TOMMY LASORDA TO SPEAK AT THE SENIOR LITTLE LEAGUE WESTERN REGIONAL TOURNAMENT

The following article is from guest contributor Sid Robinson from the blog Sid's Side.

UPLAND, Calif. – Eleven champion teams will converge in Ontario and Upland from Aug. 4-11 to determine the best team in the West at the Senior Little League Western Regional Tournament.

The tournament, which will be held at Jay Littleton Field in Ontario and Memorial Park in Upland, is the final event before the Senior Little League World Series in Bangor, Maine, featuring teams with players ages 14-16.

State champion teams from Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Northern California, Oregon, Southern California and Washington, along with the host team from California District 23, will compete in this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to earn a trip to the Senior Little League World Series.

Opening Day activities will begin at Memorial Park with the kick off on Tuesday, Aug. 4, with a pancake breakfast for $3 hosted by the Upland Fire Department from 7-10 a.m. Outback Steakhouse will serve lunch for $5 from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Former Los Angeles Dodgers Hall of Fame Manager Tommy Lasorda will speak at 10 a.m., along with Upland Mayor John “J.P” Pomierski.

A home run derby featuring two players from each participating team will follow the ceremonies.

Four games are scheduled for every day from Aug. 4-8, with games at each field at 4 and 7 p.m. Two games will be played on Aug. 9, leading up to the tournament semi-finals on Aug. 10 at Jay Littleton Field. The championship game will be played at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 11.

The 4 p.m. Opening Day contests feature Montana against Northern California at Jay Littleton Field and Arizona vs. Southern California at Memorial Park. At 7 p.m., Hawaii will play Oregon at Jay Littleton and Nevada will play the District 23 team at Memorial Park.

Many local organizations have contributed either with financial, service and other non-monitory support. The most notable supporters include Doubletree Hotel, Mark Christopher Chevrolet, Aires Hotel, Pro Nine, Colonies Partners, and the City of Upland.

A complete schedule and more tournament information can be found here.

For more information, contact Ralph Cavallo at (951) 990-4595.



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Concert in the Park tonight at Magnolia Park

Night two of the series is tonight. The band is the Ravelers and the movie is IGOR. I haven't heard of either but it all starts at 7:00 (Movie after the band at about 8:45). It should be a good time.

For a complete list of events and times over the following weeks see the complete schedule here.

See you there.

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Upland Teachers get good news....more to come?

Seventy six employees of the Upland Unified School District were handed lay-off notices in March and now 45 of those notices have been recinded. That's pretty crazy to think that if I got laid off tomorrow I might be able to negotiate my way out of it. Not happening.

Part of me is irked that my taxes were raised to pay for that but I guess I can suck it up and just be happy that for once some high paying jobs are being saved.

Some employees are going to take early retirement (I'm sure an excellent package is ready for them) and on the other end, class sizes will increase by two which isn't a big deal really. It's about a 10% increase, but everyone I know that still has a job has had their workload increase due to layoffs. I myself am doing a job where I was 1 of 8 three years ago and now I'm one of 2 covering even more territory. Compensation has obviously not kept pace but you won't hear me complaining as long as the checks don't bounce and my kids have insurance.

Upland does a pretty good job of educating students so there shouldn't be much drop off.

I hope that with more people out of work, more parents are signing on to help out in classes and that might offset the layoffs but I might be waaaay off.

(The picture above is awesome because it brings back fond (mostly) memories. It's the Kindergarten building over at Sierra Vista Elementary. My teacher was Mrs. Pond and I still remember playing Duck, Duck, Goose in the playground out back. Those were the days...)

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The wheels of justice move slow

Andy Megaw pleaded not guilty to 6 counts of child molestation this week. It seems like the this thing is going to take forever, I'm sure all party's involved would prefer this thing speed up a little.

