Cast your vote for
READERS CHOICE AWARDS
2009’s Readers Choice for Retail & Services.
GO ONLINE TO VOTE.
www.LaJollaVillageNews.com
RETAIL/SERVICES
2 0 0 9 THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2010
San Diego Community Newspaper Group
www.SDNEWS.com Volume 15,
WIN DINNER FOR TWO Number 21
SD Jewish Film Festival expands offerings, venues BY ADRIANE TILLMAN | VILLAGE NEWS San Diego’s Jewish Film Festival has grown in scope and influence to become the nation’s third largest after San Francisco and Boston. This year the film festival will showcase 51 films, ranging from featurelength and short films to documentaries and animation from Feb. 10 to 21 at five cinemas in San Diego and North County. Festival producer Sandra Kraus described the series as “the best cinema and independent films that you’ll find in San Diego.” Film topics range from a Jewish man who discovers he has a different biological father who happens to be a pig farmer to Debbie Ford’s self-help film on learning about the shadow that haunts and blesses one’s life. Opening night features an Israeli movie called “A Matter of Size” about a 340-pound man who finds a new calling for his girth while working as a dishwasher at a Japanese restaurant: sumo wrestling. (The film screens on Feb. 10 at 7 p.m. and Feb. 18 at 5 p.m. at the AMC La Jolla movie theater.) Two decades ago, the San Diego Center for Jewish Culture launched the festival with four films at the Sherwood Auditorium at the Museum of Contemporary Art in La Jolla. “I think films are sexy. And I’ve always thought that films appeal to a mass audience,” festival founder Joyce Axelrod said. An elderly woman who rode her bicycle to the event became the festival’s first underwriter when she decided to dedicate a film to her husband. The SEE FILM, Page 4
POOLING THEIR TALENT La Jolla High's Meagan Moreland (left) rears up for a block attempt on a Cathedral Catholic player in a 6-3 visiting victory by the Lady Vikings DON BALCH | VILLAGE NEWS in a Western League water polo contest Feb. 1.
Torreys crush Chieftains in hoops contest Committee focuses
on boxes, baskets
BY ROB STONE | VILLAGE NEWS The La Jolla Country Day (LJCD) Torreys defeated the Clairemont Chieftains, 62-22, in a non-league basketball game at Country Day on Saturday, Jan.30. LJCD opened the contest by jumping out to a quick 8-1 lead behind the play of 6-foot-5 sophomore center Frankie Bamford. However, Cody Bermudes, a 5-foot-9 junior point guard, came right back and buried a 3pointer to pull Clairemont to within three at 8-4. “They can play with anyone,” Torreys coach Ryan Meier said of the Chieftains. “But Frankie has been performing phenomenally for us.” The Hershfield brothers (Jake and Max) also performed well, combining for the last seven Country Day points of the quarter, giving LJCD a 15-6 edge at the end of the first period. “We came out with some intensity,” Meier said. Clairemont seemed to be lacking intensity as the Torreys outscored them 22-7 in the second quarter to take a commanding 37-13 cushion into the locker room at halftime. “We’ve been in desperate need of wins,” Meier said. “They (Chieftains) are an athletic team, though.” After the intermission, Clairemont came out and showed some athleticism as baskets by Bermudes, 6-0 senior guard Marcus Darby and 6-7 forward Chris Bonner kept the margin from widening much. But the Chieftains still trailed by a titanic amount (46-20) at the end of the third quarter. It was more of the same in the fourth quarter as Country Day continued to pour it on. In the final period, LJCD got field goals from Bamford, Max Hershfield, 6-4 junior Ryan Watt, 5-9 sophomore Kai Tuites, 5-10 sophomore Nick Schlossberg, and 6-1 junior Kevin Kuntz to seal the victory. The Torreys improved their record to 11-7, while Clairemont fell to 8-14. Bamford led Country Day with a game-high 14 points and was followed in the scoring column by Watt (9 points), Schlossberg (3 points), Tuites (2 points), Kuntz (2 points), Jake Hershfield (13 points), Max Hershfield (11 points), 6-5 freshman Ziad Damonhoury (5 points) and 5-11 sophomore Jonathan Brewster (3 points). SEE HOOPS, Page 5
BY ADRIANE TILLMAN | VILLAGE NEWS The plethora of news boxes scattered across the village continues to irk the Streetscape/Beautification Committee, which would like to see the newspapers condensed into one large dispenser and the trade magazines disappear. The committee met Jan. 25. “I don’t think the city should subsidize what is essentially a billboard “I don’t think the city on our streets,” Glen Rasmussen said should subsidize what is of the trade publications. essentially a billboard on Rasmussen is president of the our streets.” Streetscape/Beautification commitGLEN RASMUSSEN tee and a trustee of Promote La Jolla. Streetscape/Beautification Last year, Promote La Jolla had earmarked $6,000 to purchase a few of the community news racks as pilots to gauge community reaction to the bulky structures. That money is no longer in this year’s budget, considering Promote La Jolla’s financial missteps and investigation by the city. Still, the Streetscape/Beautification Committee plans to ask news vendors to voluntarily place their newspapers into a community news rack. “We want to have a strategic place for legitimate newspapers and not have them be like tumbleweeds across the village,” said Egon Kafka, a committee member.
LJCD’s Jonathan Brewster (No. 25) goes for a score during a Jan. 30 basketball game against Clairemont at CounPAUL HANSEN | VILLAGE NEWS try Day.
Hanging baskets The Street/Beautification Committee continues to hammer out details for replacing hanging baskets on lampposts. The group has agreed the hanging baskets should conserve more water by using thicker pots and more drought-tolerant plants, and SEE COMMITTEE, Page 3