It’s a homecoming for RB High’s Gandy

The water polo résumé of Tanya Gandy, a 2005 Rancho Bernardo High
graduate, is filled with success.

When she played for RB, she was a two-time CIF San Diego Section
Player of the Year (2003 and 2005) and led the Broncos to their
first-ever CIF section crown in 2003.

At UCLA, she and her teammates won four consecutive NCAA
championships. By the time she graduated in 2009, she was named to the
NCAA All-Tournament team twice and held a single-season scoring record
for the Bruins.

Upon graduation, Gandy joined the national team, helping them win the
World Championships in Rome and the World League in Kirishi, Russia,
last summer.

Now, Gandy is back in San Diego for the FINA Women’s World League
Super Final, which is being played through July 3 at the Coggan Family
Aquatic Complex in La Jolla.

In Team USA’s first match, held Monday against Greece, Gandy scored
once, contributing to the final 11-9 score.

Little League District tourney kicks off on Saturday

BY SEAN PEAT

Five local Little League All-Star teams are ready to take the field this
weekend in the District 31 Tournament, which will put the winner one
step closer to Williamsport and the Little League World Series.

The district’s majors tournament (for players 11 and 12 years old)
starts Saturday, July 3 at Jesmond Dene Park in Escondido. The champion
will be crowned at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, July 13 and will advance to
section play.

The district’s local Little League teams are: Poway American, Poway
National, Rancho Bernardo, 4S Ranch, and Carmel Mountain Ranch. District
31 also includes teams from Del Mar, Rancho Santa Fe, Escondido,
Encinitas, Solana Beach, Valley Center, and Encinitas.

Coaches say Encinitas National is considered the early favorite,
after winning the majors division three years running.

Junior swimmer breaks records

Brendan Santana, who competes for Pacific Swim, took first place in the
50 and 100 flystroke for boys 10 and under at the Southern California
Swimming June Age Invitational, held June 24-27 at the William Woollett
Jr. Aquatics Center in Irvine.

His time in the 50 fly of 31.52 broke the San Diego Imperial record of
32.28 which was set in 1976 by Steve Creamer, while his 1:10.25 broke a
record set in 1983.

Local artists win blue ribbons at San Diego County Fair

The work of several local residents are currently on display at the San
Diego County Fair.

Though the food, the entertainment and the carnival rides may get the
bulk of the attention from some fair-goers, the fair also hosts what
could be arguably one of the largest juried art exhibitions in the
county.

The Exhibition of Fine Art is one of the oldest exhibits at the fair.
The show features hundreds of works of art across a multitude of media,
including painting, drawing, mixed media, sculptures, ceramics and
glass.

The fair runs through July 5. For more information, go to
www.SDFair.com.

What follows is a look at some of the Inland Corridor’s blue ribbon
winners. A complete list of winners is available at the fair’s website.

Review: Old Globe’s ‘King Lear’ not for the squeamish

Despite its reputation as a violent film, when it came to the shearing
of an ear, director Quentin Tarantino spared the audience of his first
feature, “Reservoir Dogs,” from the gruesome act, panning away to let
the act happen off-camera.

Audiences of The Old Globe’s “King Lear” are afforded no such luxury
when the Earl of Gloucester, betrayed by his bastard son, has his eyes
gouged out near the end of the first act.

Instead, they are treated to the display in all of its
stomach-turning glory. Looking away is not enough; this is a gouging so
extreme you can hear it.

The explicitness of the act is one of several bold turns of this
production, directed by Adrian Noble, who is the artistic director of
the Globe’s 2010 Shakespeare Festival.

Noble is also directing Alan Bennett’s “The Madness of George III,”
which along with “The Taming of the Shrew,” will play in repertory
through Sept. 26 at the Balboa Park outdoor theater. (The other two
productions will be reviewed in next week’s issue.)

State Senate panel passes Chelsea’s Law

The California State Senate Public Safety Committee on Tuesday voted to
approve Assembly Bill 1844, also known as Chelsea’s Law. The measure,
authored by Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher, R-San Diego, in partnership
with the family of Chelsea King, is focused on ensuring the protection
of children from violent sexual predators.

Five senators of the
seven sitting on the committee voted in support. The bill will next
advance to the Senate Appropriations Committee. A specific hearing date
has not been set.

