Car repair shop owner shot to death on Rosecrans Police investigators are asking for the public’s help after the fatal shooting of a mechanic who owned Joe’s Auto Repair in Point Loma on Tuesday morning. The 63-year-old victim, identified at Jalal “Joe” Abou, was shot and killed at the Rosecrans Street location shortly before 7:30 a.m., according to investigators. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Investigators are hoping someone who witnessed the murder will step forward to aid the investigation. Police said they have not identified a motive, but that they are seeking a man — possibly a Latino with short, cropped hair — who was seen driving a black or green older-model four-door car. Anyone with information is urged to call the San Diego Police Department Homicide Unit at (619) 531-2293, or Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477, Two wrecks trap drivers in OB Friday For drivers trying to get out of the Ocean Beach area on the morning of April 15, they likely encountered unexpected traffic delays of up to an hour or more. Police responded to an accident around 9 a.m. on Sunset Cliffs Boulevard near Nimitz Boulevard, in which a 35-year-old man on a motorcycle rear-ended a minivan, suffering major injuries to his left leg. Sunset Cliffs Boulevard was blocked off at West Point Loma Boulevard and members of the police department’s Retired Senior Volunteer Program were directing traffic toward Nimitz Boulevard. Meanwhile, in an unrelated incident, police spokesman Gary Hassen said a call came in about an hour later, around 10 a.m., regarding a vehicle that had overturned at the 4600 block of Nimitz Boulevard. He said an elderly woman inside the vehicle suffered a severely broken foot. The accident caused traffic on Nimitz Boulevard to be blocked off, bringing traffic to a standstill. Local schools earn nearly $40,000 in program A special program hosted annually by Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market netted seventeen schools in Point Loma more than $38,000 to help bolster weakening educational budgets. The donations were made possible by the chain’s third annual “Shop for Schools” program.   Local kindergarten through eighth-grade schools located within a three-mile radius of the Fresh & Easy store at Catalina Boulevard and Cañon Street participated. For every $20 that was spent there from Sept. 15 through Dec. 31, participating schools received a $1 donation. In addition to collecting receipts, registered schools could also participate in “Shopping Nights,” which provided an opportunity to raise even more money. On each school’s designated shopping night, five percent of the total sales at the store were donated to the schools.  The top fundraising school in California was Sunset View Elementary, which received a $5,000 bonus on top of their fundraising efforts. Sunset View officials said they plan to use the money for their arts program, which features drama, art and music classes for its students. For more information, visit www.freshandeasy.com/shopforschools.  PLNU opera event to raise money for Japanese relief In the spirit of charity, Point Loma Opera Theatre (PLOT) of Point Loma Nazarene University will take Reds Espresso Gallery by storm on May 8 to aid the Japanese relief efforts. Organizers said 100 percent of the proceeds from the short program of improvised opera will go toward the rebuilding and aid campaign. The event begins at 4 p.m. with a performance of famous opera arias. PLOT members will then take suggestions from the audience and perform their own, on-the-spot, original opera.  In previous improvisational opera sessions, PLOT members have sung as vegetables, zoo animals, letters of the alphabet and other zany scenarios.  Reds is located at 1017 Rosecrans St. For information, call (619) 226-7979. Garden club slates plant walk In conjunction with California Native Plant Week, which runs through Saturday, members of the Point Loma Garden Club will join with Botany for Kids in leading a plant walk at the Point Loma Native Plant Garden. Participants are asked to meet Saturday at 1 p.m. at the corner of Mendocino and Greene streets in Ocean Beach. For more information, call (619) 223-5229, or visit www.botanyforkids.com or www.plgc.org. SeaWorld launches essay contest for kids To foster greater understanding of the marine world, SeaWorld San Diego is inviting third- and fourth-grade students in Southern California elementary schools to participate in its Sea Turtle Essay Contest. The essay must convey the importance of sea turtles both in their habitat and to humans, and ways that students can help save sea turtles. SeaWorld San Diego will open Turtle Reef this summer. The new attraction will highlight up to 60 threatened or endangered sea turtles and will illustrate how trash and pollution can affect the species. Students and guests will be able to track sea turtles in the wild as part of the attraction’s Turtlelink interactive touch-screen map. Each class can submit an essay, which will be judged on content, accuracy, originality and enthusiasm. The winning classroom will receive a VIP student experience at SeaWorld San Diego and other prizes. The VIP experience will include a behind-the-scenes look at the park’s animal-care area and the animal rescue program. Runner-up classrooms will receive a SeaWorld educational assembly at their school. The essay contest began March 22 and runs through May 3. All entries must be postmarked by May 3. For more details, visit www.seaworldturtleessay.com.