San Diego Community Newspaper Group
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2008
www.SDNEWS.com Volume 14, Number 3
Jury: Cravens guilty in murder of surfer BY NEAL PUTNAM | VILLAGE NEWS
The La Jolla High juniors class displays a Venetian theme on their Homecoming float, shown during the Nov. 14 game VILLAGE NEWS | DON BALCH against the visiting Point Loma High Pointers.
Dogs run rings around Vikes at Homecoming BY ROB STONE | VILLAGE NEWS
The Point Loma High School (PLHS) Pointers had five quarterback sacks and ran for 253 yards as a team, spoiling La Jolla High School’s (LJHS) Homecoming by defeating the Vikings 28-7 in a Western League football game at Gene Edwards Stadium on Nov. 14. “Point Loma is a good football team,” said La Jolla head football coach Dave Ponsford said. “They handled us in every which way. They deserved to win.” The Pointers got on the scoreboard first when senior Marquel Specks (13 carries, 117 yards, 1 touchdown) opened the scoring on a 41-yard touchdown run with 1:56 left in the first quarter to give PLHS a 7-0 lead. “They (the Vikings) stacked eight guys inside the box against us because of our running backs,” said Pointers head football coach Mike Hastings. In the second quarter, Point Loma came right back and scored again as junior Leslie Rogers (13 carries, 90 yards, 2 touchdowns), reached the goal line on an 8-yard run to put the Pointers up
14-0 with 8:08 remaining before halftime. “We have a great running game,” Hastings said. “But our quarterback can throw too. So, we made some big plays when the timing was right.” The Point Loma quarterback would be Keegan Fitzgerald (5-of-6, 85 yards, 1 touchdown) and 3:06 left in the second period proved to be the right time for the Pointers as the junior signalcaller found Rogers in the end zone for a 21-yard touchdown pass to push the PLHs advantage to 21-0 heading into the locker room at halftime. “That was a good testament to our offense,” Hastings said. “It kept clicking right along and I felt confident that the defense could hold a 21point lead. Our defense shut La Jolla down and played well all night long in giving the offense great field position to work with.” In the third quarter, a sack by LJHS senior linebacker Harper Allen and a blocked punt by junior linebacker Matt Petch gave possession of the ball back to the Vikings. La Jolla quickly capitalized on a 34-yard drive that culminated when SEE VIKES, Page 15
A jury — which on Monday told a judge it was deadlocked 11-1 in the murder case against Seth Cravens — overcame its impasse overnight and on Tuesday, Nov. 18 convicted him of seconddegree murder in the death of professional surfer Emery Kauanui Jr., of La Jolla. The jury also convicted Cravens, 22, of La Jolla, of three felony assaults and two counts of making a criminal threat involving earlier instances in which people were punched in separate incidents. The jury acquitted him of three assault charges involving fights at parties. Cravens looked surprised as San Diego Superior Court Judge John Einhorn read the verdicts on the jury’s sixth day of deliberations. He shook his head several times. Einhorn set sentencing
for Jan. 12. Cravens faces 25 years to life in prison for the murder and the assaults if they are sentenced consecutively, said District Attorney spokesman Paul Levikow. Cravens’ attorney, Mary Ellen Attridge, said she will appeal the verdict but left the courtroom quickly afterward without comment. “These verdicts send a strong message to the community that brutality will not be tolerated,” Deputy District Attorney Sophia Roach said afterward. “They will never replace the life that has been taken. Emery Kauanui’s family will live with this sadness forever.” Jurors also quickly left, and how the one holdout juror changed his or her mind was not answered by the nine-man, three-woman jury. The jury foreSEE GUILTY, Page 5
UCSD to honor Wagner legacy with namesake theater space BY CHARLENE BALDRIDGE | VILLAGE NEWS
Some people are never celebrated enough. A prime example of suitable tribute is Arthur Wagner, founder and emeritus faculty member of the University of California San Diego’s (UCSD) Department of Theatre and Dance. At a Friday, Nov. 21, campus reception at Galbraith Hall, Room 157, Wagner will receive special recognition for his service and support of the arts. The reception begins at 4 p.m. That special recognition
comes in the form of the Arthur Wagner Theatre, a marvelously adaptable, fully equipped 99seat black box theater used for numerous graduate and undergraduate projects, rehearsals and classes, as well as the annual Baldwin New Play Festival. So now, like playwright Neil Simon on Broadway, Wagner has a theater named for him in La Jolla. “Oh, yeah,” he quips, “but there’s quite a difference in the size of the theaters!” Then SEEWAGNER, Page 5
‘Throat’ sinkhole strangles a.m. traffic BY ALYSSA RAMOS | VILLAGE NEWS
City crews worked to fix a sinkhole Tuesday morning, Nov. 18, on Torrey Pines Road at La Jolla Parkway while morning traffic backed up for more than one mile to Pearl Street. City of San Diego water crews received a call that a car drove over a sinkhole, bursting a water main, at about 2 a.m. Tuesday, said City of San Diego Water Department
supervisor Nina Patterson. When crews arrived, they found a 6-inch broken pipe leading to a nearby fire hydrant, Patterson said. No homes or businesses were affected, but crews closed an eastbound lane heading toward Highway 52, tying up morning traffic. The affected intersection, called “The Throat,” is one in a handful of exits from La Jolla. In 2002, the intersection was named the second busiest in the city of San Diego, with
more than 75,000 daily trips, according to the city of San Diego website. Now some residents have voiced concerns, pointing to the intersection’s high traffic concentration in asking planning groups to deny large projects that may increase the number of daily trips. “We had to narrow it down to one lane so that we can make room for the dump truck and equipment,” SEE SINKHOLE, Page 3
City water crews guide backed-up traffic around a sinkhole at La Jolla ParkAlyssa Ramos | Village News way and Torrey Pines Road Tuesday morning.