Trial date set for suspected RB stalker

SAN DIEGO (CNS) – An Aug. 18 trial date was set Tuesday for a Rancho
Bernardo man accused of threatening to rape and strangle nine women,
including several San Diego television news reporters.

Christopher
Carl Hass, 58, faces nine years in state prison if convicted of 13
charges, including felony stalking and making criminal threats, said
Deputy District Attorney Wendy Patrick.

Hass — held on $500,000
bail — was arrested at his home Feb. 11 after a “distinctive crime
spree” that lasted 2 1/2 years, the prosecutor said.

A search of
Hass’ car turned up “voluminous’’ amounts of information, including the
victims’ names, telephone numbers and addresses, Patrick said.

Hass
would call the women or send threatening mail, telling them to wear
certain articles of clothing, hoop earrings and open-toed shoes, and
have them say or do things, the prosecutor alleged.

Driver given 16 years for killing Poway pedestrian

SAN DIEGO (CNS) – A woman who was under the influence of
prescription drugs when she struck and killed a single mother of two
walking to work in Poway was sentenced Monday to 16 years in state
prison.

Becky Marie Anderson, 45, pleaded guilty last month to
gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and DUI causing great
bodily injury for the Nov. 23, 2009, death of Kristen “Kristie’’ Bedard.

Monday, Judge Kathleen Lewis said the anticipated stipulated
sentence could not legally be attained with the original plea, so
Anderson was allowed to withdraw her plea and enter new guilty pleas of
gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, DUI causing injury and a
misdemeanor charge of being under the influence of a controlled
substance.

Water rules lifted for 4S Ranch residents

Starting Thursday, 4S Ranch residents can water their landscaping on any
day they wish.

Olivenhain Municipal Water District’s board decided
on June 23 to return its district to Level 1 Drought Alert conditions.

Rancho Bernardo, and the rest of the City of San Diego, along with
the City of Poway remain at Level 2, which includes limiting customers
to operating sprinklers a maximum of 10 minutes per day, three days a
week on assigned days based on address.

The shift for 4S Ranch and all other communities within the 48
square miles served by Olivenhain is due to the development of new
recycled water supplies and conservation efforts by customers, which
officials called “extraordinary.”

The district had been under Level 2 conditions since last July in
response to San Diego County Water Authority declaring Level 2 in April
2009. The water authority’s move imposed an 8 percent reduction in water
deliveries to its customers, which include San Diego, Poway and
Olivenhain. If those entities had not required their customers to reduce
water consumption, they faced significant financial penalties.

Mullin leads by 98 votes

Poway City Council candidate John Mullin on Friday maintains his primary election lead over Steve Vaus by 98 votes.

New totals released at 3:44 p.m. Friday show that Mullin now has 3,141 votes to Vaus’ 3,043 votes.

Vaus said Monday afternoon he will not ask for a recount of the ballot cast in the June 8 primary election.

“I trust the registrar (of voters),” he said following the release of Monday’s vote update, which had Vaus trailing Mullin by 85 votes.

However, Vaus said he will not concede the election to Mullin, saying he felt that doing so “is meaningless.”

Concert kicks off RB’s Independence Day celebration

Rancho Bernardo will begin its Independence Day celebration early, when
it hosts a concert featuring a Marine Corps band.

The free concert of patriotic music will be held in Webb Park at 6 p.m.
Saturday, July 3.

Freedom Club members (those who donated $125 or more to this year’s
festivities) will receive reserved seating at the concert, said Steve
DeMatteo, Spirit of the Fourth president.

All other concert attendees are encouraged to bring a blanket for grass
seating or to purchase a special “Spirit of the Fourth” blanket at the
concert for $20. Refreshments will also be available for purchase,
DeMatteo said.

Poway set for ‘Old-Fashioned Fourth’

Locals will have several ways to celebrate the Fourth of July in Poway.

The city’s annual Old-Fashioned Fourth will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
on Sunday, July 4 in Old Poway Park, 14134 Midland Road. Admission is
free.

The event epitomizes the wholesome activities of yesteryear, said
Recreation Supervisor Dave Richards.

“We have arts and crafts for kids, old-fashioned games, train rides on
the Baldwin steam engine (at a nominal price), an ice cream social and
other treats,”
Richards said.

Discount tickets on sale for 4S Ranch’s July 4 carnival

A new fireworks show location and expanded carnival are planned for 4S
Ranch’s July 4 celebration.

