San Diego Community Newspaper Group
THURSDAY, JANUARY 21, 2010
www.SDNEWS.com Volume 15, Number 19
STORMY WEATHER Fallen trees, flooding — and more to come BY ADRIANE TILLMAN | VILLAGE NEWS This week’s rainstorms flooded lowlying portions of La Jolla Boulevard. Cars dipped into small ponds of water at the roundabouts and rivers of water ran parallel to the sidewalk. Tony Pace at Bird Rock Realty, on the corner of La Jolla Boulevard and Bird Rock Avenue, sandbagged his door and went home. He said the torrent of water flowing along the boulevard rushes up the crosswalk and into his front door. He’s pressed the city to install a storm drain at the crosswalk before a storm floods his office but he said he’s gotten nowhere. “I’ve been here since 1969; it’s not like I just moved in,” Pace said. “This is a problem that did not exist until they built the [roundabout] circles.” Rainwater also swamped Avenida de A palm tree blocks part of Girard Avenue near Wells Fargo Bank across from Mary Star of the Sea church Jan. 19 after it snapped in half la Playa, but none of the restaurant PAUL HANSEN | VILLAGE NEWS owners interviewed reported flooding, during an intense rainstorm.
including those at the Marine Room, Barbarella and Osteria Romantica. An estimated 45- to 50-foot palm tree snapped at its middle and toppled onto Girard Avenue outside Wells Fargo Bank around 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 19. “A bus drove right in front of [the tree] five seconds before it fell,” said Mike Musto, a teller at Wells Fargo. “It looked like termites had been eating it inside.” Large tree limbs were also reported falling on Torrey Pines Road, one narrowly missing a parked car. Another major rainstorm is expected this afternoon and Friday morning, but rain should taper off by Saturday morning. Thunder may be on the horizon today and hail on Friday. Winds are expected to average 20 to 25 miles per hour with gusty winds reaching 40 mph. Storms moving across the Pacific SEE STORMY, Page 5
Ohlsson celebrates Chopin at Sherwood BY CHARLENE BALDRIDGE | VILLAGE NEWS It’s difficult to say which was more annoying Friday, Jan. 15, at Sherwood Auditorium, the coughers in the audience or the singing of patrons’ hearing aids. Part of La Jolla Music Society’s Frieman Family Piano Series, which is underwritten by Conrad Prebys and Debbie Turner, the all-Chopin recital is also part of the larger Chopin Bicentennial Celebration. The hearing aid duets and trios were such a problem that LJMS President and Artistic Director Christopher Beach took the stage to ask people to check their
assistive devices. A recording was in progress, he said, just following Garrick Ohlsson’s performance of the program’s first two sections, Three Nocturnes, Opus 9, and Two Polonaises, Opus 40. Ohlsson is an esteemed pianist who plays with astonishing dynamic contrasts. His bombastic approach to pedals and the Steinway’s lower register, juxtaposed with the sheer brilliance of his technical facility, make him a fascinating recitalist. There is no boredom here, only concern over the possible apparent decline of the Belanich Steinway, which sounds distressingly like two different instruments, the one initially heard in
February 2008 as introduced by Ohlsson, and the other heard Friday night. The program ranged from Chopin’s greatest hits — Nocturne No. 2 in E-flat Major, Sonata No. 2 in B-flat Major, which contains the well known, often parodied “March funebre,” the Polonaise No. 1 in A Major (“Military”) and the Etude No. 3 in E Major. These works, so familiar that our seatmate chose to sing along, contrasted with the rarely heard “Variations brillantes on Je vends des scapulaires” from Louis Herold’s unfinished opera, “Ludovic.” As an SEE OHLSSON, Page 12
Bishop’s girls polo wins Tyr Cup Beckman High School (17-1, senior Sammi Peck four goals); El Dorado (14The Bishop’s School girls water polo 2, senior Sarah Presant four goals, team proved the old adage that defense freshman Jessica Webster four); Santa wins championships. Barbara (14-2, senior Kirsten Siegel six The Lady Knights got back to their goals); and Fountain Valley (7-3, Peck winning ways, allowing their four two goals, junior Kristen Casey two). opponents in last weekend’s Tyr Cup a Presant was named tourney MVP, total of eight goals to their 52 goals en with sophomore Gabby Stone being route to the title. named the most outstanding goalie. Bishop’s (9-3) scored wins over Peck, Melanie Boehrig and Siegel were BY DAVE THOMAS | VILLAGE NEWS
named to the all-tournament team. Elsewhere, La Jolla (5-1) topped La Costa Canyon 17-5 Jan. 16 as Ariel Arcidiacono led the way with four goals. Kate Woods and Bridgette Souza each had three, while Victoria Frager had two and Meagan Moreland, Christina Kirby, Aoife Collins, Darby Broekema and Jordan Atnip each had one. La Jolla plays in the America’s Finest City tourney Jan. 22-23. I
Melia Plotkin (left) and Sasha Altschuler of the Sister Schools Club speak wth AMREF director Joshua Kyallo during his Jan. 14 visit to La Jolla High School.
LJHS’s Sister Schools Club has high hopes for the future BY ADRIANE TILLMAN | VILLAGE NEWS Melia Plotkin and Sasha Altschuler wore huge smiles and spoke with conviction about their plight to help educate students in northern Uganda before a packed auditorium of sophomores and juniors at La Jolla High School on Jan. 14. Plotkin, who graduated from La Jolla High in 2005, originally had founded the Sister Schools Club of La Jolla to connect with international students during her sophomore year.
Altschuler, a senior, now serves as president of the club, along with her activities in drama, singing with the Madrigals Choir and training in track and field. The club became a serious enterprise when Plotkin serendipitously befriended an activist with the Institute for Peace and Justice, who told Plotkin about the need to support schools in northern Uganda. The Sister Schools Club of La Jolla has since SEE FUTURE, Page 3