The 'Compassionate Care' award - A rose to Carol Mohrbacher for her efforts to build an Alzheimer's care center in Valley Center. As the founder of the Patrons of Special Care for Special Seniors Foundation, Mohrbacher has identified a site for the facility and has been trying to raise $8 million to cover operating expenses for a year. Health issues of her own are sidelining Mohrbacher.

As the population gets older, care for Alzheimer's patients is going to become an increasingly acute problem, especially in rural areas. For information on how you can support the center, visit www.pscssf.org.

The 'Bridge Over Grateful Waters' award

A rose to the California Resources Agency and the state Parks Department for providing the San Dieguito River Park with the funds to complete another link in the planned 55-mile "Coast to Crest" trail, which will one day extend from Del Mar to Volcan Mountain north of Julian.

The latest piece of the trail is a 180-foot hiking bridge, situated just south of Lake Hodges Dam, that will eventually allow people to hike between Lake Hodges Dam and the Santa Fe Valley trail next to the Crosby Estates. Everyone talks about building bridges; the San Dieguito River Park is actually doing it.

The 'She Blinded Me With Science' award

A rose to the San Diego chapter of the Association for Women in Science for its work to encourage women to pursue careers in science, mathematics, engineering and technology. The San Diego chapter of the association is the largest in the county, with more than 300 active members. On Saturday, the group held its eighth annual "Women in bioScience" conference , awarding scholarships to nine local university students. A low-budget 1967 sci-fi flick asserted that "Mars Needs Women." The exploration of Mars and other scientific endeavors needs them even more.

The 'Firefighters Ferry' award

A rose to the sailors of Assault Craft Unit 5, based at Camp Pendleton, for helping Southern California firefighters fight a wildfire on Santa Catalina Island. Using its state-of-art hovercraft, sailors transported fire equipment and personnel in multiple three-hour roundtrips.

The unit's motto is "No beach out of reach," and that's a good thing for Catalina residents. It's safe to say that no island in history has been so happy to be invaded by U.S. forces as was Catalina.

The 'Good Sewers Make Bad Neighbors' award

A raspberry to the Valley Center Community Planning Group for denying a request from the Light of the Valley Lutheran Church to connect its planned classrooms and child care facilities to local sewer lines.

In an effort to discourage sprawl, the county has a policy prohibiting any buildings outside of Valley Center's various "villages" from connecting to the sewer system. The approval of the planning group would have given the church, which sits just outside the Southern Village, a better position from which to lobby the county.

While the meek may inherit the Earth, it looks like the sewers will still belong to the county.

The 'Baby, You Can Manage My Car' award

A rose to John Clements, San Diego County's fleet operations manager, for being named the 2007 Public Sector Fleet Manager of the Year by Government Fleet Magazine. Clement, who has been in charge of the county's nearly 4,000 vehicles for the last decade, has saved taxpayers $8.5 million by maintaining 27 percent more vehicles with 44 percent fewer employees. That's quite an achievement. Now, can we get him on the fleet clogging up our interstates at rush hour?