La Jolla Light
Enlightening La Jolla Since 1913
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Vol. 100, Issue 26 • June 28, 2012
Online Daily at www.lajollalight.com
Residential Customer La Jolla, CA 92037 ECRWSS PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID SAN DIEGO, CA PERMIT NO. 1980
Town prepares for a spectacular July 4th
Due to the Fourth of July holiday next Wednesday, the La Jolla Light will not be in your mailbox until Friday, July 6. We wish our readers a Happy Independence Day!
INSIDE
In a scene from last year’s July 4th festivities, residents start saving their viewing spots at La Jolla Shores Beach as early as 5 a.m.
T
he booming brilliance of La Jolla’s annual Fourth of July fireworks show has survived another year of legal wrangling, and patriotic-minded picnickers will begin claiming their turf at
New book explores tenure of UC President Richard Atkinson, A10
Ellen Browning Scripps Park and Kellogg Park in La Jolla Shores as early as 5 a.m. Wednesday. The 20-minute pyrotechnics spectacular begins at 9 p.m. with patriotic musical accompaniment
The 20-minute La Jolla fireworks show begins at 9 p.m. July 4. FILE
broadcast from the roof of the La Jolla Cove Suites. La Jolla Community Fireworks Foundation Director Deborah Marengo suggests people arrive early. Coast Boulevard will be
closed two hours prior the event for latecomers who wish to stand or view the display from lawn chairs.
See July 4th, A5
Coastal Commission to rule on year-round seal rope July 11
LJCD’s Alberto Sanchez has solid showing at U.S. Open, A21
How well do you know U.S. History? Quiz on B1
By Pat Sherman The unending dispute between advocates for seals and humans at Children’s Pool may be one step closer to a resolution after the issue goes before the California Coastal Commission this month. During a July 11 hearing the commission is scheduled to decide whether to grant the City of San Diego a coastal development permit to install and maintain a year-round rope barrier at Children’s Pool, separating humans and seals. The city currently maintains a rope across part of the beach during the seals’ pupping season, from midDecember to mid-May. Seal advocates wish to keep the barrier up year-round to comply with the Marine Mammal Protection Act and ensure the safety of both seals and humans. Others feel the entire beach should be kept open for children, as required by a 1931 Tideland Grant and requested by philanthropist Ellen Browning Scripps, who paid for the iconic breakwater wall that keeps the beach sheltered from
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If you go ■W hat: Coastal Commission hearing on Children’s Pool rope
■W hen: 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, July 11
■W here: Chula Vista City Hall, 276 4th Ave., Chula Vista
■C ontact: coastal.ca.gov or (415) 407-3211 (line active July 11 only)
Humans and seals have shared Children’s Pool since 1931 when philanthropist Ellen Browning Scripps paid for the breakwater. File rough ocean waves. Advocates on both sides of the issue are asking the public to attend the Coastal Commission hearing in Chula Vista City Hall’s council chambers and weigh in before the commission makes its decision. A table near the door will contain speaker slips that those wishing to address
the commission must fill out upon their arrival. The meeting begins at 8:30 a.m. and typically lasts until at least 5:30 p.m. Coastal Commission Analyst Kanani Brown said she is not certain when the item (10D) will be heard, though she said it would likely consume the majority of the day’s agenda.
Give us your old towel and receive 20% OFF a new towel in June We will donate 5% of towel sales and your old towels to The Rancho Coastal Humane Society
“The staff will give its presentation with a staff recommendation to the commission and then the commissioners can discuss (the item),” Brown said. “Usually, if they approve it, it’s done with certain special permit conditions. The city would have to meet all of those conditions before the permit is issued. Depending on how motivated the applicant is, that could take a long time or be very brief.” The permit conditions include: limiting the permit term to three years
See Seal Rope, A5