Go to SDNEWS.COM to sign up for a FREE one week of camp at
in La Jolla
THURSDAY, MAY 13, 2010
San Diego Community Newspaper Group
www.SDNEWS.com Volume 15, Number 35
Raquel Welch
still dazzles Beachgoers at La Jolla Shores will be able to enjoy warm fires on the sand DON BALCH | Village News for another year.
Fire pits saved again BY JENNA FRAZIER | VILLAGE NEWS Mayor Jerry Sanders announced in a May 10 press conference that San Diego’s fire pits will survive another fiscal year, thanks to lastminute donations from the San Diego Foundation, the La Jolla Community Foundation and the infrastructure funds of City Councilmembers Sherri Lightner and Kevin Faulconer. The outlook was bleak as of 1 p.m. on May 7, the deadline for Sanders’ 2011 budget submission to the City Council, when only $2,800 of the required $120,500 to keep 186 fire pits in place citywide had been raised. “We will start making preparations for removal,” said Rachel Laing, the mayor’s press spokeswoman, on that day. “We are going to store the fire pits and hope that during better budget times we’ll be able to restore the service.” In a triumphant address Monday, Sanders said he was pleased to announce the donors’ commitment to the fire pits and to San Diego’s families. “Today, we see what happens when civic-minded folks step forward for the sake of the public good,” he said. Bob Kelly, president and CEO of The San Diego Foundation, said the cause aligns with the foundation’s mission to make San Diego a better place in which to live, work and play. SEE FIRE PITS, Page 3
Baby sea lion surprises Scripps researchers BY JENNA FRAZIER | VILLAGE NEWS
Raquel Welch at Warwick’s Books on May 10 to promote and sign copies of her new book, “Raquel: Beyond the Cleavage.”
Welch revisits La Jolla to promote new book BY JENNA FRAZIER | VILLAGE NEWS
Employees at Scripps Institute of Oceanography’s Marine Science Development Center received an unexpected visitor April 27. At about 7 a.m., senior lab mechanician Michael Bludworth was carrying some materials into the shop when he noticed something out of place. “I looked over and saw what I thought was a seal, but turned out to be a sea lion sitting on top of one of our dive gear carts used to transport gear down to the beach,” Bludworth said. “He started walking up the hill, and when he headed toward the shop I started recording a video.” Bludworth posted the 57-second video on Scripps Oceanography’s SEE SEA LION, Page 2
DON BALCH | Village News
She remains one of Hollywood’s most symbolic icons. She has captured men’s hearts and women’s admiration everywhere. And she spent most of her childhood right here in La Jolla. Raquel Welch, 69, visited Warwick’s Books on May 10 to promote and sign copies of her new woman-to-woman manifesto, “Raquel: Beyond the Cleavage.” Before taking a seat at the signing table to talk and pose for photos with a crowd that Warwick’s staff estimated at 250, Welch briefly remarked that she was happy to be back in La Jolla, which she remembered as the site of many fond childhood memories. Accompanied by her sister, Gayle Tejada, who said she lives down the street from the bookstore, Welch also asserted that she was
not a product of the film industry and stressed the importance of maintaining physical and emotional wellness through proper diet and yoga. In “Beyond the Cleavage,” Welch employs her autobiography and her personal philosophy to counsel women about love, sex, health, body image, career, family, forgiveness and aging. She divulges details about a temperamental father, her first love, marriage and divorce, her struggles as a single working mother in Hollywood, her battle to acquire challeng-
ing roles and respect as an actress, and her resolution to never lie about her age. Welch also reveals some of her beauty and health regimens, including her passion for fashion and yoga, which she says have helped her stay positive past age 50. Born Jo Raquel Tejada on Sept. 5, 1940 in Chicago as the first of three children to an American mother and a Bolivian father, the family relocated to La Jolla when Welch was two. With her sights set on theater and the performing arts from an early age, Welch grew up taking dance classes and later won a slew of teen beauty titles, including Miss San Diego and Miss La Jolla. Determined to follow her dreams, Welch graduated from La Jolla High School in 1958 and enrolled at San Diego State College on a scholarship that fall. The year after that, she SEE WELCH, Page 2