniles arrested in San Diego County in 2009 tested positive for at least one drug, with marijuana use on the increase, while methamphetamine use declined, according to an annual study conducted by SANDAG (San Diego Association of Governments).
“Overall, the data show that youth booked into Juvenile Hall continue to face a number of risk factors that require communities and systems of care to continue to work together,” said SANDAG Director of Criminal Justice Research Dr. Cynthia Burke.