A Star is Born: Meet Mocha

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Shelter Dog Stars as “Sandy” in Local Production of Annie

A talented and friendly terrier-blend who became a local stage star after a scout “discovered” her at a County shelter is ready to trade the limelight for a loving forever home.

  In May, “Mocha” was housed at County Animal Services’ shelter in Bonita when she was discovered by a trainer looking for a dog to play Little Orphan Annie’s pet “Sandy” in a production of Annie at Vista’s Moonlight Theater.

Mocha proved a talented canine actress who delighted audiences in the musical that closed Saturday. Trainer Alex Kuty, is also been Mocha’s foster mom, said Mocha played her part in front of 1,000 people, five nights a week, for three weeks.

“Mocha is an example of the high quality and friendly pets available at our animal shelters,” said Dawn Danielson, Director of Animal Services. “We are so proud of her.”

In Annie, a lovable orphan girl is adored and adopted by Oliver “Daddy” Warbucks; now that the production is over, Mocha will be available for adoption at the County animal shelter in Carlsbad so she can find her forever home too.

Mocha would like to thank the cast and crew of the show for giving her an opportunity to star in Annie and act as an ambassador for all shelter animals, showing the public how amazing shelter animals can be! 

Applications to adopt Mocha will be accepted until Aug. 11. The application is available at the County Animal Service’s website at http://www.sddac.com/docs/Special_Adoption.pdf and can be faxed to 760-431-8401 or delivered to our shelter at 2481 Palomar Airport Road in Carlsbad.

Five years old, Mocha was relinquished by her family at the County animal shelter in Bonita earlier this year. She enjoys interacting with people and going for long walks; she would prefer being the only pet in her new forever home. Staff members and her foster parent will pick the best match for Mocha among the applicants.

Remember, whenever you are looking for a new pet, please check your local animal shelters first! 

For more information, contact the County Department of Animal Services at 619-767-2675 or visit www.sddac.com.

Employee Wellness Survey

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2012 Survey: https://www.cosdfeedback.com/se.ashx?s=5A22C649587E3F3C

The 2012 Survey email inadvertently included a link to the article below from 2011. A link to the current survey is above. Any dates should be referenced from the email, not the article.

 

San Diego County is committed to the health and wellness of its workforce. The Human Resources Department is partnering with the Health and Human Services Agency to launch a comprehensive and expanded Wellness Program for County employees and their dependents in January of 2012. This joint effort will support the County’s “Live Well, San Diego!: Building Better Health” initiative.

The survey is intended to collect valuable information from County employees which will be utilized in the final Wellness Program design. We want to encourage all County employees to take a few minutes to participate in this survey and to help DHR and HHSA in developing our future Wellness Program activities.

You can complete the Employee Wellness Survey by clicking on the following link:

now closed.

Please complete the confidential survey by August 19, 2011. Thank you in advance for your participation.

What does the Public Safety Realignment Mean for the County?

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The way the County deals with criminals will soon change significantly as the state shifts responsibility for thousands of offenders to local law enforcement. The changes are required by the state’s Public Safety Realignment plan. Yesterday Chief Probation Officer Mack Jenkins was joined by the Sheriff, District Attorney, Public Defender and Health and Human Services Agency Director to outline the impacts to their organizations and the communities they serve at a presentation to the Board of Supervisors.

 

It is important that you are aware of the significance of the state’s decision to shift this responsibility to the County.  Please take a few minutes to watch this video, which describes the situation and the steps we will take to address the state’s actions.  

HHSA Participates in Health Fair for East African Families

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Did you know that San Diego County is home to a large Somali community? U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s immigration statistics cite San Diego as a primary U.S destination for East African immigrant and refugee families. Our local population is now estimated at close to 12,000 and growing. At the same time, studies report that local East African communities need substantial education and services covering general and mental health. To help serve that need, several HHSA employees recently presented health information to approximately 300 attendees at Somali Family Service of San Diego’s (SFS) third annual Health Fair in honor of World Refugee Day. The event was held on June 25, 2011 at the City Heights Community Park.

County Public Health Nurse Manager Bonnie Copland, PHN, MSN, talked about the importance of immunizations, particularly for children. Public Health Nurse Shukri Adam, RN assisted with English / Somali translation. And Senior Clinical Psychologist Joachim (Joe) Reimann, Ph.D. provided culturally tailored mental health information in his keynote address. Topics included common refugee trauma, social stressors, and services that can help people address such issues. Joe routinely serves local East African community members in his practice and is an SFS Board Member.

Other presenters talked about disaster preparedness, senior wellness, and prenatal health. A senior walk was also held. In addition to the health fair, SFS provides year-around health education and outreach as part of its overall efforts. To learn more about SFS, please visit: http://www.somalifamilyservice.org/

HHSA Table: Social Services Aide Elizabeth Rodriguez and her daughter Elizzeth Rodriguez; Public Health Nurse Shukri Adam, RN

HHSA Kicks Off Suicide Prevention Campaign

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A new County suicide prevention campaign aims to get people talking about their mental well-being, in hopes of saving the lives of those who are contemplating suicide. The television, radio and print ads seek to educate people about the warning signs of suicide and how to help someone who is thinking about ending his or her life.

