La Jolla News Nuggets: ‘Unsafe’ trail closed; Scripps trauma center; grants for local organizations; more

‘Unsafe’ Torrey Pines Elementary School Nature Trail closed

The Torrey Pines Elementary School Nature Trail, sometimes referred to as the Cliffridge Nature Trail, has been closed indefinitely by the San Diego Unified School District due to safety issues.

The trail is not an authorized publicly accessible space, according to SDUSD facilities communication supervisor Samer Naji. It is “uneven, unsafe, very rugged and, most importantly, not Americans with Disabilities Act accessible,” Naji said.

The conditions “create significant risk and liability for the district,” Naji said.

The district erected signs prohibiting access to the trail.

Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla gets top-level recognition

Emergency medicine Dr. Shawn Evans works at Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla in March 2020. The hospital has been named a Level 1 trauma center.

(File)

The American College of Surgeons has named Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla a Level 1 trauma center, San Diego’s fourth.

A top-tier rating is reserved for facilities that admit at least 1,200 trauma patients per year, at least 240 of whom have high injury severity. Those numbers are “the minimum volume that is believed to be adequate to support the education and research requirements of a Level 1 trauma center,” according to the College of Surgeons.

Scripps La Jolla, at 9888 Genesee Ave., began working toward Level 1 designation in 2018. — The San Diego Union-Tribune

La Jolla organizations get millions in federal relief money

The federal Shuttered Venue Operators Grant program — created in response to the lengthy COVID-19 shutdown of live events that began in March 2020 — provided nearly $200 million to 162 San Diego County arts, cultural and tourism organizations and related businesses between June and late December.

Several recipients are in La Jolla:

The Lot La Jolla, $6.24 million; Birch Aquarium, $4.12 million; Theatre and Arts Foundation of San Diego County, $3.91 million; La Jolla Music Society, $1.48 million; Arsenal Concerts, $496,161; La Jolla Symphony & Chorus, $174,514; La Jolla Art & Wine Festival, $147,434; ArtPower at UC San Diego, $138,989; Aegis Software, $130,768; BMX Freestylers, $17,309.

Curebound gives almost $600,000 for local pediatric cancer research

Curebound, a San Diego-based philanthropic organization that raises and invests funding in translational cancer research, awarded four Discovery Grants, $599,225 in total, to support collaborative pediatric cancer research projects at UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center, La Jolla Institute for Immunology and Rady Children’s Hospital.

The funds are part of $1.5 million raised last year through the Padres Pedal the Cause fundraiser.

UC San Diego to hold tree-planting event

UC San Diego and the Sustainability Resource Center are looking for volunteers to help with a tree-planting project known as AMPlifying the Urban Forest, an initiative of the California Urban Forests Council to plant nearly 2,000 trees across 28 California communities on Saturday, March 12. Volunteers will meet at 8 a.m. on the UCSD campus.

People who sign up will be entered in a raffle to win a guitar made from recycled urban forest wood.

Learn more or sign up to volunteer at catrees.org.

Better Business Bureau holding essay contest on ethics

Entries are being accepted for the Ethical Torch Essay Contest presented by the Better Business Bureau Serving the Pacific Southwest.

The contest invites students to write a 400-word essay on “The Importance of Ethics and Integrity in our Community.” Five high school winners will be awarded $500 to $1,500 in scholarships to be used for college tuition and expenses.

Submissions are being accepted through Wednesday, Aug. 17. Winners will be announced at BBB’s Torch Awards for Ethics on Wednesday, Sept. 7. To enter or learn more, visit torchessay.bbbcommunity.org.

Everyday movements may aid cardio health in senior women

Being up and about performing routine activities including housework, gardening, cooking and showering can significantly benefit cardiovascular health in older women, according to a recent study led by UC San Diego.

The more than 5,400 participants in the study wore a research-grade accelerometer for up to seven days to get measures of how much time they spent moving and the types of common daily activities that result in movement but often are not included in studies of physical activity.

Compared with women with less than two hours per day of “daily life movement,” women with at least four hours per day had a 43 percent lower risk of cardiovascular disease and coronary heart disease, 30 percent lower risk of stroke and a 62 percent lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease.

— Compiled by La Jolla Light staff ◆