Encinitas Advocate Cardif f-by-the-Sea • Leucadia • Olivenhain Volume 2 • Issue 27
Community
■ A team of veterinarians and specialists recently held a volunteer day for shelter cats and dogs. Page 2
Lifestyle
■ For photos of the Scripps Candlelight Ball, see pages 1011.
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7 Encinitas stories to watch in 2016 BY JARED WHITLOCK Here are seven Encinitas stories to keep an eye on in 2016, from a fight over a seawall to urban agriculture to El Niño rains. Start of Pacific View transformation? After being closed for 15 years, the Pacific View property in downtown Encinitas could finally be revamped in the not-too-distant future. A local group called the Encinitas Arts, Culture and Ecology Alliance put forward a plan for Pacific View this September that won the tentative support of the Encinitas City Council. The Alliance wants to transform the Pacific View buildings and surrounding land into a hub for arts workshops, theater, innovative agriculture, local history and cultural events. Now the group is tasked with putting some meat on the bone by presenting a detailed financing strategy. If all goes smoothly, the Alliance could start overhauling the former school site in 2016 and even hold public events. Councilmembers in September were thrilled that so many arts enthusiasts, business leaders and nonprofit representatives joined forces to form the Alliance, avoiding a fight over which group operates the 2.8-acre property. Even pro surfer Rob Machado and the band Switchfoot are involved in the Alliance. A divided Encinitas council in 2014 bought the site from the Encinitas Union School District for $10 million, averting a planned auction. Seawall fight goes to High Court A seawall at Grandview Beach in Encinitas is at the center of a potentially precedent-setting legal fight. The California Coastal Commission has stated it has the power to review and put a 20-year time limit on the seawall. Pacific Legal Foundation, representing two Encinitas homeowners, sued the coastal commission, arguing the agency’s ability to reassess the need for a seawall in 20 years infringes on private property rights. California’s Supreme Court is expected to rule on the case sometime in 2016, possibly affecting the lifespan of seawalls across the state. In June, the San Diego Surfrider Foundation threw its support behind the commission, stating seawalls choke off sand that maintains healthy beaches and thus wave quality. How El Niño affects the coastline Weather forecasters predict strong El Niño rains and surf from January to March, increasing the likelihood of local flooding, beach bluff collapses and infrastructure problems. But Encinitas has already experienced coastline issues in recent months. Notably, the city in December made repairs to shore up Coast Highway 101 in Cardiff after extremely high tides damaged a bluff that supports the thoroughfare. Past El Niños in Encinitas have wiped out beach access points, flooded arterial roads and one winter swell was powerful enough to sweep a wooden lifeguard tower onto the middle of Highway 101 in Cardiff. To prepare, the city has been dumping rocks and sand
January 1, 2016
Under Armour Holiday Classic Basketball Tournament
La Costa Canyon High School was one of the hosts for the 26th Annual Under Armour Holiday Classic Basketball Tournament held Dec. 26-30. Eighty-one high school teams from 10 states competed in this four-day event. La Costa Canyon lost 50-51 in a close game against Morse High School Dec. 26. Visit www. theholidyclassic.org. Photo by Jon Clark. See page 6 for more photos. For photos online, visit www. encinitasadvocate.com.
Encinitas ‘granny flat’ program nets little interest BY JARED WHITLOCK Only six households in the last year signed up to register their unpermitted “granny flats” despite a city incentive program, it was announced at the Dec. 16 Encinitas City Council meeting. The Encinitas council in November 2014 established a yearlong program that loosened permitting requirements for granny flats, with the goal of counting the units toward the city’s affordable housing inventory. Granny flats, also called accessory units, are small units on the same lot as a larger home. They also include garages that have been converted into living quarters. To register an unpermitted granny flat, it has to be brought up to city code and deed restricted for low-income residents. Those who don’t legalize their accessory units run the risk of receiving fines from the city’s code enforcement department. Due to the lack of sign-ups, the Encinitas council at the Dec. 16 meeting voted unanimously to extend the granny flat program six months. The council also directed the city manager to report back with options to further relax city rules so that more granny flats will be recorded. Although 52 residents expressed interest in the program, few took advantage of it because of the work and cost involved in transforming a granny flat so that it meets city code, according to a city staff report. Councilman Tony Kranz said it will be challenging to craft regulations that encourage more to register their accessory units while also ensuring the units are safe. “The big challenge is where the city would draw the line on some of those units,” Kranz said. Encinitas’ incentive program states accessory units must be reserved for low-income res-
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Cardiff vet heads volunteer day for shelter cats and dogs BY KRISTINA HOUCK Thanks to Southern California Veterinary Dental Specialties & Oral Surgery, nearly two-dozen shelter animals will hopefully find a home for the holidays. Headed by Cardiff’s Dr. Brook Niemiec, a team of veterinarians and specialists recently donated a full day of complete dental work on shelter cats and dogs from the County of San Diego Department of Animal Services and San Diego Human Society. “The goal was to get them happy and healthy, and home for the holidays,” said Niemiec, owner of the Kearny Mesa-based Veterinary Dental Specialties & Oral Surgery and its other locations in Southern California, Las Vegas and New Orleans. The roughly 25-member volunteer team included veterinarians who are board certified in dentistry, surgery, internal medicine and ophthalmology, as well as veterinarians trained in holistic and integrative care. Veterinarians, specialists and support staff came from Southern California Veterinary Dental Specialties & Oral Surgery, Animal Energetics, California Veterinary Specialists, Coast to Coast Cardiology, Eye Clinic for Animals, Integrative Veterinary Services and Western University of Health Sciences. Together, they helped improve the oral and overall health of 22 shelter cats and dogs, with cases ranging from cleanings to root canals during the 15-hour volunteer day on Dec. 13.
“It was a lot of work, but it was well worth it,” said Niemiec, who has been a veterinarian for more than 20 years and has concentrated on dentistry since 2000. He has performed close to 50,000 dental procedures. “These animals are suffering because of their mouths and they’re not getting adopted because of their mouths. It’s something that we can fix.” Periodontal disease, or gum disease, is the most common health problem that veterinarians find in pets. Niemiec said it is estimated that by the age of 3, 80 percent of dogs and 70 percent of cats have some form of periodontal disease. Due to neglect, it is very common for cats and dogs to come into shelters with dental disease, Niemiec said. “Gum disease and teeth problems are serious,” Niemiec said. “You need to take care of your pet’s teeth on a daily basis.” Although this was the first time Niemiec and his colleagues collaborated for the San Diego event, veterinarians at Niemiec’s practice routinely give back to the community. Dr. Beth Romig, a resident veterinarian, works closely with the County of San Diego Department of Animal Services, offering discount services on shelter animals. Niemiec and some of his team members also held a similar volunteer event last January for Best Friends Animal Society in Utah. Niemiec connected with the animal sanctu-
A team of volunteer veterinarians and specialists recently helped improve the oral and overall health of 22 shelter cats and dogs. Courtesy photos ary after caring for some of its animals at his Las Vegas practice. “It was so rewarding,” Niemiec recalled. Over three days, he and other volunteers worked on 66 animals, including dozens of cats and dogs and a pot-bellied pig. The experience inspired similar efforts in San Diego after Niemiec’s girlfriend, Dr. Katie Kangas of Integrative Veterinary Services, said, “There’s animals that need us there, too.” Not long after Niemiec and his team returned home, they started planning the San Diego shelter event. Niemiec hopes to hold future events for shelter animals, and funds raised through his foundation, Pet’s Tooth Fairy Fund, could help. The recently established foundation helps fund care for pets in need of oral surgery. “We’re saving lives, and hopefully, educating people,” Niemiec said. For more information or to donate to the Pet’s Tooth Fairy Fund, visit www.dogbeachvet.com/tooth-fairy.
