“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.

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LAKE SKINNER —- In this neck of the woods, the Temecula Valley Balloon and Wine Festival seems to be the official kick off for summer. With wine tasting, hot air balloon rides and live outdoor concerts, more than 40,000 folks are expected to celebrate over the weekend.

Sure, the wine and balloons are in the event’s title, but let’s face it, the live concerts are the icing on the festival’s cake.

The music portion of the festival kicks off at 5 p.m. Friday with a country music concert on the main stage featuring Jimmy Wayne, Band Perry and Bomshel.

Wayne’s career first took off with a remake of Hall & Oates’ pop classic “Sara Smile.” He sang the tune regularly during his days as a North Carolina prison guard, auditioned with it in 2002 and got a contract with DreamWorks Records. His debut CD appeared in 2003 and produced the top-10 hits “Stay Gone and “I Love You This Much.” After DreamWorks shut its doors, Wayne signed with Valory Music Company and released “Do You Believe Me Now” a No. 1 for three weeks in 2008-09.

The Band Perry currently has their hit song “Hip to My Heart” at No. 24 on the Billboard Country Song Chart, and has spent 22 weeks on the charts. Bomshel, a vivacious duo act of fiddle player Kristy Osmunson and lead singer Kelley Shepard, rounds out the three-act show. Their song “Fight Like A Girl” released late last year peaked at No. 30 on the Country chart. Their album of the same title, was released in October and has peaked at No. 24.

On Saturday, Paul Rodgers, “the voice” of Bad Company, member of “Free” and “The Firm, will headline the main stage. Rodgers is just part of a lineup that includes Vertical Horizon and Gin Blossoms as well as others, starting at 1 p.m.

Rodgers career spans from the 1960s where he was a singer-songwriter with the band Free, a British band that hit the international charts with the Rodgers’s penned hit “All Right Now.” From 1973 to 1982 the band he formed, Bad Company, produced a series of hits including “Feel Like Making Love,” “Can’t Get Enough,” “Shooting Star,” “Bad Company,” and “Run with the Pack” and “Rock and Roll Fantasy.” Bad Company earned six platinum albums until Rodgers left in 1982.

Vertical Horizon has been on the alternative scene since 1999 when they hit No. 1 on the charts with the song “Everything You Want.” Gin Blossoms return to the festival with hits “Hey Jealousy,” “Follow You Down,” “Found Out About You,” and “Till I Hear It From You.”

Live music will also be performed on the wine stage featuring many different varieties of performers on all three days.

On Sunday, Spyro Gyra will headline on the wine stage at 3 p.m. but music will be performed all day long.

Since their first top single of “Morning Dance” in 1979, Spyro Gyra has churned out album after album and song after song of contemporary jazz that remains in the forefront for innovation. In 2001 the band’s album “In Modern Times” spent 64 weeks on Billboards’ Contemporary Jazz chart, peaking at No. 2. Three albums later “Wrapped In A Dream” gained the group a Grammy nomination in 2006.

The 2007 release of “Good To Go-Go” scored two Grammy nominations in December 2007; Best Pop Instrumental Album and Best Pop Instrumental Performance (the latter nomination for the track entitled “Simple Pleasures”.) In 2008 Spyro Gyra’s “A Night Before Christmas” was nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best Pop Instrumental album.

At 1 and 3 p.m. Sunday, the WGAS Motorsports Xtreme Motocross Show returns to the festival, sponsored by Pechanga Resort and Casino at the main stage area, and offering a high flying freestyle motocross show that features stars from around the world.

Unique concert and festival experiences are offered for the festival as well. See the festival Web site for details on the Exclusive Festival Experience package, Stage Right Hospitality package and Silver Reserved Seating package.

Twenty-two wineries will be represented with tasting hours of 5 to 9 p.m. Friday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. At the Wine & Food Pairing pavilion Saturday and Sunday, local chefs will match culinary treats with local wines. There is an additional charge for wine tasting and the wine and food pairing.

Held both Friday and Saturday nights around 8 p.m. (after dusk), the Balloon Glow is one of the most popular entertainment options of the festival. The glow, set up in the center of the festival’s wine tasting area, is where balloon pilots set up their balloons next to one another and synchronize igniting burners of the balloons to a musical beat or the crowd’s demand to “glow.”

Saturday and Sunday mornings are when the colorful hot air balloons take the skies over Lake Skinner and Shipley Preserve. Weather permitting, the balloons will lift off between 6 and 7 a.m. They usually return to the ground before 8:30 a.m. However, balloons usually do not return to the launch site because they come down wherever the wind takes them.

