La Jolla News Nuggets: Squirrel petition, church expansion, Bird Rock runner, more

Petition started to ‘save the Windansea squirrels’

An online petition has been created to ask the city of San Diego to stop using chemical agents as a means of population control for squirrels that frequent the Windansea area of La Jolla.

The petition on change.org was created by area resident Molly Bowman Styles and is titled “Save the Windansea Squirrels.” It had more than 165 signatures as of Aug. 4.

“The city of San Diego is poisoning the squirrels who live and play along the bluffs above Windansea Beach,” the petition reads. “Killing squirrels with poison not only is dangerous to the poor squirrels, it’s also hazardous to birds, other wildlife and dogs who encounter the poisoned carcasses. Poisoning the squirrels of Windansea may be the city’s most cost-effective option to prevent bluff erosion, but it’s also the most cruel and inhumane.”

The petition also encourages signers to contact San Diego City Council President Joe LaCava and Mayor Todd Gloria to “express your opposition to using our taxpayer dollars to exterminate the squirrels who bring joy and life to our Windansea neighborhood.”

The use of chemicals is one of the city’s methods for rodent control. As previously reported by the La Jolla Light, the Parks & Recreation Department has a certified vendor “to identify areas of overpopulation and to perform the necessary abatement services as needed,” according to city spokesman Benny Cartwright.

Methods include a combination of techniques including habitat modification and, “when population numbers require it, eradication,” Cartwright said.

The use of chemicals, he added, is considered only “when other options have been exhausted.”

All city staff members who perform grounds maintenance are trained in integrated pest management, a strategy for “the long-term management of the equilibrium in our environment,” Cartwright said.

Sea Change Church expansion gets Planning Commission hearing

A plan to expand La Jolla’s Sea Change Church will get a hearing by the San Diego Planning Commission next week.

The project would add 2,270 square feet to the church, formerly named La Jolla Christian Fellowship, at 627 Genter St., including more space on the first and second floors and creating a third floor.

Other planned changes include restroom improvements, additional landscaping and making the education building more accessible for people with disabilities.

Many of the upgrades are intended to improve spaces where children gather. The project does not propose additional parking.

During previous local and city hearings, concerns were raised about not adding any parking as part of the project. However, city of San Diego project manager Robin MacCartee previously said additional parking is not needed because the church is within a half-mile of a current or planned major transit stop. There currently is a bus stop within a half-mile, and MacCartee said a bus route was planned to stop there.

The project is scheduled to go before the Planning Commission during its meeting beginning at 9 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 14. It will be streamed online at bit.ly/3U8UwEN.

Bird Rock half marathoner schedules last of 50 runs

Bird Rock resident John Newsam, who is looking to run a half marathon in all 50 states, is on pace to reach his goal by the end of the year. In fact, his 50th and final race already is on his schedule.

Newsam, a former president of the Bird Rock Community Council, started chasing his dream on his 70th birthday, Jan. 1, 2024.

At a rate of about one race every two weeks since, he has run half marathons in Arizona, Nevada, Utah, California, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, West Virginia, Ohio, Iowa, Florida, Alaska, Montana, Missouri, Tennessee, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, New Jersey, Connecticut, Oklahoma, New York, New Mexico, Louisiana and Texas.

The rest of his races this year have been scheduled, including the Rehoboth Beach Half Marathon in Delaware on Saturday, Dec. 6, his 50th and final.

To follow Newsam’s progress, go to instagram.com/johns50states.

Application filed to vacate some of Desert View Drive

An application has been filed with the city of San Diego for a public right-of-way vacation for excess space that had been reserved for future street purposes between 5895 and 5915 Desert View Drive in La Jolla.

In a street vacation, the city relinquishes the right of way or public service easement to an adjacent property owner or owners.

The Desert View proposal is undergoing environmental review, and the decision to approve or deny it will be made at a public hearing that has not yet been scheduled.

La Jolla institute looking into new targets for allergy therapies

Each year, about 2.6 million Americans receive allergy immunotherapies, commonly called allergy shots, to help address common allergens. While it is known that such therapies contain small amounts of an allergen and that allergen exposure desensitizes immune cells and helps prevent allergic reactions, scientists still don’t have a complete understanding of how allergy immunotherapies work.

Now, scientists at the La Jolla Institute for Immunology are investigating how allergy immunotherapies target the immune cells that drive dangerous allergic reactions by examining the immune system’s T cells in more detail than ever before. T cells are considered important because they “remember” past exposures to allergens and they alert other immune cells when an allergen is present.

The research also has helped scientists zero in on a specialized type of T cells, called Th2 cells, as the main targets of allergy immunotherapy.

They determined that if they can desensitize Th2 cells to an allergen, it likely will dampen harmful symptoms.

The researchers plan to broaden their studies and investigate other T cell subtypes. They also plan to look at gene expression to better understand which T cells are targeted during allergy immunotherapy.

Understanding those fundamentals may reveal ways to alter allergy immunotherapies to make them more effective for more patients.

UC San Diego named region’s top hospital again

UC San Diego Health again sits atop the San Diego market’s “Best Hospitals” ranking from U.S. News & World Report for 2025-26. But what would have been a three-year streak of making the publication’s honor roll came to a halt.

UCSD was named No. 1 in the region for the sixth consecutive year.

It was ranked seventh in the nation in obstetrics and gynecology and eighth in pulmonology and lung surgery. It also was listed in the top 50 in cancer, cardiology and vascular surgery, diabetes and endocrinology, gastroenterology and gastrointestinal surgery, geriatrics, urology, and neurology and neurosurgery. But rankings in some categories — ear, nose and throat care and orthopedics — slipped.

UCSD also ranked fifth among California institutions after a four-way tie among UCLA Health, UC San Francisco Health, Stanford Health Care and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

Another La Jolla institution, Scripps Memorial Hospital, finished 24th in the nation in cardiovascular specialties, 13th in diabetes and endocrinology and 18th in orthopedics.

See the full rankings at health.usnews.com/best-hospitals/area.