Podiatrist in Scripps Ranch, CA

Paul Slade Smith’s political comedy “The Outsider” made its West Coast premiere at North Coast Repertory Theatre at the dawn of the pandemic in 2020. Now, as the pandemic ebbs, the smart and funny play is back at a different theater under the direction of the 2020 production’s star.

Christopher Williams a veteran farceur with a knack for playing exasperated characters, was the hilarious linchpin in the 2020 production, playing Dave, chief of staff for the newly-sworn-in governor of a small U.S. state. Williams directs the new production that opened Friday at Scripps Ranch Theatre, and a wiry, frantic and funny Adam Daniel has ably stepped into the beleaguered Dave’s shoes.

Though written in 2015, the play feels ripe for this moment as the mid-term elections near and the U.S. political landscape grows increasingly crowded with scandal-plagued politicians and unqualified candidates running populist campaigns. “The Outsider” doesn’t pinpoint a political party, though the funny pre-show recorded announcement plays with the ultra-patriotic, America-first campaign slogans that conservatives often use against liberals.

In “The Outsider,” new governor, Ned Newley (played with a sweet and awkward earnestness by Robert May), is actually highly capable, but his shy personality is better suited to his former job, lieutenant governor. When his boss is forced out by a sex scandal, Ned is thrust into the public eye and he collapses in a mumbling, nervous heap during his swearing-in ceremony.

Ned’s public meltdown is mortifying for Dave, but thrilling for cynical political strategist Arthur (a wry and slick John Nutten, in a feat of perfect casting), who sees Ned’s everyman quality as the real-guy, non-politician that voters identify with. Arthur explains that people vote for idiots who look like leaders, but Ned is a real leader who looks like an idiot, so with some minor polishing, he believes Ned could become a national candidate.

Michelle Marie Trester, whose gift for spontaneous kookiness makes her a standout in every show she does, plays Louise, an incompetent temporary secretary with untapped ambitions. Deborah Dodaro has a smart perkiness as pollster Paige; Leigh Akin is wise and quick-witted as Rachel, a local TV reporter; and Walter Murray is quietly understated as TV cameraman A.C., an everyman who finds trust in Ned.

Williams’ direction is detailed, with an eye for visual humor and a consistency of tone. He gradually builds the play’s tension and momentum for big payoffs of laughs, particularly when Arthur coaches Louise to spout vapid political slogans based on whatever color card he holds up, highlighting the bland artificiality of modern campaigning.

The physical production looks classy, with an elegant governor’s office set designed by Alyssa Kane, lighting by Jared Jacobs, costumes by Pam Stompoly-Ericson and sound by Ted Leib. The play runs two hours, 15 minutes, including intermission. Despite its subject matter, “The Outsider” is unlikely to offend anyone. It’s not about one party or another, but about the absurdity of political theater.

‘The Outsider’

When: 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. 2 p.m. Sundays. Through Oct. 9

Where: Scripps Ranch Theatre at the Legler-Benbough Theatre, Alliant International University, 9783 Avenue of Nations, San Diego

Tickets: $15-$42

Phone: (858) 395-0573

The insurance company has told residents they are not renewing policies due to wildfire risk.

SAN DIEGO — More condominium owners are coming forward after not being renewed by Farmer Insurance due to wildfire risk.

The Village Woods complex in Scripps Ranch with 115 condos is the latest to be dropped.

Some HOAs are now considering changing their by-laws to allow individual condo owners to carry their own property insurance. Other HOAs are looking at more expensive policies on the secondary market.

“Our total premium went from $50,000 a year to almost $800,000 a year,” said Dave Sloat, a condo owner in the Scripps Ranch complex.

The Village Woods, $32 million policy covered exterior damage to the entire complex before it was cancelled.

A replacement policy – cobbled together on the secondary market – could now cost each owner an additional $500 per month.

“In addition to our premium going up by 16 times, our deductible has gone from $10,000 per incident to $250,000 per incident,” said Sloat.

The HOA already is seeing the effects. Because of the higher deductible on the replacement policy, the HOA is going to have to use its own reserves to pay for damage to two garages, destroyed last month when two eucalyptus trees fell on them.

But wildfire is the reason why the property insurance policies are not being renewed.

As CBS 8 has reported over the past few weeks, Farmers Insurance recently dropped policies on:

All combined, more than 1,000 homeowners are now looking for affordable property insurance.

Farmers Insurance emailed CBS 8 the following statement:

“While we decline comment on underwriting decisions related to individual customers, similar to other insurers in the state, we regularly review our market exposure and make adjustments, as necessary, to appropriately manage risk.”

Other condo owners in the Scripps Ranch community are starting to price out policies for their own, individual dwellings.

“We're looking into private insurance but there's a problem there with walls that are shared with other residents,” said Mike Colmenero, a condo owner in the Village Woods community.

Changing to individual individual coverage will require changes to the HOA bylaws, requiring a two-third’s vote of all condo owners in the Scripps Ranch complex, according to Sloat.

“The bottom line is we're getting screwed by the insurance companies and our local representatives. Elected officials don't seem to want to do anything to help us,” Sload said.