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‘Last of the President’s Men’ talks about Nixon years in new book by Bob Woodward BY WILL BOWEN A sell-out crowd, composed mostly of older adults and a sprinkling of students, was on hand at the Price Center East Ballroom at UC San Diego Dec. 4 to hear Tulane University professor of history and economics Michael Bernstein interview bestselling author and Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward and former Nixon White House aide (and Watergate informant) Alexander Butterfield, who is the subject of Woodward’s new book, “The Last of the President’s Men.” A sequel to the legendary “All the President’s Men,” written with fellow Washington Post journalist Carl Bernstein, Woodward’s new book has been hailed as “the most influential piece of journalism in history” and “the greatest reporting effort of all time.” The newspaper articles and book that preceded it, which revealed the Watergate scandal and forced Nixon to eventually resign the presidency, garnered a Pulitzer Prize for the Post. The UCSD panel discussion, which sold out in a matter a days, came as a collaboration between the Helen Edison Lecture Series, The UCSD Library, UCSD Extension Division, and UCSD TV — the group that last month partnered to bring polio vaccine discoverer Jonas Salk’s two sons to campus to help inaugurate a new library exhibit of their father’s papers. Bernstein, who formerly was a UCSD faculty member as well its Dean of Arts & Humanities, began the evening by introducing Woodward and Butterfield. Woodward, 72, was at the Washington Post for more than 44 years and has written numerous books about the American political scene. Butterfield, 89, a Distinguished Flying Cross recipient and a Nixon White House aide who grew up across the bay in Coronado, was formerly a graduate student under Bernstein at UCSD. At that time, Butterfield was investigating the role of presidential pardons in American history. Woodward and Butterfield, who seem to have become good friends, partnered to write “The Last of the President’s Men.” The book offers further revelations into the personae of Richard Nixon and the Watergate times. The overarching
Bob Woodward, Alexander Butterfield and Michael Bernstein at UCSD’s Price Auditorium, Dec. 4. Photo by Will Bowen theme is: Do we really know enough about the candidates we are electing? The book also asks us to bring more transparency to the office of the president, which has traditionally been a closed system surrounded by a wall of secrecy. Woodward made the point that “history is never over.” Even though his book clarifies who Nixon was, he said we may never have a final account of the man and his actions. Woodward continued by explaining how Butterfield brought both his memories of being the one responsible for scheduling Nixon’s day-to-day activities (and the one responsible for overseeing the installation of the secret audio-taping system installed
in the White House by Secret Service agents under Nixon’s direction) — in addition to 20 boxes of White House documents he had secreted away for posterity — to their collaboration. One incredulous document that came out of the boxes was the “Zilch Memo.” In this Jan. 2, 1972 memo, Nixon calls the bombing of Vietnam with 29 million tons of explosives a failure, with the effect of “zilch,” even though the day before he went on national TV saying the bombing campaign was a success. Nixon knew the bombing responsible for killing countless thousands of innocent civilians was a failure, yet he continued to order it and lie about its effectiveness because it was popu-
lar with some people and helped assure his re-election, the book reveals. Butterfield said he resigned his commission as a Colonel in the U.S. Air Force stationed in Australia as a career move to work in the White House under Nixon’s Chief of Staff H.R. Haldeman. “Although I liked the hell out of Nixon as a person,” he said, “the president had a dark and petty side that few people saw, unless you were around him on a daily basis.” He said Nixon was obsessed with his rivals and enemies and would go to illegal lengths to silence them or bring them down. Butterfield also said that Nixon was also a very lonely person who did not even communicate with his wife, Pat. To illustrate this, Butterfield shared the story of being on a plane with the Nixons. Pat asked her husband if he would like to go to New York with their girls for the holidays, and Nixon ignored her question, never even looking up from the legal pad he was scribbling on. See WOODWARD, 19
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Retirement not in senior scientists’ DNA •Dozens older than 70 on Torrey Pines Mesa, and few see end in sight BY GARY ROBBINS, SPECIAL TO ENCINITAS ADVOCATE Walk up La Jolla’s Sumner Canyon at night and you’ll see light glowing in a house on the ridge— the octopus’s garden that’s long been home to Walter Munk. The man widely regarded as the world’s greatest living oceanographer sits near a lamp hour after hour after, puzzling over the mysteries of the sea, including a problem about waves that has vexed him for a half-century. Munk’s official biography shows that he retired from UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography. But the reality is different. After his morning swim, the 98-year-old Munk often works for the rest of the day. And he will give you a puzzled look if you ask him why. “I do it for the enjoyment,” Munk said on a recent afternoon, briefly turning away from a scientific paper he was writing. He paused for a second, laughing at the sweetness of it all. Then he said, “It’s fun. Some people work because they have to. I work because I can.” That’s a familiar sentiment among the scores of older scientists and engineers who help to make La Jolla’s Torrey Pines Mesa one of the buzziest beehives in the world of science. UC San Diego alone has about 60 professors who
Renowned oceanographer Walter Munk in La Jolla keeps up research and writing because of “the enjoyment.” He’s 98. Photo by Misael Virgen / San Diego Union-Tribune have been associated with the campus for 50 years or more. Most of them are officially retired. But some have been called back to service, and many others simply continue to teach or conduct research or linger in hallways, helping students create startup companies. There are also dozens of professors 70 or older who have yet to retire, and who are unlikely to do so anytime soon. “Why should I leave the party when I am having a good time?” said Nick Spitzer, a 73-year-old neuroscientist at UC San Diego who helped shape the BRAIN Initiative, an effort by the Obama administration to develop tools and techniques for better studying of the brain. Spitzer explained himself in a cheery email. Other scientists were perplexed, and in some cases annoyed, when asked about why they’re still working. The question can sound like an accusation if it’s not posed with care. And it can be a reminder of mortality. Biologist Ursula Bellugi cocked her head as if to say, “Are you really asking me why I still have a lab at 84?” She was sitting in her office at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, where she has done pioneering work on the biology of language, including American Sign Language. Bellugi spread her hands in a plaintive way and said, “My work is a joy. I have a passion for this. I don’t know how to explain it any other way.” Physicist Bob Dynes was more blunt.
“Why work when you don’t have to? It’s a stupid question,” said the 73-year-old Dynes, who served as chancellor of UC San Diego and as president of the University of California system. “I like working with the students. I get so much energy from them. It’s fun.” He flashed a smile to let a visitor know he wasn’t mad. Then he looked around his office inside UC San Diego’s Mayer Hall and thought about the wonder of his academic career. “This is my 50th year of publishing scientific papers,” Dynes said. “Fifty years! That just stuns me. I still get a kick out of it.” As hort time later, famed design engineer Don Norman savored his own longevity as he squiggled his way through throngs of students at UC San Diego. “I’ve been telling people I’m 80,” said Norman, the former director of research for Apple Computer. “I’m actually 79. I won’t turn 80 until Christmas Day. I keep saying I’m 80 because it is a good symbol.” He reflected for a moment, then added: “Age is the wrong criteria to talk about. We should be looking at people’s abilities. That’s what really matters.” Ability does seem to be the common denominator. Ability, and drive, and talent. Munk has been advising the University of California system on how it can make all 10 of its campuses carbon-neutral by 2025. Dynes serves on a National Research Council committee that’s reviewing crucial aspects of nuclear energy. Norman became director of UC San Diego’s Design Lab a year ago and is recruiting talent from around the globe. Bellugi is preparing to pass priceless archival material on to younger scientists. UC San Diego biologist Shu Chien, 84, recently helped the campus win a $20 million contract to study the nature of cells. And UC San Diego chemist Charlie Perrin, 77, has entered his 52nd year of teaching. About 10,000 students have taken his courses over the decades, making him among the most industrious teachers in the University of California system. “I don’t plan to retire from teaching,” Perrin said recently, while preparing to administer a final exam. “It could hurt my
ability to get my research grants renewed. ... Sometimes, there’s discrimination based on your age. By teaching, people see I’m still at it. And I like to teach.” Then there’s Harry Markowitz, winner of the 1990 Nobel Prize in economics. At 88, he teaches finance at UC San Diego, runs a financial consulting business in Pacific Beach and is working on the third volume of a four-volume set of books on asset allocation. “I reject the words ‘old age’ as they apply to me,” Markowitz said on a recent afternoon, wiggling a coffee cup at his secretary in a quiet cry for a refill. “Except for not being able to stand too long, I am still me. Someday I will hit a wall, but I haven’t.” The refill arrived and Markowitz added: “Some people marginalize themselves. They’ll retire and say, ‘I will not work. I will not teach. I will find retired friends and drink coffee.’ They sit on a park bench all day. They have marginalized themselves. “I won’t be doing that.” Nor will 72-year-old Salk biologist Tony Hunter, whose discoveries about cancer have made him a contender for the Nobel Prize. “I don’t know that I have another major discovery in my future,” Hunter said, sitting amid an avalanche of reports, papers and books. “Seems unlikely. But I feel I’ve done enough important science. I don’t need that stimulus anymore. “I just like working. The truth is, I don’t know what I’d be doing if I wasn’t doing this.” All the talk about aging inevitably raises the topic of the final passing. It didn’t seem to rankle Chien, who said, “I feel very comfortable about death. When the time comes, I will go.” Perrin shrugged and said, “It happens. That’s the way of life.” Bellugi said, “Do I think about dying? No. I’d just like it to be peaceful, please.” Munk shares that sense of serenity, saying: “I’ve lived beyond the usual age. I’m not panicking about the fact that this is going to come to an end. I’ve had such a wonderful life. I figure I’m way ahead.”
32nd annual SDSU Writers’ Conference to run from Jan. 22-24 If you are a writer with a dream, get one step closer to being a writer with an agent by attending the 32nd Annual San Diego State University Writers’ Conference on Jan. 22 through 24 at the San Diego Marriott in Mission Valley. Keynote speakers are Richard Curtis, literary agent, and president of Richard Curtis Associates Inc.; and Tracy Sherrod, editorial director, Amistad, HarperCollins Publishers. Each year, more than 300 attendees come from all over the United States and as far away as Japan, South America and Switzerland, to pursue their dreams of publication. And dreams do come true. The conference has launched the careers of numerous writers, including best-selling crime novelist Neal Griffin, young adult science-fiction sensation Stephanie Diaz and young adult author Shannon Messenger. In addition to author and agent panels, there are workshops and nightowl sessions that focus on the technical aspects of writing. Attendees can get direct feedback on their writing
from agents and editors. “Each time I attended the SDSU Writers’ Conference was important,” said Griffin, a 25-year police veteran and author of “Benefit of the Doubt.” “There’s no better way to learn about the craft of writing than meeting those who do it for a living. The writers are incredibly gracious and accessible at the conference.” Diaz, an SDSU alumna, is the author of the trilogy “Extraction,” “Rebellion,” and “Evolution.” She attributes her success to what she learned at SDSU and the writers’ conference. “I studied film production in college and was able to take a couple of screenwriting classes with wonderful professors, which taught me many useful skills for storytelling. But I would credit most of what I’ve learned about writing to the books I’ve read throughout my life,” she said. Messenger, author of the youngadult series “Keeper of the Lost Cities” and “Sky Fall,” is an example of persistence. “I firmly believe that the only difference between a published author
and an aspiring writer is time and effort. Everyone has a different journey toward publication. Some of us take longer. But if you keep writing, keep going, and never give up on yourself or this dream, you will get there eventually, I promise,” she said. Early-bird registration for the SDSU Writers’ Conference is $449 through Jan. 4. Registration is $499 from Jan. 5-19 and $549 at the door, if space allows. Advance reading appointments are available for $50 each through the final deadline of Jan. 4. An advance reading appointment is a 10-minute feedback on the first 10 pages of your manuscript by an agent or editor, who will read your manuscript in advance of the conference. Consultations are available for $50 each through Jan. 4, then $60 from Jan. 5 to Jan. 19. A consultation is a 10-minute Q&A about your project with an agent or editor. Attendees may purchase additional consultations at the conference, if they are still available. The conference takes place from
12:30 to 9 p.m. Friday, Jan. 22; 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 23; and 7:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 24. Onsite registration begins at 12:30 p.m. on Friday, with the first breakout session that day at 2 p.m. For complete information, visit the conference website or call (619) 594-0845.
Legendary country musician Vince Gill in concert March 24 Multiple CMA and Grammy Award winner Vince Gill will perform live in concert at the Jacobs Music Center — home of the San Diego Symphony — on Thursday, March 24, 2016 in an evening filled with his legendary hits, plus favorites from his CD, Guitar Slinger. One of the most popular singers in modern country music, Vince Gill is famous for his top-notch songwriting, world-class guitar playing and warm, soaring tenor, all wrapped up in a quick and easy wit. Vince Gill is being presented by the San Diego Symphony as part of its City Lights Series, although the Symphony will not be performing with Gill. Tickets are $35$95. Purchase tickets at the San Diego Symphony’s box office at 750 B Street, downtown San Diego, call 619-2350804 or visit www.sandiegosymphony.com.
