Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Employment will increase by 271 positions despite the decrease in dollars, according to a staff report.
- GOVERNMENT
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Tuesday, May 8
San Diego County will spend nearly 2 percent less in the fiscal year starting July 1, according to a budget presented to the Board of Supervisors Tuesday by the county's chief administrative officer. Walter Ekard presented the $4.77 billion spending plan to the board, which will begin its budget deliberations June 11. The spending plan represents a 1.9 percent reduction in spending compared to this year's budget of about $4.86 billion, Ekard said. Supervisor Dianne Jacob was upbeat. "This is a smaller budget this year than we've ever had," she said, "and we're doing more with less, and it's because of the creativeness and the innovation and the charge that everyone has at every level to try to do the best that we can to try to provide the …
Monday, May 7, 2012
Brian Williams is accused of killing his mother at their Rancho Peñasquitos home in July 2011.
- POLICE & FIRE
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Monday, May 7
A man accused of fatally stabbing his detective mother and 18-year-old sister in their Rancho Peñasquitos home last summer waived his right to a preliminary hearing Monday and agreed to stand trial on double murder charges. Brian Rockwell Williams, 24, will be arraigned June 12, when a trial date could be set. Last October, a judge found Williams mentally incompetent to stand trial and he was sent to a state mental hospital for treatment. Once his competency was determined to be restored, he was returned to San Diego, where criminal charges were reinstated. Williams is charged in the July 18 deaths of Donna Williams, a veteran San Diego police child abuse detective, and Briana Williams, who graduated from Mount Carmel High School and had …
This week's Crime Watch reveals a series of serious assaults and commercial burglaries.
The San Diego Police Department and the San Diego County Sheriffs Department have partnered with CrimeMapping.com to track criminal activity in local neighborhoods. Below is a sampling of crimes reported between April 27 and May 6. Note: Crimes may later be reclassified after investigations. To report crimes in progress, call 911. SDPD non-emergency calls (North County): 858-484-3154; click here to report crimes online. Sheriff non-emergency calls: 858-565-5200; click here to report crimes online. Also see: Unicorn Jewelry Burglarized Early Sunday Morning Hot Prowler ID'd as Rancho Bernardo Resident
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Police said a "large amount" of jewelry was taken.
A "large amount of jewelry" was taken from Unicorn Jewelry in Rancho Bernardo early Sunday morning, police said. A male in dark, hooded clothing cut security bars on a rear window at the jewelry store on the 16700 block of Bernardo Center Drive and came in, taking "numerous items" around 5:40 a.m. Sunday, according to a San Diego Police Department crime log report. The burglary triggered the store's alarm and the suspect left through a back window before police arrived, according to the report. Anyone with information is asked to call the department's Northeastern Division at 858-538-8000.
Friday, May 4, 2012
Gary Allen Thomas “repeatedly bludgeoned” Jean Eskridge while she slept, prosecutor says at arraignment. Bail set at $3.5 million.
Family and friends of Jean Eskridge erupted into sobs in an El Cajon courtroom Friday as a prosecutor told the judge that her neighbor, Gary Allen Thomas, bludgeoned the 94-year-old Ramona woman to death as she slept May 1, using a hammer from Eskridge’s kitchen. Thomas had spent the night in the guest room of her home as a trusted friend, Deputy District Attorney David Williams III told the court during the arraignment before Judge Charles W. Ervin. Thomas pleaded not guilty on a charge of first-degree murder. His bail was set at $3.5 million. “This defendant’s willingness to use a position of trust to attack and kill the victim in this case demonstrates how dangerous he is to the community,” Williams said. For the rest of the story, see …
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Researchers may study his brain for repetitive injury if his family consents.
- POLICE & FIRE
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Thursday, May 3
Thursday the Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed that Junior Seau’s death was a suicide. The 43-year-old NFL legend died Wednesday inside his Oceanside home from a gunshot wound to the chest, which the Medical Examiner determined to be self-inflicted. Deputy Medical Examiner Dr. Craig Nelson conducted the forensic autopsy, according to a news release from the county. The autopsy included a full inspection of Seau’s body and organs—and a host of laboratory studies, including a toxicology report and a microscopic examination of organs and tissues. The results of those tests will be part of the final autopsy report. Researchers outside of the medical examiner's office may study Seau's brain for repetitive injury if his family consents, …
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Body of Chargers legend, 18-year NFL veteran linebacker, found at his Oceanside home.
Updated at 2 p.m. Wednesday. Former San Diego Chargers star Junior Seau died of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound at his beachfront North County home Wednesday, authorities reported. According to Police Chief Frank McCoy, Seau's girlfriend found him at about 9:35 a.m. with a gunshot wound to the chest. Medics tried in vain to revive 43-year-old Seau before pronouncing him dead at the scene. "This case at this point is being investigated as a suicide," the chief said outside the home. "A handgun was found near the body." Authorities said they did not find a suicide note and are not releasing the name of the girlfriend. The San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office said it expects to complete an examination in the case Thursday. …
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Police have arrested the "main player" in a series of Rancho Bernardo home burglaries.
San Diego police have identified 24-year-old Rancho Bernardo resident Ross Packard as the "main player" in a long running hot prowl series that affected at least two dozen homes in the community. Packard was arrested Monday afternoon near the Playmor Condos off of Bernardo Center Drive after his neighbors there allegedly saw him peek into cars and toss keys and cash into bushes, San Diego police Officer Susan Steffen said. Officers found the keys and 18 $2 bills in the bushes, which had been reported stolen earlier that day from a home on the 11800 block of Caminito Ronaldo, Steffen said. Packard has been booked into San Diego County Jail on two felony counts of first degree burglary, with bail set at $100,000. He is set to be arraigned …
Monday, April 30, 2012
Police arrested a suspected burglar who may be connected to Monday morning's burglary in Eastview.
Updated 7:58 p.m. Monday with information about an arrest. Police deployed a helicopter to Rancho Bernardo Monday morning to search for a man who allegedly burglarized a home on the 17000 block of Drayton Hall Way. Hours later, a suspected burglar was arrested, but police could not immediately say if that person is connected to Monday morning's burglar. The burglary was first reported at 9:16 a.m. Monday and a helicopter was dispatched at 9:39 a.m., a San Diego police dispatcher told Patch. A person was taken into custody for questioning at 10:13 a.m., but that person is not believed to be the suspect, the dispatcher said. By 11:15 a.m., many of the police units were moving on to other calls. The helicopter left the scene at 11:12 a.m., a…
Saturday, April 28, 2012
No alcohol or jumping from the cliffs will be allowed in the wake of a hiker's death last summer and complaints from neighbors about inebriated visitors.
Hikers to Cedar Creek Falls will not be allowed to carry or consume alcohol or climb and jump from the cliffs, under a permit system proposed by the Forest Service. The public has until May 29 to offer comments as part of the permit review process. The permit idea has been under discussion since the Ramona trailhead was closed after a hiker fell to his death at the Falls last summer. It also stems from neighbors' complaints about traffic, trash and disrespectful, inebriated visitors. The Falls area is popular with hikers from all over San Diego County. During one weekend day in 2011, the Forest Service counted 703 vehicles parked near the trailhead in San Diego Country Estates. The Falls can also be accessed from the Julian side. When the …
Batman
9:56 pm on Wednesday, May 9, 2012
It's easy to ride-out the lean times when you're not up to your eyeballs in debt. more ›