VOLUME 10 ISSUE 3
2020
March 27 – April 23, 2020
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INSIDE
NEWS BRIEFS
THIS ISSUE
SCRIPPS HEALTH LAUNCHES COVID-19 NURSE LINE
B FOOD & DRINK Old school spaghetti
Nicolosi’s still serves the same authentic Sicilian-styled recipes it has since 1952. Page 10
B FEATURE Gardening with purpose
A chalk mural by La Mesa resident Molly Robb and her neighbors offers thanks to community members working or affected by the coronavirus quarantine. (Photo by Molly Robb)
La Mesa during COVID quarantine By JEFF CLEMETSON | La Mesa Courier
Trish Watlington is making a difference at Olivewood Gardens & Learning Center. Page 12
March’s book titles celebrate the writings and achievements of women. Page 13
B ALSO INSIDE
weeks of “flattening the curve” without being one of the unlucky few to catch the virus and suffer its symptoms. As of March 25, the San Diego County Health and SEE COVID, Page 2
Chamber honors heroes at annual event
B BOOKS Women’s lit
Opinion Politics Education Business & Services Classifieds Puzzles
[Editor’s note: Because reaction to the coronavirus by state, county and city officials is changing rapidly, some of the information in this article may be out of date.]
The COVID-19 outbreak has changed life as we knew it. Across the country, shelter in place orders and self-quarantines keep people inside, hunkering down and stockpiling food and essential supplies in hopes to make it through these
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The La Mesa Chamber of Commerce held its 12th annual Salute to Local Heroes dinner on Thursday, March 12 at Sycuan Casino. The annual celebration honors the brave men and women that are chosen by their respective emergency services organizations for their accomplishments. This year’s heroes honored were: American Medical Response paramedics Chris Torres and Paramedic Keenan Wayne; Heartland Fire & Rescue Captain Chip Tidball; La Mesa Police Department Crime Prevention Specialist Claudia Ortega and SEE HEROES, Page 4
BLOOD BANK ISSUES PLEA FOR BLOOD DONATIONS
(l to r) Top row: Chris Torres, Keenan Wayne, Cpt. Chip Tidball and Officer Colin
Atwood; Bottom row: Mary England, Pat Olow, Tita Boatright and Claudia Ortega (Photo courtesy La Mesa Chamber of Commerce)
B CONTACT US Editorial (858) 270-3103 x130 jeff@sdnews.com Advertising (951) 296-7794 hfine@sdnews.com www.sdnews.com San Diego Community Newspaper Group
Scripps Health has launched a COVID-19 nurse line, 888261-8431, that connects patients to a team of nurses dedicated to screening people with symptoms associated with the new coronavirus. Patients with fever and/ or respiratory symptoms s hould call the dedicated phone line first before coming to any Scripps facility. They should not just walk in and should not use the Scripps online scheduling system for appointments. Anyone who calls the nurse line will be connected to a nurse at the COVID-19 call center who will ask a series of questions designed to evaluate the caller's potential risk for coronavirus infection. As warranted, the caller will be connected to a provider via video chat for further evaluation. The nurse line is based at the organization's corporate headquarters in La Jolla, and is staffed from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday through Friday, and from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday and Sunday.
School closures and workfrom-home policies have resulted in canceled blood drives. San Diego Blood Bank collects more than half of its blood supply on bloodmobiles. An additional strain on the blood supply is expected in the coming weeks. “The U.S. is on the verge of a serious blood shortage that will lead to blood rationing and triage. We need healthy people to come out to donate SEE NEWS BRIEFS, Page 9
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