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ENCINITAS ADVOCATE - JANUARY 1, 2016 - PAGE A5
Teenage author publishes her second fantasy book ‘The Rain of Blood’ BY KAREN BILLING Local resident Sahana Kumar has just released her second book in the “Champions of Zairon” fantasy fiction series. The 14-year-old author is a busy freshman at Francis Parker School. The book is available for purchase on Amazon.com and download on iTunes, Nook and Kindle. Book two, “The Rain of Blood,” brings back the trio of teenage protagonists Claire, Jason and Zac from book one, “Cave of Mystic Dreams,” which Sahana wrote when she was 12. In “Rain of Blood,” the teenagers set off on a challenge to retrieve an artifact and are again drawn back into their “mystical reality” encountering all kinds of adventures and magical creatures along the way. “The creatures are one of my favorite parts of writing — making up all these weird, fantastical things,” Sahana said. In her writing, Sahana drew on lots of Celtic and Hindu mythology, such as her monstrous take on kelpie, a shapeshifting water horse. Friends and schoolmates who had read the first book were anxious for the second installment. Sahana said some of the younger Francis Parker students would wait outside her classroom and ask her “Is it out yet? Is the book out yet?” “The writing process went a lot faster because I didn’t have to spend a lot of time creating the characters,” Sahana said. She did do a lot of research on mythological creatures, and the editing process with publisher Telemachus Press took a little over a year while her first book took about six months. The longer editing process Sahana attributes to now being a high schooler and her extensive list of after-school activities. Sahana participates in Science Olympiad, History Games, Math Olympics, the speech and debate and robotics teams, takes voice and violin lessons, plays in the orchestra and is on the sailing team. “My friends call me crazy but I do all this stuff because I really enjoy all of it,” Sahana said.
Like the first book, the proceeds from this next book will be going to charity. For “Rain of Blood,” Sahana picked the non-profit CRY (Child’s Rights and You) as the beneficiary. CRY seeks to help underprivileged children in India reach their full potential, ensuring they have access to education, healthcare and reduce the rates of child malnutrition and child labor. It’s important to Sahana to use her gift to give back to others, especially in providing an education. “If I didn’t have an education, I wouldn’t be able to write,” Sahana said. Sahana is already working on the third book in the trilogy and also writes fan fiction. Once the trilogy is complete she said she hopes she will be lucky to have more books published as well. For Sahana, writing remains just a hobby — her ultimate goal is to become a doctor. For more on the Champions of Zairon trilogy, visit Amazon.com.
Brandeis National Committee chapters to host the annual Brandeis University outreach program
(Above) Author Sahana Kumar and (right) the cover of her second book ‘‘The Rain of Blood.” Courtesy photos
The San Dieguito and Rancho Bernardo Brandeis National Committee chapters will host the annual Brandeis University outreach program, University on Wheels, with a luncheon at 11 a.m. Jan. 6 at the Morgan Run Resort & Club. Each winter Brandeis professors speak to some of the 45 BNC chapters around the country, drawing the community closer to the university. San Diego will welcome Dr. Nancy Scott, Associate Professor of Fine Arts, who will speak on “The Emergence of Public Art: From Coast to Coast.” The Club is located at 5690 Cancha De Golf, Rancho Santa Fe. The cost, $55 or $65, (partly tax deductible) will benefit the BNC Scholarship Campaign, a new initiative to raise $1 million in two years for scholarships. For information or reservations, call Phyllis at 858-487-1422.
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Under Armour Holiday Classic Basketball Tournament La Costa Canyon High School was one of the hosts for the 26th Annual Under Armour Holiday Classic Basketball Tournament held Dec. 26-30. Eighty-one high school teams from 10 states competed in this four-day event. (Photos on this page) La Costa Canyon lost 50-51 in a close game against Morse High School Dec. 26. Visit www.theholidyclassic.org. Photo by Jon Clark. See page inside for more photos. For photos online, visit www.encinitasadvocate.com.
Demkiw goes up for the shot
Wanzy looks to the basket
Hogan looks for his next move
Newcomb looks for the basket
Far left: Tip off. Left: Hogan takes his shot
Peneshi takes it down the court
Mead looks for the basket
Gallagher passes the ball
Peneshi on the move
Newcomb and Mead on defense
Hogan goes up for the shot
Newcomb passes it in to Cook
Waiting for the rebound
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ENCINITAS ADVOCATE - JANUARY 1, 2016 - PAGE A7
Mainly Mozart’s Spotlight Chamber Music Series returns offering an array of renowned performers BY KELLEY CARLSON Mainly Mozart’s Spotlight Chamber Music Series is ready to once again take center stage in the classical concert scene. Five intermission-free engagements will be performed between Jan. 9 and May 1 in Rancho Santa Fe, La Jolla and Carlsbad, which will feature an array of renowned performers from around the world. “In her fifth year at the helm, Spotlight Curator Anne-Marie McDermott has imbued this series with a carefully cultivated combination of longtime favorites from Mainly Mozart’s family of artists and spectacular new faces who we are thrilled to have and who will be performing for us for the first time,” Mainly Mozart Executive Director Nancy Laturno Bojanic said. “We invite you to join us for memorable concerts and conversations with our artists.” Concertgoers may recognize names such as cellist Christopher Costanza, violinist Stefan Jackiw, violist Cynthia Phelps, cellist Ronald Thomas, flutist Tara Helen O’Connor, violinist Steven Copes and the Szymanowski Quartet. Among those making their Mainly Mozart Spotlight Chamber Music Series debut is the Attacca Quartet, a young prize-winning string ensemble who hails from New York. McDermott carefully matches up the artists, with a goal of creating passionate performances, and ensures there are a variety of instruments to balance out the series. The first engagement — which McDermott describes as “really fun” — is Jan. 9-10, featuring violinists Geoff Nuttall and Amy Schwartz Moretti, violist Roberto Diaz, cellist Constanza and McDermott, on piano, performing Dvo ák’s Terzetto in C Major for Two Violins and Viola, Op. 74 and Piano Quintet in A Major, Op. 81. Next, on Feb. 27-28, the Szymanowski Quartet will appear with the Attacca Quartet. The Attacca Quartet will perform Mozart’s Divertimento in D Major, K. 136, and the Szymanowski Quartet will play Mozart’s String Quartet in G Major, K. 156. Both ensembles will perform Mendelssohn’s Octet in E-Flat Major, Op. 20. On March 12-13, violinist Jackiw, cellist Michael Nicolas and pianist Ji will collaborate on Mozart’s Piano Trio No. 6 in G Major, K. 564, Arvo Pärt’s “Mozart Adagio” and Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor, Op. 49. “They’re phenomenal players — they’re mind-boggling when you’re listening to them,” McDermott said. When planning the April 2-3 concerts, the curator sought a more unusual grouping of instruments, with the violin, viola, cello and flute. The husband-and-wife teams of Phelps and Thomas, and O’Connor and Daniel Phillips will combine their talents on Mozart’s Flute Quartet No. 3 in C Major, K. 285b; Debussy’s Syrinx; Francois Devienne’s Duo for Flute and Viola in C minor, Op. 5, No. 3; and Beethoven’s String Trio in G Major, Op. 9, No. 1. “They worked hard” on these pieces, McDermott noted.
“
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Mainly Mozart Spotlight Chamber Music Series Curator Anne-Marie McDermott
The Attacca Quartet
The series will wrap up with a program by Copes, violist Hsin-Yun Huang, cellist Peter Wiley, clarinetist David Shifrin, horn player David Jolley and McDermott on April 30 and May 1. They will play Beethoven’s Clarinet Trio in B-Flat Major, Op. 11, and Dohnányi’s epic, 40-minute Sextet in C Major, Op. 37. “(It’s a) blockbuster program,” McDermott said. Once again, the Spotlight Chamber Music Series engagements will be held among three venues. The Rancho Santa Fe performances will return this year to the Garden Club, at 17025 Avenida de Acacias. The $78 tickets include a wine welcome, concert, and a reception with the audience and artists. At The Auditorium at The Scripps Ranch Institute, 10620 John Jay Hopkins Drive in La Jolla, the $58 admission price includes a wine reception, show, and post-concert “talkback” with the artists. The $28 Sunday matinees will be held at St. Elizabeth Seton Catholic Church, 6628 Santa Isabel, Carlsbad. Series subscriptions are $250 for five concerts in La Jolla, $325 for five concerts in Rancho Santa Fe, and $75 for three concerts in Carlsbad. “I’m really excited; it was such a joy to put this series together,” McDermott said. For more information or tickets, call (619) 466-8742 or go to www.mainlymozart.org.
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‘Upright & Grand’: San Diego Symphony to hold month-long piano festival extravaganza BY LONNIE BURSTEIN HEWITT Although we may not think of the piano as a stringed instrument, it’s really the great-great-great grandchild of ancient harps, with more recent antecedents in 15th to 17thcentury harpsichords. Its name is a shortened form of pianoforte (soft-loud in Italian), given by the man credited as the inventor of the modern piano, Bartolomeo Cristoforo, who was Keeper of the Instruments for a Medici prince at the turn of the 18th century. His instrument offered a new range of volumes and dynamics, and later refinements by other Europeans made it popular with composers like Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. Along the way came the upright piano, which took up less room, and in the mid-1800s, Steinway & Sons developed their version of the grand piano, which became a favorite in concert halls around the world. Today, the piano continues its popularity as a solo and ensemble instrument, featured in orchestral and chamber music, jazz combos, and even guitar-centric rock ‘n’ roll. Starting Friday, Jan. 8, 2016, San Diego Symphony presents a month-long piano festival called “Upright & Grand,” starring world-famous classical, jazz and contemporary performers. And they’re inviting the public to try their hands at lessons, workshops, or on one of 10 brightly painted pianos placed around the county. Martha Gilmer, who became the Symphony’s CEO in 2014 after 35 years with Chicago Symphony, came up with the idea. The Chicago Tribune called her “a symphony executive of original artistic vision and strong collaborative instincts,” and she is certainly showing her skills with this ambitious keyboard extravaganza, in cooperation with La Jolla Music Society, California Center for the Arts in Escondido and Poway Onstage. “I created the festival in Chicago in 2012, when I was struck by how many people I knew had pianos in their homes, but were just using them as furniture,” Gilmer said. “I thought about how the piano is really the easiest way into orchestral music, and about how many composers originally composed on piano, and how many of us took piano lessons as children, though we may have drifted away.”
