Volume XV, Issue 30
www.solanabeachsun.com
July 21, 2011 Published Weekly
Council approves church renovation BY JOE TASH Contributor Solana Beach Presbyterian Church will expand and remodel its preschool, add an elevator tower and a flower kiosk and make other improvements at its property on Stevens Avenue, following approval of a $1 million renovation project by the Solana Beach City Council.
■ After the Finish Line rescues and cares for former racehorses. Page 20
The council voted 4-0, with Councilman Mike Nichols abstaining, at its meeting on Wednesday, July 13, to approve the project at 225 Stevens Avenue. According to church officials, a preschool at the property, which has been in operation for 47 years, will be expanded
SEE CHURCH, PAGE 6
Trash collection rate hikes OK’d BY JOE TASH Contributor The Solana Beach City Council approved rate increases requested by the city’s commercial and residential trash haulers at its meeting on Wednesday, July 13.
And they’re off ...
No one spoke at public hearings for the two rate increase measures, although the city received two protests regarding the residential rate increase, according to the city clerk.
Pickens’ passion: Saving mustangs Local homeowner hopes to create Nevada preserve for wild horses
■ Local woman celebrates 110th birthday. Page 10
Opening Day at the Races once again kicked off the racing season in style on July 20. Live racing will be held five days each week on average — Wednesdays through Sundays, with the exception of a Labor Day Monday card — through Sept. 7. For more information on the season, visit www. dmtc.com. (Above, l-r) Emilee Wilson and Kathy Wilson. Photos/Jon Clark
■ Psychologist calls subliminal therapy ‘treatment of the future.’ Page B1
SEE RATE, PAGE 18
BY JOE TASH CONTRIBUTOR As a child growing up in Iraq, Madeleine Pickens watched American Western movies and dreamed of immigrating to the United States. Among the images of the Wild West spirit that etched into her memory was that of mustangs roaming on the prairie. Later, as an adult, Pickens learned of the plight of wild horses in the modern American West – rounded up and confined to government corrals, or even sent to the slaughterhouse. “The idea of them running free and being gathered
up by helicopters in such a traumatic style, being disposed of or warehoused by the government was such a sad thing for me,” said Pickens, a businesswoman Madeleine Pickens and philanthropist, and wife of Texas billionaire T. Boone Pickens. “So I got involved.” Pickens, who owns the Del Mar Country Club, founded Saving America’s Mustangs, a nonprofit foundation. So far, she has purchased two ranches in northeast Nevada totaling more than 18,000 acres, and
SEE MUSTANGS, PAGE 6
Renovated Fletcher Cove Community Center close to completion BY DIANE Y. WELCH CONTRIBUTOR On July 1, as part of the City of Solana Beach’s Centennial Celebration, the newly renovated Fletcher Cove Community Center had its grand re-opening. In keeping with the community spirit, the center renova-
tion was a community-driven project and was community funded. Not quite ready for business on the day of the dedication, the center is now close to completion with final details to Phase II of the building project being added daily.
Jerilyn Larson, as part of her self-motivated community service, took on a mission to help oversee some of these details. A Solana Beach resident with a background in project management and engineering, she volunteered to help guide the project to its suc-
cessful outcome. As she already volunteers in her children’s schools, Larson felt that she wanted to make a more permanent gift back to the community, she said. “I took a look at the plans and it was pretty plain Jane for the building, so I wanted to put some more
personality into it,” Larson explained. “And we have so many wonderful artists in our community that I wanted to pull in some of these resources.” Larson talked to various
SEE FLETCHER, PAGE 6