There was a lot up for debate in 2018. Whether it was trying to get a handle on the seemingly overnight invasion of dockless scooters and bikes, or fighting for more balance within the mayor\u2019s proposal for short-term rentals, residents of La Jolla won a few battles. And those victories were intertwined with the completion of some long-overdue projects like upgrades to the Children\u2019s Pool Plaza, and White Sands Retirement Community\u2019s multi-million dollar renovation.\u00a0
\nAll in all, it was a good year.\u00a0 January\u00a0 \u2022 The trial began for the former Marine accused of killing two UC San Diego students in a 2015 crash. Jason Riley King was driving drunk when he struck a car carrying five UC San Diego students; Anne Baldock, 24 and Madison Cornwell, 23, died instantly, and the three other students were injured but survived. The trial lasted 10 days, and the jury ultimately acquitted him of murder and convicted him of two counts of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated. \u2022 A La Jolla couple was charged with misdemeanor safety code violations after residents of an apartment complex they maintained\u00a0reported the building had bathroom leaks, inadequate heating, insects, rodents, and improper wiring. \u2022 Tiger Woods made his 2018 debut at the Farmers Insurance Open at historic Torrey Pines Golf Course, the host site of the 2008 and 2021 U.S. Opens. \u2022 La Jollan Fernando Aguerre was credited with playing a major role in making surfing a part of the summer Olympics, which will be held in Tokyo in 2020. \u2022 Pura Vida Bracelets, a La Jolla-based company that caught the eye of celebrities like Ellen Degeneres and David Beckham, was sued for fraud by a former employee. She claimed that the bracelets were actually produced in El Salvador, not in Costa Rica like the company insinuates.\u00a0 \u2022 Construction began for the viaduct that will carry the Blue Line along Genesee Avenue as part of an 11-mile extension of the trolley line from downtown to University City. \u2022 A study titled part 150 was conducted to evaluate flightpath improvements and noise reductions in and around San Diego International Airport. Residents from the Point to La Jolla have complained about an increase in noise for the past couple of years.\u00a0 \u2022 The Dan McKinney Family YMCA completed its $21 million expansion and renovation project, which included a three-story play structure and slides, a wellness center, a steam room and other amenities.\u00a0 \u2022 UC San Diego was named the No. 1 surf college in the U.S. by Surfer Magazine.\u00a0 February \u2022 UC San Diego launched its bike-share program with Spin, a leading bike-share company that offered a fleet of orange-colored smart-bikes with GPS tracking. \u2022 Mayor Kevin L. Faulconer announced that\u00a0San Diego Police Department Assistant Chief David Nisleit would be appointed as the City\u2019s next police chief, replacing Chief Shelley Zimmerman, who retired in March after 35 years on the force. \u2022 The La Jolla Village News went out and sampled all the different kinds of pizzas in La Jolla in honor of National Pizza Day on Feb. 9.\u00a0 \u2022 La Jolla Shores came in at No. 22 on TripAdvisor\u2019s “Top 25 Beaches\u2019 in the U.S.” list.\u00a0 \u2022 The annual Fourth of July fireworks display at La Jolla Cove was cancelled due to\u00a0ongoing fundraising problems. “It\u2019s really been part of our tradition,” said Deborah Marengo who spearheaded the event. “So, it\u2019s just really sad to see that go.” \u2022 A petition to end the “Films of Woody Allen” course at UC San Diego, due to his allegations of rape, was nixed by\u00a0the school\u2019s academic senate. They voted to continue offering the course because removing it would “undermine both the value of free inquiry and the associated rights of faculty to engage in such inquiry by choosing their course content.” March \u2022 La Jolla Parks and Beaches, Inc. voted against allowing dockless scooters in the community, even though the item wasn\u2019t on the meeting agenda.\u00a0“How do we stop this invasion of our sidewalks?” asked Sally Miller of LJPB. \u2022 La Jolla High reflected on its own safety issues following the aftermath of the Parkland school mass shooting in Florida. Things like fixing broken blinds and hard-to-lock doors in classrooms were among some of the suggestions.\u00a0 \u2022 The La Jolla Town Council hosted a meeting of the newly formed San Diego Coalition of Town Councils\u2019 STVR Working Group where members discussed recommendations for tightening rules and enforcement governing the placement and operations of short-term vacation rentals.