The festival here will be grander in scope than Chicago’s, and promises to be an annual event. It includes a wide range of musical styles, and hopes to encourage San Diegans of all ages and backgrounds to engage in meaningful encounters with music and the arts. One of the highlights will be “Beyond the Score,” a two-part approach to Mussorgsky’s “Pictures from an Exhibition” on Jan. 9 that offers a one-hour immersive, multimedia presentation of the composer’s life, times and creative process, followed by a full-out performance of Ravel’s orchestration of Mussorgsky’s piece, which was originally composed for piano. “It’s a live documentary, one of 30 programs I originally did in Chicago with my creative partner, Gerard McBurney,” Gilmer said. “They’re meant to be something like Leonard Bernstein’s Young People’s Concerts in the 1960s, that turned a generation on to the joys of classical music. If Bernstein were alive today, he’d be using multimedia; his charisma as a communicator was his own built-in multimedia.”
L-R: Alt-rock star Ben Folds will wrap up the 16-concert series with his new ‘Concerto for Piano and Orchestra Feb. 5-6, 2016; Guest conductor Karina Canellakis will start off San Diego Symphony’s ‘Upright & Grand’ Piano Festival with ‘Rhapsody in Blue’ Jan. 8 and 10 and ‘Beyond the Score’ Jan. 9, 2016. Courtesy photos Another festival highlight — and a free one at that — is “Hands On” Community Day at the Jacobs Music Center, noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 16. There will be introductory piano lessons, master classes and workshops; a performance of Saint Saens’ “Carnival of the Animals;” a Q&A with pianist Jeremy Denk; amateur performances (“15 Minutes of Fame”); a piano-tuning demo; and as a grand finale, “Monster Piano,” with at least 10 pianists playing five grand pianos, with a minimum of four hands per instrument. “Upright & Grand” sounds like a giant leap into the “vibrant programming” Gilmer passionately embraces. “We have world-class performers in all genres, but it’s not all serious,” Gilmer said. “It’s also fun and playful, and we’re
hoping people will visit multiple pianos, and take selfies, and post them on Facebook, or send them to us, and we’ll post them on our page!” Upright & Grand Piano Festival What: 16 concerts featuring 12 pianists, from classical multi-Grammy-winner Emanuel Ax to local jazzman Joshua White and alt-rockstar Ben Folds, plus free ‘Hands On’ Day When: Jan. 8-Feb. 8, 2016 Where: Jacobs Music Center at Copley Symphony Hall, 750 B St., downtown San Diego; and other venues, including Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego’s Sherwood Auditorium in La Jolla; California Center for the Arts in Escondido; Poway Center for the Arts Cost: $20-$96 Schedule and tickets: (619) 235-0804. sandiegosymphony.org Play Me: Look for painted pianos at Horton Plaza, Liberty Station and other public spaces. Passport Cards: Get card stamped at each concert you attend; go to three and earn a free concert voucher
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Brett’s BBQ a hit with its offerings of authentic smoked barbecue and Southern-style sides BY KELLEY CARLSON One of the most popular barbecue places in North County is found in one of the most unlikely areas. Encinitas has a reputation for being health-conscious, so to find a meatcentric eatery in the heart of the city may come as a surprise to some. However, Brett’s BBQ has been thriving at 1505 Encinitas Blvd. since 2008, offering smoked barbecue and Southern-style sides. The restaurant – which also has a location in 4S Ranch — is owned by Brett Nicholson and Bruce Weisman, who met years ago while working at Remington’s, a former high-end steak and chop house in Del Mar. It was Nicholson’s summer visits to the Midwest – where he grew up – that helped inspire the idea for barbecue. He would enjoy the authentic, smoked meats of the region while on vacation, but had difficulty finding anything similar in the local restaurants. So Nicholson and Weisman aimed to establish their own eatery that would meet the standards of barbecue connoisseurs. “Everything we always did was top-of-the-line,” Weisman said. “(We said) if we’re gonna do it, we’re gonna do it right. That’s what makes it fun for me.” This included buying smokers that are fed with hickory, which is shipped from out of state. Brisket and pork leisurely absorb the vapors for about 14 hours, and the ribs and chicken for four to six hours, which softens them and deepens their flavors. They are served with sauce and rubs that are created inhouse. To get the full flavor of Brett’s BBQ, a guest may want to consider ordering the BBQ Sampler Plate. There are baby back ribs covered in sauce, tender and juicy slices of beef brisket and chicken, and a mound of pulled pork, all infused with hickory flavor. The large platter also includes a choice of two sides that complement the meats, such as buttery Corn Pudding and Sweet Potato Fries. Besides platters, patrons can also order barbecue sandwiches. One popular option is the BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich, which features a pile of the succulent shreds contained in a thick bun, and served with a side
(Top to bottom): Bread Pudding in whiskey sauce; BBQ Sampler Plate (baby back ribs, beef brisket, chicken, pulled pork) with Corn Pudding and Sweet Potato Fries; BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich with Cole Slaw and a pickle. Photos by Kelley Carlson
such as Cole Slaw. The meats can also be used to enhance the meal-sized BBQ Baked Potato, which is stuffed with a choice of pulled pork, beef brisket or pulled chicken with barbecue sauce; butter; sour cream; and chives. To cater to a wider audience, Nicholson and Weisman expanded their menu to include items such as Fresh Salmon, which can be broiled, blackened or sugar-cured. There’s also The Pit Master salad, which can be prepared with or without proteins – a colorful composition of mixed greens, smoked gouda, roasted sweet corn, black beans, jicama, tomatoes and sweet onion. It can be dressed with barbecue sauce and ranch dressing. Patrons may want to consider leaving room in the tank for Bread Pudding, a warm, sweet, square-shaped dessert topped with whipped cream, presented in a golden whiskey sauce. While the restaurant is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, its busiest day is actually a day that it’s closed for dining: Thanksgiving. The restaurant is widely known throughout the area for its smoked turkeys, and this year sold out a month early. For more information about Brett’s BBQ, call (760) 4367427 or go to brettsbbq.com.
ENCINITAS ADVOCATE - JANUARY 1, 2016 - PAGE A9
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PAGE A10 - JANUARY 1, 2016 - ENCINITAS ADVOCATE
86th Candlelight Ball raises $1.8 million for Scripps La Jolla
Susan and Scott McMillian, Karen and Tom Gammiere (Scripps Mercy CEO), Marilyn and Jaye Park (he’s Emerald Textiles CEO)
The annual Scripps Candlelight Ball continued its time-honored tradition of ushering in the holiday season at Scripps Health with a spectacular event for a worthy cause. The Scripps 86th Annual Candlelight Ball drew 440 guests to the Fairmont Grand Del Mar Dec. 5 in support of the new Barbey Family Emergency and Trauma Center, opening in the fall of 2016 on the first floor of the Prebys Cardiovascular Institute at Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla. John, Nonnie and Suzy Barbey were among several honored guests at the Dec. 5 event that raised $1.8 million for the new center, which will more than double the size of the current emergency and trauma facilities. More than 30,000 patients are treated each year in the hospital’s emergency department or trauma center. Former Scripps Chief Medical Officer and trauma surgeon A. Brent Eastman, M.D. and his wife Sarita Eastman, M.D. also were at the top of the honored guest list. A campaign is under way to celebrate the legacy of Dr. Eastman by naming the trauma area in the new Barbey Emergency and Trauma Center in his honor. Photos by Vincent Andrunas. For photos online, visit www.rsfreview.com.
Dr. Imad Dandan (Director of trauma, Scripps Memorial), Gary and Eve Fybel (he’s Scripps Memorial CEO), Andrea and Dr. Shawn Evans (emergency physician)
Left: Dr. James Warner, Margie and Dr. John Warner
Dr. James Warner, Margie and Dr. John Warner, Ann and Dr. John Hill Joyce and Jere Oren Angela and Mark Krasner
Left: Courtney Kobey, Erik Bjontegard
Dr. Anil and Vaishali Keswani (Scripps corp. VP for ambulatory care and population health), Sheila and Dr. Nikunj Patel (chair, dept. of radiology, Scripps Green hospital) Dayle and Dr. Kris Van Lom (chair, dept. of radiology, Scripps Encinitas)
Tala Dandan, Dr. Imad and Randa Dandan (he’s Director of trauma, Scripps Memorial)
Santiago and Cecilia Aguerre, Tara and Tom Sweeney Ric Ladt and Vickie Curd Ladt, Elliot and Lee Scott, Debbie and Mitch Zeichner
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ENCINITAS ADVOCATE - JANUARY 1, 2016 - PAGE A11
Scripps continued…
Bernard and Beverly Fipp, Dr. Steven and Sue Higgins (he’s chair of cardiology, Scripps La Jolla), Tracy and Andy Nelson (chair of Prebys Cardiovascular Center campaign)
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4-Day Festival Pass: $55 for members, $70 for nonmembers and $25 for students 1-Day Pass: $25 nonmembers, $20 members, $10 students Call (858) 454-5872 or visit www.ljathenaeum.org/sound-on Joan and Irwin Jacobs Music Room 1008 Wall Street La Jolla, CA 92037
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San Diego Collects Featuring a selection of artworks drawn from private collections, San Diego Collects showcases the impressive range of contemporary art in our region with works spanning from the 1950s to the present. The exhibition thus speaks to the complexity of the region’s artistic landscape and the multitude of perspectives necessary to foster a dynamic artistic community. MCASD 700 Prospect Street La Jolla, CA 92037 858 454 3541 www.mcasd.org
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PAGE A12 - JANUARY 1, 2016 - ENCINITAS ADVOCATE
Former local resident’s documentary goes public TPHS alum Taylor Steele riding high on BY JAMES PALEN esteemed, far-reaching career in surf film
Although more than a year has passed since filmmaker Daniel Jaffe saw his short documentary “Albert” — telling the story of an East Coast man’s transition into blindness as an adult — earn critical acclaim at the Austin Film Festival, the work’s recent public release, unintentionally, it seems, coincides with a much more current occasion: the 10year anniversary of the hospital stay that ended with Albert Rizzi, the man behind the story, being completely blinded by meningitis. When asked what the significance was for releasing the film for public viewing in recent weeks — after months of seeking further film festival interest — Jaffe said it just seemed like it was time. A filmmaker can only spend so long hoping, he said, for a work to keep traction among peers before realizing a time for public release has come — before it’s time for a larger audience to offer its critique. ‘Albert’ has already connected with viewers, as it won the Documentary Short Film Audience Award at the 2014 Austin Film Festival. To the audience that is Albert Rizzi, who is today still living in blindness but considers himself anything but disabled, the film illustrates Jaffe’s skill as a filmmaker — words that take a new meaning of sorts considering Rizzi has never physically seen “Albert,” or any of Jaffe’s other works. “I was totally taken aback by it,” Rizzi said by phone from his East Coast home, where he had just been decorating his home with Christmas lights. “It’s funny. I’ve never seen his work, but I’ve listened to his work, and it’s remarkable, the talent that this young man has. I know I’m gonna see him on the red carpet one day.” A 2012 film and television graduate of New York University who called La Jolla home in his youth and attended La Jolla High School, Jaffe said he was inspired to do the work initially by a question he asked himself: Being so reliant on vision as a filmmaker, what would happen if something dramatic happened to me, such as losing my sight? Jaffe, who now lives in New York and has created a handful of other projects selected for viewing at various film festivals, said “Albert” met an intended purpose more than he could recall any of his other projects doing. “I think it did so more
