After asking for reader reflections on the shooting deaths of two San Diego teenagers over the weekend, I got this response via e-mail from Andrew Anderson, who said he was the cousin of one of the victims, Lincoln High senior Monique Palmer:
she was a great and active person. we weren’t always eye to eye, but she still was part of my family and i love her through thick and thin. she will be missed by many and loved by many. i will miss her because we lost a cousin 2 years ago.
Another frequent reader and commenter, former school board member Frances O’Neill Zimmerman, asked if schools are emphasizing the city curfew for teens. The two students were leaving a party early Saturday morning when the shootings occurred.
The curfew issue came up just last week at a recent community forum at Morse High School sponsored by school board member Shelia Jackson, where one parent said she was concerned that many teens weren’t aware of the curfew, and asked if it could be posted more prominently in schools and addressed by the school police. CityBeat wrote about the curfew in June, noting the widespread confusion among teens and parents about when it actually starts. (The article says 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.)
Mayor Jerry Sanders and City Councilman Tony Young are holding a community forum tonight to discuss the shootings, which are believed to be gang-related, and how the violence is being addressed. The event is at 6 p.m. tonight at the Joe and Vi Jacobs Center, 404 Euclid Avenue, just west of the Market Creek Plaza.