Del Mar Times

Press Release The City of Solana Beach will deploy deputies from the Encinitas Sheriff's Station on Friday between 7:30 p.m. and 3 a.m. on saturation patrols and DUI/drivers license checkpoints. The checkpoint will be conducted near the 500 block of Lomas Santa Fe Drive. The Sheriff's Department is placing 30-day holds on vehicles driven by drivers who are unlicensed or have a suspended license ... Full Story »

Ticketed passengers traveling through San Diego International Airport can get their holiday gifts wrapped for free, starting next week, it was announced Friday. Volunteers will staff several gift-wrapping stations inside terminals 1 and 2, past the security checkpoints, from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. from Dec. 18 to Dec. 23, according to the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority. The gift wrap ... Full Story »

Two young people robbed a market at gunpoint in Del Mar Heights but no one was hurt, police said Friday. The robbery at the Carmel Valley Market, 2302 Carmel Valley Road, was reported at 8:46 p.m. Thursday, according to San Diego police Officer David Stafford. A man and a woman in their late teens or early 20s took cash and ran away, Stafford said. The man had a handgun and was about 5 feet 6 ... Full Story »

Light rain fell around San Diego County early Friday, signaling the start of a series of storms expected to bring wet weather back into Southern California this weekend, forecasters said. A string of weather systems traveling over the east Pacific will be moving to San Diego County starting Friday and continuing through Sunday, according to the National Weather Service. Snow at higher elevations ... Full Story »

A memorial for Alex Capozza stood at the scene of the crash in which he was killed in Rancho Santa Fe. Photo by: Karen Billing By James R. Riffel City News Service A 17-year-old former Torrey Pines High School student who admitted driving drunk when his car went out of control and crashed in Rancho Santa Fe, killing one teenager and seriously injuring another, was sentenced Thursday to probation ... Full Story »

The Preuss School at UC San Diego was ranked ninth among the top 10 charter schools in the country by U.S. News & World Report, it was announced Thursday. The Preuss School was also ranked 32nd among all high schools in the country in the magazine's annual "America's Best High Schools" edition, according to UCSD. The Preuss School, which has 746 students, is a charter middle and high school that ... Full Story »

Enrollment will decline My goodness. Those parents concerned with the closure of Del Mar Hills Academy certainly have ignited a firestorm. The reality is an aging Del Mar population, which means less elementary age kids west of Interstate 5. This is nothing new, and the decline in young families in the area will continue. The simple fact is that young families are drawn to newer, larger, more ... Full Story »

We go to a lot of local meetings in the journalism biz and one thing we've always noticed is there's usually a lot of available seating in the audience. Meeting holders are aggressively ambitious in their placement of chairs, when sometimes all that's needed is three or four. Something we've noticed in the last few months: Seats are at a premium for Del Mar Union School District board meetings ... Full Story »

By Mike Nichols Mayor, Solana Beach Here we are in the midst of the 2009 holiday season and nearing the end of yet another year. Traditionally, the winter holidays bring us together with our friends, family and community to celebrate and reminisce about the past year. Two special events held last week, Carnivale on Cedros and the city's annual Holiday Tree Lighting, gave our community the ... Full Story »

A fire of unknown cause, which started about 3:30 p.m Thursday totally destroyed a single-family home at 8347 La Jolla Shores Drive. Maurice Luque, San Diego Fire-Rescue Department spokesman, said Engine Company #16, which had been on Mount Soledad, spied the fire in La Jolla Shores and phoned it in at 3:37 p.m. "They got there in a matter of minutes," said Luque, who added the blaze appeared to ... Full Story »

Rabbi Baruch Ezagui lights the menorah. In the background on the left is the world Torah. Scroll to be dedicated at lighting, will appear at sites around the world By Linda McIntosh Contributor The age-old tradition of lighting the menorah in celebration of Hanukkah will be re-enacted at 6 p.m. Dec. 14 in downtown La Jolla outside the Charriol Boutique on Prospect Street. In the dark days after ... Full Story »

Lee H. Stein Attorney Lee H. Stein is chief executive officer of Prize Capital LLC. He founded the company to provide capital to environmental startups worldwide while reducing risk for investors. It is currently in the due diligence phase for a proposed $10 million Algae Fuel Prize focused on spurring the development of radically advanced fuels from algae. In 2000, Stein formed Virtual Group ... Full Story »

Parents from Del Mar Hills Academy drove to Del Mar Heights School during Tuesday morning's drop-off time in an informal 'traffic study,' showing the traffic increase should the district combine the schools. Hills parents put orange paper in their windows. Photo by: Halie Johnson Members of the Ashley Falls School community can breathe a little easier now, knowing that a proposal to close their ... Full Story »