(Above) The recent public release of Daniel Jaffe’s short film, “Albert,” coincided unintentionally with the 10-year anniversary of the hospital stay that ended with Albert Rizzi, the man behind the story of transition, being completely blinded by meningitis. (Right) Daniel Jaffe effectively than my other work,” he said. “I found myself, every time I sort of re-watched it, sort of moved at certain moments as well. Being a filmmaker and watching your own stuff — it’s so hard. You’re so critical.” “Albert” was something that from the beginning was based on a “more thought-out” idea, Jaffe said. What the film succeeded in was capturing the essence of an intended idea and answering the questions inspiring the work in the first place. Roughly 13-and-a-half minutes long, “Albert” was intended to capture the struggles and strengths displayed by Rizzi following his becoming blind, from the relationships that fell out of his life to new ones forged with those Rizzi described as formerly there for the taking, but never embraced by a man so immersed in a fast New York life. Recalling a segment of the film he found especially moving, Jaffe said “Albert” illustrated Rizzi’s recognition of his own reality, one in which he — although not living what would often be considered a perfect life — “is incredibly grateful” for the awareness and people his blindness brought to him. The film explains Rizzi’s amazement at the connections that can be built with those he now sees as the most important in his life despite never having seen them. In one scene, he recalls a dream he had, and the effect it had on his self-perception, with one figure in the dream whispering to Rizzi, “You’re not blind.” “It’s really kind of a wild thing,” Jaffe said. “To still see in your dreams — it’s wild.” It took going blind, Rizzi said in the documentary, for him to see more clearly what he had been passing up all along. “It’s true,” Rizzi said by phone, as he described himself as not disabled, but rather provided with a different viewpoint of life he hadn’t experienced before with his eyesight intact. “I always tell people, ‘Don’t diss my ability. I can see. I see very differently than the ‘normal people’ do. Normal is what we make it.” Dec. 10, the day Rizzi spoke with La Jolla Light, marked 10 years to the day since Rizzi was hospitalized with the See DOCUMENTARY, page 18
BY ROB LEDONNE When Taylor Steele was attending Torrey Pines High School, he was turned onto a career in film by teacher Jon Robertson. “I took two years of video production with Jon,” Steele explains from his current home in New York City. “That’s really where I got my start. He had a great video production class, and during my second year with him we got to work on independent video projects.” Little did Steele know at the time, but that class would change the trajectory of the rest of his life by propelling him into a far-reaching and esteemed career in the world of surf film, a career that has given him national recognition (Fast Company magazine named him one of the “Most Creative People in Business” for 2014) and later led him to launch his own production company, Sipping Jetstreams, which shares a moniker with one of his most successful films. When Steele was growing up in the North County, he spent most of his time either surfing in Solana Beach or honing his filmmaking craft. “Personal video cameras were pretty new back then, the technology was just starting,” Steele explains of the early days of production. It was shortly after graduating from Torrey Pines when Steele released “Momentum,” a project he completed when he was just 19 and became a more successful endeavor than he cold have ever imagined. “I worked on every part of the process, from filming, to the directing and editing,” said Steele of his first glimmer of success. “When it came out, I rode around in my car with all of these VHS copies and drove south from San Francisco, stopping at every surf shop.” At the same time the culture of extreme sports was changing the face of the North County, the area’s music boom was already in full swing. “The surfers and skaters were coming into their own just as the punk scene was starting in California,” he says. “There was a great syn-
Taylor Steele Photo courtesy of Kuni Takanami and Taylor Steele ergy.” As a result, starting with “Momentum” and continuing with subsequent films, Steele would scour record shops around the area finding tracks to include during key scenes by then-obscure acts such as Blink 182 and Jack Johnson. From there, a symbiotic relationship developed where Steele boosted the popularity of area bands by putting them in his immensely popular surf films, and he benefited by having a hip soundtrack. For the next 11 years, Steele worked on an array of influential surf flicks (including “Loose Change” featuring renowned surfer Rob Machado), but soon shifted gears when the bottom fell out of the surf film industry. “The market for surf movies started to change drastically,” he explains of the change. “Since everything was on YouTube, DVD sales weren’t there. So I needed a fresh new way of feeding my family.” As a result, Steele and his family (he has a wife and two kids) moved to Bali and he accepted a job working for the Australian branch of Corona. After six years working on video projects for Corona, the Steele brood then packed up and moved to New York City. “I didn’t want to give up that traveling lifestyle, so I came up with something that was good for the whole family,” notes Steele. “New York has many influences from everywhere. I want my kids to take that energy and learn from it. I feed off that as well.” Today, Steele is busy surfing on Long Island and working with his production company Sipping Jetstreams on a variety of new projects. Teases Steele, “I’m working on a surf movie that’s going to be my biggest one yet. I can’t really talk about it just yet.” If one thing’s for certain, whatever Steele has up his sleeve it’s built on the bedrock of knowledge he picked up during his early days in the North County. “A lot of the foundations I learned at Torrey Pines that Jon Robertson taught me are ingrained in me, I still use them today,” he explains. “It was a huge turning point. I was in the right place at the right time.”
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Ask the 2016
Resolve to Feel Confident in Your Skin This New Year Dr. Amanda Lloyd wants to help you look your natur al best The start of a new year tends to be a time for people to look for ways to improve their health and appearance. Many resolve to go to the gym regularly or start a post-holiday diet to start the New Year right. However, most people ďŹ nd that creating – and keeping – a New Year’s resolution throughout the year can be a daunting task. Dr. Amanda Abramson Lloyd, a board certiďŹ ed dermatologist at Advanced Dermatology and Cosmetic Surgery in Encinitas, wants to help patients feel conďŹ dent in their skin not just this month, but for the whole year through and for the years to come. Her goal is to work with you to treat your skin cancers leaving only imperceptible scars, to eradicate your pre-cancers and to take the very best possible care of your skin. Providing superb care to your skin is Dr. Lloyd’s top priority. Not only will she ďŹ nd and treat any skin cancers but she will work with you to come up with a regimen to maintain your skins health. “Sometimes just addressing that ‘one little thing’ you see in the mirror every day can make a world of a difference in the way you see yourself,â€? explains Dr. Lloyd. Additionally, the American Academy of Dermatology recommends that everyone have at least a baseline full skin examination. Dr. Lloyd explains that having a baseline full body skin examination is essential to staying healthy because she often ďŹ nds concerning lesions the patients do not even know are present on their skin. Patients often do not look at places like the bottom of the feet where Dr. Lloyd has found melanomas in the past. Dr. Lloyd believes in providing personalized, tailored care with lasting results so patients feel conďŹ dent in their skin. Dr. Lloyd knows males and females have different skin and will personalize a regimen for each patient to help meet each individual’s speciďŹ c skin care needs. She is well trained in all aspects of dermatology including laser and cosmetics, skin cancer management including Mohs surgery and cosmetic reconstruction, medical dermatology and venous disease. No complaint is too small for Dr. Lloyd as she understands “that one little xâ€? that a patient sees in the mirror every morning is driving them crazy. She wants both her male and female patients to feel comfortable and knows the male and female aesthetic concerns are very different. Many times a patient has a wedding or big life event coming up, and they need to look your absolute best. Dr. Lloyd’s goal is to help each patient put their best skin forward and enhance your natural beauty so that you can be conďŹ dent in their skin and can go take on the day without any hesitation. She understands that some skin conditions, as well as the aging process, take time to treat and she motivates and encourages patients throughout their treatment. Dr. Lloyd has published over 15 articles in peer-reviewed medical journals on various topics in the medical and cosmetic dermatological literature, recently co-authored a textbook chapter on Laser - Tissue interaction and has presented at many academic meetings including the annual meeting for the American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery. Her research is focused on the treatment of skin cancer in organ transplant patients. She graduated from UCLA Honors College with a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry, received her medical degree from The University of Vermont College of Medicine, did her dermatology residency at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, TX where she was Chief resident and after residency she did additional training in laser and cosmetic dermatology, the treatment of venous disease and in skin cancer surgery and cosmetic reconstruction. In her free time, Dr. Amanda Lloyd loves spending time and travelling with her husband Dr. Peter Lloyd, to locations where they can scuba dive and explore the underwater world. She believes that happiness is the key to life and hopes she can add some happiness to each of her patients’ lives.
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PAGE A14 - JANUARY 1, 2016 - ENCINITAS ADVOCATE
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Frontline Cancer: ‘Dream Team’ To Your Health: Four to study pancreatic cancer tips for sticking to your New Year’s Resolution
BY DR. SCOTT LIPPMAN Pancreatic cancer may be the most devastating and lethal of all cancers. It comprises just 3 percent of all cancer cases in the United States. The average lifetime risk of developing it is roughly one in 67 or 1.5 percent, according to the National Cancer Institute. Yet, it is the fourth leading cause of cancer death, following lung, prostate and colon. Just under 49,000 American men and women (evenly split) will be diagnosed this year with pancreatic cancer; just over 40,000 will die from the disease (7 percent of all cancer deaths). Because pancreatic cancer occurs deep within the body, it is hard to detect early. Doctors can’t see or feel tumors during routine physical exams. There is no simple blood test for persons without symptoms. By the time symptoms appear, often caused by something else, the highly aggressive cancer has likely metastasized to other organs. Without treatment, only one in five diagnosed patients will be alive one year later. With treatment, the median 5-year survival rate (patients alive five or more years after diagnosis) for all stages combined is just 6 percent. These are the harsh facts at the moment, but maybe not in the future. Recently, a team of physician-scientists at Moores Cancer Center at UC San Diego Health joined a first-of-its-kind international “dream team” of pancreatic cancer researchers and doctors — a three-year, $12 million effort to finally bring pancreatic cancer to “heal.” Moores Cancer Center is joined by an impressive array of partners: the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University, the Translational Genomics Research Institute and Mayo Clinic in the U.S. and the University of Cambridge, Queen Mary University and Barts Cancer Institute in the United Kingdom. Most invasive pancreatic cancers develop mutations that allow cancer cells to acquire more nutrients than normal cells, fueling their growth and spread. Highly aggressive tumors also co-opt surrounding normal cells to help them extract additional resources. Unlike other types of cancer, pancreatic cancers do not appear to rely upon glucose — a sugar — to survive and prosper, but rather use an amino acid called glutamine to produce the energy they need. Cancers that use glutamine as their energy source are frequently resistant to standard chemotherapy. Moreover, they can induce immune and other cells surrounding the tumor to produce growth factors that support the tumor’s ability to thrive. The dream team, sponsored by Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C), Cancer Research UK and The Lustgarten Foundation, is targeting so-called “super-enhancers,” the bits of DNA that trigger the over-expression of genetic signals that aid and abet cancer growth. “This is a different approach to the disease,” said Andrew Lowy, M.D., chief of the Division of Surgical Oncology at Moores Cancer Center and one of the top pancreas surgeons in the world. “The idea is you might be able to reprogram pancreatic cancer cells to a different state so they can be less aggressive or you can create new vulnerabilities that can be exploited with combination drug therapies.” The dream team, which includes international leader Ronald M. Evans, Ph.D., director of the Gene Expression Laboratory at Salk and an adjunct professor at UCSD, will take a three-pronged approach. The first prong will develop new technologies to analyze pancreatic tumor super-enhancers to better understand how they exploit normal regenerative processes. The second will investigate how pancreas cells obtain nutrients from nearby normal cells while evading detection by the immune system. The third will involve clinical trials using a new class of drugs that specifically target super-enhancers.
