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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2010
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www.SDNEWS.com Volume 15, Number 52
Israel supporters gather to show desire for peace BY JENNA FRAZIER | VILLAGE NEWS In response to the recent killings of four Israelis by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas, about 100 supporters of the state of Israel gathered at the Congregation Beth El courtyard in University City on Sept. 7 to hold a demonstration calling for a year of peace. The San Diego Israel Coalition (SDIC), a
new grassroots pro-Israel advocacy group, organized the event to coincide with the eve of the Jewish New Year. Supporters gathered in the courtyard and sang the “Star Spangled Banner,” “God Bless America” and “Hatikva,” the Israeli national anthem. After, several crowd members blew shofars, or ancient musical instruments made
of ram’s horns — a common symbol of Rosh Hashanah. “When Jews blow the shofar, it’s a spiritual and intellectual wake-up call to examine our actions and commit to personal improvement for the coming year,” said SDIC co-chair Audrey Jacobs. “This gathering is a symbolic Irwin Jacobs blows a shofar during the San Diego Israel Coalition’s “Shofar for Israel” gathering at the Congrega-
SEE ISRAEL, Page 2 tion Beth El on Sept. 7.
Up, up
A woman’s world Longtime news anchor sums it up: ‘Check the gender card at the door’
and away
Local teen solos in two planes even before getting his driver’s license
BY JENNA FRAIZIER | VILLAGE NEWS
BY JENNA FRAZIER | VILLAGE NEWS Few 16-year-olds can say they learned to fly before they could drive. Tommy Graham II, an incoming La Jolla High School (LJHS) sophomore, celebrated his birthday last week by heading to the Ramona Airport and soloflying two airplanes: a Piper Cherokee trainer he’s flown since age 12 and his father’s Turbo Cessna. After posing for photos, Graham dashed to the DMV to get his driver’s license. “It was a busy day,” he said. “To be honest, I was much more nervous about the driver’s test.” A third-generation aviator, Tommy is named after his grandfather, a World War II pilot who received the Distinguished Flying Cross and three Air Medals after flying 210 combat missions in China. Tommy’s father, Joe, started flying when he was 14 and spent 33 years as a US Airways captain. He has accumulated about 28,000 flight hours. Now that he has his student pilot’s license, Tommy said he couldn’t wait to follow in the family footsteps. “I would absolutely love nothing more than a career in aviation,” he said. “I heard that if
DON BALCH | Village News
Tommy Graham, a La Jolla High School sophomore, sits in the cockpit of a Piper Cherokee trainer before taking his first solo flight on his 16th birthday. COURTESY PHOTO
you love your job, you never work a day in your life. That’s exactly what I want to do.” For now, Tommy still has to receive instruction from a flight instructor on the ground. After high school, he hopes to attend the Air Force Academy or Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Almost every weekend while growing up, Tommy and his father practiced flying from the Montgomery Field Airport where the family planes are based. He has since racked up 80 flight hours. “My dad always hinted that he wanted me to fly,” Tommy said. “I remember one day he put me in the captain seat of the airplane and we pulled up to the runway. He told me to put the throttle in all the way and once the air speed indicator gets to 65, pull back and you’ll be in the air. Then he said he’d tell me what to do from there.” When he’s not up in the air, Tommy serves as the starting center on the LJHS junior varsity football team. He is also a drummer for
Graham stands with his father, Joe, a retired US Airways captain, after taking his first solo flight on his 16th birthday. It is a tradition to cut the tie and shirttail after a student pilot’s first solo flight. COURTESY PHOTO
The Intellectuals, a rock band he formed with friends about six months ago. Still, aviation remains his primary passion. “It’s true freedom,” he said. “When you’re up there soaring over everything and it’s just you and the airplane, it’s like you’re flying yourself. It’s a feeling unmatched by anything else.”
The Piper Cherokee soars above the Ramona Airport with Tommy Graham at the controls. COURTESY PHOTO
“We’ve gone from tokenism to total domination.” So says Carol LeBeau, who retired in 2009 after 28 years on the first and longest-running female news anchor team in the country. LeBeau anchored at San Diego’s KGTV and was best known Carol LeBeau for covering medical breakthroughs and other health issues in her “Staying Healthy” reports. LeBeau will speak at a special women’s dessert event at La Jolla Presbyterian Church, 7715 Draper Ave., on Sept. 15 at 7 p.m. about how she “kept mentally and spiritually afloat” throughout her fast-paced career, during which she toured with the Pope, jogged with former President Bill Clinton, interviewed Oprah, traveled to India to cover the aftermath of the 2004 tsunami and collected several awards along the way. When LeBeau first started working for a radio and television station in her hometown of Davenport, Iowa, “women were just breaking into the industry locally,” she said. “It was a challenge to prove myself. I tried to have a good attitude and not think I was going to change the world overnight.” After reading the news on radio, LeBeau got her big break when the one woman in the newsroom moved to another market. “I was dumped rather unceremoniously onto the TV side,” LeBeau said. “I tried to do the best job I could every day and over time I started getSEE CAROL, Page 10