Hes

The topic under discussion in Golden West College’s new production “How I Learned to Drive” may be pedophilia, but a more accurate word may be obsession — a middle-aged man’s pitiful lust for his teenage niece that ultimately disrupts both lives. This touchy subject is exceptionally well-handled by director Martie Ramm and her involving young cast. Paula Vogel’s entrancing play touches the heart without outraging the senses, and the Golden West performers display a commendable sensitivity in its production.

As the center for the Ocean View High football team, Kody Afusia’s first job on offense is to snap the ball to the quarterback. But Coach Harold Eggers compared Afusia himself to the quarterback. The Seahawks’ only returning All-Golden West League player, who is 6-foot-3, 295 pounds and also plays defensive tackle, is clearly important for the Seahawks this season. “He’s a leader,” Eggers said of Afusia, a three-year varsity player. “He’s very aggressive on the defensive side of the ball, and he’s like the quarterback on the line on the offensive side of the ball.

A Huntington Beach man was arrested at his home Friday morning, facing accusations he impersonated a paramedic at major disaster scenes across America, from the World Trade Center to Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Dean. His attorney disputes the claims, saying they are based on “misinformation.” Authorities said James Charles Campbell, 44, is a convicted felon who used stolen Los Angeles County Fire Department equipment to pretend to be a paramedic captain who flew helicopters for the department.

Matt McElroy finished third Saturday at Mt. San Antonio College at the CIF Southern Section Division II boys’ cross-country championships in 14 minutes, 41 seconds. The Edison senior has bigger goals in mind, though, and they start this Saturday at the CIF State meet in Fresno. “I kind of don’t even want to talk about [getting third at CIF],” McElroy said. “I was pretty disappointed about it but I want to leave it behind me. It didn’t go well because I didn’t really train for Mt. SAC.” McElroy would like to win the CIF State meet, or at least get top three.

I had a high school English teacher who started each day by writing an inspirational quote on the blackboard. She was an avid fan of Walt Whitman, Ralph Waldo Emerson and “Dead Poets Society,” and she looked for phrases that encouraged going out on a limb. Two that stuck with me over the years were Emerson’s “Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string” and the slogan from the movie “Braveheart”: “Every man dies; not every man really lives.

It’s that time of year again as the Assn. of Surfing Professionals gets ready to kick off the Dream Tour, the world championship tour this weekend. The $350,000 Quicksilver Pro Gold Coast waiting period is Saturday until March 11 at Snapper Rocks on the best days. This is the first of 10 events for the 2009 season. It looks like world champ Kelly Slater is pumped up and committed to trying to rack up world title No. 10. Slater knows it will not be easy with the top 44 surfers in the world to compete with, but at age 37 his new boards have been working so good, he’s ready.

All year long, Matt Viles was the quarterback of one of the highest powered offenses in the state. The quiet but steady demeanor of Viles, the Edison High senior, helped the Chargers football team on several occasions. And now Viles has been named Sunset League Most Valuable Player. Among the other top awards given to area athletes, Edison senior Jordan Zumwalt was named Defensive Player of the Year for the second straight year and Fountain Valley senior Kyle Middlebrooks earned Offensive Player of the Year honors.

The Irvine neighborhood Quinton “Rampage” Jackson calls home is quiet. Lawns are green and well-kept, kids play in the streets, and parents walk their dogs in the afternoon. By all accounts, Jackson’s demeanor, outside of the Ultimate Fighting Championship octagon he fought in, fit the neighborhood — “he’s quiet, he’s calm, he’s cool,” neighbor Andrew Kreger said. The sign above Jackson’s doorbell reads “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

Pfc. Garrett Ferguson was sipping drinks and eating tacos with a couple hundred of his closest friends and family at the Davenport Island house in which he grew up. About a week before, he was a gunner on top of a Humvee in the middle of Baghdad, where he’d been for nine months in his first tour of duty. He goes back there in a couple of weeks, so in the meantime he plans to relax. But he had no idea what his parents had planned for him. As mother Diane Ferguson led him away from his buddies to the front driveway, the soldier appeared stunned as he set his eyes on a black limo flanked by three platinum-blond models from Playboy.

Sharks don’t scare Tom Jones much. He’s paddled around great whites before. And he can put up with stormy weather, even if it means making an emergency landing. But there’s something in the water that truly frightens the extreme athlete from Huntington Beach. That would be plastic, which he considers the greatest modern threat to humans and the environment — and which he’s embarking on a quest this month to eliminate. Jones, a seven-time Muay Thai kickboxing champion and marathon runner, paddled 1,250 miles from Oregon to Mexico in 2007 to raise awareness about plastic pollution.

