Ocean Beach and Point Loma News – Early February 2016

15 IPads Stolen From Special Needs Students at Pioneer Day School

According to police, someone broke in and stole 15 iPads from the Pioneer Day School on Santa Monica Avenue Sunday night, Jan. 31. The iPads are used by 35 of the school’s 45 students to communicate about 80% of the time while at school. The school includes special-needs students.

10News covered the theft:  Pioneer Day School Executive Director Jim Leiner said the school is already on a shoestring budget. “The biggest challenge right now is helping the students who essentially had their words stolen,” he said.

“It’s unimaginable. It’s so infuriating,” said speech therapist Brittany Warnke. She was calm, but angry, when she spoke. “It’s really, really, just kind of disgusting,” she said.  Warnke told 10News her students use the tablets to speak, and she added, “It’s really devastating because it’s taking these kids’ voices away from them.” Officers took pictures of the school and dusted for fingerprints on Monday.

Motorist Killed by Falling Tree in PB On Her Way to Play Music in Ocean Beach

A motorist killed by a falling tree in Pacific Beach was a well-known local musician and was headed to a performance in Ocean Beach with her band Spider Tree when she was killed. Nicki L. Carano, 48, was fatally injured when an uprooted 8-foot diameter tree fell across Ingraham Street near Fortuna Avenue shortly after 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 31.  Her small Honda sedan was one of four cars crushed by falling branches, and she died at the scene,

According to an online biography, Carano taught dance, drumming and musical theater for more than 15 years in addition to performing. She had taught at numerous local campuses including the Academy Of Performing Arts San Diego, Mesa College, UC San Diego and the Coronado School of the Arts, according to the Academy Of Performing Arts. Times of San Diego

Does Councilwoman Zapf Enjoy Her Job?

OB got one short line from a recent Voice of SD article about whether Councilwoman Lorie Zapf enjoys her job or not. Explaining the source of her headaches as stemming from her unruly District 2:

Zapf’s current district is one of the most active in the city and with some problems and idiosyncrasies that make it hard to manage. Ocean Beach is its own world. Point Lomans went to war a few years back over rogue stop signs. (our emphasis.)

Nothing from the Voice – which touts itself as “neighborhood friendly” – about the current controversies in OB – the police surveillance cameras, the threat to community from short term vacation rentals and gentrification, and not a mention of the current issues in Point Loma, the CVS opposition, the airplane route changes ….

Some OB Businesses Still Recovering From First Storm

7SanDiego reported on OB businesses that were still recovering from the first big storm that hit – and this is BEFORE this past Sunday’s rain and wind.  Wings Beachwear on Newport (in the former Strand Theater) was still drying out after more than 3 inches of rainwater flooded the entire store. It was closed “until further notice”, a sign read, but workers hope it will be open in a couple of weeks. Some of the store’s employees are looking for other work. May Montesa was quoted:

“All of a sudden we see a flood of like a lot of water came right down here. We were shocked. Everybody was shocked.”

Miss Match also was damaged. Its owner, Tali Bercovitz recounted how they had to lock customers inside the store to prevent flooding.

“Out of nowhere it was so quick the water came up to the door and we had customers in the store. The worst part was we weren’t prepared for it. It was really, really quiet and then all of a sudden I finally understand what a flash flood warming means and we lived it.

“That’s really how everyone is on Newport avenue we weather the storm together and then we get back to business.”

Urbanization, financial backlog hurt flood control

From a report from the SD U-T: Recent storms that deluged homes and cars, along with the likely prospect of more to come because of El Niño, have thrown into stark relief the region’s age-old approach to flood control. Ahead of this month’s rain-related flooding, San Diego city officials repeatedly debated how fast and aggressively to perform the costly stormwater maintenance on its channels that are considered most prone to spilling over.  Officials said they inspected and cleared all of the city’s more than 24,000 storm drains and repaired several corrugated metal pipes in the run-up to the first series of storms. …

As development has paved over floodplains and wetlands, stormwater systems have become increasingly burdened. During heavy showers, dangerously fast-moving water rolls off roofs, parking lots and sidewalks, overwhelming storm drains and flood channels.

In regions such as Southern California that receive heavy but infrequent storms, spending tax dollars on getting rainwater out to the ocean and away from homes and businesses can raise tricky questions. For more – SD U-T.

Lifeguards and City Agree on Extended Health Care

San Diego lifeguards, who recently approved a new contract proposal with the city dealing with “presumptive illness coverage,” got some — but not all — of what they were looking for in the deal.

“But it’s a big step in the right direction,” said Ed Harris, former District 2 city councilman and the lifeguards union spokesman.

Presumptive illness coverage protections features workers’ compensation benefits implemented to protect employees who have high risk of injury and hazardous exposures on the job. The San Diego Police and Fire departments enjoy these benefits. Lifeguards have been denied the same coverage.

“It falls far short of what we were told by the mayor we were going to get in 2013,” said Harris of the latest agreement, adding, “It is not consistent with police and fire. But it will provide better protection then we have had in the past.”  Harris pointed out lifeguards “are going to be protected again for things like meningitis, tuberculosis, hernia and pneumonia. That’s a very good thing.” For more – San Diego Community News Group/Peninsula Beacon.