October 27, 2011
VOL. 126, ISSUE 3
Ramona Sentinel
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THURSDAY, MARCH 8, 2012
Inside
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County updates planners on road projects By KAREN BRAINARD
Play Ball Opening Ceremonies are a celebration of lights at the Ramona Pony Baseball Fields......................37
Updates on road projects in Ramona, including the state Route 67 and Highland Valley/ Dye Road intersection and 13th Street bridge, were presented at the Ramona Community Planning Group meeting on March 1. RCPG Chair Jim Piva said he and other planning group members have been working with
‘No. 6’ robot shoots hoops for Ramona
County Supervisor Dianne Jacob and members of California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) on funding for a project report on possible improvements for the Route 67 and Highland Valley/ Dye Road intersection. The intersection has been called a bottleneck for Ramona and the cause of rush hour traffic back-ups.
Piva said he, Hickman and RCPG Secretary Kristi Mansolf met with SANDAG Executive Director Gary Gallegos and were told they should come up with total funding for the intersection project—estimated at $8 million—because the project report could become outdated if funding is not available for construction. According to Piva, Gallegos came up with some funding ideas that
are “outside the box.” “It’s looking good. It looks very promising,” Piva said, after reporting that Jacob called him that morning to say she had received word that timing couldn’t be better. “We don’t believe it will take $8 million,” said Piva, but explained the idea is to project a higher
By JESSICA KING
Index
Presorted Standard US Postage PAID Ramona CA Permit No 136
Our Town.....................7 Letters..........................9 Dining Guide............20 Sports........................22 Classifieds.................27 Obituaries.................35 Coupons...................36
High school hoops took on new meaning over the weekend for some local teens, who built a robot that shoots basketballs. The 12 members of Ramona’s student robotics club—which meets at Ramona High School but is open to any high school student in town—competed in the annual San Diego Regional FIRST Robotics Competition at Valley View Casino Center, formerly the Sports Arena. Every year, the competition consists of challenging students to build a robot to perform a specific task. It attracts students from throughout California and abroad, with 56 teams in attendance this year. The Ramona team ranked 42. The theme of the 2012 competition was Re-
425-A 10th Street Ramona, CA 92065
See ROBOTICS on page 16
Photo/Steve Grant Kolby James, a member of Ramona’s Green Sparks 2 team, gets ready to run in the regional AWANA Olympics held in the Ramona High School gymnasium. Ramona’s three teams broke records and brought home medals in the competition. Watching his teammate is Jacob Raher. For an article and more photos, see page 36.
See ROADS on page 14
Agents arrest CPA in alleged hitman plot
A tax preparer from Ramona facing federal charges for allegedly bilking the U.S. government out of more than $11 million through fraudulent returns and identity theft was arrested Friday on suspicion of trying to hire a hitman to kill two people planning to testify against him, authorities said. Federal agents took certified public accountant Steven Martinez, 51, into custody without incident at his workplace on Oberlin Drive in Sorrento Valley about 1:30 p.m., according to the FBI. According to a complaint filed in U.S. District Court, Martinez offered an acquaintance $100,000 in cash to kill the prosecution witnesses, provided him with photos of the targeted people along with personal information about them and suggested using a silencer-equipped gun See CPA ARREST on page 14