“We are incredibly moved by the bi-partisan
show of support we received today from the Senate Public Safety
Committee,” Fletcher stated. “The changes taken today make this a
landmark and truly comprehensive approach to how our state deals with
violent sexual predators. We have also addressed any budget concerns by
providing better prioritization on those offenders who pose the greatest
risk to society. This bill will provide much better protection to the
children of California.”

Editorial: Participate in our democracy

Yes, the July 4th holiday is a splendid time to enjoy fireworks, bands,
parades and family picnics.
It is also time to celebrate the freedoms
we enjoy as Americans and, as importantly, to reflect on our
obligations to ensure those privileges will be passed on to future
generations.

A new book, “The Handbook for Americans,” (Hatherleigh, 2010)
outlines 11 steps we believe every American should take to participate
in the precious process called democracy. With the permission of the
publisher, here are those steps:

• Vote. By participating in elections at the local, state and
national level, we make our opinions heard. Understand the issues. Learn
as much as you can about the candidates. Vote responsibly.

• Stay informed. Read newspapers, magazines, blogs. Talk to your
friends, co-workers, neighbors. Go online and read current bills before
Congress. An educated American is an empowered citizen.

• Exercise your right to free speech. When we articulately and
intelligently state our opinions, popular or not, we truly live up to
the hopes and dreams of the Founding Fathers. Freedom of speech is an
extraordinary right.

Au Contraire: Celebrate ‘Independent’s Week’

Summer evokes fond memories for me of simpler times: fireflies, ice
cream trucks, long languid days accented by thunderstorms and the song
of the cicada. The Midwestern towns where I grew up — Deerfield, Ill.,
and Grinnell, Iowa — personified this simplicity.

An upper-middle class suburb of Chicago, Deerfield’s claim to fame
was being home to Sara Lee, Inc. The town “Commons” offered all we
needed: a barber shop, bakery, pharmacy, and a grocery, hardware, record
and book store. Several times a year, the merchants hired art students
to paint storefront windows with depictions of the season (be it
fireworks, high school football, or Santa).

Grinnell was a small college town with an actual Main Street. My
grandma used to take me “downtown” as a little girl and show me off to
her friends and shopkeepers. We’d visit the five and dime and the
Longhorn Coffee Shop, the fabric store, and a dress shop where she
bought me many an Easter frock. On occasion, I went downtown by myself
and would be greeted by adults with a smile, and often a treat. In
retrospect, I felt safe and looked after.

Drop-off boxes: Prescription for a drug epidemic

By Supervisor Pam Slater-Price

According
to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC)
National Youth Risk Behavior Survey, more than one in five teenagers
admit to abusing prescription drugs, such as Ritalin, Xanax or OxyContin

The national trend supports what officials with the Oxy Task Force
of San Diego County see locally as a rising prescription drug epidemic
among young adults.

To reduce that supply, Sheriff Bill Gore and I partnered in putting
forward a countywide ordinance to install 22 prescription drug drop-off
boxes, unanimously approved by the San Diego County Board of Supervisors
on June 22.

These boxes will provide a safe, “no questions asked” option for
residents to get rid of these addictive and potentially fatal drugs. The
Sheriff’s Department expects to have the receptacles installed by the
fall.

The need for these drop boxes is great. At our most recent
prescription drug Take Back Day, San Diego County Sheriff’s officials
collected more than 2,500 pounds of drugs from residents countywide for
destruction — more than a metric ton of drugs from homes.

Letters to the Editor: July 1, 2010

Assistance appreciated

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the
firefighter/paramedics who came to my aid when I fell and broke my hip
at Old Poway Park on Sunday, May 23.

I have always marveled at the skills and professionalism of the
city’s paramedics, but this is the first opportunity that I had to
witness the care and devotion that they provide to the patients who
receive their help. They are the best!

I would also like to thank the doctor who came out of the adjoining
restaurant to provide medical assistance and the lady who provided a
blanket to use as a pillow to support my head. Both are unknown to me.
Poway is gifted by its generous and caring residents.

I would also like to take this opportunity to express my sincere
gratitude and appreciation to the people who stood by me during the
recent recall election, and to those who urged me not to resign my
council seat in order to avoid an appointment. It was a difficult
experience for all of us but we survived.

I look forward and will cherish being a private citizen again. It is
time to move on with our lives and support the city we all love.
Betty Rexford
Poway