LA JOLLA NEWS NUGGETS

Research hits home at cancer benefit

The most unusual autograph in recent La Jolla memory was collected on Aug. 18 at the 26th annual “Surfing For a Cure” Luau and Legends of Surfing Invitational.

For the past decade, the luau (still referred to by its previous name, the Longboard Luau, by most La Jollans) has honored heroes in the fight against cancer.

This year’s honorees included Tony Hunter of the Salk Institute and Brian Druker of Portland’s Knight Cancer Center. Both researchers helped develop the drug Gleevec, which successfully targets several types of leukemia, lymphoma and gastrointestinal stromal tumors.

When past luau chair Cory Reynolds asked Druker for his John Hancock, he held out his own Gleevec pill box and explained how he would not be alive today without his daily dose.

“I brought it intentionally,” said Reynolds, who has chronic myelogenous leukemia, yet also serves as senior vice president for a payroll company.

“I wanted Dr. Druker to feel that he was impacting somebody’s life. A lot of times, scientists are in the lab and it’s all black and white. They don’t get to meet the people whose lives they are saving.”

This year’s luau raised nearly $750,000 for the Moores Cancer Center at UC San Diego Health. (See related photos on pages B12 and B14.)

Taste at The Cove set for Thursday

Food from 20 La Jolla restaurants — including Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse, Herringbone, Trulucks and Eddie V’s — can be sampled at the 18th annual Taste at the Cove, 5:30-9 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 5 in Scripps Park, 1100 Coast Blvd.

The event — benefiting the San Diego Sports Medicine Foundation’s mission to provide a medical safety net for injured youth with limited financial means — will also feature hosted bars, CaliFino Tequila tasting, live art, and silent and live auctions.

This year’s Mike Whitmarsh Memorial Community Legend honorees are two of the greatest soccer players of modern times, Landon Donovan and Shannon MacMillan. Also, Michelle Look, MacMillan’s team physician when she played for the San Diego Spirit, will receive the Charles & Audrey Camarata Medical Champion award. Find more details at tasteatthecove.com

MTS/North County Transit ups fare costs

Region-wide transit fare hikes are already in effect for the Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) and the North County Transit District (NCTD).

The changes include a $1 increase in adult day passes, from $5 to $6; a $5 increase in the monthly discounted pass price for seniors/disabled/medicare passengers from $18 to $23; an undisclosed increase in Coaster fares, and elimination of free trolley transfers.

“The fare changes are designed to increase fare revenue and close a structural budget deficit,” read a statement from MTS. “These are the first increases in fares in 10 years, a period in which operating costs have climbed by more than 25 percent. The changes also simplify the fare structure across the region, making fare purchases easier to understand.”

Not all fares were increased. For example, the monthly discounted MTS pass price for youth decreased from $36 to $23. All new fares can be viewed at sdmts.com and GoNCTD.com

Local ‘animaltarians’ will be honored

This year’s Animaltarian Awards, celebrating people who save the lives of animals, will take place at an undisclosed La Jolla estate, 3-5 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 29. Presented by the Foundation for Animal Care and Education (FACE), the ceremony will honor La Jolla Veterinary Hospital (LJVH), Loving Hands Veterinary Services and pet columnist Sandie Lampie.

“Animal welfare is our lifestyle, not our job, our hobby, nor a fraction of what we do,” said LJVH director Stephanie Coolidge, who serves on FACE’s advisory committee. “It is who we are.”

The awards, open to the public, will feature cocktails, hor d’oeuvres, and a silent auction. Tickets are $100 and all proceeds will benefit FACE 501, a 501(c)(3). face4pets.org/event/animaltarian-awards/

— Compiled by Corey Levitan from local reports.