La Jolla News Nuggets: Winter Reading Challenge; Sprinkles closes; home project; Honor Roll

Library’s Winter Reading Challenge continues through January

San Diego Public Library’s Winter Reading Challenge welcomes bibliophiles of all ages to explore literature this month.

The challenge, themed “Every Picture Tells a Story,” continues through Saturday, Jan. 31, and invites participants to read five books, complete five hours of reading and/or finish five Winter Reading Challenge activities.

Those who complete the challenge can win museum passes, coupons and more. Participants also can earn up to five digital raffle tickets for an opportunity to win movie tickets and art kits in a grand-prize drawing.

To register and see a list of activities and recommended books, visit sandiego.gov/public-library/kidsandteens/winterreading. Registration also is available in person at any San Diego public library, including the La Jolla/Riford Library at 7555 Draper Ave.

Sprinkles Cupcakes’ La Jolla shop closes as chain shuts all locations

Sprinkles Cupcakes, a chain of scratch-made gourmet cupcakes, cookies and cakes, permanently closed all of its shops Dec. 31, including its location in La Jolla.

The chain, founded in 2005 in Beverly Hills by Candace Nelson and bought in 2012 by Connecticut-based private equity firm KarpReilly LLC, operated 21 stores and 25 machines that dispensed fresh cupcakes in California, Florida, Nevada, Texas, Utah and Washington, D.C.

The local location was at 8855 Villa La Jolla Drive at The Shops at La Jolla Village.

Sprinkles did not give a reason for the closure, and Nelson, who announced the news on social media, said “This isn’t how I thought the story would go. I thought Sprinkles would keep going and be around forever. I thought it was going to be my legacy.”

La Jolla Shores home project undergoing San Diego review

City of San Diego staff members will determine without a public hearing whether a home project in La Jolla Shores substantially conforms with a previously approved permit.

According to a city notice, Development Services Department staff will review the project planned for 8424 Avenida de las Ondas.

The original project, which went before the La Jolla Shores Permit Review Committee in 2021, proposed adding 906 square feet to a two-story, 4,362-square-foot house and adding 686 square feet to the garage.

The new permit application would result in an 8,072-square-foot house with an attached 792-square-foot garage, with upper- and lower-level exterior deck areas, a swimming pool, landscaping and associated site improvements.

Several La Jolla schools receive Honor Roll recognition

Educational Results Partnership’s 2025 Honor Roll includes La Jolla, Torrey Pines and Bird Rock Elementary schools, as well as Muirlands Middle School, all of which made the cut in the “scholar” category.

In addition, The Preuss School on the UC San Diego campus, which serves students from low-income households, was listed as a “star” performer.

Muirlands, Torrey Pines and La Jolla made the list for the second year in a row, while Bird Rock joined the ranks after missing out the previous year.

The annual list recognizes schools that performed “comprehensively higher” on the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress, or CAASPP, in English language arts and math and helped boost “historically underserved student populations.” It’s part of a larger national Campaign for Business and Education Excellence.

Overall, 1,834 California schools were recognized, dozens of them in the San Diego Unified School District.

View the full list of honorees at honorrollschools.com/lists.