San Diego Community Newspaper Group
THURSDAY, JULY 16, 2009
www.SDNEWS.com Volume 14, Number 36
GETTING THE BRUSH-OFF Beach residents accelerate demands for street sweeping BY ADRIANE TILLMAN | VILLAGE NEWS ocean, like Via Capri or the
Pacific Beach Town Council President Rick Oldham isn’t happy that the city sweeps Via Capri — the residential street that winds past expensive La Jolla homes on Mount Soledad, where many residents hire their own gardeners —four times a month when trashstrewn Cass Street only gets swept once a month. Oldham wants to know why the city chose to sweep streets farther from the
Kensington area, more frequently than Cass Street, which runs alongside the ocean. The city started a twoyear street-sweeping pilot program in 2007 when the levels of copper and zinc in Chollas and Tecolote creeks rose above satisfactory levels. The State Water Quality Control Board told the city it had 10 years to improve the water quality, according to Jennifer Nichols-Kearns, spokeswoman for the Storm
Water Department. The city found that one of the most troubling pollutants that ended up in the water comes from braking cars that release brake dust onto the streets. The dust, containing copper and zinc particles, dissolves into runoff and ends up in the creeks, bays and oceans. The city targeted neighborhoods whose runoff eventually leads into San Diego Bay via Chollas Creek, Mission Bay via Tecolote Creek and La Jolla Shores. Via Capri is a heavily trafficked, steep road that leads down Mount Soledad to major thoroughfares that flow into La Jolla, SEE BRUSH-OFF, Page 5
Bishop’s School alumni continue to excel BY DAVE THOMAS | VILLAGE NEWS
The Bishop’s School has always been known for turning out talented young men and women. That tradition continues as three Bishop’s School alumni were recently noted for their accomplishments both on and off the sports scene. Mark Teitelman (class of ’88) was named the new producer of NFL Network’s prime-time package of NFL
games. Beginning with ESPN in 1993, Teitelman has performed myriad duties on NFL prime-time telecasts for ESPN, ABC, NBC and NFL Net. Last year he was nominated for an Emmy with NFL Network for the teases and openings he did for eight games. **** The University of California, Berkeley reported that Elizabeth Alexander (class
of ’09) has won the California Leadership Award Scholarship for the 2009-10 academic year. The Leadership Award is the most prestigious merit scholarship granted at Berkeley. As a Leadership Award Scholar, Alexander will become a member of the Leadership Award Scholars Association, enjoying access to alumni mentorship proSEE EXCEL, Page 2
KIDS & SQUIDS Cooper and Paige Harris, ages 10 and 8, check out a beached Humboldt squid July 12 in La Jolla. The siblings eventually helped prod about 30 of the strange critters back into the water so they could swim away. Dad Chad Harris says his family will no longer eat calamari after looking into PHOTO BY CHAD HARRIS the squids’ giant, human-size eyes.
Seals bill lands in governor’s lap BY ALYSSA RAMOS | VILLAGE NEWS
LJ CowParade auction cancelled BY ALYSSA RAMOS | VILLAGE NEWS
CowParade La Jolla sponsors cancelled an auction and charity dinner scheduled for Saturday, July 11 at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, citing a lack of ticket sales. But CowParade spokesman Michael Kinsman says the organization continues selling the life-size, hand-painted fiberglass cows in an effort to raise funds for Children’s SEE COWPARADE, Page 2
“My Ancestors’ Village” by artist Brian Swearingen is part of the CowParade herd that was on display in La Jolla.
Despite a unanimous vote by the state assembly approving a bill adding wording to a tidelands grant that would include La Jolla’s harbor seal colony among a string of uses at the Children’s Pool, attorneys say they are doubtful Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will sign the bill soon. “[The vote] was unanimous, 71 to 0,” said Brian Pease, the SealWatch attorney for the Animal Protection and Rescue League. Pease battled in federal and state court for the Children’s Pool seal colony. “[Schwarzenegger’s signature] would be the next
step but Schwarzenegger said he would veto anything not related to the budget, so [Stete Sen. Christine] Kehoe said she will hold it until the budget passes,” Pease said. Kehoe created the bill intending to give San Diego City Council members final authority over the area, which adds marine mammal viewing to a 1931 state tidelands grant affecting La Jolla’s Children’s Pool. Pease and attorneys for the city of San Diego said they expected the legislation could affect an ongoing state court battle, in which Superior Court Judge Yuri Hoffman ordered dispersal of the seals. Attorneys said the
legislation could save the Children’s Pool harbor seal colony. Pease said Hoffman ordered a July 20 hearing that would choose a seal dispersal plan. “If Judge Hoffman orders the seals dispersed on Monday, I’ll file an emergency appeal with the 9th Circuit,” Pease said. Meanwhile, Kehoe said in a written statement that here SB 428 would “amend the Children’s Pool trust so that it may be used as a marine sanctuary, with the San Diego City Council ultimately deciding whether to allow seals on the Children’s Pool beach.” For more information about Kehoe’s bill, visit SEE SEALS, Page 2