www.SDNEWS.com Volume 14, Number 35
THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2009
San Diego Community Newspaper Group
Lifeguards promise protection despite cuts BY ALYSSA RAMOS | VILLAGE NEWS
Despite city budget cuts, San Diego lifeguards will keep normal hours, staffing area beaches from 9 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. throughout the summertime, from Ocean Beach to Black’s Beach in La Jolla. “People won’t notice any difference when they come to the beach,” said San Diego lifeguard Lt. Andy Lerum. Due to budget cuts, lifeguards lost three permanent lifeguard
VILLAGE NEWS | DON BALCH
TALL HATS AND PATRIOTIC PRIDE Cat in the Hat characters “Thing 1” and “Thing 4” (above) dance around a float on Beaumont Avenue in Bird Rock during the neighborhood's annual Fourth of July parade, which had a Dr. Seuss theme this year. “President Abraham Lincoln” high-fives 18-month-old Ginger Kondzela (left) during the parade.
Taste of Bird Rock rolls lucky seven BY ALYSSA RAMOS | VILLAGE NEWS
La Jolla Boulevard will shut down Thursday, July 16 from 5 to 9 p.m. as Bird Rock Community Council (BRCC) features the seventh annual Taste of Bird Rock. The event includes live bands as area restaurants and shops remain open in an effort to raise funds to support Bird Rock Elementary School and Cesar Chavez Elementary School. SEE TASTE, Page 9
positions and $100,000 toward hours. They also faced a reduction of about 10 seasonal guards, Lerum said, leaving lifeguards with about 150 seasonal lifeguard staff. But Lerum said lifeguards continue watching over beachgoers, focusing on safety while using creative means to adjust for staffing losses. “We are just continuing to focus on anytime there’s an opportunity SEE LIFEGUARDS, Page 7
Suspected serial rapist hangs himself in jail cell BY ALYSSA RAMOS | VILLAGE NEWS
Police on July 1 arrested an alleged serial rapist suspected in a string of seven sexual attacks and robberies committed countywide over the past year. But San Diego sheriff’s deputies found 39-year-old Thomas James Parker hanging from a sheet inside his cell around 7 a.m. July 3. The suspected rapist died shortly after, police said. “A deputy found him in the cell and took appropriate action. We
contacted medical and then he was pronounced dead at the scene,” said San Diego Sheriff Lt. Julie Sutton. “It was him. He was alone, that’s my understanding, that he was not on suicide watch.” Police matched Parker’s DNA to at least three of seven attacks, including a Nov. 7, 2008 assault at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) Mesa Housing, said UCSDPD Det. Bill McIntyre. SEE RAPIST, Page 7
Gutsy La Jolla athlete up for grueling ocean challenge BY ANTHONY GENTILE | VILLAGE NEWS
Racing a Jet Ski at 60 miles per hour in 58 miles of open ocean is not easy for any athlete of any skill level. That’s what makes the task ahead even more daunting for La Jollan Warren Frank and Point Loman Ryan Levinson, who plan to race July 12 in the Long Beach to Catalina and Back Offshore National Championship. Their participation is especially impressive because Frank and Levinson are physically compromised athletes. Frank’s left leg is amputated above the knee, and Levinson was diagnosed with facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHMD), a genetic
disorder that results in muscle loss. Frank and Levinson are the first compromised athletes to compete in the annual personal watercraft race and will participate in the challenged athletes division. Both athletes will face unique challenges during the race. For Frank, the challenges of the race are straightforward — but made more complicated by his prosthetic leg. “If everything is meant to be the way it’s supposed to be, I don’t really see it as a disability,” Frank said. “Sometimes I get the SEE GUTSY, Page 3
La Jollan Warren Frank, who has a prosthetic leg as the result of a dirt bike accident, will compete in a July 12 offshore race with Ryan Levinson.