Suicide claims the life of about one San Diegan every day. Last year, 372 suicides were reported in the region. Those cases represented 293 white victims, 42 Hispanic victims, 22 Asian victims, 10 victims who were black and 5 victims of another race. Additionally, nearly 80 percent were men.

Mental health experts believe that for every suicide, six other people who were close to the victim suffer lasting emotional trauma.

New Spin: Pest Identifier Wheel

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If you’ve ever planted something, you know that there aren’t many things that are more incredible, or which will put a bigger smile on your face, than watching that life sprout and grow!

Of course, there’s always the dark side.

You gnash your teeth and curse as you watch some weird, unidentifiable bug or blight eat, deform, wilt and otherwise destroy your pretty plant right in front of you!

Well, take hope. The UC Cooperative Extension-San Diego County has created a “Pest Identifier Wheel,” a simple, easy-to-carry-and-use, interactive tool — complete with pictures, info and a link to more resources — that can identify what’s ailing your plant and offer tips to help! (The UC Cooperative Extension, AKA the Farm and Home Advisor Office, is a University of California program, a County department and a partner with the U.S. Department of Food and Agriculture.)

And the Pest Wheel just might save the world! OK, maybe not the world, but at least, our streams, beaches and bays and that’s a heck of a start.

You see, helping gardeners was only part of the motive when the Cooperative Extension (with funding help from the Dept. of Public Works Watershed Protection Program) created the wheel. They really wanted to encourage all of us to cut water pollution by using something other than pesticides to control garden problems. They wanted to see more of us use things like beneficial predator bugs, hand care and keeping gardens healthy in the first place to control yard problems and keep our pretty plants thriving.

See, the pesticides we spray on our plants often end up washed off our lawns and gardens and floating down gutters, into storm drains and to the water — the beaches bays and streams. (Did you know that about 65 percent of all the pesticides bought in the county are used in and around homes by residents — not by agribusiness or professional exterminators?)

Make no mistake, the Pest Identifier Wheel is still primarily a cool tool to use around the garden. Here’s how it works. It’s actually made up of two “wheels,” a small one in the middle and a larger one that spins around the outside. The outer wheel’s circumference is lined with pictures of 12 common plant-plaguing fungi and pests, with small lines to show their relative size. (OK, some, like ants, are easy — but do you really know what mealybugs or armored scales look like?) The inner wheel has three cutout windows lining from top to bottom. All the information is printed in English on one side of the wheel and in Spanish on the other. At about 10 inches across and paper-thin, the wheel’s a lot easier to carry around your yard than lugging your dog-eared, 600-page copy of the Sunset Western Garden Book! Spin the outer wheel and line up the photo of the pest or fungi in the top window, and the second window lines up to show the pest’s name and where you might find it on your plants. At the same time, the bottom window lines up to show what kind of damage they typically do (such as “extract sap and reduce pant vigor”) and the least toxic way to control the problem.

In addition, the middle of the inner wheel displays photos of five commonly-found “beneficial bugs” — predators that will eat the bad guys, such as ladybugs and lacewings — and the website address of UC Davis’ Integrated Pest Management information page.

The UC Cooperative Extension has printed up 5,000 Pest Identifier Wheels and is distributing them at County seminars for growers and at Healthy Garden-Healthy Home gardening workshops and seminars. 

If you’d like to know more about the Pest Identifier Wheel, contact Scott Parker at (858) 694-2184 BEFORE July 25, and (858)614-7629 AFTER July 25, or at saparker@ucdavis.edu.

A Fire Truck? A Backhoe? A School Bus?

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Question: What do a Honda Accord, a John Deere Gator ATV and a fire engine have in common (besides wheels and engines)?

Answer: They’re among the many vehicles and other items that will go to the highest bidder at the County’s public auction in Ramona on Saturday, July 16.

Expect a surprising range of surplus government property from the County and other local agencies. Vehicles and equipment will include Ford Expedition SUVs; a  mobile command center bus; 35-passenger school busses; a Caterpillar backhoe tractor; a horse trailer; flatbed trailers; a forklift; Ford, Nissan and Honda sedans; pickup trucks; semi-trucks; golf carts; generators; computers and wheelbarrows.

The event run by the TNT Auction Company will be held at the Ramona Rodeo Grounds, 421 Aqua Lane in Ramona. The public and media are invited to preview auction items on Thursday, July 14 and Friday, July 15 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

On Saturday, July 16, registration and viewing begin at 8 a.m.; the auction begins at 9 a.m. Proceeds from sales will go to the donating agencies.

For more information and photos of many of the items to be auctioned, visit the TNT Public Auction website.