“Movies in the Park” Gets Animated This Weekend Printer FriendlyNormal View

The County Department of Parks and Recreation will be blasting off to “Planet 51” at dusk from Sweetwater Reservoir regional park in Bonita on Friday.  On Saturday, meteorologists are forecasting the weather at Dos PIcos Park in Ramona as “Cloudy With A Chance Of  Meatballs” starting at dusk.

“Our popular ‘Movies in the Park’ series offers free box office hit movies and fun activities for the public at our terrific County parks,” said Brian Albright, Director of County of San Diego Department of Parks and Recreation.

The series, which started June 4, features 29 movies at local parks and pools and is the largest free movie event in San Diego County.

 “Movies in the Park” takes a brief intermission after this weekend but resumes on July 16 with a showing of “The Tooth Fairy” at Spring Valley Park. Future listings include: “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel,” “Avatar,” “How To Train Your Dragon,” and “The Blind Side.” The movies will be presented in high-quality on 28-foot inflatable widescreens designed for large audiences.

Just prior to showtime, families can enjoy karaoke challenges, games, contests and music. Audience members are reminded to bring their own chairs, blankets and refreshments.

The movies are free and open to the public. Showtimes start at dusk. Some locations have a parking fee. For a complete list of dates and locations for the “Movies in the Park” series, visit sdmoviesinthepark.com.

Humor, lively music give ‘Evernight’ an impressive debut

Temecula Valley Balloon and Wine Festival celebrates 27th year

Posted in Music on Wednesday, June 2, 2010 3:00 pm | Tags: C

OCEANSIDE: City OKs new downtown design standards

Design standards that would encourage new housing and condominium projects to blend in with the existing architecture in Oceanside neighborhoods along city beaches and bordering downtown were approved by the City Council this week.

“We want to provide quality houses that fit in,” said Mark Brodeur of PMC Design, the San Diego consulting firm that helped city planners prepare the guidelines.

The standards are not mandatory but are meant to give architects, builders and property owners a clearer idea of what the city is looking for as it reviews project proposals, said Redevelopment Planner Shan Babick.

Councilwoman Esther Sanchez said the guidelines showcase and preserve the character of Oceanside’s older neighborhoods.

“I’m really excited about this,” Sanchez said.

But Councilman Jack Feller, the lone council vote against the guidelines, said he feared they would limit how land owners could develop their property.

“Less regulation is where I’m headed with this,” Feller said. “It’s the property owner’s dream, not the city’s dream. Otherwise, the city better be prepared to buy a lot more property.”

Feller said he also objected to references to global warming in sections of the guidelines that encourage the use of environmentally benign materials.

“References to global warming are ridiculous. If anything, it’s global cooling,” Feller said.

The guidelines apply to neighborhoods in the city’s redevelopment area and includes The Strand and neighborhoods along Freemont, Tremont, Cleveland, Myer and Pacific streets north of Civic Center Drive and along Cleveland, Myers and Pacific streets south of Seagaze Drive.

These are “some of the best residential communities, best neighborhoods in the city,” Brodeur said.

The guidelines vary among the neighborhoods, but in general, they encourage sloping roofs, a scale and height that make new buildings appealing to pedestrians, locating garages and driveways so they aren’t the dominant feature of the structure as seen from the street and the use of underground parking where possible.

Brodeur said the guidelines also encourage the use of recyclable materials and landscaping that uses little water.

“We want character, that’s what we’re always taking about in Oceanside,” said Redevelopment Manager Kathy Baker. “In downtown, it’s very eclectic and we like to see it that way. We like to see different types of architectural style.”

The guidelines encourage “wedding cake” construction in which buildings are constructed in tiers with the upper stories stepped back from the first floor.

The idea is to make the bigger houses look less massive from the street level, Brodeur said.

Part of the concern driving the guidelines is that builders could stay within zoning regulations but wind up with buildings so massive that “the house looks like an apartment block,” Brodeur said.

“Some cities call it the masionization of properties where you’re tearing down property and building these big, humongous buildings,” said Redevelopment Manager Kathy Baker. “Every so often, we’ll see someone who just wants to maximize every square inch of a project.”

