Joey: Front Page Feature Story, 1st Day of Class, Georgetown University Newspaper

"Freshman Takes to YouTube to Chronicle Experiences
During First Year at GU,"
The Hoya, Aug. 31, 2010

Joey took a midnight train from (Jessop) Georgia the evening of Thurs., August 26 carrying three suitcases and three bags en route to his first year at Georgetown University. We talked a couple of times during the trip, in between a visit to the dining car and reading "The Reluctant Fundamentalist," required reading for incoming freshmen.

After arriving at Union Station around 7 a.m. ET, Joey made friends with a porter who gave him a ride to the terminal. Joey had time to grab a savory croissant at what he described as a posh restaurant and give me a call. Afterwards, he took a taxi to the front gate at GU where he was greeted by a representative from the Georgetown Scholarship Program (GSP) who presented him with a gift bag chocked full of toiletries and other goodies and a bed set from Target. Joey called again after checking into his room, on the 8th floor of the dorm which boasted a panoramic view of the campus. "It couldn't get any better than this!" he told me, almost breathless. Since he was one of the first freshmen to arrive, he took a few minutes to chat with his new resident assistant. A short time later, she ran up to him and said, "Are you a singer?" He responded, "Yes, I am." She explained that a security guard recognized Joey and said to her, "Do you know who that is? That's Joey Pearson! I have his CDs!"

I called late that evening to say good night, and introduce myself to Patrick, Joey's new roommate and a fellow freshman from Connecticut. Patrick sounded like a great guy! He said he was an introvert himself, and was grateful that he was matched with Joey because it will make it easier for him to meet people. I said, "Oh, yeah! You will definitely meet a lot of people hanging out with Joey," and added that he hit the jackpot in the roommate department. Joey feels the same way about Patrick.

The photo above was taken after Joey set up his room. Note the traditional "Wall of Scarves" over his bed. I wonder if Joey will donate his scarf collection to the Smithsonian upon graduation in 2014!

You can follow Joey's adventures as a freshman at GU on his YouTube channel.

EXCLUSIVE! Cbad Shelter Pup Now "Detective LuLu"

Before becoming San Diego County Medical Examiner in 2003 Dr. Glenn Wagner served as director of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Washington, D.C. where he participated in some of the nation’s most historic crime scene investigations – from the 1983 bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut to the crash of American Airlines flight 77 into the Pentagon on 9/11. Dr. Wagner presided over the recovered remains of the Challenger astronauts in both accidents. And he was part of an elite team selected to perform an autopsy on the President of the United States in the event of an assassination.

"When I was hired in San Diego, I was told they wanted me to take the department in new directions," Dr. Wagner said. Seven months ago his vision culminated in the opening of the state-of-the-art Medical Examiner & Forensics Center on Overland Ave.

A lifelong dog lover, part of his plan was to recruit a shelter dog to become ME Canine 2, the second cadaver dog in his department.

I was fortunate to land an exclusive interview with Dr. Wagner on the occasion of the debut of LuLu, ME Canine 2, a four-year-old German shepherd from the North Shelter in Carlsbad. This is the same shelter where Lara and Barney came from a year ago.

LuLu once again proves that SHELTER DOGS ROCK!

You can read LuLu's story in today's San Diego Union-Tribune.

You can watch LuLu on her first day of work on YouTube.

LuLu weighed in at 70 lbs. on the scales at the Medical Examiner's office her first day of work on Friday, July 9.

LuLu will join Theila, a bloodhound also known as ME Canine 1, for 18 months of training in air sniffing, tracking and trailing as a cadaver dog. Although dogs have been known to develop depression in this line of work, especially in extreme circumstances such as 9/11, Dr. Wagner has a reward system in place to hopefully prevent this. When LuLu is not at work, she can be found chasing gophers and playing with Cocoa Bean, Wagner's 10-year-old Chesapeake Bay Retriever, on his four-acre property in Vista. Dr. Wagner's wife, Joan, is strengthening LuLu for her new job with home cooking and lots of TLC.

LuLu's biggest challenge will be keeping up with Wagner. At 64, he says his own work ethic will most likely keep him on the job until he passes himself.

" I believe life is a transition and that we are obligated to have a positive influence," he said. "When everything is said and done we have an appointment with death. At that time we will look back and see footprints and know they are our own and that we made a difference."