Dr. Scott Lippman Joining Drs. Evans and Lowy is Tannishtha Reya, Ph.D., a professor in the UCSD School of Medicine’s departments of Pharmacology and Medicine and member of the Hematologic Malignancies Program at Moores Cancer Center. Dr. Reya studies how stem cell signals are subverted to make cancer cells resistant to therapy, resulting in relapse and recurrence. With Dr. Lowy and others, she will use new models to test treatments that may strip away drug-resistant cancer cells to help ensure a more durable disease remission. The SU2C award is the third major grant Moores’ pancreatic cancer researchers have received this year. Dr. Lowy’s team received a C3 Team Science award from Pedal the Cause funds designed, in part, to break down unique fibrotic tissue surrounding pancreatic cancer that prevents chemotherapy from reaching and killing it. National Cancer Center also supports five NCI-designated cancer centers (including Moores, UC San Francisco and MD Anderson) to develop new ways to detect pancreatic cancer at an early, potentially curable stage, including genomic studies of the tiny pancreas cysts that are increasingly being detected by total body scans. Pancreatic cancer is a recalcitrant disease. Clearly, new therapies are needed. The dream team can help make this a reality. — Scott M. Lippman, M.D., is director of UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center. You can reach Dr. Lippman at mccdir-lippman@ucsd.edu
BY CHRISTEN BENKE, D.O. Every year, nearly half of Americans make New Year’s resolutions. When you consider that more than one-third of Americans are overweight, it’s not surprising that losing weight and staying fit were among the top five resolutions in 2015 and they’re likely to rank high for 2016 as well. However, only about 8 percent of people who make resolutions succeed in keeping them. That means most people end up abandoning their goal, often because they set rules for themselves that are simply not realistic. This leads to frustration, discouragement and, eventually, giving up. If you’re trying to make a lifestyle change, such as losing weight, eating less sugar or exercising more, crash diets and draconian workout regimens likely won’t stick because they are just too hard to maintain. You’re much more likely to succeed if you start with changes that you can make right away, and build on over time. Try these tips to help you succeed with your resolution in 2016. Set an achievable goal. Avoid biting off more than you can chew. Don’t sign up for a marathon if you’ve never run more than a few miles for exercise before. Start with something more appropriate, like a 5K or even a 1-mile “fun run.” Choose something that almost seems too easy, so that you can do it and feel successful almost immediately. Sometimes I joke with my patients who want to start
CHRISTEN BENKE, D.O. exercising that all they need to do is put on their workout clothes every day for a week. Even if they don’t actually go out and exercise, they’ve taken the first step. Then, maybe the next week they can put on their workout clothes and go for a 10-minute walk. Within a couple of weeks, they’ve at least achieved the goals they set and can feel proud of themselves instead of discouraged. Here are a few ideas to get you started: •Instead of giving up all sugar, give up sugary soda or pastries for two weeks. I’ve found that after a week or two without sugar or simple carbohydrates like doughnuts, my patients lose their cravings for them. •Refuse to buy any food from a fast-food drive through for a month. That way you have to get out of your car and walk into the store or restaurant, and you may decide it isn’t worth it. •Vow to take the stairs instead of the elevator – See HEALTH, page 18
Poll of the Week at www.encinitasadvocate.com Last week’s poll: Should the government require the registration of drones? Yes: 60 percent No: 40 percent Did you make any New Year’s resolutions? Yes or No
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ENCINITAS ADVOCATE - JANUARY 1, 2016 - PAGE A15
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PAGE A16 - JANUARY 1, 2016 - ENCINITAS ADVOCATE
Business Spotlight: Del Mar Mercantile opens in Carmel Valley, offers home goods A new local shop opened just in time for the holiday season. Located at the Carmel Country Plaza in Carmel Valley, Del Mar Mercantile Co. is fashion boutique owner Tobi Blatt’s latest creation. Instead of apparel and accessories, however, the store focuses on home goods. “There is not one store in Carmel Valley or Del Mar that’s like this,” Blatt said. “It’s quick and it’s easy. You can find something for anyone.” Del Mar Mercantile carries a little bit of everything for the home, from art and candles, to dishes and throw pillows. It’s also a perfect spot to find the perfect gift, Blatt said. There are unique items, including an old ship portal-turnedmirror and framed maps from the 1800s. There are also a variety of gourmet foods and specialized candies. And if what you’re looking for isn’t available in the store, it’s not a problem. “Pitch it to me and I can make it happen,” Blatt said. Although new to this type of store, Blatt isn’t new to the retail business. When Blatt moved from Beverly Hills to Carmel Valley more than 20 years ago, she had trouble finding stores that offered trendy clothing and accessories. Therefore, she brought Los Angeles fashion to San Diego and opened her own boutique in 1997. “My passion is fashion,” Blatt said. Fashion has always been a played a major part in Blatt’s life. Her father was a manufacturer of accessories and her mother was a senior buyer for a chain of department stores. Following in their footsteps, Blatt began working in retail as a stocker at Camp Beverly Hills when she was 15 years old. She later went on to manage several stores in Los Angeles, including Fred Segal, Madison Los Angeles and Camp Beverly Hills. With years of experience, Blatt later opened her first boutique in Carmel Valley, and business quickly boomed. The 900-square-foot store expanded to 2,400 square feet. She later opened four additional locations in Carmel Mountain Ranch, Encinitas and Solana Beach. Today, Blatt’s business is based out of her flagship bou-
Del Mar Mercantile Co. Photo by Kristina Houck tique, Tobi Blatt, located at 12750 Carmel Country Road in Carmel Valley. The newly remodeled shop was closed for three months over the summer after flooding damaged the site. Instead of the previous dark colors, the store now features bright white and light grey walls and floors. The renovations inspired Blatt to pursue a home goods store, something she had considered for some time. Everything came together during a three-day trip to an Atlantabased international gift show. “I found so many great things,” said Blatt, who currently lives in Rancho Santa Fe. Del Mar Mercantile opened Thanksgiving weekend next to the Tobi Blatt shop with a grand opening celebration on Dec. 17. Blatt said the new business has been getting a lot of
Tobi Blatt Courtesy
buzz. “It’s really exciting,” she said. “We’ve had an unbelievable response.” With the housing market bouncing back, Blatt said it was an opportune time to open her first home goods store. If things go well, she plans to open similar stores throughout the region. “It’s California coastal meets vintage chic,” Blatt said. “I’m not an interior designer, but I listen and I know what people are looking for,” she added. “I wanted to bring something to the community that was needed.” For more information, call (858) 847-2244. Business spotlights are developed through this newspaper’s advertising department in support of our advertisers.
At Solana Beach’s Rokenbok Toys, playtime is a profession BY ROB LEDONNE Everyone is well aware that the North Pole is a hot bed for toy construction during the holiday season, but what’s less obvious is that Solana Beach is just as toy-centric all year long. That’s because for the past eight years, Rokenbok Toys has been headquartered just west of the 101, steps from the picturesque Pacific Ocean. “I love my job at Rokenbok,” says Caitlin Bigelow, the marketing director for the company. “It’s such a great creative outlet.” Originally founded in 1995 in Encinitas, the mission of Rokenbok has changed throughout the years. The company’s hands-on products, which range the gamut between remote control and construction, seem to have one goal in mind: to spur children’s imaginations. “One of the things we’ve been hearing for a long time is that parents will tell us that their kids used to play with Rokenbok and now they’re at MIT,” says Bigelow of the company’s influence. “After so many years of hearing that we started thinking what is it about our toys that promotes this stem affinity?” While mulling over that question, the team pivoted to develop products for the classroom, the latest program in the company’s progression that was only launched a few weeks ago. “We’ve created five different mobile stem labs for kindergarten level to programmable robotics for high school level,” says Bigelow. “We’ve been testing these stem labs around San Diego and have bene getting really fantastic results and traction.” However, before the classroom push, Rokenbook products were found in the
thousands of mom and pop toy stores across the nation. “We had big expansive play tables that kids would come into the store to play with and fall in love with. What started happening was that once all of the mom and pops started going out of business and getting replaced by big box stores, we found that our products didn’t sell well in larger retail situations.” As a result, both the company’s business and marketing efforts shifted to the internet. Only available for purchase through their website or Amazon, Rokenbok’s advertising efforts soon resulted in an immensely popular YouTube page that has yielded a whopping 64 million views to date. Each floor of Rokenbok’s Solana Beach headquarters is bursting with creativity. One portion of the headquarters is a devoted toy lab where products are tested out and another area is where the team produces videos the company makes for YouTube, each of which can take up to four weeks to fully realize. “We’re surrounded by toys all the time,” says Bigelow of the atmosphere. “When it comes to the videos, I storyboard and script and direct the content around here. We have to figure out what our sets look like, what builds we need. It’s a timeconsuming process.” One of their most popular clips is of a T-Rex eating a person and then letting out a burp — the entire thing made up exclusively of Rokenbok products. Now with 150 YouTube clips under their belt, a strong online presence, and that new classroom program, Rokenbok is ready
Caitlin Bigelow poses with Rokenbok products at the company’s Solana Beach headquarters. Photos courtesy of Rokenbok.