The challenge is to build homes that meet modern expectations to fit in with older neighborhoods that were built during a time when houses were more compact. Brodeur said.

When some of the older homes were built in the 1950s, the average American house was 880 square feet and most families got by with one car, Brodeur said. Today, he said the average new house is 2,300 square feet and families have two or more cars.

Builders and property owners who follow the guidelines would have “a level of reasonable expectation that their project is going to be approved in a reasonable amount of time,” Brodeur said.

Stolen, Neglected Dog to be Reunited with Owner Through Microchip

May 12, 2010

In August of last year, Kishany Conroy’s three-year-old Shih Tzu, Hopper, disappeared from her property in Ramona. Conroy was sure she would never see her dog again, but today she received a call from County Animal Services and was told that her dog had been found because of a microchip. The dog is at the County’s animal shelter in Carlsbad and was part of a neglect investigation when the microchip was detected.

Conroy could hardly contain herself when she heard the good news that Hopper was safe and in the care of shelter staff. Once animals are brought to any County shelter, they are scanned for a microchip.

After a bit of detective work, Animal Services staff was able to track the microchip back to a breeder.

in Missouri and to a pet store in Virginia before obtaining the owner’s information. Conroy was amazed that her dog had been found alive and that she could claim her dog from the shelter.

Hopper, who was covered in foxtail stickers and was literally one “solid matt,” was groomed right away at the shelter to make him more comfortable.

“Having your animal microchipped ensures that your pet has a ticket home,” said Dawn Danielson, Director of the County Department of Animal Services. “Animal Services strongly encourages all pet owners to have their pets microchipped as a form of positive identification and to keep your information current with the microchip company.”

“It’s also important for people to know that if they find a stray dog or cat, they should bring it to the animal shelter because there is always a possibility the animal has been microchipped and that we can reunite it with its owner. The person who kept this dog since August did not care for him properly. The pictures that our staff took really speak for themselves.” 

For more information regarding microchips on the Animal Services website.

Before…

…and after grooming!

May Events for County Parks

April showers bring May flowers and Agua Caliente County Park has been bursting with color!  Check out the colorful desert floor or take a dip in the hot springs by booking your camping spot.

Looking for something closer? Then check out this month’s featured park, Dos Picos. Located in the Ramona area, this park is sheltered by steep, boulder-strewn mountain slopes, and is designed to highlight the ancient oak groves that will surely make your stay here memorable.

OCEANSIDE: Tri-City board faces sudden vacancy

would have 60 days to replace board chairwoman

Tri-City Medical Center directors have 60 days to decide how to replace board member Dr. Madeline Rodriguez, who abruptly left a heated board meeting Wednesday night and said later she was quitting the panel.

Hospital attorney Greg Moser said at 5 p.m. Thursday that he had received a voice mail from Rodriguez late Wednesday night notifying him that she intended to resign, but that neither he nor the hospital’s administrative office had yet received written notice from her.

Rodriguez could not be reached for comment.

Board member Ron Mitchell said Thursday evening that he hadn’t spoken to Rodriguez, but hoped she would change her mind and remain on the panel.

“She’s a great person,” Mitchell said. “She has a calming effect on the board, she has a real concern for patients and she is a wonderful doctor.”

Rodriguez told reporters Wednesday that she was stepping down, shortly after she walked out of a public meeting in which several speakers criticized the hospital board for its 4-3 decision Monday to fire Tri-City’s chief executive officer Larry Anderson.

The board suspended that decision in a 5-0 vote Wednesday, after Rodriguez left the meeting. Board member Charlene Anderson, no relation to Larry Anderson, was also absent.

Mitchell, who voted Monday to fire the hospital’s chief executive, said Wednesday that he supported the reprieve but declined to say why.

Regarding Rodriguez’s departure, Moser said statutes governing a board member’s resignation do not require a written notice, though one is usually given.

“The statute says that the resignation has to be given to the board. I think that there is sufficient evidence to say that she has resigned,” Moser said.

The 56-year-old Rodriguez is an obstetrician who was elected to Tri-City’s board in November 2006. In her campaign for a board seat, Rodriguez said she had delivered more than 3,000 babies at Tri-City in more than 18 years.

