SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, Calif. - Decades after the annual migration of swallows was immortalized in a chart-topping romantic ballad, Mission San Juan Capistrano is attempting to lure the birds back with a love song that is all their own.
Speakers hidden amidst the colorful gardens of the historic mission play cliff swallow courtship calls for up to six hours a day during mating season in a last-ditch effort to woo the flocks back.
The graceful birds once swarmed to the 236-year-old mission each spring, flying from the pampas of southern Argentina to nest in the stone ruins of the mission’s earthquake-damaged church. In recent years, however, the swallows have all but vanished after repairs meant removing some nests and urban sprawl crept closer to the mission’s door....
The story of the cliff swallows draws crowds each year for the annual monthlong fiesta that marks their return and the Swallows Day Parade, with vibrant mariachi music, dancing, and the ringing of the mission bells....
Some swallows do return to the town of San Juan Capistrano each year, but instead nest in the eaves of downtown buildings, under freeway overpasses, and in local creek beds.
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"Southern California teacher fired over porn video" April 19, 2012
OXNARD, Calif.—A Southern California science teacher was fired Wednesday night for performing in a pornographic video, school district officials said.
Oxnard School District trustees voted in closed session to dismiss Stacie Halas, who taught seventh- and eighth-graders at Richard B. Haydock Intermediate School. Veronica Robles-Solis, the board president, said the trustees voted unanimously to dismiss Halas.
"We're dealing with the disruption that we believe it would cause our district, and the schools in our district, if she were to return back to the classroom," Superintendent Jeff Chancer said.
She had been on paid administrative leave since her appearance on the video surfaced last month. No students were in the video, which was apparently produced before she became an Oxnard teacher in 2009. Her age hasn't been disclosed.
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FLASHBACK:
"Calif. teacher on leave over porn video allegation" March 08, 2012
OXNARD, Calif. - A junior high teacher was placed on leave as a school district investigates whether she was moonlighting as a porn star, officials said....
Oh, I'm so hot for teacher!
The Haydock Intermediate School teacher, whose name hasn’t been released, was placed on paid leave this week by the Oxnard School District.
“It has been alleged that one of our teachers is depicted in at least one pornographic video and possibly others on the Internet,’’ superintendent Jeff Chancer said in the Tuesday letter to parents at the district’s three junior high schools.
There’s no moral turpitude clause in the teacher’s contract, Chancer said. But the California Education Code outlines employment conditions that could lead to termination, he said.
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