for the next phase of its evolution. “Everyone we’ve talked to (about the classroom push) has been so excited about it. We’re in about 50 classrooms in San Diego to date and are selling across the country. We also just launched our new robotics line.” Above all, Bigelow compares working at Rokenbok like a playtime for adults: “Everyone here works really hard but we have a good time too.” For more information, visit www.rokenbok.com; Address: 215 Hwy 101, Solana Beach, CA 92075 :(858) 259-4433
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ENCINITAS ADVOCATE - JANUARY 1, 2016 - PAGE A17
Events in and around Encinitas North Coast Rep presents World Premiere of Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Great Nome Gold Rush Jan. 13-Feb. 7
Lux Free Admission Give the gift of art supplies for students in need and receive free admission to Lux and see the Charles Moxon exhibit. Art supplies will be used for the Valise Project and will be collected at the Artist Pavilion. Saturday, Jan. 2, 11 a.m. -4 p.m. Lux Art Institute, 1578 S. El Camino Real. Free. Holiday Guided Walk Resident and migratory birds wade, hover, hunt, and rest in the salt marsh and mudflat habitats upon which they depend. This is life between the tides. Trailgoers might see mullet and silvery fish splash from the water or glimpse Osprey and Egrets hunting fish and invertebrates in the salt marsh. Saturday, Jan. 2, 10-11 a.m. San Elijo Lagoon Nature Center, 2710 Manchester Avenue, Cardiff. Half Price Book Sale Check out the great selection of books, from ancient to modern, at this monthly sale event. Members of EFL get to shop early, from 9-10 a.m. (Encinitas Friends of the Library) Saturday, Jan. 2, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Encinitas Library Book Store, 540 Cornish Drive. Free. Healing Arts Class For those recovering from brain injuries and/or neurological challenges. Enjoy selfexpression through art, increase skills, improve eye/hand coordination and enjoy the warmth and support of facilitator, Kathy Harvey. Supplies provided. (Synergy Art Foundation) Saturday, Jan. 2, 11 a.m.; Tuesday, Jan. 12 and 26, 4 p.m. Scripps Hospital, Brain Injury Treatment Room, 354 Santa Fe Drive. Free. Register 760-633-6709. Families Making History: Pet Beds In conjunction with our Jan. 23 Pet Adoption event, we will be making no-sew
pet beds and toys for dogs and cats currently housed at Rancho Coastal Humane Society. Learn how to make the beds and toys, then head home to make one for your favorite furry friend. Every Saturday and Sunday, 12-4 p.m. San Dieguito Heritage Museum, 450 Quail Gardens Drive. Free. 760-632-9711. Encinitas West African Dance Willy Soule of Burkina Faso will be bringing in the new year teaching traditional West African dance at 6 p.m. and Afro Contemporary at 7:30 p.m. Class will be accompanied by kickin’ percussionists playing the rhythms. Saturday, Jan. 2, 6 p.m. Dance North County, 535 Encinitas Blvd. Suite 100. $15 or $25. 760-402-7229. Farm Volunteer Days Join the team and bring a friend on Sundays as participants plant, weed and keep the farm looking beautiful. Then on Tuesdays, rise and shine like a farmer and help harvest for donation to a local Encinitas food pantry. (Coastal Roots Farm) January Sundays 2-4 p.m. and Tuesdays 8-10 a.m. Coastal Roots Farm, 441 Saxony Road. Free. First Sunday Music Series: Peter Pupping Quartet The quartet performs an eclectic repertoire spanning centuries of classic music, world music, jazz and pop styles. They will perform a variety of music from their albums and original music by Pupping from his newly released album “Saturday Morning.” Sunday, Jan. 3, 2-3 p.m. Encinitas Library, 540 Cornish Drive. Free. La Paloma Theatre: Now Showing: The Martian; Room; Spotlight; Rocky Horror Picture Show. Tickets: $10, $9 (cash only). 471 Coast Highway 101. Show Times 760-436-7469.
Solana Center to present Encinitas Master Composter Course A Master Composter Course will be held in Encinitas starting Saturday. Jan. 16. This 5-week course will meet at the beautiful San Diego Botanic Garden every Saturday, from 9:30 a.m.-12 p.m. from Jan. 16 - Feb. 13, 2016. Course Fee: $50. Presented by Solana Center, the Master Composter course provides training in the art and science of composting. Learn how to: •Minimize your carbon footprint by keeping food and yard waste out of the landfill, helping reduce harmful methane gas emissions. •Use this “waste” to create a nutrient rich amendment for your garden. Compost use reduces the need for synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. •Reduce water use and increase water retention. Compost increases your soil’s water holding capacity by up to 7 times and retains water for up to 7 days. •Work with a team to build, maintain
and troubleshoot a traditional compost pile. Course will also cover composting with worms (vermicomposting) and compost fermentation (Bokashi). Course includes lectures, demonstrations, and a field trip. Teams will work together to build, maintain, and troubleshoot their own traditional and vermicompost compost bins. Master Composter certification requires attendance at four out of five classes, as well as 30 volunteer hours of related community service. Encinitas residents receive preferential registration up until Jan. 6, 2016. Registration will be open to non-residents as of Jan. 7, 2016. Course will be held at the San Diego Botanic Garden, 230 Quail Gardens Drive Encinitas, CA 92024 This course if funded by the City of Encinitas. To register visit: http://www.solanacenter.org/master-composter-course
•Two evenings of comedy also coming to NC Rep in January — Tuesday Night Comics and Impro Theatre: Twlight Zone Unscripted
North Coast Repertory Theatre rings in the New Year with the World Premiere of a fun-filled whodunit, “Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Great Nome Gold Rush.” Written by Joseph Vass and directed by David Ellenstein, the play takes Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson from London to Nome, Alaska, where the pair encounters Wyatt Earp, an assortment of wild and wooly characters, and an abundance of intrigue, mystery, deception and laugh-provoking shenanigans along the way. Performances begin Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2016 and the production runs through Sunday, Feb. 7, 2016. Hosted by Mark Christopher Lawrence, Tuesday Night Comics returns on Jan. 19, 2016 at 7:30 p.m. Guest performers are Daren Carter, Josh Damigo, Brandon Hasty, and Willis Turner. Tuesday Night Comics is arguably the funniest night of comedy in San Diego. MCL taps into his extensive list of talented comedian friends and shares the North
Jason Maddy as Sherlock Holmes Coast Rep stage with them. The show is comprised of talent from all over the country with late night television credits as well as credits from Comedy Central, HBO, Showtime, and more. Rated R. Tickets for the onenight-only performance are $25/$22 (senior, student, military). On Jan. 18, 2016 at 7:30 p.m., Impro Theatre
presents Twilight Zone UnScripted. From the darkest corners of reality, to the land of the unexplained – Impro Theatre’s Twilight Zone Unscripted pays homage to Rod Serling’s breakthrough sci-fi series “The Twilight Zone.” Enter the wondrous dimension of imagination, as completely improvised episodes are created with every performance. Founded as Los Angeles Theatresports in 1988, Impro Theatre has evolved from a successful short form improv troupe into a critically-acclaimed theatre company. Impro creates completely improvised, fulllength plays in the styles of the world’s greatest writers, and every performance is unique. Tickets for the onenight-only performance are $25/$22 (Senior, Student, Military). To order tickets to any of these shows, visit the website at northcoastrep. org, or call the box office 858-481-1055. North Coast Repertory Theatre is located at 987 Lomas Santa Fe Drive, Ste D, Solana Beach, CA 92075.
A variety of unique activities offered in January at San Dieguito Heritage Museum Saturday & Sunday through January, noon to 4 p.m. San Dieguito Heritage Museum. Free. Families Make History: In conjunction with the museum’s Jan. 23 Pet Adoption Event, organizers will be making no-sew pet beds and toys for dogs and cats currently housed at the Rancho Coastal Humane Society. Learn how to make the beds and toys, then head home to make one for your favorite furry friend. 450 Quail Gardens Drive, Encinitas. Info: www.sdheritage.org or contact Cheryl Williams at 760-522-3438 or cherylwsd1@cox.net Saturday, Jan. 23, 12-3 p.m. San Dieguito Heritage Museum. Free. ‘Happily Ever After’ Dog Adoption and Pet Faire Looking for the perfect pet? The Rancho Coastal Humane Society will be at the Heritage Museum matching shelter dogs with their forever homes. Bring your doggie along to find his/her new best friend. Pet merchandise vendors, samples and giveaways, raffle, food vendors, kids’ no-sew pet bed craft and more. Be sure to tour the museum while you’re here! 450 Quail Gardens Drive, Encinitas. Info: www.sdheritage.org or 760-632-9711. Thursdays through Sundays, noon to 4 p.m. San Dieguito Heritage Museum. Free. The Paul Ecke Ranch: 100 Years of Blooming History The current exhibit traces the strong ties of the Ecke Poinsettia Ranch with Encinitas. Curated by Paul Ecke III and the History Department of CSUSM, archival family photographs and artifacts demonstrate how the Ecke family single-handedly turned a lowly hillside shrub into a worldwide symbol of Christmas, making Encinitas “The Flower Capital of the World.” 450 Quail Gardens Drive, Encinitas. Info: www.sdheritage.org or 760-632-9711.
The Old Globe to present third annual New Voices Festival Jan. 15-17 The Old Globe recently announced it will present the Third Annual New Voices Festival, a weekend of readings of new American plays by professional playwrights, Jan. 15 – 17, 2016. The Festival will kick off Friday, Jan. 15 at 7:30 p.m. with Sheri Wilner, Julia Jordan, and Adam Gwon’s musical Cake Off, directed by Anne Torsiglieri. The Festival weekend will continue on Saturday, Jan. 16 at 4 p.m. with peerless by Jiehae Park, directed by Delicia
Turner Sonnenberg, and at 7:30 p.m. with The Blameless by Nick Gandiello, directed by Globe Artistic Director Barry Edelstein. The festival concludes on Sunday, Jan. 17, at 4 p.m., with Mona Mansour’s Unseen, directed by Johanna McKeon. The New Voices Festival will take place in the Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, part of the Globe’s Conrad Prebys Theatre Center. Tickets to all four readings are free but re-
quire reservations, currently available to donors and subscribers through December 30. Reservations for the general public will be available beginning Tuesday January 5 at 12 noon. Tickets can be reserved by calling the Box Office at (619) 23-GLOBE. www.TheOldGlobe.org.