In a telephone interview Wednesday night, Rodriguez said she had simply had enough with hospital district politics. She was one of four board members who voted Monday to fire Anderson, saying that his “management and business development philosophy were not in alignment.” That vote was superseded by Wednesday’s vote allowing Anderson to remain at his post.

Moser said Thursday that under the hospital board’s policy on filling board vacancies, the remaining six directors can either appoint a new member or choose to hold a special election to fill out Rodriguez’s term, which ends in November.

If the board decides to appoint a new member, it would have to solicit applications from the community by advertising the vacancy for two consecutive weeks.

All potential appointees must live inside Tri-City’s hospital district boundary, which includes most of Oceanside, Vista and Carlsbad. Applicants must also be legal U.S. citizens, age 18 or older, eligible to vote, and never convicted of a felony.

If board members decide not to appoint a new member —- or can’t agree on a candidate —- the board would have to call for a special election within that same 60-day period. Such an election would be held on the next regularly scheduled election date that is 130 or more days after the vote.

Moser said the board has not yet decided when it will decide on an appointment or election, but noted that the board’s next regular meeting is scheduled for Thursday, April 29.

Call staff writer Paul Sisson at 760-901-4087.

REGION: Tri-City board member could lose nursing license

Hearing for Charlene Ander

In an action unrelated to her role as a Tri-City hospital board member, registered nurse Charlene Anderson faces losing her nursing license over allegations that she inappropriately accessed prescription medication when she worked for Scripps Memorial Hospital Encinitas from 2002 to 2006.

Anderson, who was elected to the Tri-City board in November 2008, did not return telephone calls seeking comment Wednesday. She is not related to Larry Anderson, Tri-City’s chief executive officer.

A complaint against Charlene Anderson, filed by the California Board of Registered Nursing, accuses her of removing 23 Percocet, six hydrocodone and three Tylenol With Codeine tablets from Scripps Encinitas’ electronic dispensing machine between May 4, 2006, and Aug. 20, 2006.

The complaint states that Anderson wrote “no medication record, nursing notes nor wastage” notes indicating what happened to the narcotic pain relievers.

Russ Heimerich, a spokesman for the California Department of Consumer Affairs, said Tuesday that Anderson will have an opportunity to rebut the accusations during a formal hearing at 9 a.m. May 27 in the agency’s downtown San Diego office at 1350 Front St.

Heimerich said the complaint was filed after an initial round of investigation by the state attorney general’s office. The complaint was amended in January but there is no date stamp to show when it was initially filed.

The agency does not release the name of the person or persons who filed the complaint, he said.

“We’ve already done our investigation; the attorneys have looked at it; they’ve decided there is enough evidence to move forward,” Heimerich said.

The complaint against Anderson requests suspension or revocation of her registered nursing license, and for her to have to pay for the costs of the investigation against her.

It was unclear Wednesday who reported the missing medication and why so much time has passed between the alleged incidents and the date of the hearing.

Anderson, 59, has been a registered nurse for about 40 years. In the November 2008 hospital board election, she got the second highest number of votes and was backed by Tri-City’s two employee unions.

Call staff writer Paul Sisson at 760-901-4087.

The Pro-Abortion Health Care Bill is Back, Are You Ready to Defeat It?

President Barack Obama and his pro-abortion friends in Congress have never claimed to really listen to the American people.

While poll after poll has informed them that strong majorities of Americans don’t want the government-run health care bill and don’t want to be forced to fund abortions, the Senate passed a pro-abortion measure that contains massive abortion funding.
They didn’t listen.

When Obama’s polling numbers fell through the basement and when Americans cited his pushing the pro-abortion health care bill as the main reason why, he pressed on.
He didn’t listen.

When the Massachusetts Senate race became a microcosm of how Americans felt about the pro-abortion health care bill and when one of the most liberal states in the country elected someone who pledged to support the filibuster against it … you would think they would listen.
But they’re not listening.

