SAN DIEGO – The San Diego Unified School District board unanimously decided Tuesday who should succeed Alan Bersin as superintendent. But the board kept secret the identity of its next chief. The trustees said they'll release the name after a contract is negotiated. About 50 educators and professionals from 23 states applied for the post. Trustees met with six applicants, including three finalists. Bersin is now state education secretary.
CHULA VISTA – Chula Vista Mayor Steve Padilla was named to the California Coastal Commission on Wednesday. Padilla was appointed by Assembly Speaker Fabian Nu×ez. Padilla will replace San Diego Councilman Scott Peters, who announced in April that he would not seek re-appointment. For Chula Vista, it is an opportune time. The city is working with the San Diego Port District to develop about 550 acres on Chula Vista's bay front into a regional attraction.
EL CAJON – The City Council unanimously approved Home Depot's proposal for a second El Cajon-area store, this one on 14.3 mostly vacant acres on East Main Street. The council's vote came just before midnight Tuesday. The meeting drew a standing-room-only crowd. Critics wore "No Home Depot" buttons and carried signs. Advocates held company-branded placards stapled to paint sticks that read, "I support Home Depot." Six years ago, the council rejected a plan for the second store.
TIJUANA – After eluding capture for almost two decades, one of Mexico's most wanted men, Alfredo R
s Galeana, was found in his Los Angeles-area home and deported to Mexico under heavy guard Tuesday. Rs, a former paratrooper in the Mexican army, led a criminal group that kidnapped people and robbed banks during the 1980s, Mexican authorities said. He escaped from prison several times, most recently in 1986, and underwent plastic surgery to conceal his identity. But it wasn't enough, even after Rs came to the United States and used the name Arturo Montoya. Someone tipped the California Department of Motor Vehicles about Rs and the agency shared the information with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
