June 2011 La Mesa Blog Posts (48)

One day when I was in high school I was sitting on a bench in the locker room of the girls' gym waiting to go outside and play tennis.  Well, play tennis is kind of a stretch.  Try and play tennis is more like it. Several of us were sitting on the bench tying our sneakers when there was a very loud thump on the bench behind me.  It shook the entire thing.  I…

All Night SWAT Standoff Ends With Arrest

LA MESA -- An all-night SWAT standoff on La Mesa's north side ended early this morning when police used a taser to subdue a parolee who had barricaded himself in his house.

Police were called to 6100 Blain Place, near Nagel and Dallas streets, at about 10 p.m. for a domestic violence call. The female victim reported that her husband,…

City Inks Deal With Police, Employees

LA MESA – The City Council has made tentative agreements with its police and employee unions and will leave salaries unchanged from the 2010-11 contracts they have been working under.

These “status quo’’ contracts won’t raise salaries but will give these employees a $500 bonus with the possibility of another $500 if the city can end the…

Council Puts 'Great Wall' Debate On Hold

By Chris Lavin

LaMesaToday.com Editor

LA MESA – Back in 2005, when the real estate market was still booming, Michael Reynolds thought he could build a new home project between the 125 and Garfield Street south of Lemon Avenue.

He met with the existing neighbors around the project site and, in some views, won them over with a promise of a sound…

I'm increasingly frustrated by the lack of action on the part of our elected representatives to reign in fundamentally unfair and unaffordable pensions granted to public sector employees. The most recently passed MOU's - for Police and non-safety employees- did nothing to reduce the problem. I have no idea why there is no MOU for Fire (was there one last year?). Here are my comments at tonight's City Council meeting:

I notice that the changes made to this year's MOU's do nothing more…

Third Armed Robbery In Two Days

LA MESA -- City police are investigating the third armed robbery in the last two days, this one involving a 7-11 store on Baltimore Drive.

At about 2:30 Tuesday morning, police say two suspects, both armed with a semi-automatic handguns, entered the convenience store located at 5650 Baltimore Drive and demanded the lone store clerk open the cash…

Armed Man Robs Motel 6

LA MESA -- City police are looking for a man who robbed the Motel 6 on Alvarado Road Monday evening.

Police said that police responded shortly after 6:30 p.m. to the Motel 6 at 7621 Alvarado Road.

The clerk reported the suspect entered the motel office and inquired about a room. The suspect then pulled out a handgun, pointed it at the clerk and…

Award winning local artist Joyce Philpot will be the featured artist for the month of July at the Foothills Art Gallery, La Mesa. The show will run from Friday 8th July through Thursday 4th August.

There will be an artist's reception on Saturday 9th July from 1-3 pm when the public is invited to meet the artist and enjoy the show.

Foothills Art Gallery…

Two Arrested In Shooting Incident

 LA MESA -- La Mesa Police Thursday announced the arrests of two alleged gang members for the shooting early Monday morning of a 16-year-old Arizona youth on El Cajon Boulevard.

The victim was shot in the head after being robbed in front of 7366 El Cajon Boulevard early Monday morning.…

By Gina Garcia

Publisher

MT. HELIX -- If you think life is short, join a fat flushing boot camp. We began following Jake Glaze's Adventure program last Monday at 5:45 a.m. and the intervening week felt like a month.

After a few outings, the first light of day started to feel like the finger's of death clawing at your hamstrings and tendons.

It truly…

MT. HELIX -- Boys Scouts and their fathers gathered atop Mt. Helix Sunday morning and began studying the rock walls while mixing cement and gathering up stones to add their own contribution to the legacy of the park.

Nick Jones, a 15-year-old junior at Grossmont High School, is leading a portion of his Troop 319 to construct one of…

LA MESA -- The La Mesa City Council is nearing final deals on new contracts with its fire fighters, police and other employee unions.

The agenda for Tuesday's upcoming City Council meeting includes items to approve memorandums of understanding with the employee groups.

While the deals are not completed yet, the council has scheduled a closed session prior to Tuesday's meeting at which they are expected to approve the deals hammered out by the city's negotiating teams.

While…

LA MESA -- For the third week in a row, the Thursday night car show has shown signs of revving its engines like the car show of old.

Crowds are up. Participants are up and, each week, new elements are spontaneously arriving to add a sort of carnival feel to the weekly summertime event.

Among those attending this week's show were cartons of puppies that were selling fast outside Mr. D's and a popular East County car club that…

LA MESA -- It was the best of times and the worst of times for the Property Based Improvement District committee Wednesday night.

There were moments of great democratic wrangling and priority setting and low moments of on-going personal infighting between committee members and critics in the audience.

On the best side, after weeks of slow wrangling about little details, the group shared food and moved ahead quickly setting general parameters for spending that would be done on…

By Will Lavin

La Mesa Today Correspondent

ROLANDO -- La Mesa's C. Hook Theater opened a four-day run of the comic fable "Once Upon A Mattress'' Wednesday night to a large and warm audience.

The teen theater group, an outgrowth of the long-established Peter Pan Junior Theater, marks its fifth year with this retelling of…

LA MESA -- Representatives from Goodwill Industries began visiting with residents and civic leaders Wednesday informing them of the organization's plan to purchase the iconic downtown 'Clocktower' building at the corner of Spring Street and La Mesa Boulevard. Goodwill plans to operate a resale shop.

Beth Forsberg, Senior Director of Operations, for the…

GROSSMONT CENTER -- A would-be robber tried to steal a deposit bag from a woman outside the Bank of America at Grossmont Center this morning, but in this case the victim decided to bite back.

Literally.

Police said the woman was approached at 9:50 a. m. as she was walking from her parked car toward the Bank of America. The female victim was carrying her deposit bag, in plain view, under her left arm.

The male suspect approached the victim from the west while he pretended to…

Laura Lothian, the local realtor who unsuccessfully faced Art Madrid in last year's election, said she fears adding public facilities will attract what she sees as…

By Gina Garcia

Publisher

MT. HELIX -- I have always associated the amphitheater at the top of Mt. Helix as a pleasant place for lovely music and great plays.

No more.

As the sun rose Monday morning, we gathered -- 25 women wanting to tone, loose weight and get healthy. It was to be the first of a 14 day boot camp…