VILLAGE NEWS
Scott Appleby & Kerry ApplebyPayne
LA JOLLA
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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2012
San Diego Community Newspaper Group
DRE#01197544 DRE#01071814
www.SDNEWS.com Volume 17, Number 52
Planning Commission downs
year-round rope
barrier concept for seal protection
BY DAVE SCHWAB | VILLAGE NEWS
Pro-seal advocates and pro-beach-access supporters again clashed in ideologies during the Sept. 27 meeting of the city Planning Commission as a year-round rope barrier for seals at the Children’s Pool was being considered. At least for now, beach-access advocates scored a victory. Photo by Don Balch I Village News
Humans got a leg up in a years-long tug-of-war over shared use between humans and seals at La Jolla’s Children’s Pool as the city’s Planning Commission voted 5-0 Sept. 27 to deny having the rope barrier visually separating the two species year-round instead of just during the marine mammals’ Dec. 15 to May 15 pupping season. Commissioners Griswold and Peerson were absent for the vote. Former City Councilwoman Donna Frye testified at the seals hearing, arguing that all of the findings could and should be made by the commission to approve a year-round rope barrier. “This is a three-year site development permit,” she said. “Let's try it and see if it works.” Frye said the guideline rope “gives a person a reason to pause and think about what's happening.” “They are wild animals,” she said. “This isn't like a petting zoo,” adding the rope “provides some line of demarcaSEE SEALS, Page 2
Goodall spreads message of global balance, harmony to La Jollans BY MANNY LOPEZ | VILLAGE NEWS Iconic conservationist and United Nations Messenger of Peace Dr. Jane Goodall was the guest of honor for a fundraising dinner hosted by Michelle and Bill Lerach at their La Jolla Farms estate Sept. 28. More than 200 followers and supporters of Goodall attended the $5,000-per-couple event, which benefited the Jane Goodall Institute — a global nonprofit that empowers people to make a difference for all living things. “San Diego has enough money to be happy, but this is not about money,” said Goodall. “It’s about reaching the young people.” During dinner, Goodall — a renowned primatologist who is large-
ly known for defining the relationships between humans and primates — greeted the crowd in chimpanzee with a distinctive “pan hoot” call, which she likened to the sound of a howling dog. She said the greeting enables the individual caller to be identified in the wild. Goodall, who has been compared to Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King, then delivered a message of peace and called upon everyone in attendance to help educate and bring awareness to children around the world that humans are part of, and not separate from, the rest of the aniJane Goodall delivers a pan hoot call to guests mal kingdom. “We are forced into a role to change at a fundraising dinner held at the home of Bill and Michelle Lerach on Sept. 28. SEE GOODALL, Page 9 Photo by Manny Lopez I Village News
Far left, the 1911 land transfer from the Stephens family to Ellen Scripps’ half-sister Virginia Scripps. Center, original paperwork showing the transfer of land from Isabel Hotchkiss to Ellen Scripps in 1903. Photos courtesy La Jolla Historical Society
Left, the cover of a quitclaim deed transferring property from Ellen Browning Scripps to the St. James church in 1929.
R ECONNECTING WITH THE PAST
Piece of St. James history brought to light and preserved for future BY MARIKO LAMB | VILLAGE NEWS The La Jolla Historical Society hit the archivist’s jackpot when Rev. Eleanor Ellsworth of the historic St. James by-the-Sea Episcopal Church presented the original deed to the seaside church, as well as a number of other historically significant documents. Ellsworth made the presentation to the society’s board of directors for caretaking on Sept. 24. During a churchwide cleanup effort in July, church staff member Walter DuMelle stumbled upon boxes of decades-old documents in one of the church’s storage rooms. “A bunch of boxes had been put aside for shredding, and I just thought it wise — because they were from a particularly old part of our archival storage — to give it a once-over before it went to the shredder,” DuMelle said. Almost immediately, he recognized the importance of the documents in his hands, some of which were more than 100 years old. “It became clear pretty quickly that these things needed a thorough going-through because my hands
were touching documents from the 1920s almost instantly,” he said. “The folder of deeds popped out in a rather large way.” After bringing the documents to Ellsworth, she realized at once that DuMelle had stumbled upon a treasure in need of long-term preservation, which is how the documents came to travel across the street to the Wisteria Cottage, where the historical society preserves stacks upon stacks of La Jolla’s history in an archival storage area. “With Rev. Eleanor Ellsworth’s keen perception of the value of these documents and the historical society’s willingness to become involved, we feel very fortunate to have reconnected with these documents of our past, helping to connect the dots of our more than 100 years of history,” said DuMelle. More than just a single piece of old paper; the society’s board inherited a peek into the longstanding history of the church and its property. “Originally, we were expecting one deed for the property, but what they found was this collection of SEE DEED, Page 5