You made the call Our readers weigh in on their favorite local merchants with The Beacon’s Readers Choice Awards 2009. INSIDE San Diego Community Newspaper Group
www.SDNEWS.com Volume 24, Number 20
THURSDAY, MAY 28, 2009
Airport expansion concerns on radar in town hall forum BY SEBASTIAN RUIZ | THE BEACON
Honor, respect and reverence Above, Brett Cox, 7, of Northpark Boy Scout Troop 319, searches Saturday for the grave of his greatgrandfather — a World War II veteran buried in Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in Point Loma. Hundreds of Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and their parents fanned out across the cemetery to plant flags at each gravesite to mark Memorial Day. At left, Cadets George Mick, 15, and Daniel Murray, 14, of the Miramar-based United States Naval Cadet Corps place flags in tribute.
Airport planners will outline the next steps for Lindbergh Field’s short-term developments during a community town hall meeting Wednesday, June 3 in the Corky McMillin Cos. Event Center, 2865 Dewey Road. The forum begins at 6 p.m. Keith Wilscheitz, director of airport planning for the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority (SDCRAA) board and retired Rear Adm. Bruce Boland, a board member of the SDCRAA, plan to present the next phases of the terminal development program. The plan includes the addition of 10 gates, an overnight aircraft apron and a dual-level curbfront near terminal 2. The meeting will be an opportunity for community leaders and residents to direct questions at rep-
BY SEBASTIAN RUIZ | THE BEACON
San Diego County’s drive to deny medical marijuana identification cards disappeared in a puff of smoke last week after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the county’s appeal of Proposition 215 approved by California voters in 1996. As a result, county officials said they expect to address the issue of handing out medical marijuana identification cards as early as next month. “The county Department of Health and Human Services is going to recommend that the board [of supervisors] issue the cards,” said Tom Bunton, San
Diego County senior deputy counsel. The county board of supervisors could hear the issue in June or sooner, Bunton said. State law allows for a costrecovery fee on the cards, but the county “can’t make a profit [by issuing them],” he said. As an example, the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department currently charges between $80 and $161 to issue the identification cards. Meanwhile, a medical marijuana facility called the Pacific Beach Collective opened at 929A Turquoise St. on May 11 to the dismay of several neighboring business owners and community
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members who say the facility will attract crime and illegal drug use to the neighborhood. While residents and businesses in north Pacific Beach protest the dispensary, they may have to grin and bear it because marijuana used for medicinal purposes is legal under state law — specifically under Proposition 215 — which the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review last week. The case represents a prime example of state’s rights issues because federal law prohibits the sale of medical marijuana. Some Pacific Beach neighbors,
BY PATRICIA M. WALSH | THE BEACON
This Sunday, Juliette Simoes has a day planned to rival that of any runner in the Rock ’n’ Roll Marathon. As runners in the 12th annual Rock ’n’ Roll Marathon are rounding Rosecrans Street onto Barnett Avenue to the finish line at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot on Sunday, May 31, Simoes will be just a mile away walking in Point Loma’s Portuguese Festa parade as it crosses Rosecrans from Shelter Island on its way to St. Agnes Catholic Church. Queen of the 99th annual Feast of the Holy Spirit held by the Portuguese community in Point Loma, Simoes will start her day at 5 a.m. and finish after midnight as part of the event that honors Portuguese Queen St. Isabel. The event includes a morning parade, Mass, afternoon community feast and
Juliette Simoes, center, this year’s queen of the 99th annual Portuguese Festa, takes a moment with members of her court, Lady Danielle Nicole Lopez, left, and Lady Chelcie Michelle SEE FESTA, Page 7 Leal. PHOTO BY PATRICIA M. WALSH | THE BEACON
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resentatives of multiple planning agencies involved in the airport’s future. “We speak with community groups all over the region and the Peninsula [community] groups have very specific issues and concerns …but we would like to hear what they have to say and we don’t expect any [problems] at all,” Wilschietz said. A panel will be made up of representatives from the SDCRAA, San Diego Association of Governments, the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), Citizens Coordinate for Century 3 (C3), the San Diego Union Tribune, the San Diego Business Journal and the city of San Diego. Audience members will be asked to submit questions on cards to forum moderator Suhail Khalil,
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