It was a rough crowd on Wednesday at a town hall meeting in Clairemont that met to discuss a proposal to increase density and the height limit around a new trolley stop that will eventually rise near Bay Park. Andrew Keatts, who previously noted that San Diegans are easily excited over the issue of increasing height limits on new construction, was on hand to witness it. “No to Towers of Terror,” a nearby sign read.
“Leave us in peace,” another opponent yelled. Planning Director Bill Fulton tried to assure the skeptical crowd that the proposal had already been abandoned. Councilman Ed Harris said density belonged in blighted neighborhoods in District 4, instead of Clairemont’s “family oriented community.”
Fair Warning: Judge Elections Ahead
The election of Judge Gary Kreep in 2012 shocked many in the county. Determined not to let anyone claim they were caught unawares again, Ari Bloomekatz dove in to the list of county judicial candidates in the June election.
“There are 11 candidates in the five contested Superior Court races and of those, the San Diego County Bar Association rated three – Douglas Crawford, Ken Gosselin and Michele Hagan – as ‘Lacking Qualifications,’” Bloomekatz wrote.
How Some Schools Get a Little More Cash: San Diego Explained
Mario Koran joined NBC San Diego’s Catherine Garcia to show which schools are getting what kinds of extra money from either parent donations or federal government supplements and which schools aren’t getting any money, in our most recent San Diego Explained.
Mission Bay Mobile Homes Out
A decade-long lawsuit over the mobile home park in Mission Bay may be finally coming to an end, with the likely outcome being the eviction of the residents. “The residents filed a class action lawsuit against the city in 2003 when the park’s lease expired,” reported NBC San Diego. The question remaining is how much the city will compensate residents for relocation. Activists are excited to turn the location into an RV park, NBC San Diego wrote.
Looking Back, Surging Forward
The Columbia Journalism Review wrote up a nice piece on Voice of San Diego on Thursday. It is required reading “for anyone who follows the sustainability puzzle in news,” wrote prominent journalism professor Jay Rosen. With appearances from our former editor Andrew Donohue and CEO Scott Lewis, the article gets downright nostalgic as it frames Voice of San Diego’s vision and challenge to recruit thousands of members. If you’re not already a member, we hope you’ll join us.
News Nibbles
• Some San Diego heavyweights dreamed up a bunch of projects this week that they would like to see accomplished. A new stadium, airport, and convention center all got mentioned, among other large projects. Still nobody offering me a pony.
• Another proposal by the Chargers for a new stadium development will land by year’s end.
• One of the people convicted of bribing Duke Cunningham is probably headed to jail, after a long court battle.
• Yet another delay has come up in implementing San Diego’s bike share program.
• The East Village neighborhood of Downtown San Diego is getting a big new charter school this year.
• Rady Children’s Hospital hand-picks volunteer “baby huggers” whose job is to go around all day cuddling with babies and cooing at them.
• District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis and the US Department of Justice are having a disagreement that will result in the federal government withholding money from San Diego County.
• San Diego is planning an official event to recognize its local super-star runner Meb Keflezighi, who stunned the running world in April by winning the Boston Marathon.
Cooling Down
It’s been a hot week in San Diego, but one man’s luck was positively on fire when he won a $3.5 million jackpot on a $5 scratcher card. While weather services say the heat will break on Friday, San Diegans were already sounding off on Reddit over the constant blasts (up to 80 mph in some places) of hot wind we’ve been suffering. “Yes, it was slightly less awesome bicycling to and from work today. Also slightly less awesome having lunch on the patio. Sill awesome, though,” wrote Reddit user ‘redfiche.’
Yeah, it’s all fun and games until a tree branch comes flying through your car’s windshield, missing you by inches.
Seth Hall is a local writer and technologist. You can reach him at voice@s3th.com or follow him on Twitter: @loteck.