La Jolla News Nuggets: ‘Reflexion’ artwork, fireworks, book truck, surf scholarship, Junior Rangers, more

City to speak at La Jolla Shores meeting before moving art installation

Before the city of San Diego moves the “Reflexion” art installation from Scripps Park at La Jolla Cove to Kellogg Park in The Shores, city representatives plan to make a presentation to the La Jolla Shores Association during its July meeting.

The installation consists of three mirrored columns with rotatable segments. Each of the triangular segments contains a flat, convex and concave mirror. The work is being displayed as part of the city’s Park Social project, which brings art to city parks. It was on view in Scripps Park this month through June 26.

The city planned to move the installation to Kellogg Park July 9-24, without garnering LJSA’s input. That infuriated the group’s president, Janie Emerson, who contends the installation is inappropriate for Kellogg Park during the summer, given the large number of people who use the area.

Since then, the city has confirmed that the installation will not be placed in La Jolla Shores before the association meets at 6 p.m. Wednesday, July 13, online.

No update on fireworks display

It’s looking likely that there will be no large-scale Fourth of July fireworks display over La Jolla for the fifth consecutive year. Representatives of the La Jolla Community Fireworks Foundation, which has put on past displays, offered no updates this week regarding any plans for a show.

Foundation representatives did not respond to the La Jolla Light’s questions as to whether the show officially has been canceled or whether an alternative to a traditional fireworks display was being explored.

Conventional fireworks are not allowed at Scripps Park at La Jolla Cove — the site of past shows — because the California Coastal Commission permit this year that authorizes the closure of Point La Jolla from May 1 through Oct. 31 for sea lion pupping season states that fireworks are prohibited “within Ellen Browning Scripps Park during the seasonal closure.” The permit is in effect for seven years.

The show was not held in 2021 for lack of a needed permit, or in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the previous two years due to lack of funding.

Book truck visits La Jolla for stories and more

Warwick’s bookstore owner Nancy Warwick and San Diego City Councilman Joe LaCava check out the HarperCollins Book Truck on June 24.

(Courtesy of Sonia Teder-Moore)

The HarperCollins Book Truck parked in front of La Jolla’s Warwick’s bookstore the morning of June 24 for a day of story times and other literary action.

The truck’s prize wheel spun out gifts of free books, from picture books to young-adult novels and more, said Warwick’s director of children’s outreach and events, Sonia Teder-Moore, aka “Storytime Sonia.”

Local artist Reggie Brown offered a live reading of his books “Who Are Your People” and “Kicks” and La Jolla/Riford Library youth services librarian Katia Graham led a song-filled story time, with visits from a Curious George mascot and the San Diego Public Library’s Odi the Coyote.

UC San Diego surf team awards first college surf scholarship

Makena Burke of UC San Diego received the first college surf scholarship recognized by the National Scholastic Surfing Association.

(Courtesy of Shore Rider)

UC San Diego incoming sophomore Makena Burke received the first college surf scholarship recognized by the National Scholastic Surfing Association on May 25.

Burke, 18, established a surfing career in the World Surf League, USA Surfing Prime and NSSA and won at the state championships in March. Along with her surfing experience, Burke was recognized for making an impact outside the water by being a diligent student and volunteer.

UCSD surf team members and alumni gathered at Shore Rider restaurant in La Jolla as coach Tyler Callaway presented the scholarship to Burke.

The presentation marked the kickoff of UCSD Surf’s 50th-anniversary celebration. Other awards were presented to Ryan Parkes, Brent Siegel and Palmer Bonebrake for their organization, hard work and dedication to the surf team while navigating their academic careers and helping to create community during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Whatever It Takes invites teens to tackle area problems

San Diego-based teen leadership organization Whatever It Takes will present a three-day teenage hackathon starting Monday, July 18, at the UC San Diego Innovation Lab in La Jolla.

The hackathon, WIT’s first in-person event in more than two years, invites teens to work in teams to pitch solutions to their city’s biggest problems.

Prizes and certification from UCSD’s Office of Innovation & Commercialization will be awarded.

For more information, visit doingwit.org/camp-wit-hackathons.

La Jolla scientist gets grant to continue research on cancer metabolism

Brooke Emerling, a scientist at Sanford Burnham Prebys in La Jolla, has been awarded a grant from the National Institutes of Health to continue her work on cellular signaling in cancer.

The four-year, $2.3 million project could accelerate the development of new therapies for a range of cancers, particularly metastatic breast cancer. It also offers an answer to a long-standing mystery in cancer metabolism.

“We’re helping piece together how cancer works at the molecular level,” said Emerling, an associate professor at SBP’s Cancer Center. “The pathways we’re working on have been poorly understood so far, and investigating them could possibly provide new therapeutic strategies for cancer.”

The project focuses on a signaling system called the hippo pathway, which helps organs grow and controls their size. One of the key characteristics of cancer is uninhibited growth, and the hippo pathway is known to contribute to cancer growth when it’s not functioning correctly.

Emerling’s key discovery was that a specific family of proteins called PI5P4Ks, which are known to be activated in breast cancer cells, also directly interact with parts of the hippo pathway.

Because the hippo pathway plays a role in many parts of human biology, targeting the pathway with drugs could have implications for a wide range of cancers and other diseases.

Salk biochemist Walter Eckhart dies at 84

Walter Eckhart, a biochemist at La Jolla’s Salk Institute for Biological Studies whose insights about the tricky nature of cancer helped other scientists create lifesaving drugs such as Gleevec and Avastin, died in La Jolla on June 21 of natural causes. He was 84.

The institute’s namesake, Jonas Salk, who invented the first effective vaccine against polio, named Eckhart director of Salk’s cancer center in 1976.

During his 32-year tenure at Salk, Eckhart recruited Ron Evans, whose study of hormones helped others create drugs to fight cancer, heart disease and diabetes, and Tony Hunter, a young British biologist who shared his interest in exploring the mechanics of how cancer develops and how it might be suppressed.

Summer sessions at Torrey Pines reserve teach kids to be Junior Rangers

The Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve in La Jolla is offering two free week-long Junior Rangers programs this summer for children ages 7-12.

The 90-minute morning sessions will offer educational and social activities to teach kids about nature and the reserve, including mammals, reptiles, insects, plants, the Kumeyaay and stewardship.

The sessions will run Mondays through Fridays from 9 to 10:30 a.m. July 11-15 and Aug. 1-5.

Registration is being taken for the July session; the August session is filled.

For more information and to register, visit torreypine.org/eduprograms/junior-ranger.

Sneaks Summer Classic Basketball Tournament returning to La Jolla

The fourth annual Sneaks Summer Classic Basketball Tournament will return to the La Jolla Recreation Center beginning at 9 a.m. Saturday, July 16.

The 5-on-5 tournament will feature 16 teams, along with food vendors, music and other entertainment, and will be expanded from last year’s iteration. The tournament will culminate in a championship game at 5 p.m.

The tournament is organized by co-founders and La Jolla High School graduates Sawsun Khodapanah and Tyson Youngs.

For more information, visit sneakssummerclassic.com.

— Compiled by La Jolla Light staff ◆