THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2017
WWW.POMERADONEWS.COM
Vol. 65, ISSUE 18
RB board postpones making a decision on short-term rentals
INSIDE
Wants to review three plans before taking a vote
The Rancho Bernardo/4S Ranch News Journal will be closed today (Thursday) while we move to our new office at 13426 Community Road, Suite C, Poway. The office is in the Nunn Professional Building. It will be open Friday.
■ Crime Log, A6 ■ Vacation Photos, A12 ■ FACEs, A13 ■ Opinion, A14 ■ Calendar, A16 ■ Gardening, A17 ■ Obituaries, A18
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ELIZABETH MARIE HIMCHAK
LOVIN’ THE CRAFT FAIR
Cindy Neal, examining some of purses and totebags, was among shoppers at the annual Hearts to You Craft Fair last Friday morning. The Sept. 21-23 event was held at Hope United Methodist Church to support its preschool and children’s ministry. See more photos on Page B13 and in the photo gallery at PomeradoNews.com.
BY ELIZABETH MARIE HIMCHAK The Rancho Bernardo Planning Board will wait until it meets next month to endorse one of three plans proposed by San Diego City Council members to address short-term rentals citywide. The board was ready to vote at its Sept. 21 meeting on sending a letter of support for a short-term rental proposal made by Councilwoman Barbara Bry when audience member Matthew Warren representing HomeAway, an online vacation rental booking site, asked the 10 members present to not back Bry’s plan. Warren asked them to support a more lax proposal released earlier last week by four council members, including Councilman Mark Kersey, who represents Rancho Bernardo. Some of the board members appeared unaware there were alternatives to Bry’s plan. They decided to have the board’s regional issues committee review all three plans at its 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 3 meeting in the RB Swim & Tennis Club before the board meets at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 19 in the Bernardo Heights Community Center. The San Diego City Council is scheduled to hold a hearing on Oct. 23. Five council members are needed to support a plan. According to HomeAway’s website, 17 Rancho Bernardo homes, from condos in 55-plus neighborhoods to single-family houses with SEE RENTALS, A11
RB High grad hopes to get ‘Lucky’ with new film BJ Thomas performs Saturday in Poway. B4
■ Sports, B1 ■ Entertainment, B4 ■ Classifieds, B11 ■ Seniors, B14 ■ Homes, B15 Rancho Bernardo/4S Ranch News Journal
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BY EMILY SORENSEN A former Poway resident and Rancho Bernardo High School graduate is celebrating the premiere of his new movie, “Lucky.” Drago Sumonja co-wrote the independent film, which is premiering Friday in Los Angeles and New York and nationwide on Oct. 6. “Lucky” will be playing at Landmark Hillcrest, with the possibility of opening in some other theaters in San Diego that show independent movies. “It’s such a crazy thing when I think about it,” Sumonja said. “That someone from Poway is now on the red carpet with celebrities. I can’t believe it. I get a kick out of it. I’ve come a long way.” The film stars Harry Dean Stanton, who died Sept. 15 at age 91. It follows the spiritual journey of Lucky, a 90-year old atheist and the quirky characters that inhabit the small desert town they live
in. “Lucky” is directed by John Carroll Lynch and was co-written by Logan Sparks. In addition to Stanton, the film features David Lynch, Ron Livingston, Ed Begley, Jr., Tom Skerritt, Beth Grant, James Darren, Barry Shabaka Henley and Yvonne Huff. Sumonja, who grew up in Poway and attended Poway High School for a year before finishing his high school career at Rancho Bernardo High School, is an actor, director and producer in addition to writing “Lucky.” He said he was first bitten by the acting bug as a child, acting out scenes from movies he had seen. “I never had a profound moment, but I knew somewhere in my mind that I felt something (about acting), a calling.” Sumonja took drama throughout high school. “It was the only thing that spoke to me and connected to me,” he said. “If
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it weren’t for that, high school wouldn’t have been for me. I was shy and drama helped me break free from my shyness.” He studied acting at the California Institute of the Arts, School of Theatre and moved to Los Angeles following graduation. He worked regular jobs between acting gigs. “I moved to New York for a while, and New Mexico, because the film industry was booming there,” Sumonja said. Throughout his career, he made friends with a number of well-known Hollywood actors and others in the industry, including Stanton. Stanton was one of several actor friends, including Dabney Coleman, Peter Falk, Sydney Pollack, Charles Grodin and Mark Rydell who appeared in “Character,” a documentary Sumonja made in 2009 during a lull in his acting career. “(My career) slowed down and I was frustrated,” he said. “So I made a
PETER KONERKO
Drago Sumonja documentary about acting. It was received pretty well. It grew some legs and got a little attention.” Following his success with the documentary, Sumonja said he started SEE LUCKY, A11
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