Owners in Tierrasanta’s Villa Monterey community are preparing to vote on a ballot by March 23 that would “require owners to obtain property insurance for their unit and shared portion of their condominium building” and also allow the COA to levy a $7,250 special assessment per lot to pay for common area insurance. That change would require a majority vote, according to COA documents.

California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara did not respond to a message from CBS 8 inquiring whether he planned to raise the maximum on the state’s commercial FAIR Plan, as requested last week by 18 state legislators.

UPDATE:The office of the California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara responded, after this report was posted, with the following statement:

"Improving insurance options for homeowners associations is a top priority for Commissioner Lara. In November 2021, Commissioner Lara ordered the FAIR Plan to increase its coverage limits for the first time in 25 years -- before these recent reports of non-renewals by insurance companies. The Department of Insurance is doing our due diligence to help protect the residents of homeowners associations now and for the future. We expect to have more to announce on this soon..."

*****At CBS 8, we are always Working for You and our San Diego community. If there is something you would like us to investigate, please share your idea here or email us at workingforyou@cbs8.com.

WATCH RELATED: Farmers cancel insurance for 338 homes in Rancho Bernardo (Feb. 2023).

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CARDIFF

Farmers market launches Saturday

The Cardiff 101 Mainstreet Association is hosting a weekly farmers market from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays, starting this week. At the inaugural market, the first 150 guests will receive a free Cardiff Farmers Market tote bag with goodies from local businesses. The market will be held at 3333 Manchester Ave., the site of MiraCosta College’s San Elijo campus. The market is a Certified California Farmers Market, featuring locally sourced produce sold by local farmers. It will also have prepared-food vendors and a curated group of craft vendors and local makers. Visit cardifffarmersmarket.com/wordle.

ESCONDIDO

Chamber hosts lunch with mayor

The Greater Escondido Chamber of Commerce hosts a Leadership Luncheon at noon March 15 at 720 N. Broadway. Guest speaker is Escondido Mayor Dane White. Admission is free, but attendees must register at bit.ly/3Sre19J.

NORTH COUNTY

Free financial outlook webinar Wednesday

San Diego County Credit Union and LPL Financial will present a free educational webinar, “LPL Financial Outlook 2023: Finding Balance” at noon Wednesday. Speaker will be Jeffrey Buchbinder, LPL vice president and equity strategist. He will give an overview of what experts forecast financially for the coming year, focusing on U.S. economic growth and inflation, the stock market and reevaluating bonds. The webinar is open to the public, but reservations are required. Visit sdccu.com/fww.

Women’s Week conference opens Thursday

San Diego Women’s Week hosts its 14th annual Leadership Conference from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday at the Rancho Bernardo Inn. Join the panel discussions and hear speakers in person ($219) or virtually ($99). Speakers include former Fox TV host Gretchen Carlson on “Speaking Out & Making Workplaces Safer”; Scarlett Cochran, author of “It’s Not About the Money: A Proven Path to Building Wealth and Living the Rich Life You Deserve”; and Joyce Orishaba of Scripps Ranch, who was one of 13 winners in The New York Times 100-word Personal Narrative Contest. Tickets and details available at sdwomensweek.com/events/leadership-conference.

SCORE offers low-cost training workshops

SCORE San Diego volunteers are experienced entrepreneurs, managers and executives from diverse industries and specialties, offering their help in small-business training workshops. For $25, clients receive a two- to three-hour workshop, either in person at SCORE San Diego, 8825 Aero Drive, Suite 102, San Diego, or on Zoom; a PDF of the presentation; and a link to the final workshop video. Visit sandiego.score.org and click on “Take a Workshop.” Registration deadline is midnight the day before all events. Workshops take place from 9 a.m. to noon unless otherwise noted. Coming up:

SCORE can provide these and other workshops in full or short form privately for your organization by request. Email score0140@scorevolunteer.org.VISTA

Chamber hosting Heroes of Vista gala

The 12th annual Heroes of Vista Gala, coming March 10, will celebrate excellence in fields including education, business, public safety and more. The event will be from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Vistonian, 306 S. Santa Fe Ave., hosted by the Vista Chamber of Commerce with the Vista Education Foundation and Tri-City Medical Center. This year’s theme celebrates the chamber’s 100th anniversary. Trudy Bronner from Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award. See the nominees and buy tickets at vistachamber.org/heroes-2023.

Send items at least two weeks before events to northcounty@sduniontribune.com. Please put “Business News” in the subject line.

Fresh off its fifth consecutive CIF San Diego Section Open Division title, The Bishop’s School girls water polo team got through the first round of the CIF Southern California Regional Division I playoffs with a 10-9 overtime victory at home over Laguna Beach on Feb. 21.

The fourth-seeded Knights (21-8) next play in the semifinals against No. 1 seed Orange Lutheran (25-2) at 5 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 23, at JSerra Catholic High School in San Juan Capistrano.

In Division II, fifth-seeded La Jolla High School was eliminated by No. 4 JSerra 8-5 on Feb. 21.

Boys basketball

The La Jolla Country Day School boys basketball team (22-7) will play for the CIF San Diego Section Division I championship on Friday, Feb. 24, against No. 1 seed Mission Bay (23-8).