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PAGE A18 - JANUARY 1, 2016 - ENCINITAS ADVOCATE
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Auditions to be held for Village Church Community Theater production of ‘You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown’ Auditions for the Village Church Community Theater’s next production, “You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown,” for actors ages 8-108 will be held on Monday, Jan. 11, from 5-8 p.m. and Tuesday, Jan. 12, from 5-8 p.m. Performance dates will be March 4, 5, 6, 2016. Village Church Community Theater is located at 6225 Paseo Delicias, Rancho Santa Fe 92067. For more information: villagechurchcommunitytheater.org; (858)756-2441x128.
DOCUMENTARY continued from page 12 meningitis that would weeks later leave him blind. A decade into his “eye-blindness,” as he refers to it, Rizzi said he sees with his ears, his heart and his energy. Although still dealing with the struggles stemming from losing his teaching job after going blind — eventually having to rely on disability insurance to make ends meet, and years later finding that the advocacy he’s pursued since going blind could actually cause him to lose his disability insurance eligibility — Rizzi has kept in focus his new view of life. He said he’s learned that in some ways, the new view is superior to the old. Through the nonprofit organization he founded, My Blind Spot, Rizzi works to advance equal access and promote opportunity for those that are print disabled or visually impaired. “It’s very interesting,” he said. “I’ve never seen more clearly my entire life as I have since losing my eyesight.” And that’s the message Jaffe said he hopes viewers of “Albert” take from the film. “He was a teacher, and they would not let him back,” Jaffe said. “It’s a sad story in a lot of ways. To me, it’s a film about, ‘Look, I still am alive, and I still experience the world.’” “Albert,” along with Jaffe’s other publicly available works, can be seen on the video-sharing website Vimeo, at vimeo.com/danieljaffe
… AFTER
HEALTH continued from page 14
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even if your appointment is on the 10th floor. •Challenge yourself to park at the other end of the lot, as far away from your destination as possible. It’s really all about psychology and tricking your brain into accepting a new habit that you can maintain. You’ll likely find that once you start practicing these new behaviors, they’ll be easy to keep up. Make yourself accountable. Tell your friends and family that you’re doing a 5K run or giving up soda for a month, so that they will hold you to it. This gets your ego involved and makes you more likely to honor your commitment. No one wants to be embarrassed by flaking out. Recruit a partner in crime. This is especially helpful if your goal involves exercise. We know that people are more likely to follow through on a workout program if there is another person involved, whether it is an expensive personal trainer who will charge a fee whether you show up or not, or a neighbor you’ve promised to walk with in the morning. Sign up for that run with a friend, and train together. Look into local Meetup groups for activities you enjoy. You’ll share motivation, laughs and a sense of accomplishment when you’ve completed a goal. Check with your doctor. Before you start a new exercise routine or make changes to your diet, it’s always a great idea to check with your physician, especially if you have any medical conditions or take medications. Christen Benke, D.O., is a family medicine physician with Scripps Clinic and a Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians for her work and service in her field. “To Your Health” is brought to you by the physicians and staff at Scripps. For more information or to make an appointment, please visit www. scripps.org/CNP or call (858) 207-4317.
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ENCINITAS ADVOCATE - JANUARY 1, 2016 - PAGE A19
Week in Sports BY GIDEON RUBIN Girls basketball: La Costa Canyon defeated Central 73-32 in a Maverick Roundup Tournament game on Dec. 22. Margaux Eibel scored 17 points to lead the Mavericks and Alexis Machain and Jessica Curtis added 14 and 11 points, respectively. The Mavericks improved their overall record for the season to 7-4.
San Dieguito Academy defeated Orange Glen 40-19 in a SoCal Holiday Prep Classic Tournament game on Dec. 26, The victory followed a 43-21 loss to Valley Center in a Mustang Invitational Tournament game on Dec. 22. The Mustangs improved their overall record for the season to 2-3.
WOODWARD continued from page 3 WATCH continued from page 1 bags in front of vulnerable spots and aggressively cleaning out storm drains and retention basins. City lifeguards have also been conducting special training, including taking out wave runners and simulating rescues in giant surf. El Niño also presents a long-term problem, because consistently stormy conditions strip huge amounts of sand from beaches. On that note, Encinitas and Solana Beach have long been working on a 50-year plan to shore up beaches by regularly piping offshore sand onto beaches. It remains to be seen whether the project wins federal funding, a necessity for it to move forward. Housing element heading for a vote Voters in November 2016 will head to the polls to decide the fate of the city’s housing element, a plan outlining growth that’s been in the works for years. For the state-mandated housing element, the city is looking to rezone select sites for higher density to accommodate 1,300 units. Proponents argue an approved housing element would reduce the risk of lawsuits from affordable housing advocates and make the city eligible for more infrastructure grants. Critics say it would likely result in little low-income housing and that so many units would hurt the city’s character. The council in February agreed on three different maps with candidate housing element properties. Based on environmental assessments of the sites, the council sometime in the next few months will whittle down the number of parcels and finalize a map that will go before voters in November. High number of council seats up for election With nearly all of the city’s elected positions on the ballot in November 2016, many are expecting a heated election season. Voters will elect a new mayor and three of the four council seats. Only Councilwoman Catherine Blakespear, who was elected to a four-year term in 2014, is guaranteed to stay on the council. Currently, there’s a pro environment, liberal-leaning council majority made up of Blakespear, Tony Kranz and Lisa Shaffer. Councilman Mark Muir and Mayor Kristin Gaspar are more conservative and often disagree with them on high-profile issues. No one has formally entered the race for the two-year mayor role, though Blakespear has expressed interest in running from her safe council seat. And Gaspar is vying for a seat on the San Diego County Board of Supervisors. Tasha Boerner Horvath, a member of the Encinitas Planning Commission, is the only person who has thrown a hat in the ring thus far for the council election. Shaffer has stated she won’t seek reelection, and Kranz and Muir have yet to announce whether they’ll run again. One of the three council seats will be a two-year gig, instead of four years. The person who nets the fewest votes out of the
three winning council candidates will be given the two-year term. More debate over urban agriculture An urban agriculture ordinance that would relax permitting for upstart farms hit a snag in 2015. The Encinitas Planning Commission in the fall expressed concern that the ordinance could increase neighborhood conflicts. At a later meeting, the commission voted to set up workshops and get more public input on the matter before making a recommendation to the Encinitas council. So, it could be a while until the council votes on the ordinance, even though it was originally expected to give the thumbs up or down in late 2015. Meanwhile, a council subcommittee tasked with making recommendations on agriculture rules is no longer in favor of relaxing residential livestock buffers, which would have made it easier to raise chickens or goats without special permitting. Instead, the subcommittee decided to focus on another part of the ordinance: encouraging new community gardens and small commercial farms by cutting red tape and reducing costs. Rail issues take center stage The train tracks were often in the news in 2015. As the Encinitas Advocate reported in May, the Sheriff’s Department has stepped up ticketing for people illegally crossing the railway in Encinitas. Some residents believe the citations are unnecessary — and unfair, given the lack of legal crossings in the city. Law enforcement officials say that trespassing on the railway is dangerous, not only for pedestrians, but also trains that are forced to quickly brake. Also, dueling websites in November triggered a renewed debate over the Cardiff coastal rail trail — a planned biking and walking path next to the tracks — four months after the city approved it. Norailtrail.com states the rail trail will hinder coastal access, while yesrailtrail.com argues the path will connect Cardiff neighborhoods and downtown Encinitas. In response, the council majority reiterated its support for the rail trail, with construction slated to start late 2017. This focus on the tracks will continue in 2016, with the Encinitas council continuing work on a rail corridor vision that addresses raill pedestrian crossings, quiet zones and more. Honorable mentions to watch out for • Intrepid Theatre Company is in negotiations with the city to build a performing arts theater on the theater pad at the Encinitas Ranch Town Center. • A group called the E3 Cluster continues to team up on education and agriculture initiatives on Saxony Road and Quail Gardens Drive. • “For-benefit” businesses that aim to turn a profit while giving back to the community are increasingly calling Encinitas home.
Butterfield also noted that even though as President of the United States, Nixon could have dinner with anyone in the world, he preferred to retire to his private library in the evenings to have dinner alone, prepared for him by his attendant Manuola Sanchez. Butterfield speculated whether Americans would have elected Nixon if they knew more about how he really was. Woodward followed this point with the overall moral of the story: “We better know who the next President is!” he warned, “and make sure he or she better care more about what’s good for the American people and not what is good for him (or her) personally!” Woodward also reflected on the blanket pardon that Gerald Ford gave Nixon; an act that eventually resulted in Ford’s defeat by Jimmy Carter. “I remember that my co-worker, Carl Bernstein, called me on the phone after he heard about the pardon and remarked, ‘The son of a bitch just pardoned the son of a bitch!’ ” Bernstein concluded the evening by thanking Butterfield for his courage in revealing the existence of the White House tapes to the U.S. Senate, pivotal testimony without which Nixon would probably have been able to remain in office, as Nixon repeatedly denied the existence of the tapes. “You saved democracy in America by answering that one simple question truthfully,” Bernstein said.
GRANNY continued from page 1 idents for 20 years, rather than the prior rule of in perpetuity. It also accepts granny flats constructed prior to 2004, instead of the earlier regulation that only allowed those accessory units built before city incorporation in 1986. In hopes of enticing homeowners, the city last January sent out a mailer announcing the yearlong program. The push to register granny flats came about in response to the housing element, which is headed for a public vote November 2016. For the state-mandated housing element, the city aims to rezone select properties to accommodate up to 1,300 units. Registered granny flats are considered affordable housing, so having more on the books means the city has to plan for fewer units. But Interim Planning Director Manjeet Ranu indicated that accessory units are unlikely to have much of an impact on the upcoming housing element. Ranu said based on an agreement with the California Department of Housing and Community Development, the city is only expecting to receive credit for 25 accessory units for the housing element. Councilwoman Catherine Blakespear said even if the units can’t be counted as part of the next housing element, they’re still an important source of affordable housing and should be preserved. “They are our true affordable housing in this city,” Blakespear said. “I mean, we have to be honest about that.” The council vote was 4-0. Councilman Mark Muir was absent from the meeting.
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For the most up-to-date list of open houses, mapped locations, and premium listings with photos, visit encinitasadvocate.com/open-houses-list/ Contact April Gingras | april@rsfreview.com | 858.756.1403 x112
PAGE A20 - JANUARY 1, 2016 - ENCINITAS ADVOCATE
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