For those unfamiliar with this case , check out the Crime and Scandals link over on right---->
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Uplanders don't like Gay people in their yogurt shops

So, the Gay Straight Alliance of Upland High School was all set to hold a fundraiser at Yogurtime in Upland. The some customers called up and complained that they would stop coming there if the event moved forward. I know some people care what other people do in their private lives but that's not my thing (on the flip side, seeing dudes make out in public isn't my thing either). Is it really necessary to boycott a place because they hold a gay fundraiser?

I refuse to believe that Upland residents are behind these threats. Pffft...I know it wasn't Claremont either. It's got to be those Montclaireos...eons...ites...whatever. I know it was you Montclair. I told you to stay below 7th anyway! You people are only allowed in Golden Spoons.

Now is a bad time to be threatening businesses with the economy all fouled up.

Yogurtime is located in the old Miller's Outpost shopping center on 8th and Mountain. Go buy some yogurt there. I don't even know if it's good yogurt but if gay people like it, it's probably pretty good right?

I'll let IER review it if he chooses cuz that is his thing...Reviewing that is not the gay thing. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

DB's write up.

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Peppertree Elementary takes a direct hit from John and Ken

So here's the deal, fair and balanced as possible at this point. John and Ken of KFI AM 640 radio (aka the highest rated talk radio show in the COUNTRY) started the 3 o'clock by announcing that they had just received the best email in the history of the show. That's 20 plus years.

Listen here

The basics of the email were: (this is one side of the story filtered through radio show hosts) Parent of kindergarten teacher tells students to wear pink on "Pink Friday" or they won't get a toy to play with at school. Child worries about pink clothes. Mom dresses child in pink so kid can get a toy. Mom complains to Principal (TY Tibbi) who agrees that bribe kids is not a good idea. Mom tells principal that complaint should be anonymous so as to not incur retribution from teacher to student. Principal tells teacher of complaint and tells teacher the name. Teacher tells class in front of Parent and other parents that because parent (teacher identifies our hero) no one gets a toy. Parent complains to principal that it should have been anonymous. Principal takes teachers side.

Again, this is one side of the story and there may be a perfectly reasonable explanations for all of this. My questions still are...Why is the teachers union using kids to get attention? It looks foolish. For one, I would have worn a Berka to school if I thought I would gain favor with a teacher. Two, kids know nothing about the topic. Teachers should have told there students not to wear pink and that protesting was the teachers job and the kids should stay out of it. If the teacher gets laid off, have the kids failed? Also, I may get laid off soon so if the teachers can have the students wear green next Friday for me that would be great. Green for money right? It's better than pink for pink slips.

So, any Upland teachers want to give me their side of the story...leave a comment.

Edit, to add a little more balance I will says this, even if all of this is true, the principal and teacher are not the devils that J&K would have you believe. It's pretty standard for a boss to tell a subordinate who complains about them. It's kind of up to the subordinate to not let on that they know and just fix the issue. Also, I imagine when belong to a union as strong as the Teacher's Union, going against the union will cause problems so a class with kids with no pink shirts would have been looked upon harshly by the Union.

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Peppertree Elementary runs afoul of Jon & Ken

If you haven't heard, today was "Pink Friday" at schools in California. Teachers have asked their students to wear pink in support of teachers.

A parent of a kindergarten student at Peppertree emailed John and Ken at KFI AM 640, to complain about the teacher "bribing" her kid to wear pink by promising a toy. I'll have more details tonight.



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Trouble at St. Anthony's Church

Don't look now but there's trouble in a Catholic church. I'll give you a minute to recover from the shock....OK, it could be worse right?

Apparently Pastor Charles Schultz isn't exactly a "Mother Theresa". The following are a partial list of complaints from both parishioners and staff:

-Using profanity
-Being a bully
-Made a derogatory remark
-"Schultz took his thumb and pushed it into the girl's spinal cord"
-"grabbed a 15-year-old girl by both arms because she was not praying correctly"

Bishop Gerald Barnes of the Diocese of San Bernardino has placed this guy on six month leave while he decides what to do with him but it appears Upland is not in his future...other than Upland PD anyway.

Really??? You need more than an hour to consider this Bishop? Schultz's strengths clearly are not in dealing with the public. Maybe a Union Boss or Sports Agent. Surely they can find something for him in another city where he works behind the scenes.

