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PeninsulaBeacon.com
THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2011
San Diego Community Newspaper Group
www.SDNEWS.com Volume 26, Number 10
Summer patrols beefed up, set in motion early
STOPPING THE BLEEDING
BY BIANCA KOCH | THE BEACON
.Sign-wielding residents join District 2 City Councilman Kevin Faulconer on April 30 to protest planned cutbacks in the city library system’s operatPHOTO BY JIM GRANT I THE BEACON ing hours, launching a petition drive outside the Ocean Beach Branch Library.
Faulconer, residents link arms to shield libraries
The San Diego Police Department’s Western Division will boost the number of summer patrol officers for Ocean Beach earlier than usual this year. The beefed-up patrols in Ocean Beach began April 29, including a team of four additional police officers concentrating on the beach areas. Their coverage area will include the 5000 block of Newport Avenue, the Ocean Beach Pier, Saratoga Park and the adjacent parking lots, stretching out to the surrounding neighborhoods and Dog Beach. The beach team ensures extra safety for Ocean Beach residents, tourists and mer-
chants, and enhances the visibility and presence of local law enforcement between the hours of 5 p.m. and 3 a.m. daily, said Officer D. Survilo of Western Division. According to statistics provided by the San Diego Police Department, the total crime index in Ocean Beach increased by 30 percent in a month’s period, culminating in 67 reported incidents in February. The number of reported incidents in January was 43. The recent physical assault on a female police officer in front of the Ocean Beach Hotel in the 5000 block of Newport Avenue on April 13 also SEE PATROLS, Page 5
BY PATRICIA M. WALSH | THE BEACON Calling libraries the “heart and soul of the community,” District 2 City Councilman Kevin Faulconer joined Friends of the Ocean Beach Library and the OB Rag on Saturday to collect signatures to thwart proposed cuts to San Diego’s city libraries. The recommended cuts would reduce each library’s operating hours from 36 to 18.5 hours a week. They are part of Mayor Jerry Sanders’ proposed $1.1 billion operating budget for the city’s 2012 fiscal year, which takes effect July 1. The signatures are to be presented to the City Council during the library department’s budget review today, May 5. The City Council’s final vote on the budget is scheduled for June 30. “I’m going to vote to keep libraries open at levels they’re open now. The city needs to make cuts in other areas,” Faulconer said in front of the historic Ocean Beach Branch Library, where a crowd of supporters wore “I Love My Library — SupportMyLibrary.org” stickers and carried SEE CUTS, Page 5
Hunt on for suspected killer of beloved auto-shop owner BY KEVIN MCKAY | THE BEACON
Faulconer hosted the opposition drive against library cuts with the Friends of the Ocean Beach Library and the OB Rag on Saturday. PHOTO BY JIM GRANT I THE BEACON
New PCPB board set; Khalil elected to lead planners BY TONY DE GARATE | THE BEACON As one board member put it, it'll take a while to get to know one another on the Peninsula Community Planning Board. The latest board lineup, whose all-volunteer members serve two-year terms and make land-use recommendations to the San Diego City Council, met last week for the first time since elections were held last month. About
half of the board’s membership consists of new faces. Five new members were elected in March and two new members were appointed to replace Doug Cohen and Robert MacCulloch, both of whom appear to have run afoul of recent bylaws changes that no longer allow a distinction between excused and unexcused absences. The new board elected Suhail Khalil as chairman. Members then elected
other officers and subcommittee chairs, who will serve until April 2012. With the transition, the group encountered its share of hiccups and procedural disputes as it plowed through business for the first time together. Thick skins came in handy as these hurdles alternately provoked laughter and expressions of annoyance among SEE PLANNERS, Page 5
Best foot forward
Judge: Time served
Hot at the right time
Walkers will descend on NTC Park soon to raise money for the National Kidney Foundation. 2
Two young men responsible for dozens of storefront window etchings in OB are released. 3
Point Loma High’s baseball team latches on to sole possession of first place in Western League. 11
Homicide detectives are on the hunt for a former Point Loma auto-shop employee accused of killing the shop’s beloved owner, Jalal “Joe” Abou on April 19. Investigators identified the fatal shooting suspect as Nicolas Rosales, 47, a disgruntled for- NICOLAS ROSALES mer employee of Joe’s Auto Repair on Rosecrans Street, who police said was a mechanic there until October. Police issued an arrest warrant for Rosales on April 29, simultaneously issuing a public plea for any information leading to his arrest, according to
Lt. Kevin Rooney of the police department’s Homicide Unit. Funeral services were held for the 63-year-old Abou on April 26 in El Cajon. A makeshift memorial assembled by neighbors, family members and customers sprang up the day of the murder. The event unfolded around 7:30 a.m. on April 19 when officers responded to the shop in the 1900 block of Rosecrans Street. According to Rooney, officers arrived to find Abou lying in the driveway of his business. Passersby and paramedics attempted to revive him. Abou died at the scene, apparently of multiple gunshot wounds. Rooney said witnesses claimed to have spotted a Hispanic male parked near the SEE SUSPECT, Page 9
‘Officer’s Row 1904’ A new book chronicles life at Fort Rosecrans in Point Loma when it was an Army installation. 8