The start of the 2010 Assn. of Surfing Professionals’ world championship tour kicks off Saturday and continues through March 10. The $400,000 Quiksilver Pro starts at Snapper Rocks in Queensland, Australia, with the top 48 surfers in the world ready to go. This is the first of 10 stops for the elite surfers. Starting out the list of standouts is last year’s world champ, Mick Fanning, no doubt the fastest surfer on the planet. Fanning, with his focus and all-around training, is again looking like the man to beat.

I had a high school English teacher who started each day by writing an inspirational quote on the blackboard. She was an avid fan of Walt Whitman, Ralph Waldo Emerson and “Dead Poets Society,” and she looked for phrases that encouraged going out on a limb. Two that stuck with me over the years were Emerson’s “Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string” and the slogan from the movie “Braveheart”: “Every man dies; not every man really lives.

All year long, Matt Viles was the quarterback of one of the highest powered offenses in the state. The quiet but steady demeanor of Viles, the Edison High senior, helped the Chargers football team on several occasions. And now Viles has been named Sunset League Most Valuable Player. Among the other top awards given to area athletes, Edison senior Jordan Zumwalt was named Defensive Player of the Year for the second straight year and Fountain Valley senior Kyle Middlebrooks earned Offensive Player of the Year honors.

A chance opportunity almost four decades ago brought Huntington Beach Fire Chief Duane Olson into the department, but after 39 years with the city, he has shown it wasn’t chance that kept him here. Olson announced over the summer his intention to retire Dec. 22 after overseeing the city’s fire protection and prevention, rescue and emergency medical services for more than 200,000 residents since 2003, when he was appointed chief. After seven years at the helm, Olson said it is the right time to go. “I don’t think there is ever a good time to retire, but I really think there is a right time to retire, and for me, both personally and professionally, it is the right time to retire,” he said Olson started out as a lifeguard for the city and was “very fortunate,” as he put it, to be transferred to the fire department with a handful of others.

Matt McElroy finished third Saturday at Mt. San Antonio College at the CIF Southern Section Division II boys’ cross-country championships in 14 minutes, 41 seconds. The Edison senior has bigger goals in mind, though, and they start this Saturday at the CIF State meet in Fresno. “I kind of don’t even want to talk about [getting third at CIF],” McElroy said. “I was pretty disappointed about it but I want to leave it behind me. It didn’t go well because I didn’t really train for Mt. SAC.” McElroy would like to win the CIF State meet, or at least get top three.

PLACENTIA — One of the centers of attention coming into last Friday’s Sunset League opener was the center himself. Edison High senior center Roman Sapolu was out with a foot injury, so the Chargers turned to senior Kris Bonham, who hadn’t played the position in three years and is usually on the defensive line. Esperanza probably couldn’t tell the difference, the way Bonham stepped in and performed. But what the Aztecs probably could tell after Edison’s 34-10 win at Valencia High is why the Chargers, the top-ranked team in the CIF Southern Section Pac-5 Division poll, are considered favorites to win their fifth straight league title.

The topic under discussion in Golden West College’s new production “How I Learned to Drive” may be pedophilia, but a more accurate word may be obsession — a middle-aged man’s pitiful lust for his teenage niece that ultimately disrupts both lives. This touchy subject is exceptionally well-handled by director Martie Ramm and her involving young cast. Paula Vogel’s entrancing play touches the heart without outraging the senses, and the Golden West performers display a commendable sensitivity in its production.

As the center for the Ocean View High football team, Kody Afusia’s first job on offense is to snap the ball to the quarterback. But Coach Harold Eggers compared Afusia himself to the quarterback. The Seahawks’ only returning All-Golden West League player, who is 6-foot-3, 295 pounds and also plays defensive tackle, is clearly important for the Seahawks this season. “He’s a leader,” Eggers said of Afusia, a three-year varsity player. “He’s very aggressive on the defensive side of the ball, and he’s like the quarterback on the line on the offensive side of the ball.

A year after Sean Guite set the Huntington Beach High single-season passing record with 2,346 yards, Coach Eric Lo said he’d like for the Oilers to run the ball a bit more this year. Guite, a senior, will be a part of that, too. “I can’t say enough great things,” said Lo of Guite, a second-team All-Sea View League selection who was fifth in the county in passing yards. “Strong arm, smart kid, and he’s a stronger runner than he was last year.