S.D.,AFGHAN STUDENTS CONNECT OVER ZOOM

BY KRISTEN TAKETA

On a recent Thursdaynight after8 p.m., two SanDiego high school girlstaught a lessonabout DNA to a classof girls and boysin Afghanistan, a country that does notallow girls their age to attend school. The exchange was happening through Zoom, from a classroomat CanyonCrestAcademyin wealthy Carmel Valleyallthe way toMawoudLearning Academy,a private educationcenterinKabul.

PicturedonCanyonCrest’s Zoomscreen were faces ofmore than two dozen Afghan teenagers, mostly girls,sittingon wooden benchesin a sun-filled roomat Ma-

InMarketplace: woud.Their eyes smiledbehind blue and black surgicalmasks whenever CanyonCrest seniors, AditiAnand and April Zuo, laughed or made jokes during the lesson. Closest to thecamera their teacher Najibullah Yousefi smiled ashetranslated forhisstudents.

Anand and Zuo explainedthat dish soap can beused to help extractDNA,because its hydrophobicpropertiesbreakdownmembranessurrounding the inner parts of a cell,includingDNA.

“Ithink we catch it,” Yousefi said. “Thatsoapcausedthemembraneofthecell,thecellmembrane, away fromthe water.”

“Yes, wonderful!” Zuo said, and around her more than two dozen CanyonCrest studentsbroke into applauseattheunderstanding thatbridgedthe two cultureson opposite sidesofthe world.

Since lastAprilstudentsat

SEE STUDENTS A18

The snowboarding gold medalistsays he’s retiring fromthesport after the Beijing Games. D1

Crossword DearAbby departing1/1/22 –3/31/23,excludingGalapagos.Savingsvarybysailinglengthandstateroomcategory.OfferisnotcombinablewithInterline,Net,TravelPartner,andEmployeeRates. Refertocelebrity.comandtheCruiseTicketContractforadditionaltermsandconditions.Changestobookingmayresultinremovalofoffer.Offersandpricesareavailability,cancellation, andchangewithoutnoticeatanytime.©2022CelebrityCruisesInc.Ships’registry:MaltaandEcuador.Imageryandmessagingmaynotaccuratelyreflectonboardanddestination experiences,offerings,features,oritineraries.Thesemaynotbeavailableduringyourvoyage,mayvarybyshipanddestination,and maybesubjecttochangewithoutnotice.Forcomplete your2022 subscription willincludethe Thanksgivingedition. You maychoose to optout of premiumissue content by calling1-619-299-4141.

©TheSanDiegoUnion-Tribune,LLC.Allrights reserved.

Call:

sduniontribune.com

LOTTERY

Unofficial results

SUPERLOTTO PLUS

Saturday, Feb. 5, 2022

$14 million

7 10 15 28 34

Meganumber: 26

POWERBALL

Saturday Feb. 5, 2022

$137million

5 1627 3961

Powerball: 24

FANTASYFIVE

Saturday’s winningnumbers

1320 25 3034

DAILY FOUR

Saturday’s winningnumbers

6073

DAILYTHREEMIDDAY

Saturday’s winningnumbers

257

DAILYTHREE EVENING

Saturday’s winningnumbers

284

MEGA MILLIONS

Friday,Feb. 4, 2022

$22million 7 16 344461

Meganumber: 24 Forjackpot, prizeandwinner information, go online to calottery.com.

BY TAMMYMURGA

AsthesunsetSaturday, dozensofcandles brought light to a street in Mount Hopenear where a 14-yearoldboy was fatallyshot daysearlier.

Familymembers, friendsand community leaders gatheredforavigil on 36thand J streets to mournthelifeof ErickBalanzarLoeza andcallforan end to violence.The event was heldbyShaphatOutreach church which hosts DreamingOf Violence-free Everywhere, orDOVE,vigils to providesupport for familieswhohave lost someone to violence.

“We are here to standup forErick’s loss. We want justice. We want to make sure thatnoother family goesthroughthis,”said EmirBalanzar, Erick’s aunt who was amongmore than 150 inattendance.

“It’s not fairfor theparents.

It’s not fairfor the siblings.”

The teen was walking with friendsalong 36thnear Jwhenatleastone gunshot was fired fromanSUV around4:30 p.m. Monday, strikingErickinhis groin, SanDiego policesaid. Thoughthe vehiclespedoff, itslicenseplate number was reported to police.

Lessthananhourafter theshooting,law enforcementlocated the SUVand tookfour teenagersinto custody On Wednesday, policearrested a fifth person thesuspectedshooter, 17, who was not identi- fiedbecauseofhisage.

Three ofthe five suspects Bryan Escobedo, 18; Omar Morales, 18; and EthanPeaslee-Guerrero, 19 pleadednot guilty Thursday to murder charges and gangallegationsinSanDiego SuperiorCourt.Thesuspected shooter andthe remaining suspect,whoisalso 17 were expected to appearin JuvenileCourt.

AsofSaturday, officials hadnot disclosed a motive for the shooting. Erick’s familyhas receivedanoutpouringof support withmore than 100 donationsthrough a GoFundMe campaign setup to helpwithfuneral expenses. More than$11,600hadbeen raisedasofSaturday. City Council President SeanElo-Rivera,whose 9thDistrictincludes

MountHope,saidFriday on Twitter thathevisited with the familyandcalled foranend to violence.

“Theviolencethat robbedErick’s family ofa future withhimmustend anditisallofour responsibility to dowhat we can to preventfuture tragedies. We mustprotectour young people. We mustinvestin theirsafety, theirhealth, andtheirfutures,” readhis tweet, in part.

Atthevigil,thefamily tooktime to share more aboutErick,who wasa freshmanatKingChavez Community HighSchool andhad two brothers and two sisters.He was describedas a “reallycalm boy” whoenjoyedmusic andcars,saidBalanzar.

Motherswhohadalso losttheir children including TanyaHarris, whosesondiedin2019 after he was fatallystruckbya vehicle in LemonGrove— offered wordsof comfort. Schoolofficialsandfaithbasedmembersofthe communityalso joinedthe vigil. JesusSandoval, a memberofSan Diego’s CommissiononGangPrevention andIntervention,saidhe has gone to “dozensofsimilarvigils” over thepast20 years to support families and connectthemwith services. He said the commissionis workingonaninitiative calledPeaceatthe Park that would connect neighborhood churches,organizationsandneighbors to “establish a presence” andimprove safety. tammy.murga @sduniontribune.com Twitter:@tammyxmurga