I don't belong to the church but I heard that people were told that Schultz was taking a medical leave. Yikes!! Why is the truth so hard to say. Disiplinary action does not equal Medical Leave. People apparently loved Father Ned but he may have been forced into retirement to make way for this guy. Another Yikes. Schultzy may have a history of bad behavior. Yikes three, you're out.

DB has the details.

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Upland Hills Golf Course: 17th Hole

Next up on our journey through Upland Hills golf course is a nice break after that long par 4. It's a short par 3 with a hungry bunker up front.

Here's your pro tip from Upland Hills Golf Course's General Manager/Director of Golf Rick Parillo:

The 17th hole measures 139yds with an intimidating green side bunker that hides the exact pin location. The green is not wide, so club selection is critical.
Good luck.

Good luck indeed golfers.

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Upland Concert and a Movie in the Park series

If you haven't been to Magnolia Park on Wednesdays in the summer, your missing out on true community event. Especially if you have kids. Formula is Movie+Concert+Free=Great Time.

Held on the lawn, on the east side of the Park and Rec building at Magnolia park, the evening starts at 7:00PM. Generally a band plays classic songs until the sun goes down. The Answer, is one band that is a frequent guest and they put on a very good show. The pic above is from their show last year in Rancho. At about 8:45, they show a family movie.

A snack bar on site but we stop prior and pick food up from wherever.

The highlight of the summer for my family is the kids swap meet, which is held on one of the Wednesdays right before the concert. Last year I spent $30 and probably got about $150 worth of toys.

Expect me to have a booth this year.

The schedule starts this year on July 8 and will continue every Wednesday through August 12. See ya' there.

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Upland Teachers and lay-offs

Conventional wisdom says work for the Government and you'll always have a job...or is it you'll never have to work a day in your life? Anyway, budgets have been slashed and as many as 78 Upland Teachers could get laid off.

I sure hope that UUSD is running lean in the administrative departments before they go knocking off teachers. Also, I have no idea what a Principle makes but if any more than 10% more than the highest paid teacher, it's wrong.

Really, you don't even need a principle. Just hire a 60 year old man to stroll threw the playground thumping a paddle in his hand and job done.

At Sierra Vista, we all thought Mr Barton and Mr. Riley had had paddles. No one spread any rumors that Mrs. Hughes had a paddle but that's just because kids don't believe women will swat them...unless they're nuns.

I can joke about this because I'm a pro at getting laid-off.

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Mr. Sundstrom is....inappropriate at best

OK, well, here's another pervert that somehow got an all access pass to our local schools. 47 year old Daniel Harold Sundstrom, a teacher assistant at Pioneer Jr. High was sentenced today to 270 days in Jail after pleading no contest to attempted sexual battery of a 14 year old female student.

This guy is married with has kids (at least one) and yet he was on Myspace telling this 14 girl he wanted to have sex with her. WTF? Hasn't this guy seen Dateline?

It's about time to start taking someone to task over at Upland USD. Background checks...your not doing them right.

One silver lining that has come out of this is that girl is obviously super brave. Credit to her for pointing out this guy.

I also feel bad for the family of this guy. Total victims here.

Inside Socal has more details plus a picture of this guy.

One note, for me this story does not taint all Upland teachers. It does show there might be a problem here but in no way am I saying that all or even a majority are perverts. I know one teacher here and I went to school here k-12 and not once have I run across anyone that is even capable of this.

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Concert at Memorial Park for Ill Upland resident

If you want to go mosh for a cause this weekend, the place to be is Memorial Park. A concert is being held to raise funds for lead singer of the band Vinyl Prophets, who has Leukemia and needs your help to be able to afford the 6.5k a month that the medication costs.

So put on you black socks, black shoes, black t-shirt and shorts and head on over.

To listen to some of their music, check out the Myspace.

For more info about the concert, check out DB.

