Ofelia Lopez-Villamar, a school office assistant at Jefferson Elementary in the Carlsbad Unified School District, has been named the 2021 Countywide Classified School Employee of the Year by the San Diego County Office of Education.
“I’m Billy from La Mesa… I’m the luckiest guy in the world.”
Those were among the first words spoken by NBA great and always-cheerful Bill Walton to a hometown crowd of nearly 250 Thursday morning for the grand opening of a state-of-the-art gymnasium named for him at the Boys & Girls Clubs of East County.
The 10,000-square-foot La Mesa gym is the crown jewel of the Brady Family Clubhouse, just down the road from Helix High, where Walton, now 65, attended school in the 1960s with his older brother, Bruce. He starred at UCLA as a center for the Bruins basketball team, followed by a successful 14-year NBA career.
School boards: La Mesa-Spring Valley School District, 6 p.m. Tuesday,
Santee School District, 7 p.m. Tuesday
School, city co-hosting vaccine clinic
La Mesa and Helix Charter High School join the County of San Diego, Champions for Health and the Philippine Nurses Association of San Diego for a COVID-19 vaccine clinic from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday in the Helix Charter High School parking lot, 7323 University Ave., La Mesa. Vaccines are provided free by the county, Champions for Health, and the Philippine Nurses Association. Eligible persons aged 16 and older must make appointments for the Pfizer vaccine. For those age 18 and older, walks-ins are welcome based on availability of Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson vaccine doses. Second-dose appointments will be made the same day, depending on the vaccine received. ADA in-car appointments will also be available for those who require assistance. Call (619) 667-1322 from 8 a.m.-noon Monday-Friday to make an appointment, or visit http