Joey Graduates, Leaves for the East Coast Today

3:30 p.m., Friday, June 18

7:30 a.m., Today

Time Flies.

Lara, The TV Star

If you missed it, you can click the photo above to view Lara's TV debut on KFMB-TV (CBS) in San Diego tonight.

Lara is cool as a cucumber as Barney, Ollie and Miss Lily watch the live shot at Viewpoint Park in Encinitas at 5:30 p.m.

Encinitas native Jeff Zevely, a (very, very) funny and gifted reporter, puts Lara at ease.

Joey stopped by after work to give Lara moral support.

Miss Lily is relieved that it is Lara in the spotlight this evening,
not her.

Packing up to leave, there's nothing like the satisfaction
of a job well done.

Time to go home for dinner.

Lara Gets Ready for Her Close Up

This is a big day for Lara as she films clips for her TV debut on San Diego's Channel 8 (KFMB) News, the CBS affiliate, which will air tomorrow. We were thrilled to learn that Encinitas native Jeff Zevely was doing the story. I first came to know Jeff when I covered Encinitas's State of the City banquet for The Coast News two months ago. He was a hilarious emcee who kept the event moving, and the audience laughing, all evening

Lara got ready for her close up at the Windsong Pet Resort in Escondido. Thanks again to owners Mike and Michelle Daugherty, and head groomer Jessica Lynch, for treating her like a star.


Click here for a behind-the-scenes preview from Joey.

Joey Receives Full Scholarship to Georgetown University

Before there was Lara, Barney and Ollie there was Joey.

We met 9 years ago this week as I was walking my two dogs, Truman and Henry, and carrying my umbrella cockatoo, Lucy. Joey was 9.

I heard a voice ask, "What is your bird's name?" and turned around to discover what looked to be a character out of a Walt Disney movie -- a slightly built boy with rosy cheeks wearing a navy blue sweater and carrying a bouquet of flowers he said he had picked for his teacher.

The next day I saw Joey again, this time walking up my driveway inquiring if he could come in to my house and see the bird's cage.

When I asked to meet his parents, he explained that it was only him and his dad and that they lived with a family across the street.

Thus began a special friendship founded on a mutual affection for animals.

Shortly after that Joey took me on my first roller coaster ride at Knottsberry Farm, a prize for winning a fundraising competition sponsored by the Rancho Coastal Humane Society. We were a great team: I drove the car from strip malls to car dealerships as Joey jumped out and hustled the owners and store managers.

It wasn't just domesticated animals he loved. It was tarantulas, lizards and ferrets.

At one point he saved the day when I was distressed to discover a family of mice living under my refrigerator. After catching and releasing the adults in the park, Joey fashioned a home for the baby in a plexiglas cage, complete with exercise equipment, that we bought at PetSmart. After beefing up the wee mouse, Joey proudly released him in the park to join his relatives who we were sure were waiting.

In April 2002 Joey delivered the most eloquent speech of his young career. It was to the Encinitas City Council advocating for a measure that would ban circuses, rides and and other for-profit animal acts in the city. It passed. Afterwards a councilman who opposed the ban approached Joey to shake his hand. "I'm sure glad you're only 10," he said. "Otherwise I would be afraid of losing my seat in the next election."

Well, that councilman is still in office and his grace period could be coming to an end as Joey, now 18, contemplates a career in international relations, maybe even politics.

The sky's the limit now that he has been accepted to the distinguished Foreign Service School at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., the alma mater of leaders including President Bill Clinton and Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.

What's more, Joey received a full scholarship valued at more than $225,000.

His response?

"Now I really will be able to make a difference in the world."

I was honored to be Joey's guest last night at a reception sponsored by Georgetown University for the Class of 2014 and their parents.

Maddy's Miracle Tail

This is a happy tale to start your weekend!

A couple of weeks ago Lara's friend, Rebekah Peterman of Sunnybrook Farm Holistic Pet Care, formed a team that included Lara's weight loss vet, Dr. Carmine Bausone, which successfully restored the ability of a young labradoodle named Maddy to wag her tail after being run over by a car in the family driveway. They did so using nonsurgical, homeopathic methods.

Read Maddy's story in today's The Coast News.
Watch her video on YouTube.

To contact Rebekah call (760) 230-0748 or visit sunnybrookfarmholisticpetcare.com.