Three Marines Die In Early Morning Car Accident, One Critically Wounded

Triple-Fatality Car Crash

A speeding car crashed into a tree in Dana Point Tuesday, killing three Camp Pendleton-based U.S. Marines and critically injuring a fourth, authorities said.

The Dodge Stratus crashed at Golden Lantern Street just past Terra Vista at 2:05 a.m., said Orange County sheriff's spokesman Jim Amormino.

Two men died at the scene, and one died at a hospital, Amormino said.

The fourth man was hospitalized in critical condition at Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo.

Authorities were trying to determine if alcohol was a factor in the crash, Amormino said.

Summer School

The San Diego Unified School District Board of Education is set to consider Tuesday afternoon whether to operate a summer school session this year, which will cost about $1 million.

The proposal going before the board would include a four-week program for about 1,500 elementary school students in first and third grades who are at risk of being retained, a four-week session for about 600 eighth graders who face retention, and six weeks of schooling for around 600 high school juniors and seniors who need to make up a grade in a core class.

The plan also includes a one-day orientation for about 7,200 students who will be entering high school.

Board members are scheduled to:

• Decide whether to ratify an amended memorandum of understanding with the district’s 63 police officers to maintain current salary levels and give them five unpaid days off for the third year in a row;
• Consider a proposal to limit campaign contributions to individuals, not organizations; and
• Weigh whether to declare Barnard Elementary School in the Midway District to be “excess property,” which would allow the board to sell the land in the future.

Saying Goodbye to Bonhomme Richard

The amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard is scheduled to depart San Diego Tuesday for its new home base of Sasebo, Japan.

En route, the crew is scheduled to switch places with the USS Essex, a sister ship in which the sailors will return to Naval Station San Diego. The switch-out is called a “hull swap.”

The Essex has been assigned to Japan since 2000.

The Bonhomme Richard has been based in San Diego since its commissioning in 1998, according to Lt. Beth Teach of Expeditionary Strike Group Three. Its commanding officer, Capt. Charles Litchfield, said his vessel has just completed one year of maintenance and equipment upgrades.

The Essex will undergo similar work after it arrives in San Diego, he said.

Councilman Carl DeMaio Gains Support

The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association came out in support of Councilman Carl DeMaio and his bid to be San Diego’s next mayor.

“We have worked with Carl DeMaio for years and know that he stands on principle,” said Jon Coupal, president of HJTA. “This was an easy decision.”

DeMaio’s opposition to tax and fee increases as a City Council member, and his leadership in the fight against a failed ballot measure to hike the sales tax by a half-cent show that he is “a true taxpayer watchdog,” Coupal said.

DeMaio said public employee unions are trying to weaken Proposition 13, a voter-passed initiative that limits the ability of government to raise property taxes. Jarvis and Paul Gann were the measure’s leading advocates.

DeMaio is up against District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis, Rep. Bob Filner, D-San Diego, and Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher, R-San Diego ― among others ― in the June 5 primary election. If no candidate wins a majority, the top two vote-getters will face each other in the November general election.

- City News Service