SAN DIEGO (SDJW) — Mayor Todd Gloria will speak at groundbreaking ceremonies Tuesday, Jan. 23, for the future Joan and Irwin Jacobs Performing Arts Center that will be built at Liberty Station in a renovated Naval Building 178. The estimated $38.9 million project will add a theater and support spaces, while refurbishing the facade of the historic building that was constructed during World War II at the Naval Training Center (NTC). Irwin Jacobs, cofounder of Qualcomm, and his wife Joan are the lead donors of the project, which will become the home of the Cygnet Theatre. The performing arts center will be “a true anchor tenant for our campus and community,” commented Lisa Johnson, NTC Foundation President and CEO.
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The late actress Marilyn Monroe, beloved at the Hotel del Coronado for her role in the 1959 movie comedy Some Like It Hot, which was filmed at the hotel, is a historic figure whose home in the Brentwood section of Los Angeles ought to be preserved, the 5-member Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission had decided unanimously over the objections of Glory of the Snow, LLC, the home’s corporate owner. The issue goes next to the Los Angeles City Council’s Planning and Land Use Management Committee for a recommendation and then to the full City Council. Monroe, born Norma Jeane Mortenson, became a Jew by choice in 1956 when she married playwright Arthur Miller.
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Chabad of La Costa seeks volunteer drivers to deliver soup and challah from its kitchen to shut-ins in North County Coastal cities on Friday afternoons. Drivers also get soup and challah. If you’re interested, contact Rabbi Yeruchem Elifort via this email.
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Israeli pianist Inon Barnatan and Metropolitan Opera soprano Renée Fleming will perform at the La Jolla Music Society at 8 p.m., Wednesday, February 14 at the Baker-Baum Concert Hall, 7600 Fay Avenue, La Jolla. The all-new program is based on her Grammy-winning album “Voice of Nature: The Anthropocene.” At 6 p.m. on the evening before the concert Fleming will participate in a panel titled “Music and the Mind,” exploring the power of music as it relates to health and the brain. Barnatan serves as the music director for the La Jolla Music Society’s Summerfest.
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Carla Sitton Berg, a Brazilian singer who with a 3-piece band performs songs in English, Hebrew, Portuguese, Spanish and Ladino, will be the featured entertainment at the March 2 gala at Ner Tamid Synagogue in Poway. Festivities are planned from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. by the synagogue located at 15318 Pomerado Road… In another news item culled from Ner Tamid’s bulletin, “The Donut Song” by Cantor Heather Seid has become available on several internet platforms. Here’s a link to a preview.
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Beth Jacob Congregation maintains a Torah-value lending library for children created by Yosef Simon. According to the Orthodox congregation’s bulletin, more than 65 books are “available for kids of all ages to borrow, read, and enjoy. Reading levels range from beginning readers and picture books to chapter books for elementary, middle, and even high schoolers. There are novels, leveled-readers, non-fiction, biographies, mysteries, Torah books, and lots more! All books are from frum publishers with Torah values.”
–JEWISH POLITICAL BEAT–
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Rep. Sara Jacobs has coauthored legislation to provide grants for hospitals and clinics to build more facilities for abortion care. She explained that many health care facilities in states like California are being stretched to their limit with new patients from other states where abortions are restricted. “Some clinics in my state have even received 4 times as many abortion patients since the fall of Roe,” Jacobs said. Principal cosponsors with Jacobs are Congresswomen Dr. Yadira Caraveo of Colorado, Judy Chu of California, and Veronica Escobar of Texas. Among organizations endorsing the bill is the National Council of Jewish Women.
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San Diego City Councilwoman Dr. Jen Campbell noted in a recent newsletter that “On Monday, January 8, 2024 the City Council approved the Council’s 2024 Committee Assignments. In 2024, I will continue as the Chair of the Community and Neighborhood Services Committee, Member of the Environment, Public Safety, and Economic Development and Intergovernmental Relations Committees. I will also continue as one of the City’s appointees to the San Diego River Conservancy Board. ” Campbell also released one survey inviting constituents to say what qualities they would like to see in whoever is chosen to succeed retiring Police Chief David Nisleit. Another survey seeks opinions about what proposed capital improvements should take priority in Balboa Park.
–OBITUARY NOTICE–
Funeral services for Jay Hurwitz will be conducted at noon Tuesday at the Home of Peace cemetery, 3668 Imperial Avenue, with shiva at the home of Marilyn Stern. Hurwitz is survived by his sister Diane Kutner, according to notices sent out by Young Israel of San Diego and Beth Jacob Congregation.
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SDJW staff report