
Point Loman crowned Miss Cities of San Diego 2011 Shelby Macdonald of Point Loma captured the title of Miss Cities of San Diego 2011 on March 19 during the Miss San Diego Pageant at the Poway Center for the Performing Arts. The participants ranging in age from 13 to 24 competed in the pageant against a total field of 35 young women. The pageant has been a San Diego tradition since the late 1920s and more than $4,000 in scholarships were awarded this year. Macdonald is a graduate of Point Loma High School and a student at Chapman University, majoring in broadcast journalism. She wowed the judges with her piano performance, which accounted for 35 percent of the overall score. Macdonald will move on to compete for Miss California 2011 in Fresno this summer, the official preliminary to Miss America. She will spend her year promoting her platform: The Make-A-Wish Foundation. The contestants were scored on personal interview, talent, swimsuit (sportswear for teen contestants), evening gown and an on-stage question. Winners receive the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to serve as San Diego’s official hostess. . Underage drinkers target of deputies, ABC The San Diego County Sheriff‘s Department will partner with the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) through a county-wide grant to help combat underage drinking and other alcohol-related crimes. In 2010, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department received an ABC grant of $100,000. The money will be spent in the communities patrolled by the Sheriff’s Department to help fight alcohol-related crimes and educate ABC-licensed businesses. Sheriff’s officials said the goal of the ABC Grant Assistance Program is to partner with local law enforcement agencies to help make communities safer. The cooperative efforts of the Sheriff’s Department and ABC are aimed at building positive working relationships between all stakeholders and increasing safety in San Diego County. On March 17, deputies — along with Investigators from ABC — conducted an undercover/directed patrol operation throughout the county of San Diego. The operation resulted in 13 arrests and eight citations. The arrests ranged from drug/narcotics violations, driving under the influence, and ABC / alcohol-related misdemeanors. In one case, a bartender who served alcohol to an obviously intoxicated person was arrested, along with the intoxicated party. Sheriff’s officials said grant-funded operations will continue. For more information, call (619) 956-4027 or e-mail [email protected]. Woman held after attempted bank heist San Diego police officers arrested a 53-year-old woman last week after she attempted a holdup of the Wells Fargo Bank branch on Sports Arena Boulevard, according to investigators. Denise Samuels allegedly presented a demand note around noon to the bank manager. The note threatened a weapon and demanded a specific amount of money, according to Darrell Foxworth, a special agent in charge for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. According to Foxworth, the manager did not have cash on hand and walked over to a teller and obtained a sum of money. After taking the money, the woman identified as Samuels walked out. Foxworth said the bank robber’s description was communicated to officers, who located and detained Samuels. Samuels was later identified by a witness as the woman who robbed the bank. Samuels was taken into custody and subsequently booked into the Vista Detention Center. The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, according to Foxworth.