From Todd and Christie Jenkins of the Southern California Sled Hockey Association:

The Southern California Sled Hockey Association, in partnership with PossAbilities, will present our third annual free Sled Hockey Clinic on Sunday, Sept. 4th, 2011 from 2:00 to 5:00 PM. Because of a scheduling conflict with the Ontario rink, this year's clinic will be held at IceTown, 10540 Magnolia Avenue in Riverside.

We are still putting together the roster of clinicians, but our special guest this year will be Shin Kyungmoon, a member of the South Korean national sled hockey team. Remember to dress warmly and come prepared to have fun! We will provide the sleds, sticks and safety gear. PossAbilities will provide dinner for the participants following the clinic. For more information, contact Todd S. Jenkins, program coordinator, at (909) 863-1000 or IESledHockey@aol.com. See you there!

SoCal Sled Hockey is up to #17 in the Pepsi Refresh rankings. The top 10 in the voting receive a $25,000 grant. You can continue to vote this project up in the rankings here: http://www.refresheverything.com/sledhockey or text "102873" to 73774.

The sled hockey team has posted a printable flier for convenient distribution.

Also, The Inland Empire Disabilities Resource Expo will be at the Riverside Convention Center on October 23. SoCal Sled Hockey will be there, spreading the word about our program.

Organizers for the 2011 Amgen Tour of California have selected Claremont and Mt. Baldy as new stops for the annual bicycle race.

Tour organizers passed over Big Bear Lake, due to what the city described as "logistical planning." Big Bear Lake hosted the Tour's penultimate stage last year.

The official stage start and finish locations that have been selected for the sixth annual Amgen Tour of California cycling race include: South Lake Tahoe (new for 2011), North Lake Tahoe-Northstar at Tahoe Resort (new for 2011), North Lake Tahoe-Squaw Valley USA (new for 2011), Sacramento, Auburn (new for 2011), Modesto, Livermore (new for 2011), San Jose, Seaside, Paso Robles, Solvang, Claremont (new for 2011), Mt. Baldy (new for 2011), Santa Clarita and Thousand Oaks.

Todd and Christie Jenkins, founders of the Inland Empire's first sled hockey program, are hoping to receive a major financial boost. In an e-mail, they relayed the following:

The Southern California Sled Hockey Association is currently in the running for a Pepsi Refresh grant in the amount of $25,000. If we get the grant, it will provide enough funds to purchase new sleds, sticks, safety gear and ice time for the whole program for a full season. In order to get the funding we have to be in the top ten by October 31st.

What we need people to do is vote via the Pepsi Refresh website. There are three ways to vote:

1) Log on to http://www.refresheverything.com/sledhockey and click "Vote for this idea". The first time someone votes, they will be asked to fill out a quick form for a free account, just to verify that this is a real person and not a "robot" making proxy votes. Pepsi does not send spam, and there is a box to check to opt out of future mailings. After that, we just need people to log on and vote once per day.

2) Instead (or in addition), people can send votes via text message. Text 102873 to 73774 (Pepsi) once per day. There is no sign-up here, and again no spam.

3) On Facebook, go to http://apps.facebook.com/pepsirefresh and do a search for "sled hockey" (we are the only program that will come up). This, too, is no-sign-up and no-spam.

Todd and Christie Jenkins, who coordinated a sled hockey clinic in Ontario in May, announced today via e-mail that the Inland Empire's new sled hockey team has a name: The Arctic Wildcats.

The Wildcats are having their first practice this Sunday evening from 5:30-7:30 at Center Ice Arena in Ontario (map below). Sleds and equipment are available for players to borrow, "but if you have your own equipment you are welcome to bring that. Adults, kids, and beginners are welcome to come and try the sport out."

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The new blog likes comments, go check it out.

Yucaipa High school senior Taijuan Walker was on a bus bound for his Grad Night party when he got the news: The Seattle Mariners were making him the 43rd overall pick of the 2010 draft.

The multi-talented Walker, a star basketball player who also played in the Thunderbirds' infield and outfield, becomes the second straight supplemental-round pick out of Yucaipa High. Matt Davidson was selected 35th last June by the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The only other local player taken Monday, which included the first round and the 20-pick supplemental round, was Barstow High pitcher Aaron Sanchez (34th overall to Toronto).

More details in tomorrow's Sun.

Jordan Romero, the 13-year-old from Big Bear Lake who became the youngest person ever to summit Mt. Everest on May 22, is back in New York and doing the media rounds. Courtesy of his blog, here's a preliminary list of Jordan's TV appearances Friday:

4:00 AM Today Show (NBC National) *Live*
5:45 AM Fox & (Fox National) *Live*
7:25 AM MSNBC (MSNBC National) *Live*
11:35 a.m. CNN Newsroom (CNN National) *Live*
7 p.m. 20-20 Interview (ABC National)

I'm sure I'm not the first person to stumble upon this coincidence, but after spotting the mug shot of Minnesota Twins outfielder/DH Jason Kubel (below) in today's San Bernardino Sun, I couldn't resist.

The resemblance to actor Jerry Ferrara (AKA "Turtle" from Entourage) is uncanny: