Residential Customer Del Mar CA, 92014 ECRWSS
Volume XVI, Issue 8
www.delmartimes.net
Feb. 16, 2012 Published Weekly
Powerhouse and Korean National team play
Wrestling coach fired, rehired after flare-up Incident at match involved a Julian High School athlete
■Reconnaissance Marine offers a glimpse into his world. Page 12 Players from the 13u del Mar Powerhouse team and the Korean national team listen to each country’s national anthem at del Mar heights school Feb. 12. the day included a big pre-game ceremony featuring a gift exchange, country flags, and a MlB player throwing out the first pitch. all of the players received jerseys with both country’s logos. see page 20 for more. Photo/Jon Clark
DMUSD considers ‘option areas’ to deal with growing enrollment ■ Local resident at the helm of San Diego Surf Film Festival. Page B3
PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID SAN DIEGO, CA PERMIT NO. 1980
By Karen Billing In an effort to avoid boundary changes to deal with an ever-growing enrollment, Del Mar Union School District is looking at creating “option areas” for families. Families that live within the option areas will have the choice between two schools designated for their area. The plan for the proposed option areas came out of a committee formed in October last year and they will present the
plan to the school board for approval on Wednesday, Feb. 29. An open house was held on Monday, Feb. 13, where parents could get a look at the data and options and submit a written comment. School board president Scott Wooden said that he is in favor of giving people a choice rather than forcing them into a school, but is taking the approach that he
See oPtion, Page 6
By Marsha sutton An incident at a Jan. 17 wrestling match between a student and a coach resulted in the firing, and subsequent rehiring, of the wrestling coach for Canyon Crest Academy. Craig Van Dyke was initially released by CCA principal Brian Kohn and assistant principal and CCA athletic director Jeff Copeland after interviews with eyewitnesses and officials at the match. District officials declined to provide specific reasons for his release, citing confidentiality of personnel files. However, parents and supporters of the CCA team reported that Van Dyke behaved appropriately and was the unjustified target of an obscenity-laced verbal assault by a Julian High School student and parent that nearly became physical. At the Feb. 2 San Die-
guito Union High School District board meeting, about 40 parents, students and other backers came to support Van Dyke and to request that he be reinstated. Fourteen people asked to speak, but the school board only had time to hear seven. They described details of a volatile altercation between a Julian High School wrestler and Van Dyke, after the Julian wrestler was pinned by a CCA wrestler. Tina Nova, attending the match as a scorekeeper, said the conduct of the Julian student and his father was “horrific” and that the CCA coach “did nothing wrong.” Sherry Singer, the team’s parent liaison, said the Julian father “was very large and very aggressive.” She said firing Van Dyke, especially mid-year, “sends the
See wreStling, Page 7
Solana Beach to make park-like seating area near community center By Claire harlin editor@delMartiMes.net
■ Breast cancer survivor to sing, sign books at House of Blues. Page B1
The uneven, unwalkable site of the Fletcher Cove Community Center is currently no parallel to the immaculate, newly renovated building it surrounds. Pedestrians have to climb a two-foot-tall wall to enter the grassy area, which lacks footpaths or flat gathering space, and there are no benches or trash cans on the oceanview site. But the Solana Beach City Council’s Feb. 8 approval of renovations to the space seeks to change all that. The
proposed design is the third and final phase of the entire community center restoration, which was deemed by the city a “priority project” over the past two years. The project seeks to transform the site into a “more user-friendly park environment” and consists of removing an outside retaining wall, widening the sidewalk and adding two entrances to the area. Picnic furniture, trash cans and possibly barbecue equipment are also in the works. The
on Feb. 8, the solana Beach City Council received approval to renovate the site of the Fletcher Cove Community Center. Photo: Claire harlin
See center, Page 6
JOHN R. LEFFERDINK
619-813-8222
www.johnlefferdink.com
ANGELA MEAKINS-BERGMAN
858-405-9270
LISA KELLEY
858-880-5242
CONNIE SUNDSTROM
858-334-8114
VERONICA MOORE
619-250-5076