LA JOLLA NEWS NUGGETS

Homelessness forum April 11 at Town Council meeting

April’s La Jolla Town Council (LJTC) meeting will be dedicated to a forum on homelessness in light of the repeal of the Transient Occupancy Vehicle ordinance, which now legalizes sleeping in cars and small motor homes on any City street.

Scheduled speakers include Regional Taskforce on the Homeless vice chair Karen Brailean, Rachel Allen of the Mayor’s Advisory Board on Police & Community and the San Diego Police Department’s Homeless Outreach Team, among others.

“It will be a fair look at both sides of the issue to see if there’s some better things we can do as a community to alleviate the problem and to help those people in need of our help,” LJTC president Ann Kerr Bache told the Light. “At the same time, we hope to remind City Council to think more about the ramifications of what they do.”

The forum will take place during the regularly scheduled LJTC meeting, 5:30 p.m. Thursday, April 11 at the Rec Center, 615 Prospect St., lajollatowncouncil.org

Kiwanis gifts $10K to Monarch School

The Kiwanis Club of La Jolla has donated $10,000 to the Monarch School, a nonprofit school established to educate San Diego children impacted by homelessness. The funds will be used to help send Monarch grads to two- and four-year colleges.

“We are grateful for the long-standing support of the Kiwanis Club of La Jolla,” said Monarch School CEO Erin Spiewak. “We appreciate their support in helping our students succeed in both school and life.”

Kiwanis member Wil Johnson presented the check to Monarch program director Carter Anderson last week on behalf of the Kiwanis Club of La Jolla Foundation.

La Jollan named to Super Lawyer list

Sullivan Hill’s Candace Carroll, a resident of La Jolla, has been selected as a 2019 Super Lawyer. Each year, no more than 5 percent of the lawyers in the state are named to the Thompson Reuters list. Carroll — a practitioner with more than 40 years’ experience handling appeals in the federal, state and bankruptcy appellate courts — joins the list for the 10th year in the field of appellate law.

“In a city with so many lawyers, I am honored to have been selected for this recognition,” Carroll told the Light.

The annual selections are made using a statewide survey of lawyers, an independent research evaluation of candidates and peer reviews by practice area.

La Jolla High football player to be honored

La Jolla High School senior Gabe Solis will be among the 28 high school and two college football players from San Diego County honored at the National Football Foundation’s 47th annual Scholar-Leader-Athlete Banquet on April 5.

Solis and the other honorees — nominated by their coaches based on performance on the field, grades in the classroom and volunteer work in the community — will each receive a $1,500 scholarship.

For more information on the banquet — to be held 6 p.m. Friday April 5 at the Scottish Rite Center in Mission Valley — call (619) 341-0545.

Salk’s motor-neuron breakthrough

Salk Institute researchers have discovered how motor neurons find their connections with muscles in the body. The findings — published in the journal Neuron — suggest that they listen for directions, while simultaneously filtering out inappropriate instructions, to avoid getting lost.

“We wanted to understand the clever genetic systems nature has employed to wire the most complicated biological machine in the universe,” said Salk professor and senior paper author Samuel Pfaff. “There are 100 trillion connections in the nervous system governed by 20,000 genes, of which roughly 10 gene families are known to be involved in controlling axon guidance.”

Learn ABCs of CBD

Wholistic Research and Education Foundation president and co-founder Pelin Thorogood will discuss how her non-profit cannabis research organization works to shape cannabinoid therapy in partnership with major research institutions, 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, April 3 at the Building 12 Auditorium, 10905 Road to the Cure.

“The Therapeutic Promise of CBD: What We Know” will detail the mounting evidence that CBD, a non-psychoactive compound found in both hemp and marijuana, may have numerous health benefits — from epilepsy and Parkinson’s to anxiety and insomnia. Admission is free but reservations are requested via groupof12sd@gmail.com or (858) 342-0241.

ESL volunteer tutors needed

Laubach Literacy Council of San Diego County seeks volunteer tutors for adult learners of English with tutoring locations countywide.

No experience is required, but volunteers must take two days of free training. The next sessions are 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the consecutive Saturdays of May 4 and 11, at Clairemont Covenant Church, 5255 Mt. Ararat Drive. To register, visit laubachsandiego.org/volunteer.htm by April 27.

Meals on Wheels donation

The San Diego County Employees’ Charitable Organization recently donated $500 to pay La Jolla Meals on Wheels for low-sodium, diabetic-friendly, subsidized meals delivered by volunteers Monday-Friday to low-income seniors.

“We are extremely thankful for this donation,” said program director Jane Semelsberger. “This funding will be used to help us continue our work of delivering healthy meals to more than 80 homebound seniors in La Jolla and University City.”

To donate, call (858) 452-0391 or visit lajollamealsonwheels.org