February 2011 Archives

Next time 6-year-old Tehya Rivette feeds a horse, she will not give it a lemon.

"I'm going to feed them a carrot, green apple and red apple," said Tehya, a first-grader at Pepper Tree Elementary School in Upland.

Tehya tied for first place in her grade during the school's fourth annual science fair, "So much to love about science."

Her project, "Snacktime Horsey," explored what types of snacks horses like to eat.

"They definitely didn't like the lemon," Tehya said.

There were more than 170 students in this year's science fair. Sixth-grade students are required to participate and all other students are allowed to volunteer.

"I realized this was actually very, very fun and I also got extra credit on my science for school," said 10-year-old Alec Romero, a fifth-grade student.

Romero took his favorite hobby and turned it into a science project.

He attempted to determine which directions his "Beyblades" would spin.

Beyblades are spinning tops based on a Manga comic series.

"I wanted to know the certain patterns," Romero said. "It helps people learn what to do for good combinations and in what area to move to see if they'll do good in battles."

There were 73 judges that included college students majoring in science from Chaffey Community College and Harvey Mudd, several nurses, a dentist, engineers, college professors, members of the Society of Women Engineers as well as several organizers of Tech Trek, which is an organization promoting science education through summer camps for incoming eighth grade girls.

Projects were judged by three or four judges each and their scores were averaged to determine the winners.

The top three projects from sixth grade will advance to the Regional Science Fair for Riverside, Inyo, Mono and San Bernardino Counties.

The following projects won:

Kindergarten

2^nd Place - Halee Quinonez, "The Sweet Science of Cotton Candy"

1^st Place - Luke Van Noy, "I Wonder if Celery Can Change Colors"

First Grade

3^rd Place - David Martinez, "Popcorn"

2^nd Place - Magnus Norell, "Soaking Up the Sun"

1^st Place - a tie between Tehya Rivette, "Snacktime Horsey" and Trista Danhoff, "The Big Impact"

Second Grade

3^rd Place - Olivia Comstock, "What Do Plants Like to Drink?"

2^nd Place - Jillian Orwin, "Do I Have to Water the Plants?"

1^st Place - Victoriya Ruffin, "Dissolving Fabrics"

Third Grade

3^rd Place - Renee Soler, "Osmosis in Cells"

2^nd Place - Isabelle Esparza, "The Egg and its Osmosis"

1^st Place - Katelyn Hammond, "Good For Teeth"

Fourth Grade

3^rd Place - Josephine Moncayo, "What Materials Conduct Electricity to Power a Lightbulb?"

2^nd Place - Michael Cho, "The Role of Density in Floating"

1^st Place - Adeshola Hanciles, "How Acids Affect the Rate of Rusting"

Fifth Grade

3^rd Place - David Tran, "What Fruit Produces the Most Electricity?"

2^nd Place - Sarah Carichner, "Rain, Rain, Go Away"

1^st Place and 2^nd RIMS alternate - Gabby Esparza, "How Many Lemon Batteries Will it Take to Light Up an LED Lightbulb?"

Sixth Grade

5^th Place - Kyle Della Giustina, "The Effect of Gatorade-vs-Water on 6^th graders' Pulse"

4^th Place and 1^st RIMS alternate - Calle Brady & Laura Bicksler, "The Naked Egg"

3^rd Place and advancing to RIMS - Keren Santamaria, "What Makes it Move?"

2^nd Place and advancing to RIMS - Cody Liske, "Watch Me Mold"

1^st Place and advancing to RIMS - Sade Hanciles, "Candy Chromatography"

Fun After Fifty Club in Upland will be going to Pauma Casino at 8:30 a.m. March 1.

Cost is $20 per person with $5 back in slot play.

The group will leave the George M. Gibson Senior Center at 8:30 a.m. and will return by 6 p.m.

Attendees do not have to be members of the group to go on the trip.

Trips are the first Tuesday of every month.

For more information or to make reservations call Lisa at 909-982-8754.

The Upland Chamber of Commerce is daring business owners to be successful.

The Chamber is hosting "Dare to be successful," from 6 to 8 p.m. Feb. 24 at their office, 215 N. Second Ave. Ste. D in downtown.

The event will help business owners protect themselves from the five business dangers.