\u00a0 \u2022 San Diego Judge Randa Trapp heard arguments for both sides as to whether or not assessed property under the La Jolla Maintenance Assessment District would receive any special benefit “over and above that” received by the general public.\u00a0 \u2022 The University of California San Diego received\u00a0$4.6 million in charitable gifts from more than a dozen descendants of Edward W. Scripps to fund the placement of the railing on the Ellen Browning Scripps Memorial Pier and the reconstruction and modernization of the Center for Coastal Studies. \u00a0 April\u00a0 \u2022 La Jolla Parks and Beaches, Inc. announced that the City waived the summer construction moratorium to hasten construction on the\u00a0Children\u2019s Pool Plaza beautification project, which includes\u00a0walkway improvements, double-seat walls, shade trees, and gazebo repairs.\u00a0 \u2022 James Niebling announced he would be resigning as president of the La Jolla Village Merchants Association. “I have truly enjoyed giving back to La Jolla by the Sea as a board director for the past seven years,” he said.\u00a0 \u2022 Daniel Dorado, the owner of La Jolla Italian restaurant Voce Del Mare,\u00a0pleaded not guilty Monday to 14 felony counts of sexually assaulting four women. \u2022 Renowned actor, author, and activist George Takei spoke on his experience in the Japanese-American internment camps from World War II and his life as a pop culture icon and entertainer at UC San Diego. \u2022 Residents voiced concerns for a loophole\u00a0in the city\u2019s development regulations that makes it so developers can acquire permits to tear down and rebuild a new home in as little as a day. “We\u2019re concerned about developers, flippers, coming in, developing homes of large bulk and scale, out of character with the neighborhood, out of character with the community plan,” said Sharon Wampler. \u2022 Representatives from three dockless bike companies \u2013 Limebike, Ofo and Mobike \u2013 attempted to justify their business models before the La Jolla Village Merchants Association. Attendees argued that the bikes are being used illegally and without proper notification.\u00a0 \u2022 White Sands Retirement Community completed its $20 million renovation, which started in 2016 and included updates of its main lobby and chapel, a new elevator, bistro and bar, and a newly reimagined library. \u00a0 May\u00a0 \u2022 A judge\u00a0turned down a request to dismiss the embezzlement case against Cindy Greatrex who is accused of stealing $67,935 from the La Jolla Park & Recreation Inc. Board while she was its president. She pleaded not guilty. \u2022 La Jolla Village Merchants Association elected Alisha Hawrylyszyn Frank, a life coach with Fiercely Optimistic, as its new president.\u00a0 \u2022 A red tide offshore San Diego brought a spectacular display of bioluminescence to beaches.\u00a0 \u2022 Jewish Family Service of San Diego raised a record-setting $1.25 million at its annual Heart & Soul Gala at the Hyatt Regency La Jolla at Aventine. June \u2022 New ballot initiative\u00a0“Yes! For a Better San Diego” proposed a 42-year increase in the city’s visitor tax to fund the convention center expansion, homelessness programs, create new jobs, continue road repaving and other infrastructure improvements.\u00a0 \u2022 The Center for World University Rankings named the University of California San Diego the globe\u2019s 20th best university out of 2,000 universities worldwide.\u00a0 \u2022 In partnership with Friends of Rose Canyon, University City Girl Scout Troop 4176 caught almost 200 crayfish Rose Canyon as part of their Girl Scout Bronze Award project.\u00a0 \u2022 District 1 Councilmember Barbara Bry pushed for a styrofoam ban. “It\u2019s a known carcinogen and pollutant,” she said of the chemicals found in styrofoam. \u2022 Holocaust survivor Rose Schindler received a high school diploma from La Jolla Country Day for her years of preaching a message of positivity and endurance in the presence of evil to schools throughout San Diego County. \u2022 District 1 Councilmember Barbara Bry supported the scooter boardwalk ban the City Council voted down. Bry agreed to form a City Council committee to explore the creation of a permit and fee system for dockless companies operating citywide.\u00a0 \u2022 Mayor Kevin Faulconer released his much anticipated new regulations on short-term vacation rentals that included charging cost-recoverable fees to administer licenses and enforce code violations, establishing a “Good Neighbor” policy, hiring additional staff for complaints about nuisance properties and implementing a per-night fee that would generate an estimated $3 million annually.