Town honors soldier

 Bonham Bros. and Stuart Mortuary was filled and overflowing as family,
friends and even strangers came from all over California to show
respect and to honor the memory of U.S. Army Pfc. Michael Robert
Jarrett on Saturday.
   Jarrett, 20, died on Jan. 6 in Balad, Iraq. He was assigned to the
2nd Battalion, 159th Aviation Regiment, 12th Combat Aviation Brigade,
in Illesheim, Germany.
After the memorial service concluded in the mortuary chapel, Jarrett’s
coffin was transported to Nuevo Memory Gardens cemetery on Ash Street,
where full military honors were held. A large crowd silently gathered
to offer what comfort can be provided to a grieving family. 

Library offers free help for those struggling to pay their mortgage

More than 1,000 homeowners, most in the process of foreclosure or
facing the prospect of it, have turned to the San Diego County Library
to seek help with their plight.
   The County Library has partnered with the Housing Opportunities
Collaborative (HOC) for the past year to provide free counseling to the
public at a monthly series of Home Clinics. The next clinic will be
held in the Ramona Community Center, 434 Aqua Lane, on Saturday, Jan.
30, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
   The Home Clinics bring together a unique combination of legal
experts, real estate and mortgage professionals and housing agencies to
provide free advice to the public. The HOC was recently honored with
the prestigious “Distinguished Organization Award” by the San Diego Bar
Association.

Ramona TEA’d targets health care reform on Saturday

 Health care will be the topic when Ramona TEA’d (Taxed Enough Already)
holds its second town hall meeting in Ramona Mainstage on Saturday.
   The public meeting will be from 1 to 3 p.m. Doors will open at noon for a “mix and meet” opportunity. Admission is free.
   Leading the two-speaker program will be Dr. Gary Gonsalves, nationally known founder of Stop Taxing Us.
  
“Dr. Gonsalves, an anesthesiologist, is a powerful speaker and a fund
of knowledge,” said Jim Tapscott, chair of the Ramona TEA’d Steering
Committee.
   “Hazards of Health Care” will be Gonsalves’ topic. An
expert in Medicare funding and the challenges faced by doctors and
patients dealing with health insurance issues, Gonzales was interviewed
on the Fox Business News Channel this month.
   Joining him will
be Jeff Wangsgaard, a San Diego County TEA Party organizer and an
authority on the book, The 5000 Year Leap: The Miracle That Changed the
World.
   “He will discuss the constitutionality of Obamacare, or
this health care reform, which is grossly unconstitutional,” said Dan
Summers, a Ramona TEA’d Steering Committee member.

Ramona TEA’d kicks off ambitious year

   Our local tea party, Ramona TEA’d, is holding a town hall meeting on
Saturday, Jan. 30. It is the kickoff of an ambitious year of citizen
involvement events in Ramona, and our reasons are several and serious.
   The year 2009 was a year to remember—or better yet, a year to never
forget. It was the year our nation was faced with a sudden change as
America was being   “fundamentally transformed” as promised by the
incoming Administration. It was the year when our national debt grew at
frantic speed and to record size as if all of this effort to bring
“hope and change” must be done before anyone realized what had happened.

Help the people of Haiti

   The situation in Haiti has moved from rescue to recovery, and the
need for assistance is even greater.  As volunteers/workers continue to
pick through the rubble from the earthquake that leveled large portions
of the tiny country of Haiti, killing perhaps 200,000 people, injuring
many more and orphaning tens of thousands of children, many of us in
San Diego County were complaining about too much rain falling too
quickly last week. In Haiti, water is the most precious commodity
available right now.
  We complain about the high unemployment rate in San Diego County. In Haiti, there are very few offices and factories standing.
   We worry about coming down with the H1N1 flu bug. In Haiti, death
has become so prevalent that survivors rub toothpaste under their noses
to block out the smell.

RHS graduate earns full athletic scholarship

 Dean Faddis’ accomplishments as a student-athlete at Ramona High
School have earned him a full grant athletic scholarship to the
University of Nevada at Reno. He started classes this month.
   Nevada had an  eight-game winning streak in 2009 and played in the
Hawaii Bowl on Christmas Eve. The Wolf Pack is a Football Bowl
Subdivision—formerly Division I—school, the highest level of collegiate
football. It is a member of the Western Athletic Conference.
   As a Ramona High School student, Faddis earned a 3.75 grade point
average. He graduated in 2009 and enrolled at Palomar College, where 
his  average “slipped” to 3.50 the first semester of the school year.

Water Dawgs end marathon week with 4-3 record

 Ramona High School’s girls water polo team won two of five games during the East County Invite tournament.
   In addition to the five East County Invite games from Jan. 18-23,
Ramona’s matches during the week also included wins over Oceanside and
Mira Mesa, giving the Bulldogs a 4-3 record for the week.
   “Not bad,” said Ramona coach Donnie Williams.  “I’ll take that.”
   Ramona started the East County Invite with two games at Santana High School.  The first was a 10-8 loss to Patrick Henry. 
   “They got out on us really good,” Williams said.
   The Patriots led 2-0 after the first quarter and 6-1 at halftime,
and, although Patrick Henry had rested many of its starters, the
Bulldogs were able to reduce the margin to 8-5 by the end of the third
period. 

Leaky roof drips rain on cager ‘cats’ and Dawgs

Valuable member of football team collects letter

 Cade Henderson did not play a play for the freshman football team in
the fall, but he was a very valuable and inspirational member of the
team.
   “Cade is an amazing individual,” said Ramona High’s freshman
football coach Lt. Cmdr Mike Ernst, who also has Cade in two classes.
“He is a very positive person. He inspires those around him to do their
best. He has some amazing stories and he has a great sense of humor.”
   Cade was the team manager for the Bullpups. His duties included
writing down plays, taping the games, equipment repair and helping the
hydration crew. He attended every practice and every game.
   Cade was born with spina bifida.
   “I was born with a bubble on my spine,” he explained, understating the developmental birth defect.

Power outage, leaky roof postpones game

 The road was not kind to Ramona High’s girls varsity team. The weather
cost the Lady Dawgs a possible win at Valley Center, and Westview High
School beat them in the Wolverines’ gym.
   Ramona’s league record is 2-2 and the teaam is 9-10 on the year.
   “I knew that it was going to be one of those nights when the game
was postponed because the lights went out,” said Ramona coach Erin
O’Connor.
The lights went out just before tipoff and it took about 45 minutes to get them back on.
   When play started, Ramona jumped out to a 6-0 lead and led 6-4 early
in the second period. Then a leak in the roof caused a water puddle on
the court and the officials suspended the game.