If you want to take a ride, some 50 balloons will offer the early morning rides as well as free tethered balloon rides from sunrise to about 10 a.m. For balloon ride reservations, call 800-965-2122.

In addition to all the events, concerts and wine tasting, there will be numerous food, arts and crafts, service and goods vendors stationed throughout the festival.

Temecula Valley Balloon and Wine Festival

5 to 11 p.m. Friday, 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday and 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday

Lake Skinner, 37701 Warren Road, Winchester

$20 in advance ($22 at gate) on Friday, $22 in advance ($25 at gate) on Saturday, $15 in advance ($17 at gate) on Sunday for adults; ages 7-12 are $5 each day and children ages 6 and younger are free throughout the festival

tvbwf.com

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

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“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.

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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!

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Alex Kapitanski, known as “The Flag Man” for his passion in providing American and state flags for display at thousands of civic events from high school graduations to Memorial Day observances, died Wednesday.

“He was a champion,” said longtime friend Silas W. Bass, a retired Army major. “He was the flag man of the country, not just Oceanside. He was a very gentle person, but he loved this country with a passion.”

In North County, Kapitanski’s love of country made him a celebrity recognized by presidents, generals and even Pope John Paul II

“At one time, he must have known every admiral and general in the armed forces,” Bass said.

Just this week, Kapitanski, 86, was honored in a special Presidents Day salute at the Oceanside Public Library and presented a proclamation from Oceanside Mayor Jim Wood with a film tribute and plenty of flags on display.

Kapitanski once estimated that he provided flags to more than 37,000 events and hung more than 3.5 million flags.

“I support all the presidents, our troops, men and women,” Kapitanski said in a recent interview. “When they call me to decorate, I come.”

Kapitanski’s family said they will take up their father’s cause to honor his memory.

“It was something from my dad’s heart,” said his youngest son, Allen Kapitanski.

Local officials mourned the passing of a man who many people said embodied love of country.

“Not only has Oceanside lost a great patriot, but the nation has (also),” said Oceanside City Councilman Jerry Kern. “Alex … was a great guy.”

Councilman Jack Feller said Kapitanski’s drive to provide flags everywhere he could was “superhuman.”

“The effort was second to none in honoring our military,” Feller said. “I’ll miss him as a friend.”

Kapitanski was determined to pass on his love of country and patriotism to upcoming generations, said John Stryker Meyer, associate director of Interfaith Community Services and Oceanside’s veteran of the year in 2008.

Meyer recalled that two years ago, Kapitanski passed out flags to students in a classroom at Ivy Ranch Elementary School because he didn’t think there were enough flags at a school event.

“He said it’s really important that they see the flags and learn what the flags of our country mean,” Meyer said.

Even as his health failed over the past year, Kapitanski continued to bring his flags to patriotic events with the help of his sons, Meyer said.

“He was out there on Memorial Day,” Meyer said. “It’s a sad day for our nation that a man has passed away who has carried the spirit of the American flag from his early youth as a Boy Scout until he breathed his last breath.”

Oceanside City Councilwoman Esther Sanchez said she remembers Kapitanski for his “passion and pride.”

“He had a passion for sharing his flags with everyone, especially the youth, and it was infectious,” Sanchez said.

Born March 3, 1923, in West Rutland, Vt., Kapitanski was a combat photographer during World War II whose primary mission was to go behind enemy lines to photograph enemy positions and gun emplacements. The military newspaper “Stars & Stripes” once featured a photo of him bringing in a German soldier he had captured behind the lines while photographing a position in Normandy. The photo was sent by the wire services to nearly every newspaper in the United States and beyond.

Kapitanski was awarded the bronze and silver stars for his heroism. He received numerous commendations and awards from civilian and military organizations.

In a 2007 interview, Kapitanski said he hung his first flag from the American Legion Post in his hometown. He said he dropped out of high school to volunteer for the Army in 1943 but went back to finish high school after the war and attended the University of Southern California, where he received a certificate in cinematography.

Kapitanski moved to Oceanside in 1950, his son Allen said. Kapitanski said in the 2007 interview that he left Los Angeles because work was scarce in the lean years after the war.

He eventually started his own contracting business, retiring in 1965, He later worked for Olivenhain Municipal Water District in Encinitas.

Kapitanski is survived by four sons, Alex of Carlsbad, and Edwin, Albert and Allen of Oceanside; a daughter, Emilyann Ransom of San Diego, and eight grandchildren.

Funeral arrangements are pending.

Call staff writer Ray Huard at 760-901-4062

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