VILLAGE NEWS
Scott Appleby & Kerry ApplebyPayne
LA JOLLA
A Family Tradition of Real Estate Success
858-775-2014
LA JOLLA’S PREFERRED SOURCE FOR LOCAL NEWS
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2012
San Diego Community Newspaper Group
DRE#01197544 DRE#01071814
www.SDNEWS.com Volume 17, Number 52
City to collect input from communities on improvement projects
QUICKHITS Man suffers suspicious head injury in La Jolla motel
BY MARIKO LAMB | VILLAGE NEWS During the past decade, the city’s financial troubles caused funding for projects in the Capital Improvement Program (CIP) to fall by the wayside. With the city emerging with more in its budget this year, attention toward capital improvement projects again gained strength on the city’s list of priorities. With the newfound attention came ideas for how to make the process more inclusive and effective. This year, for the first time, the city is calling on the public to participate in the budget allocation process for CIP projects, including street and facility repairs and upgrades, libraries, park and recreation centers, utilities undergrounding, water and sewer facilities and pipelines, and other construction projects that enhance overall quality of life in San Diego. For La Jollans, that means weighing in on the importance of large-scale projects — like the Torrey Pines Corridor improvements to relieve traffic congestion and increase pedestrian safety; the Coast Boulevard walkway project to improve coastline parks; or the Belvedere Dip project to create a pedestrian promenade at the confluence of Prospect and Girard streets — and smaller-scale projects like installing street lights, upgrading traffic signals or fixing sidewalks in the village. “The projects are likely to be as diverse as the interests of La Jollans and will give us a taste of the difficult decisions that the mayor and the City Council make in balancing competing needs,” said Joe LaCava, chairman of the Community Planners Committee. “La Jolla is fortunate to have community funding of projects that would otherwise be candidates such as library expansion, fire station upgrades, Kellogg Park restrooms and others.” Input for CIP projects will be gathered by the city’s 42 community planning groups and submitted to the city’s Public Works for ranking and assessment of possible funding sources. Factors like health and safety, shovel-ready projects, community consensus and matching funds from other sources are used by the city to SEE CIP, Page 2
Thriving on art By MARIKO LAMB
Photos by Mariko Lamb
fter suffering a brain aneurysm two years ago, local artist Kate Fetterolf — whose expertise had been in figurative oil and pastel works for 30 years — began to see her art take a turn in a beautiful, yet frighteningly unknown direction. On an ill-fated day in May 2010 — just five days after introducing herself to the La Jolla community with her first open house artist reception — Fetterolf was swimming at the Coggan Family Aquatic Complex for a master’s workout when she suddenly felt an excruciating pain in her head.
A
Kate Fetterolf couldn’t stop creating art after she suffered a brain aneurysm, but her style did change from figure paintings to mostly abstract works.
“I had actually just finished a lap. I had touched the end of the pool, fortunately, so I was hanging onto the side, and it just felt like someone had put a sledgehammer through my head,” she said. “Fortunately for me, I did not lose consciousness. I was able to talk and move, so they got me out of the water and called an ambulance.” After undergoing state-of-the-art neurosurgery at Scripps Memorial Hospital, 20 days of uncertain recovery in the hospital and a follow-up complication that led to a broken wrist and another stint in the hospital, SEE ART, Page 2
Community urged to help make waves for local aquatic center BY MARIKO LAMB | VILLAGE NEWS For a decade, the Coggan Family Aquatic Complex has been a community hub where children and adults have learned to swim, play water sports and enjoy good times splashing around with friends and family in the Olympic-caliber pool and state-of-the-art aquatic facility. La Jolla’s beloved aquatic complex was not something that arose overnight. It was a collaborative community effort that took time, dedication and — of course — serious fundraising efforts. “The high school never had a pool, so in 1999, the city and the
school got together and agreed that they would find a piece of property at La Jolla High School to build a pool,” said Masis Kevorkian, president of the La Jolla Aquatic Complex Foundation. “One LJHS family in particular stepped up and said they The Coggan Aquatic Complex will celebrate its Courtesy photo would give $1 million 10-year anniversary on Oct. 6. toward the pool, and that started Project S.P.L.A.S.H, which budget shortfalls over the years, the ultimately raised all the funds need- Coggan Family Aquatic Complex continues to thrive. Always buzzing ed to build the facility.” Now, at a time when many of the with activity, the complex hosts daily city’s pools have closed due to costly insurance, high heating bills and SEE POOL, Page 4
Medics responded to a call concerning a 52-year-old man who suffered from an unexplained head injury at a motel on the 6700 block of La Jolla Boulevard on Sept. 25. The victim’s roommates discovered their friend just after midnight, and they called the fire department for medical assistance. After the man was transported to a nearby hospital for treatment, hospital staff notified police to report the man’s head injury as suspicious. During the police investigation, detectives learned that the man’s condition had worsened. At press time, the man was on life support and was not expected to recover. Homicide detectives collected evidence from the motel room and are seeking out witnesses who may have information on the victim. The name of the victim will not be released until his family is notified of his condition. Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to call the Homicide Unit at (619) 531-2293 or Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.
Foundation for Women reaches out to San Diego entrepreneurs The Foundation for Women is hoping to make its services available to more women entrepreneurs with its 14th annual luncheon on Friday, Sept. 28 at the Estancia La Jolla Hotel. The luncheon will focus awareness on the critical issues facing women living in poverty and raise funds for the organization’s efforts. The keynote speaker at the luncheon will be world-renowned photographer and filmmaker Phil Borges. There are more than 17 million women living in poverty today, a record number according to the latest U.S. Census Bureau report (2011). The “extreme poverty” rate — individuals whose income is below half of the federal poverty line — among women in the U.S. was the highest ever recorded. Borges’ photographs are collected and exhibited in museums and galleries worldwide. His award-winning books have been published in four SEE BRIEFS, Page 2