The game is scheduled for 5 p.m. at St. Augustine High School in San Diego.

Third-seeded Country Day advanced to the title game after playoff victories over Patrick Henry, Mission Hills and Del Norte.

Girls basketball

The top-seeded La Jolla Country Day School girls basketball team will defend its title in the CIF San Diego Section Open Division championship game after beating No. 5 seed Mission Hills 73-47 in the semifinals Feb. 22.

The Torreys (27-3) will take on Del Norte (20-9) — the No. 7 seed that edged Westview 63-62 in the other semifinal game — in the final at 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 25, at Cathedral Catholic High School in Carmel Valley.

Earlier in the playoffs, Country Day defeated Scripps Ranch 81-32 on Feb. 18.

Boys soccer

• The Bishop’s School boys soccer team will go for the CIF San Diego Section Division III championship at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 23, against Mount Carmel at Bonita Vista High School in Chula Vista.

Bishop’s (19-1-2) advanced to the final after shutting out both Bonita Vista and Monte Vista. Mount Carmel enters the title game 13-6-3.

• La Jolla Country Day (16-4-2), seeded No. 1 in CIF San Diego Section Division IV, is set to face No. 2 seed Morse (15-3-3) in the championship game at 4:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 24, at University City High School.

Earlier in the playoffs, Country Day edged Mission Bay and Pacific Ridge.

Girls soccer

The La Jolla High School girls soccer team’s quest for a CIF San Diego Section Division III championship ended Feb. 21 with a semifinal loss to Monte Vista, which prevailed in a shootout after regulation time ended in a scoreless tie.

Earlier in the playoffs, No. 2-seeded La Jolla defeated Valley Center on Feb. 17. ◆

San Diego Performing Arts League has expanded its annual discount ticket promotion from 10 days to a month to help boost box office sales

Many things have changed in San Diego since March 17, 2020 — the day stay-at-home orders were announced as the result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the nearly three years since then, many things about how San Diegans live, work, eat and play have changed, in some cases permanently. As a result, arts ticket sales are down industrywide and theater companies are producing shorter seasons as they adjust to reduced demand.

But the San Diego Performing Arts League hopes to reset some old habits with the return of its annual discounted-ticket promotion next month.

Previously known as San Diego Theatre Week, the event has expanded this year to become San Diego Theatre Month, and nearly 40 shows are featured in the program, which is an all-time high. Among this year’s participants are San Diego Opera, the San Diego Symphony, two ballet companies, some choruses and virtually every theater company in San Diego.

The San Diego Performing Arts League’s ArtsTix ticket office in Horton Plaza and online is offering tickets from March 1-31 priced at $15, $30 and $45. Some tickets offered during Theatre Month will be for performances taking place in April. To find out what’s available, visit sandiegotheatremonth.com.

Tickets available at the $15 level in March include San Diego Ballet’s “Viva Vivaldi”; OnStage Playhouse’s “Slowgirl”; and Loud Fridge Theatre Group and Scripps Ranch Theatre’s co-production of “Neat,” among others. Tickets priced at $30 include Moxie Theatre’s “Birds of North America”; Oceanside Theatre Company’s “Lucky Stiff”; CCAE Theatricals’ “Sunday in the Park With George”; and The Old Globe’s “The XiXth (The Nineteenth).” And $45 tickets are available for La Jolla Playhouse’s “The Outsiders”; Lamb’s Players Theatre’s “R-E-S-P-E-C-T”; San Diego Musical Theatre’s “Anything Goes”; and the international touring production of “Riverdance,” among many others.

Jay Henslee, board president for the Performing Arts League, talked about the program in an interview earlier this month.

Q: Why do you think you have such high participation in the program this year?

A: We started this program eight years ago as Theatre Week and it ran for 10 days. We always had a great lineup, but it limited the number of shows people had access to and prevented some theaters and arts companies from participating. Extending the program to an entire month has enabled more organizations to participate and includes nearly 40 shows encompassing music, dance and theater.

Q: How many tickets did you sell during Theatre Week in the years before the pandemic?

A: Typically, we sell about 2,000 tickets, but last year we sold slightly more and had over 10,000 visitors to the website. We hope to more than double our ticket sales now that we have extended the program to an entire month.

Q: Do you have lots of new participants this year?

A: We do. It’s exciting to see so much interest from the arts organizations. We have returning companies like The Old Globe, Broadway San Diego, North Coast Repertory and others. This year, we have new additions from the San Diego Symphony, City Ballet, Backyard Renaissance, Star Theatre and several others. It’s incredible to see the diversity of offerings this year.

Q: Arts organizations are still recovering from the pandemic. How important is this Theatre Month promotion for them in selling tickets and finding new audiences?

A: This is a very critical time for arts organizations, as state and federal pandemic relief is ending and audience development is so important. Theatre Month features performances for every budget at $15, $30 and $45. This is a great opportunity to see two to three shows for the price you might pay for one.

Kragen writes about theater for the San Diego Union-Tribune. Email her at pam.kragen@sduniontribune.com.