Festivities will start with the third annual July 4 carnival at Linear
Park from 1-4 p.m. Due to expanded family-friendly offerings, both sides
of 4S Ranch Parkway surrounding the park will be closed to traffic,
according to Jennifer Harper, 4S Ranch Homeowners Association activities
director.

Admission is $6 per 4S Ranch resident youth if purchased in advance at
www.smartcart.com/4sranch. Online ticket sales will end Wednesday, June
30.

Youth residents who purchase carnival tickets at the event and non-4S
Ranch youths will be charged $10 each at the gate. Children under age 2
and adults (18 and older) will be admitted for free.

Opposition voiced at Palomar College RB location meeting

Palomar College’s plan to purchase a 27-acre site on Rancho Bernardo
Road is meeting opposition from the site’s Westwood neighbors.

“I
haven’t met a soul who wants that up there,” said Greg Birch, who lives
on Oculto Court.

Birch, and many of the more than two dozen
residents at Wednesday’s public information meeting, said the site at
11111 Rancho Bernardo Road is a bad choice due to its proximity to
Westwood and only entrance off of Rancho Bernardo Road.

Concerns
voiced at the meeting included impact on the already-congested Rancho
Bernardo Road and West Bernardo Drive during morning and evening rush
hours, students using Westwood’s residential streets — such as Matinal
and Capilla roads and adjoining cul-de-sacs — for parking, and students
using Westwood streets as shortcuts between the site and
Interstate 15.

PUSD employees choose new union

Poway Unified office
workers, health technicians and other employees have voted to form a new
union
— the Poway School Employees Association — to replace the Poway chapter
of the
California School Employees Association.

The majority of union voters
who cast mail ballots between May 26 and June 21 selected the new group
to
represent them, said Kathy Meyer
with the new union’s election
committee.

The official tally was 416
votes (56 percent) for the new union, PSEA; 294 votes (40 percent) for
remaining with the CSEA; and 29 votes (4 percent) for no representation.

The ballots were tabulated
Tuesday (June 22) in the Glendale office of the Sacramento-based Public
Employment Relations Board, according to PERB official Les Chisholm.

PERB is an administrative agency
that oversees the collective bargaining statutes covering employees of
California’s public schools and other groups, Chisholm said.

The vote will now have to be
certified by CSEA in San Diego, he said.

In March, a group of CSEA
members within the Poway chapter, disgruntled with their representation,
broke
away with the intent to form a new union.

“We are thrilled that our
co-workers saw through CSEA’s attempt to divide us and voted by such a
large
margin for local control, lower dues and better representation,” said
Meyer, a
health technician at Del Norte High School.

“Our dispute all along has
been with CSEA, not with our co-workers,” she added.

Members of the PSEA
organizing committee will meet this week to begin drafting new bylaws
for
members to approve, organizing a negotiating team and setting up an
election
for new officers.

PSEA is the only union that
has not finalized negotiations with the district regarding rollback and
other
employment issues, due in large part to the impending formation of the
new
union.

Dianne Kodadek, former CSEA
president of the Poway chapter, said, “CSEA and the district should
respect our
choice and agree to immediate certification of PSEA as our union.”

The current agreement
between PUSD and CSEA expires on June 30, Kodadek said.

CSEA officials were not
available for comment Tuesday after the outcome of the vote was
announced.

Poway Vaqueros ‘Super-20’ team takes the field

The Poway Vaqueros Super-20 team has kicked off its third season, giving
players ages 17-20 the opportunity to play against club teams
affiliated with Major League Soccer squads.

As of press time, the Vaqueros were off to a 2-1 start, defeating the
Southern California Seahorses and the Lancaster Rattlers and falling to
the Chivas USA last Friday.

Today (Thursday, June 24), the team is scheduled to travel to the
Home Depot Center to take on the LA Galaxy, another team sponsored by a
major league outfit.

According to Assistant Coach Collin Garon, the Vaqueros are one of
the few teams in their six-team league not to be affiliated with a
professional or semiprofessional team.

“Most of the clubs are feeder clubs that go into teams like the
Chivas USA and the LA Galaxy,” Garon said. “The teams are made up of a
lot of youth national team players that are going to play pro next
year.”

But that doesn’t mean that the Vaqueros have shirked away from the
competition. In fact, last year they ended up winning their league and
qualified for the finals, held in Chicago.