Dusty Callow from AdviCoach will teach attendees to address current issues of small business including time, team and money.

The seminar will run every Thursday evening for five weeks.

Cost is $125 for chamber members and $299 for non-chamber members. Cost to enroll in the class and become a chamber member is from $399.

For more information and to register call 909-204-4465.

The Upland Chamber of Commerce is hosting an economic development forum from 7:30 to 8 a.m. on Feb. 22 at their office, 215 N. Second Ave. Ste. D in downtown.

The forum meets monthly with city and school representatives to discuss issues that affect the vitality of the Upland business community.

The committee's primary responsibility is to create and support a positive business climate.

The meeting is informational only.

For more information call 909-204-4465.

A group of Pioneer Junior High School students held a successful lemonade stand fundraiser Saturday on 18^th Street.

The girls, sponsored by the school's literary club, sold lemonade, deserts and duct tape art to raise money for breast cancer.

They collected $1,680, which will all go to the Avon Foundation for Women.

"It was amazing," said Debra Johnson, mother of one of the organizers, Sara, 12.

Police officers, mail carriers and residents stopped by the stand.

There were many people who donated money to the cause without purchasing anything.

Every person received a pink ribbon.

Johnson's mother, Barbara Jo Kirshbaum is known throughout the community for her work to raise money for breast cancer.

Kirshbaum has raised more than $1 million and participated in more than 100 walks for the cure.

The Upland Public Library is offering a teen after-school movie from 2 to 4 p.m. Feb. 23 at the Carnegie Cultural Center at 123 D St.

Teens can enjoy a free movie as well as refreshments.

Those interested can call the library for film titles at 909-931-4200.

The Upland Public Library at 450 N. Euclid Ave. will be closed Feb. 21 in observance of President's Day.

The Upland Chamber of Commerce is having a February business mixer from 5 to 7 p.m. Feb. 15 at the Sterling Insurance Group at 494 N. Mountain Ave. Suite 105 in Upland.

They will also have a February monthly luncheon from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Feb. 24 at the Magic Lamp Inn at 8189 Foothill Blvd. in Rancho Cucamonga.

For more information call the chamber at 909-204-4465.

Residents who ever wondered "Who's that lady?" when looking at the statue at Euclid Avenue and Foothill Boulevard may want to attend a seminar at the Upland Public Library.

The seminar, from 2 to 3 p.m. Saturday, will share facts and some fiction about the Madonna of the Trail.

The library is at 450 N. Euclid Ave.

The Upland Woman's Club is hosting a Bunco party from 2 to 4:30 p.m. Sunday at the clubhouse, 590 N. Second Ave., Upland.

Donation is $8.

There will be deserts, Bunco prizes and door prizes.

Family and friends are invited.

To make reservations call 909-981-1290.

Monday's city council meeting has been re-scheduled for Tuesday due Valentine's Day.

A public hearing regarding implementation of a fee to skilled nursing facilities for non-emergency 9-1-1 calls has also been moved.

Over the past year, five facilities in the city's southeast quadrant have generated 487 incidents, of which only 146 were actual emergencies.
The facilities are all within the Fire Station 1's district resulting in longer response times to real emergencies in the city, said Fire Chief Michael Antonucci.

The rate is about $490 per hour and will be billed to the nursing facilities, not the patients.

The facilities will not be billed for true emergencies.

Antonucci said the plan to implement a fee has not changed since the police and fire committee brought the idea to the council on Jan. 24.

This will be the first reading of the ordinance. A second reading will be held at a later council meeting.

"It's still same proposal just we have to take it to a public hearing to give anybody that is for or against a chance to speak," said Stephen Dunn, the city's interim city manager and finance director.

Also on the agenda:

Upland Councilman Gino Filippi said he is concerned the city may be struggling with providing top level services to the community due to its limited resources.

"It appears to me that the non-emergency 9-1-1 calls are a way of shifting the burden of certain medical needs of these facility's patients from those businesses to the City of Upland," Filippi said. "This fee is intended to reverse that trend."

The meeting will be at 7 p.m. in City Hall at 460 N. Euclid Ave.

Karen Alameddine of ABACUS Accounting and Business Services will help residents avoid costly mistakes on their tax deductions.