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Upland Hall Of Fame: The Pipeline

Long before towns were building free skate parks to keep skaters off of park benches, we had to have Mom or Dad drive us to "Pipeline". Not only that, but we had to pay to get in and have our own membership card. At soccer practice, kids would lie and tell other that they actually skated the "Combi" or "The Monster Bowl".

I never really skated the Combi or the Monster Bowl but I did ride the deepest part of the trench that led to the Monster Bowl. The combi was a combination Bowl on one side and Pool on the other. It's the picture above on the right. The pool the square part in the back while the bowl is just below and to the right of the camera man.

I don't remember the full layout but there was probably 4-5 small bowls, the Trench, Monster Bowl, Combi and of course, the most picturesque part, the Full Pipe leading into a Bowl (Pictured above left).

Southern California was the epicenter of skateboarding culture in the 80's and the best place in SoCal to skate was The Pipeline.

Located in Upland on the north side of Arrow between Benson and Central stood this Mecca of Skate Parks. It also had a BMX track but it was rarely ever used when I was there. It closed in the late eighties and has since been torn down. I'm sure rising insurance costs did them in.

For being the only real World Famous from Upland, The Pipeline is my second UHOF Inductee

Here's a few of Videos
Father and Son riding the Full Pipe
Last Ride of Combi while tractor is ripping the place apart
Some guys skate the whole park
Upland's new free skatepark. Kids are so much better now than we were in the 80's

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Upland Picture Of The Week: McCarthy Park

Here's a recent picture of McCarthy Park. It has just about everything you'd want in a park. Playgrounds with varying degrees of difficulty, walking path, lots of grass, basketball court, nice neighborhood, misters, outdoor gym for pull ups, push ups etc.

Plus if you have any young boys, there's a fire station on the north side and the Firemen are usually out washing the trucks. ...Read more!

New sports park coming to Upland

Have you wondered what all the recent construction is over in the gravel pit north of Cable Airport is? It turns out were getting another sports park.

It'll take a few years to complete so don't hold your breath but at least we can all sleep better now that we know it won't be a third Home Depot. ...Read more!

More details from the Valencia molestaion case

When I started this blog I was hoping that the worst thing I would have to write about was School Rankings, high youth sports fees and other inconveniences. Unfortunately, the case against James Andrew Megaw just keeps getting worse as details come out.

Once again I'll refer to the pro's at the Inside Socal for the details.

For all involved I just hope this things ends as quickly as possible and that justice is served.
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Elementary School Rankings

My kids are getting close to school age so my wife and I have been looking at Elementary School rankings on school-rankings.com. The ranking are from 1-10, 10 being the best and the rankings are as follows:

9 - Magnolia, Pepper Tree, and Valencia
7 - Foothill Knolls, Sierra Vista, and Sycamore
6 - Baldy View, Citrus, and Cabrillo
5 - Upland Elementary

The rankings are based on the Academic Performance Index in 2007.

As you can see on the map I made above, no school is north of Foothill is below a 7 and no school south of Foothill is above a 6. Theoretically the further north you go, the better your education. This seems to be a good argument for school vouchers.

Personally I don't feel that the faculty, class size, money,or race are at fault for the lower rankings, I put the blame squarely on the parents who's kids are not taking school seriously. In my limited experience, I've found in most cases. that kids will get whatever grades they can get away with at home. That being said, I'd rather have my kids go to the schools where the parents put a priority on education.

The good news for Upland here is that no school is currently below average.

Update: For the record, I attended Sierra Vista in the 80's. ...Read more!

Valencia teacher pleads not guilty to molestation

42 year old James Andrew Megaw, pleaded not guilty the charges that he molested 3 boys and 3 girls ranging in age from 7-9. The alleged incidences took place between 2006 and 2008.

Megaw's lawyer said Megaw was in a "state of shock" over the allegations that he sexually touched these kids outside of their clothes.

These things have a tendency to snow ball and given the fact that he taught at Baldy View from 1995-1999 and Valencia from 1999-present, I would not be shocked to see more claims surface.

For more detail, check out DB's full article. ...Read more!