Tommy Rodrigues, 17, and Samantha Caras, 16, students at San Diego Academy, sit on Santa's lap for a photo together at the annual Holiday Wonderland, sponsored by the Del Mar Village Association, on Dec. 6. Photo by: Will Parson Families enjoyed a variety of holiday-themed activities at the annual Holiday Wonderland, sponsored by the Del Mar Village Association, on Dec. 6. There are more events ... Full Story »

State Sen. Christine Kehoe, middle, speaks at a press conference to support a proposed greenway along the San Dieguito River. Del Mar Mayor Crystal Crawford, Del Mar Councilman Carl Hilliard, Solana Beach Councilman Dave Roberts and San Diego County Supervisor Pam Slater-Price also support the plan. Photo by: Karen Billing State Sen. Christine Kehoe, D-San Diego, is considering introducing ... Full Story »

In the wake of two recent teen deaths in North County, about 80 local parents gathered Dec. 2 at Torrey Pines High School for a community workshop called "How Teens Grieve." Led by Ken Druck, bereavement expert and founder of the Jenna Druck Foundation, and Dr. Lori Rappaport, a clinical psychologist specializing in grief, trauma and bereavement for youths and families, the workshop addressed ... Full Story »

Richard Earnest Del Mar Mayor Crystal Crawford passed the gavel to Richard Earnest on Monday night, as her one-year term as mayor expired. Crawford was lauded with flowers, cake and a city commendation that praised her perfect attendance, her Louisiana gumbo and her enthusiasm, which a city proclamation said "if properly harnessed would light up the city, saving thousands on our electric bill ... Full Story »

Marye Anne Fox As it turns the corner on its golden anniversary, UCSD is looking back proudly on its past while it struggles with rising costs and shrinking state support that are clouding its future. Marye Anne Fox, UCSD's seventh chancellor who is now in her sixth year, discussed the school's accomplishments during the past 50 years and the challenges of the present when The Oceanids ... Full Story »

By Suzanne Evans Contributor Manjeet Ranu, Pacific Highlands Ranch (PHR) representative and Carmel Valley Planning Board vice chairman, sought to free his community from stagnating development, which he said is "frozen in time," at the sub-committee's Dec. 3 meeting. The group met to discuss the planning board's position on revisions to Proposition M, which limits the sub-area's growth ... Full Story »

Community Resource Center's 27th Annual Holiday Baskets Program, the largest comprehensive holiday distribution program of its kind in San Diego County, will serve more than 5,000 people in need this year. The next few weeks will mark the final opportunity for organizers to fill in donation gaps for the program before doors open for distribution on Dec. 18, 19, and 20. Hundreds of volunteers are ... Full Story »

Rep. Brian Bilbray By Joe Tash Contributor Comprehensive immigration reform may once again come up for debate in Congress by early next year, but a polarizing debate over the measure could make it difficult, if not impossible, to pass the legislation. Even the meaning of the term "immigration reform" can be tricky to pin down. On one side are those who want tougher border-enforcement measures to ... Full Story »

Interested in volunteering for a medical research study? Find an appropriate match through ResearchMatch.org, the nation's first disease-neutral volunteer recruitment registry. ResearchMatch.org is a free, secure online way for volunteers to connect with researchers who are conducting studies on health and disease topics. Individuals self-register as potential volunteers for local studies based ... Full Story »

Del Mar City Council turned down a request of its Lagoon Committee to submit its own comments to the Del Mar Fairgrounds in response to the recently released master plan draft environmental impact report. Incoming Mayor Richard Earnest said the city's response to the 22nd Agricultural Association is one of the most important it will make and it needs to make its point as effectively as possible ... Full Story »

President of Friends of the Powerhouse Barbara Harper speaks to attendees during the 10th anniversary celebration of the Powerhouse on Dec. 4. Photo by: Halie Johnson Community members came out to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the completion of a major reconstruction of the Powerhouse, making it a community center. Friends of the Powerhouse marked the occasion with champagne and cake. They ... Full Story »

A view of L'Auberge from 15th Street. Photo courtesy of L'Auberge Remembering.. Presented by Joe Jelley L'Auberge Del Mar and the Del Mar Plaza projects were made the subjects of a plan that defined view corridors. After seeing what Mission West had proposed for the site, developer David Winkler, who was behind the Plaza project with Ivan Gayler, wanted to protect the blue and white water views ... Full Story »