December 2013
On the Internet at www.MissionTimesCourier.com
Volume XIX – Number 12
NEIGHBORS SUE CITY OVER HUGE ‘LUXURY’ HOUSING PROJECT By Jeremy Ogul Mission Times Courier
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he city of San Diego illegally approved a large student dormitory project and shut the community out of the process, according to a group of residents calling themselves Rolandans for Quality Infill Development. The residents,
who live near the project site on El Cajon Boulevard and 63rd Street in Rolando Village, claim in a lawsuit that the city ignored its own laws requiring extensive public review and approval of a new permit to build the complex. They also claim developer Carmel Partners deliberately misled the community about
whether the project would serve as a student dormitory or luxury family apartments. The new apartment community, now under construction and being marketed as BLVD63, will have 332 residential units and 4,000 square feet of retail space across four four-story buildings on the property. The residential units include a total of 915 See NEIGHBORS page 10
Prescription drug use a growing problem By Doug Curlee Editor
Use by kids rising
H
ealth and law enforcement officials in our area are seeing a major rise in the illegal use of prescription drugs, and in the problems that creates. A recent report from the county’s Prescription Drug Abuse Task Force details the rise in drug use among virtually all segments of society, with particular attention to the rise in use among kids. “The increasing number of juvenile arrestees who report misusing prescription drugs is very troubling” said Sheriff Bill Gore. “The percentage is 15 points higher than five years ago, and that is worrisome.” The rise Gore cites is 25 per
cent to 40 per cent among juveniles, a staggering hike. Many of those young people are students in local high schools, and more unfortunately, in middle schools. It’s a temptation that’s hard to resist, since the drugs are readily available in many, if not most, home medicine cabinets these days. Emergency room visits due
to overdoses of prescription painkillers is up fully 61 per cent over the past five years, and sources say a significant number of those visits are kids. School officials are very aware of the possibility there may be drugs on campus. The San Diego Unified School District, like most See PRESCRIPTION page 21
COMMENTARY
THE NICE, THE STRANGE, AND THE TRULY WEIRD
Dancing from Africa, coffee over sex, and teeth made of urine By David Ogul Mission Times Courier
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t is a relatively little-known martial art from Brazil with graceful, dance-like moves. And it is being taught to 3- and 4-year-olds at a preschool in the San Diego community of San Carlos. “It’s a non-aggressive, playful martial art that incorporates
dance, acrobat, music and it originated in Africa at the time of slavery,” said Nina Gerstz, the recently hired director at Silverman Preschool, housed at
Tifereth Israel Synagogue, on Cowles Mountain Boulevard. “The kids love it. It’s the most See DANCE page 2
Mission Trails Update
Who’s driving the bus here? By Doug Curlee Editor
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he city’s Parks and Recreation department has weighed in on the subject of Mission Trails Regional Park. Sort of. What follows here is the text of an article written by Jay Wilson of the park foundation, in consultation with Chris Zirkle, the city’s deputy director for Open Space. It clarifies, to a degree, the city’s position in the ongoing Multiple Species Conservation Program, and the Mission Trails Regional Park plan update. That update is what brought about the letters from federal and state fish and wildlife officials that sparked the controversy. “Recently there has been considerable discussion resulting from a letter written by the US and CA Fish and Wildlife Services to the City of San Diego regarding the Mission Trails Regional Park master plan update and natural resource management See UPDATE page 17