Korean war is focus of SD Veterans Day Parade “The Forgotten War — Korea” will be the theme of the 22nd annual San Diego County Veterans Day Parade, set for Tuesday, Nov. 11 Downtown. San Diego Padres broadcaster Jerry Coleman, an Army veteran of World War II and the Korean conflict, will serve as parade grand marshal, with several Korea veterans presiding over the event in honorary capacities. The parade, presented by the San Diego United Veterans Association, will start at 11 a.m. at the corner of Pacific Highway South and Cedar Street. The procession will move south down Pacific Highway, ending at G Street. According to Defense Department figures, more than 54,000 U.S. servicemen and women lost their lives during the Korean War, fought from June of 1950 to July of 1953. Chlorine leak kills Balboa Park’s jumbo koi A chlorine leak on or about Tuesday, Oct. 7 caused the deaths of all but one of the 23 jumbo koi kept in a pond at Balboa Park’s Japanese Friendship Garden. The chlorine apparently burned the fishes’ gills, causing suffocation. The park’s insurance may help cover the cost of restocking the pond. Officials estimate that restocking could cost as much as $30,000. Koi, the Japanese word for “carp,” are brightly colored and hardy cultural staples in their native country. One celebrated koi, named Hanako, died in Japan in 1977, reportedly at age 226, which is very, very old. Bomb threat empties Lindbergh Field facility A cargo unit at Lindbergh Field was evacuated Thursday, Oct. 30 after a service dog signaled the possible presence of explosives inside an unattended container. A San Diego Fire-Rescue Department bomb squad was sent to investigate but found no threat. A harbor police officer’s routine sweep yielded the dog’s signal in the United Airlines freight building at about 3:15 p.m. Authorities guided workers out of the facility and notified Fire-Rescue, which determined that the package contained aircraft component testing equipment. The building was reopened about 6:30 p.m. New director is named at Timken art museum John Wilson, former senior curator of collections at the Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha, has been named executive director at Balboa Park’s Timken Museum of Art. Wilson succeeds John Peterson, the museum’s executive director for 10 years until his death in 2006. Wilson holds a Ph.D. from the University of London’s Courtauld Institute of Art and has worked with museums in Cincinnati and Lawrence, Kan. He has served on the vetting committee for the Palm Beach International Fine Art Fair for several years. The Timken, located at 1500 El Prado, houses the Putnam Foundation Collection of European old masters and Russian icons. Artworks in the collection range from 13th-century altarpieces to 18th-century portraits to 19th-century still lifes. More information is available at www.timkenmuseum.org. Governor goes green during surprise SD visit Solar power can’t be stopped, and so-called green technologies will be good for the economy, according to an unscheduled speaker at a recent San Diego energy parley. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, addressing the Solar Power International 2008 Conference at the San Diego Convention Center on Monday, Oct. 13, reportedly said he envisions a day when no California warehouses will be without solar panels. Energy-saving technologies, he continued, will yield new industries and the job growth that comes with them. The governor also reportedly praised Congress’ recent approval of $18 billion in renewable-energy tax credits for businesses, which President Bush has signed into law. The annual conference, supposedly the largest of its kind in North America, included 400 exhibitors and 200 speakers and a so-called solar block party Oct. 14 in the Gaslamp Quarter. Conference sessions covered topics such as photovoltaics, solar thermal electricity and solar hot water. Representatives from about 70 countries attended the event. Shopping spree offered to spur blood donations The American Red Cross is offering blood and platelet donors a chance to win an American Express gift card valued at $500 when they donate blood or blood products at any San Diego County Red Cross blood drive during the month of November. Eligible donors are encouraged to call (800) 448-3543 or visit givelife.org to make a donation appointment and fill out a contest form. Walk-in donors are also eligible. Any healthy person aged 17 or older (16 when accompanied by a parent) and weighing at least 110 pounds may be eligible to donate. A photo ID is required. The appeal comes in the face of increasingly significant and chronic blood-supply shortages throughout the country. The Red Cross supplies about half the nation’s emergency blood. Red Cross chapters in Orange, Los Angeles and Ventura counties are also taking part in the contest. Winners will be announced around Dec. 15. Prizes are nontransferable and not redeemable for cash. Red Cross employees and their families are ineligible for the prizes.