As LifeNews.com has reported over the last week, Obama and his pro-abortion friends are looking to bend the rules to railroad their radical pro-abortion health care bill through Congress. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said as much and top Democratic aides confirmed they would rely on this “trick.”
Now, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid confirms reconciliation is the plan and the pro-abortion health care bill will become reality in 60 days.
There is no time to waste and the pro-life movement needs to pull out all the stops to keep this pro-abortion bill — that could fund hundreds of thousands of abortions and cause many other pro-abortion problems — from becoming law.
I hope you will keep these two web sites handy as the battle begins to unfold after this publicity stunt that is the upcoming White House health care summit:
1) http://www.house.gov/house/MemberWWW_by_State.shtml
2) http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
These are the two main web sites where you, your pro-life friends and family, fellow church members and other pro-life advocates can quickly and easily find contact information for any House or Senate member.

When the time comes, we need you to get everyone you can to tell every pro-life person possible to go to these web sites and contact their elected officials to tell them to vote NO on the pro-abortion health care bill and the reconciliation bill.
In the meantime, can you please help LifeNews.com inform as many pro-life people as possible about these important abortion-health care battles?

We’ve added thousands of new pro-life subscribers over the last several weeks thanks to your help and donations and they will now be ready to act when the battle to protect unborn children unfolds. Can you help us again with a donation or make a donation now if you haven’t before?

Whether its $37 or $100, or $1,000 to help our $37,000 Winter fundraising campaign, your donation will help educate and inform pro-life advocates via LifeNews.com.
Just click the donation button below, or visit the left-hand side of http://www.LifeNews.com to use one there if the email button doesn’t work for you. Or, use the handy form below.

OCEANSIDE: Martin Luther King’s message comes to life

Free performances scheduled this week

Date Line February 21, 2010

It was a 7th-grade teacher who guided Dennis Brown toward an interest in Martin Luther King Jr.

“That’s why it’s so important for me to tell kids about Dr. King and what he accomplished,” Brown said. “I know the effect his life had on mine.”

Brown, 62, has performed as Dr. King at schools and libraries in California since the mid-1980s. He will appear in free performances of “The Voice of King” at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Mission Branch Library Community Room, 3861 Mission Ave., and at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Civic Center Library Community Room, 330 N. Coast Highway.

In the performances, Brown will deliver excerpts from Dr. King’s famous speeches as well as sing songs associated with the King era and slavery.

“I give a narrative discourse on the Civil Rights movement, and simulate Dr. King’s voice,” Brown said. “I start out with what happened with Rosa Parks and her arrest, and talk about incidents that made Dr. King who he was. I sing the songs and I close with excerpts from the mountaintop speech and the ‘I Have a Dream’ speech. I let them know that for 13 years Dr. King led this movement of peace, yet for 13 years he was living under the threat of violence. But he pressed on.”

The performances compel young people to ask questions about Dr. King, and older audience members to sometimes become emotional.

“It’s not uncommon for people to shed tears,” Brown said. “I tell the audiences that love has power, and power has conviction.”

Brown performs 50 to 70 times at schools and libraries each January and February. He delivers speeches on other topics —- including anti-drug and tobacco lectures —- the rest of the year. Brown, an ordained pastor based in the San Bernardino area, travels throughout the state. He is the founder of the nonprofit youth education and empowerment organization Im Inc. In addition to performing live, Brown records gospel and soul music.

Brown remembers the Civil Rights movement well. He grew up in Los Angeles, and traveled to Arkansas as a child, where he was told by his grandfather that the two of them must sit at the back of a bus.

“I couldn’t understand it,” Brown said. “I wanted to understand more what was going on in this country.”

When he was 15, Brown skipped football practice to hear King deliver his “I Have a Dream” speech. After high school, Brown joined the Marine Corps and engaged in combat for nine months in Vietnam.

“That experience affected me very much,” he said. “My memories of the time are very strong. My experiences were the kind that stay with you.”

These days Brown’s experiences involve talking to those who remember that era and answering the questions of curious children.

“The question they ask most is about why Dr. King was killed,” Brown said. “I received a letter from a young girl who said that her parents were racist, but if they heard my performance they would change their minds. I tell them that 40 or 50 years ago, a performance like this would not be possible, but that their lives can be different.”

The free program is sponsored by the Friends of the Oceanside Public Library and is open to all ages. For more information, call (760) 435-5600 or go to www.oceansidepubliclibrary.org .