Alameddine will cover 19 money-saving deductions that may apply on 2010 returns during a seminar from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Feb. 26 in the Upland Public Library multipurpose room at 450 N. Euclid Ave.

The free program is part of the library's Meet the Expert Series.

For more information call 909-931-4205.

The Rancho Cucamonga Women's Connection is hosting "Celebrate love & life," from 11:15 a.m. to 1 p.m. Feb. 8 at Upland Hills Country Club, 1231 E. 16^th St.

Kirk Bauer, executive director from Alternate Avenues, a resource center for "women in crisis," will explain it's available services so women can make better choices when all the facts are presented. The center is in Montclair and Upland.

Soloist Leilani Waddell will perform love songs and speaker Yvonne Karlin, a radio announcer, will tell "how God helps make every day a love song."

Cost to attend the program and buffet luncheon with dessert is $16.

Reservations can be made by calling 909-987-7069.

The Rancho Cucamonga Women's Connection is sponsored by Stonecroft Ministries.

Route 66 Toastmasters is sponsoring a communication workshop in five bi-monthly sessions from 6:45 to 8:30 p.m. beginning Friday.

The workshop, at the International House of Pancakes Restaurant at 80 N. Euclid Ave. in Upland, will run through April 1.

Cost for materials and fees for the workshop is $25.

Participants will learn the fundamentals of public speaking including the use of gestures, vocal variety, organizing a speech, effective evaluations and the art of extemporaneous speaking.

Route 66 Toastmasters usually meets from 7 to 8:30 p.m. the first and third Friday of each month the Upland IHOP.

With more than 250,000 members in more than 12,000 clubs across 90 countries, Toastmasters International is the world's largest educational organization dedicated to increasing community and leadership skills, according to a Toastmasters news release.

For more information call Richard Snyder at 909-946-6574 or e-mail him at tmrsnyder@verizon.net

The Uplanders Club is inviting the public to their monthly general meeting and luncheon at 11 a.m. Feb. 9 at Black Angus, 3640 Porche Way in Ontario.

The guest speaker will be Sue Andrews from "Women Heart."

RSVP by Friday at 909-624-3234.

The Uplanders is a non-profit organization that fosters friendship through social activities and community service.

The club meets the second Wednesday of each month at different local restaurants.

Helping Out Pets Everyday has an opportunity to win a $5,000 prize through the Winter 2011 GuideStar-KIMBIA Non-profit Giveaway.

Thousands of items have been donated to the Upland Animal Shelter for their yard sale Saturday.

From 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., there will be furniture, clothes, electronics, tools and more laid out on the lawn next to the shelter, 1275 San Bernardino Road.

Proceeds will go to help the dogs and cats in the shelter.

For more information call 909-931-4185.

A free seminar on heart health will be from 6 to 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Inland Naturopathic Medical Center at 314 N. Mountain Ave. in Upland.

The seminar, "Living better through heart health: understanding Cardiovascular Disease & Risk Factors in Women," will be presented by Dr. Cynthia Preston.

As the leading cause of death in women, heart disease is less likely to be identified and aggressively treated in women than men, resulting in more cardiovascular events such as stroke and heart attacks.

Through new innovative research and predictive testing, Preston will show women how to identify unique risk factors and understand how natural treatments can both treat and decrease the risk of heart disease.  

Mark Bertone has resigned from the Upland Planning Commission, leaving a spot vacant.

The city is accepting applications for the commission position as well as the Upland Library Board.

In order to be considered for either city committee, applicants must submit their applications by Thursday to the City Clerk's Department.

Applications can be obtained by calling 909-931-4120 or e-mailing smendenhall@ci.upland.ca.us

Grease is the word at Upland High School.

Students school's theater department will be acting, dancing and singing in their rendition of the musical "Grease" later this week.

Performances are at 7 p.m. tonight, 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday as well as 2:30 p.m. Sunday in the Upland High School auditorium, 565 W. 11^th St.

Cost is $10 for regular admission and $8 with an Upland High School Associated Student Body membership.

Marie Ponce, 17, will play the part of "Sandy Olsson" and Justin Budds, 17, will play "Danny Zuko."

"I love Grease," Ponce said. "I was so excited to do this. It was like my dream."