Airport to host workshops over noise concerns
The San Diego County Regional Airport Authority will host the first of three community workshops on a federal noise study ” known as “Part 150″ ” on June 26. It will run from 5 to 7 p.m. at the San Diego International Airport Commuter Terminal in the 3rd floor board room, 3225 N. Harbor Drive.
A brief presentation will be held at 5:30 p.m. and parking will be validated.
The workshop will provide an update on the “noise exposure map,” otherwise known as a contour map, which is the federal and state guideline for incompatible land uses around an airport, according to Dan Frazee, director of airport noise mitigation for the Airport Authority.
“The Airport Authority tries to do whatever is plausible and feasible to mitigate aircraft noise to the maximum extent possible,” said Frazee. “We are essentially looking for individual concerns and input and to understand more about what the process is we use here at the airport.”
The Part 150 study is a 30-month process and will consider the current state in 2008 and the projected conditions for 2013. Supplementary workshops will be held in January and May 2009.
For more information, call (888) 488-7885, or visit http://www.-san.org/airport_authority/environmental_affairs/airport_noise/part150.asp.
PCPB taking applications for open board seat
The Peninsula Community Planning Board (PCPB) is now accepting applications for a board vacancy that occurred April 17 with the resignation of board member Kathryn Rhodes.
The remainder of the term is one year.
After accepting Rhodes’ resignation April 17, the clock began ticking for the board to fill the vacancy within 120 days.
PCPB officials anticipate filling the vacancy at the next regular meeting on Thursday, July 17.
Potential candidates, one of whom will be elected by the board, must provide proof of eligibility and fill out an application and present it to the board secretary or to the chair.
Applications are available by visiting www.pcpb.net or from PCPB Chair Charles Mellor by calling (619) 222-2240.
Applications will be accepted until noon on July 17.
To be eligible, potential candidates must be at least 18 years of age and a Peninsula property owner or Peninsula community resident or a local business person with a business address in the Peninsula community at which employees or operators of the business are located. Potential applicants must also have attended one meeting of the PCPB.
Hands-free phone law takes hold July 1
The state’s new “hand’s-free” cell phone laws will take effect Monday, July 1, which will prohibit all drivers from using a handheld wireless phone while operating a motor vehicle.
However, drivers 18 and older can use hands-free device. It will be illegal for all drivers 16 and 17 years old from using either a cell phone or hands-free device while behind the wheel.
The San Diego Police Department is allowing a 30-day grace period and will begin issuing citations on violations beginning Aug. 1, but other law enforcement agencies, such as the California Highway Patrol or sheriffs could possibly issue tickets for drivers using cell phones.
The penalty will be $97 for the first offense and $211 for the second.
Local Navy scientists earn prestigious awards
Six scientists from the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center San Diego (SSC San Diego) in Point Loma were recently chosen to receive the 2007 Department of the Navy’s Top Scientist and Engineer of the Year awards among a field of 46 colleagues recognized nationwide.
The local honorees are featured in a display at the Point Loma Library, 2130 Poinsettia Ave., through Aug. 31.
The honorees are:
“¢ James Finneran, hearing evaluation in marine mammals;
“¢ Dr. John Meloling, high-frequency antenna technology;
“¢ Paul Alan Miller, advanced unmanned underwater vehicle control software;
“¢ Hoa Nguyen, explosive ordnance disposal robots;
“¢ Dr. J. Scott Rodgers, photonic processor;
“¢ Mihajlo Tomic, non-acoustic autonomous surveillance systems.
The awards were presented personally by John Thackrah, assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisition.
Navy slates Fourth of July Freedom Festival
Navy officials will blast off this year’s Fourth of July Freedom Festival with a cannon salute from the decks of the Californian, one of a trio of historic sailing ships from the San Diego Maritime Museum.
Beginning at 3:30 p.m. on July 4, the Californian will sail by the shore of Naval Mine and Anti-Submarine Warfare Command (NMAWC) in Point Loma and begin the day’s festivities by firing blanks from its four cannon.
In July 2003, the Californian was designated the Official Tall Ship of the state of California, the only ship to carry this prestigious title. She received this designation when she was launched with great fanfare for the 1984 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
The festival is hosted by the Navy’s Morale, Welfare and Recreation Department (MWR) and the Fourth of July party on the shores of Point Loma is open to all MWR patrons, families and escorted guests. It is not open to the general public.
Highlights of this year’s event include live entertainment, “Fun Zone” inflatables, full-size Ferris wheel, carnival games, stilt walkers, balloon and caricature artists, the second annual All-American Classic Car Show, vendor fair and arts and crafts for the kids. A fireworks show begins at 9 p.m.
For more information, call (619) 524-0961 or (619) 553-9138.
Point Loma ARTS founder featured in new book
Matt D’Arrigo, founder of Point Loma-based A Reason To Survive, or ARTS, is featured in the new book “Being the Difference: True Stories of Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary Things to Change the World.”
D’Arrigo is featured as he dealt with his grief when his mother and sister were diagnosed with cancer in the same year. Ultimately, the love of music and painting helped D’Arrigo heal after his mother succumbed to the disease. He now runs the 7,000-square-foot Pat D’Arrigo ARTS Center, named in memory of his mother, where more than 150 children a week go to express themselves and learn in a safe and nurturing environment.
For more information, visit www.areasontosurvive.org.
HTH teacher wins top honor in biotech education
Jay Vavra, a teacher at High Tech High School in Point Loma, has won the 2008 Genzyme-Invitrogen Biotech Education Award, according to officials with the Biotechnology Institute.
Vavra was selected from a field of 10 finalists identified from a nationwide applicant pool ” a short list narrowed down from the original 1,000 or so nominees in the Biotechnology Institute’s National Teacher-Leader Program.
The award was established by the Biotechnology Institute to recognize leading high school educators who are bringing biotechnology to their classrooms and encouraging fellow science teachers to do the same.
Sponsored by Genzyme Corporation and The Invitrogen Foundation, the award was presented June 16 during the Biotechnology Education Banquet at the Biotechnology Institute’s Conference on Biotechnology Education in San Diego.
The finalists were given an opportunity to meet keynote speaker Margaret Spellings, U.S. Secretary of Education.
As a result of his first-place honor, Vavra will receive $10,000.