Loara High School

A 19-year-old Loara High School student arrested Wednesday after threatening to kill classmates and faculty members is set to be arraigned today on a misdemeanor count of making terrorist threats, authorities said Thursday. Franz Gerald Tissera of Anaheim is set to be arraigned today in Orange County Municipal Court in Fullerton. Tissera had been suspended from Loara on Tuesday.

1765 W. Cerritos Ave.

The year was 1961, and a bright, young, but out-of-work football coach looking for a job and some career advice drove past the orange groves to see Coach Clare VanHoorebeke at Anaheim High School. To the young man's way of thinking, VanHoorebeke was the man to see. VanHoorebeke was on his way to winning an Orange County-record 190 games (he lost 49 and tied 10) in 23 seasons at Anaheim.

This school year, for the first time, Loara High School can boast that all of its students have access to cutting-edge computer technology. A 1997 state legislative bill allocating $500 million to bring technology into California schools made the funding available. But Robert Torres, a fourth-year computer science teacher, made the project happen. "I don't think we would have gotten this far so quickly without his help. He's absolutely tireless," said Assistant Principal Marsha Wagner.

Upon reading about the predicament that the Loara High School Kiwanis Bowl team has in raising funds to attend a national competition ("Money Is Quiz Team's Big Question," April 6) and then reading about the problem that Disneyland has in trying to give free tickets to Anaheim city officials ("Free Tickets Not Meant to Buy Influence, Disney Insists," April 11), an obvious solution emerges. Since Disneyland is so eager to support the community, and Loara High School is in Anaheim, and since the Loara students can legally accept donations and are likely in more need than the Anaheim city officials, Disneyland can reallocate the funds designated for "gifts" to city officials to the Loara High School Kiwanis Bowl team.

Tuyetnhung Tran, a 10th-grader at Loara High School was a second-place winner in the Automobile Club of Southern California's traffic safety poster contest. He won $75 for his entry, which emphasized the dangers of drinking and driving. There were 30 winners in the contest.

Loara High School, led by quarterback Wade Clester, defeated Cypress, 24-6, in an Empire League game Friday in Handel Stadium. Clester, a senior, threw for one touchdown, ran for another and kicked a 43-yard field goal. Loara improved to 7-2 in league play. Cypress fell to 0-6.

Tracy Titus made two free throws with 45 seconds left in the game to give Loara High School a 46-45 victory over Valencia in a nonleague girls' basketball game at Loara Thursday night. Loara outscored Valencia, 19-8, in the fourth quarter. Titus had 15 points and six steals to lead the Saxons, who improved to 2-2.

Ray Moore, athletic director at Loara High School the past six years, has been named athletic director at Diamond Bar High School. Moore will take over for Bill Clein, who had been acting athletic director and also as an instruction dean at Diamond Bar for the past three years. Clein will retain his responsibilities as instructional dean. Moore also has coached Loara's baseball team and been an assistant football coach.

Tom Meylor has been named Loara High School's boys' varsity basketball coach, Athletic Director Ray Moore announced. Meylor has served as the Saxons' interim coach since May when first-year coach Craig Conrad resigned his teaching position was transferred to another campus. Meylor has taught business at Loara for two years and had positions as junior varsity and freshman coach.

1998 RECORD: 4-5-1 overall, 1-3-1 in league COACH: John De Fries (49-51-2 at school) RETURNING STARTERS:10 on offense, 10 on defense TOP RETURNERS Billy Chavez, RB, 5-11, 155, Jr.; Joey Ellis, LB, 6-1, 215, Sr.; Jeremy Ellis, QB, 6-1, 212, Sr.; Rudy Acosta, DB, 6-0, 155, Jr.; Steven Douglas, DL, 6-1, 211, Jr.; Fernando Magana, DL, 5-10, 190, Sr.; Ryan Clark, OL, 5-11, 210, Sr.; David Diaz, WR, 5-9, 145, Sr. TOP NEWCOMERS Ryan Guzman, QB, 5-10, 170, Jr.; Robert Haro, DB, 5-9, 165, Jr.

Rain wiped out Loara's scheduled Empire League softball season opener against Cypress and left the varsity field under water and the junior varsity field mushy. As players arrived for practice the next day, senior Sandra Hertzberg was distracted for another reason. Her 6-year-old brother is in the hospital for the third day. His life isn't in danger, she says, but "it's hard to concentrate on what I'm doing, even schoolwork."

Norwalk Glenn was having a hard enough time battling Loara on the basketball court, when Saxon senior point guard Herb Gracia decided to make things worse. Midway through the third quarter, Gracia stole the ball three consecutive times and converted each into a basket. The flurry of defense and points pushed Loara's lead to 58-26. Although it was only the third quarter, the game was over.

Century Last appearance: 1994. Record: 2-3 in three appearances. Highlights: Defeated Temple City and Yucaipa to reach the Division VIII semifinals in 1992 before losing to San Marino. Cypress Last appearance: 1996 (only appearance since 1980). Record: 1-6 in six appearances. Highlights: Lone victory was a 14-0 decision over Pasadena in the 1976 4-A playoffs, the first postseason game in school history. El Dorado Last appearance: 1997 (third year in a row). Record: 16-16 in 16 appearances.

1997 RECORD: 6-5 overall, 3-2 in league COACH: John deFries (38-42 at school) RETURNING STARTERS: 3 on offense, 6 on defense TOP RETURNERS Tony Aparicio, DE, 5-5, 142, Jr.; Jeremy Ellis, QB/DE, 6-1, 190, Jr.; Joey Ellis, TE/LB, 6-1, 195, Jr.; Ken Kidwell, OL, 5-11, 230, Jr.; Fernando Magana, DL, 5-10, 175, Jr.; Lehasa Moloi, DL, 5-10, 175, Jr.; Johnny Patton, WR/DB, 6-4, 210, Sr. TOP NEWCOMERS Rudy Acosta, RB/DB, 5-7, 145, So.; Billy Chavez, RB/DB, 5-9, 155, So.

A 19-year-old Loara High School student arrested Wednesday after threatening to kill classmates and faculty members is set to be arraigned today on a misdemeanor count of making terrorist threats, authorities said Thursday. Franz Gerald Tissera of Anaheim is set to be arraigned today in Orange County Municipal Court in Fullerton. Tissera had been suspended from Loara on Tuesday.

Tracy Titus set a Loara High School scoring record with 46 points in the Saxons' 61-31 victory over Canyon in a nonleague girls' basketball game Wednesday at Loara. Cheryl Petersen held the previous record of 43, set in 1978. Titus also had 14 rebounds and five blocked shots for Loara (6-5). Christian Thibodeau, Theresa Jaime and Rebecca Stevens each had four assists--all passes to Titus, who made 22 of 29 shots from the field.

Jerry Halpin has been hired as the boys' basketball coach at Loara High School, Athletic Director Ray Moore said Tuesday. Halpin was sophomore coach at Loara from 1983-87. He replaces Tom Meylor, who resigned in April to pursue his master's degree. Halpin, a graduate of San Diego State, has taught social science at Loara for the past five years. "Our goal was to try to get someone who was on campus and was qualified," Moore said. Halpin was a three-sport star at Savanna High.