Students a hit in ‘Wizard of Oz’ A cast of 60 students provided two spirited performances of the “Wizard of Oz” on Jan. 15 in the Pacific Beach Middle School auditorium. The Pacific Beach Middle School production — in association with the Missoula Children’s Theater Company — included children from Pacific Beach Elementary School, Kate Sessions Elementary School, Crown Point Elementary School and Pacific Beach Middle School. Medical marijuana ordinance comes before commission The San Diego Planning Commission is scheduled to hear recommendations to approve an amendment to the city’s Medical Marijuana Ordinance Jan. 20 at City Council Chambers. The amendment would restrict medical marijuana dispensaries to industrial light zones, industrial small lot zones and community commercial-2 or -3 zones — which are commercial zones that do not allow residential use, said Stephen Hill, District 3 senior policy advisor. Communities such as Pacific Beach experienced an influx of medical marijuana dispensaries in recent years until authorities conducted raids and the city established new guidelines regarding zoning for the dispensaries. The City Council will make a final decision regarding the adoption of the amendment in the form of a vote, which has yet to be scheduled. Pump station work continues City crews should start wrapping up storm water flood pump upgrades to the Santa Clara pump station near the end of May, Storm Water Department representative Bill Harris said. The pump draws storm water from around Mission Beach to prevent excessive flooding. The Santa Clara station repairs, combined with approved pump upgrades near Hornblend Street and Grand Avenue, will cost the city approximately $2 million alone, he said. The projects are part of a laundry list of city-wide storm drain improvements “not exclusive to the beach areas,” he said. “[There is] a lot of additional work that needs to get done as time and budget permits,” Harris said. “We’ll do everything we can to expedite that [Santa Clara] project.” — Sebastian Ruiz

Booze ban now official at park Members of the San Diego City Council voted unanimously Jan. 11 to approve the 24-hour alcohol ban at Kate O. Sessions Memorial Park in Pacific Beach. The council had approved the measure last year, but needed to vote one more time to officially adopt the ordinance. Neighbors, park-goers and members of some local civic groups sought the ban after stating they had witnessed an abundance of unruly behavior fueled by alcohol consumption at the park. Murder conviction overturned An appeals court overturned the second-degree murder conviction of a Pacific Beach man stemming from the 2006 stabbing death of another man — based on judicial error. Michael David Sullivan, 31, will head back to court Jan. 28 for a possible settlement to avoid a retrial in the slaying of Jonathan Lefler-Panela, which occurred outside Sam’s by the Sea restaurant Jan. 7, 2006, in Pacific Beach. In 2010, the Fourth District Court of Appeals reversed the conviction, finding San Diego Superior Court Judge Frank Brown erred while conducting the trial. Sullivan was sentenced to 16 years to life in prison and, while that sentence was reversed, he was never been released from custody. The case was sent back to Brown, who set a readiness conference for Jan. 28. Officially, the District Attorney’s Office is set to retry Sullivan, but no trial date has been set. — Neal Putnam