\u00a0 July\u00a0 \u2022 U.S. Rep. Scott Peters (CA-52) defended his co-sponsorship of the Keeping Families Together Act, which would have immediately halted separating families at the U.S.-Mexico border, as the right thing to do.\u00a0 \u2022 A random survey found La Jollans overwhelmingly favored a visionary proposal by contractor Tom Grunow to restore the La Jolla Cultural Zone by “greening” it and making it more walkable. “This is a good idea that will invigorate La Jolla’s Cultural District, improve the usability of the Rec Center, and help ease our parking shortage,” said landscape architect Jim Neri. \u2022 The La Jolla MAD decision was reversed. San Diego Judge Randa Trapp revisited her previous ruling on the MAD\u2019s unconstitutionality, and the second time around, she determined the benefits association “had no standing in the case.” \u2022 La Jollans were mostly delighted by the City Council\u2019s July 16 vote defeating Mayor Kevin Faulconer\u2019s more lenient short-term rental proposal. A landmark counterproposal that favored stricter regulations allowing primary-residence-only rentals with a six-month maximum, was co-authored by Council members Barbara Bry of District 1 and Lorie Zapf of District 2. \u2022 Work began on three reservoirs connected with La Jolla Heights Natural Park near La Jolla Country Club, and residents spoke up about their concerns regarding truck traffic, noise, dirt and potential loss of native habitat and open space.\u00a0 \u2022 San Diego was named the most scenic West Coast city in an Expedia poll. \u2022 La Jolla\u2019s serial lobster poacher pleaded guilty\u00a0to charges that he violated a court order by unlawfully removing 12 spiny lobsters from the South La Jolla State Marine Reserve. Xuan Lam Hoang\u00a0was ordered to serve 45 days in custody and placed on three years of probation. August\u00a0 \u2022 Mayor Kevin Faulconer and City Council president pro tem Barbara Bry reopened Doyle Community Park in University City following a period of much-needed equipment upgrades and park enhancements. \u2022 La Jolla was named one of “America\u2019s 25 Best Beach Towns” by Fodor\u2019s Travel.\u00a0 \u2022 The water off La Jolla was 78.8 degrees, according to measurements taken by research scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, a record-setting warm for San Diego. It was nine degrees above the typical temperature for that time of year. \u2022 Susan Botticelli was named the new board of advisors chair of the La Jolla YMCA.\u00a0 \u2022 A new state-of-the-art Robotics Lab was delivered to the French American School in La Jolla.\u00a0 \u2022 Consideration of Children\u2019s Pool\u2019s proposed historical designation was an action item on La Jolla Parks and Beaches, Inc.\u2019s August agenda, which would “make the facility eligible for both public and private grant money to fix it up,” according to architectural historian Diane Kane.\u00a0 September \u2022 The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego\u2019s director and CEO defended the institution against a claim by international architects and historians who\u2019ve branded work, which will destroy the museum\u2019s post-modern entryway, as “a tremendous mistake.” The addition \u2014 which will quadruple its current gallery space from 10,000 to about 40,000 square feet \u2014 was scheduled to begin in October.\u00a0 \u2022 The San Diego Airport Authority launched a new mobile app that provided members of the public an easy-to-use, no-cost option for submitting an aircraft noise complaint.\u00a0 \u2022 San Diego-based Climate Action Campaign held a forum on Community Choice Energy at the University of California San Diego. This model, which was approved by the state in 2002, could ultimately provide ratepayers with the option to choose where their power comes from.\u00a0 \u2022 I Love A Clean San Diego\u00a0mobilized 7,000 volunteers at 106 cleanup sites removed an estimated 130,000 pounds of trash and debris including\u00a0a disco ball, 641 golf balls, a snowboard, and fake eyelashes. \u2022 Barbara Beltaire, owner of the\u00a0Barbarella Restaurant & Bar in La Jolla, and known for her seasonal supernatural Halloween decorations, retired to\u00a0devote her full attention to her new children\u2019s charity, I Love You So So Much. “It is 100 percent individual gift donations to foster care, the elderly and canine companions,” said Beltaire.\u00a0 October \u2022 La Jolla realtor Kara Kay announced she will be competing on the CBS-produced competitive reality TV series “Survivor: David vs. Goliath.” \u2022 San Diego Fire-Rescue Department Chief Colin Stowell announced James Gartland as the new lifeguard division chief. “We have some of the best public safety professionals in the country so it should come as no surprise that we hired one of our own to lead our lifeguard division,” said Mayor Kevin L. Faulconer.\u00a0 \u2022 Peter Ogle, head coach of the La Jolla Country Day School\u2019s girls volleyball team, retired after 41 years. His combination of caring and intensity led the team to 733 wins, 380 losses, three Coastal League championships, seven CIF championships, four Southern California Regional championships, and three state championships. \u2022 City Council voted 5-3 to ban the use and distribution of styrofoam citywide. \u2022 La Jolla Shores Association celebrated Scripps oceanographer Walter Munk\u2019s 101st birthday.\u00a0Munk is world renowned for showing why one side of the moon always faces the Earth, pioneering research on the relationship between winds and ocean circulation, and much more.\u00a0 \u2022 Extra City pickup was added in La Jolla Shores to alleviate overflowing trash, but\u00a0Janie Emerson, chair of the La Jolla Shores Association, said, “the city still has not moved two trash cans that have been causing the problem.” \u2022 Casa de Ma\u00f1ana resident Len Sandberg, 90, won the 148-pound-and-under Powerlifting Bench Press World Championship at Harrah\u2019s Resort and Casino in Laughlin, Nev. November \u2022 A judge turned down a prosecution motion for the removal of Cindy Greatrex from any community boards as a condition of bond while she awaits an embezzlement trial for\u00a0grand theft in the loss of $67,935 while she was president of the La Jolla Park & Recreation Inc. Board.\u00a0 \u2022 City Council voted 8-1 to rescind a short-term vacation rental ordinance it passed in July.\u00a0The re-vote was forced by a recently successful drive by a vacation rental coalition to put the measure on a future election ballot. \u2022 Two years after Ure Kretowicz conceded the public\u2019s right to access the cobblestone beach below his property at 7957 Princess St., a group of neighbors surrounding Kretowicz\u2019s property started campaigning against restoring public access there.\u00a0 \u2022 The City of San Diego said previously reported problems with overflowing trash in La Jolla Shores have been properly addressed and resolved. “Trash containers some believed had not been moved, were in fact relocated in late September,” said City PIO Paul Brencick Sr., adding the City\u2019s Environmental Services Department. \u2022 Criminal charges have been filed against the Carlton Gallery at 1144 Prospect St., its owner, and an employee for trafficking more than 300 pieces of ivory and items containing ivory.\u00a0 \u2022 La Jolla\u2019s Tiare Thompson won her first World Surf League\u2019s Live Like Zander Junior Pro surf competition. December \u2022 A celebration was held for the improved Children\u2019s Pool Plaza.\u00a0La Jolla Parks and Beaches and Casa de Ma\u00f1ana co-hosted the event that honored the 8-year-old project. “This has been a precious space in La Jolla since 1931,” said Ann Dynes, chair of La Jolla Parks and Beaches, Inc. “It\u2019s also become a precious space to a lot of our visitors. Now it has been revamped to accommodate all of the visitors.” \u2022 La Jolla Parks and Beaches, Inc. heard from landscape architect Jim Neri\u00a0about plans to recreate a historic belvedere at Windansea off Neptune Place near Rosemont Street that was destroyed in the early \u201980s.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
There was a lot up for debate in 2018. Whether it was trying to get a handle on the seemingly overnight invasion of dockless scooters and bikes, or fighting for more balance within the mayor\u2019s proposal for short-term rentals, residents of La Jolla won a few battles. And those victories were intertwined with the completion […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":276352,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11560","_seopress_titles_title":"La Jolla Village News\u2019 Year in Review: Children\u2019s Pool upgrades, scooters, illegal ivory, and short-term rentals \u00a0","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11560,11551],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-276351","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-la-jolla-village-news","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276351","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=276351"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276351\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/276352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=276351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=276351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=276351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}