Searches afoot in fatal Ramona fire

Sheriff's deputies today are searching the Ramona gas station owned by a man who's house burned down a month ago, killing one of his employees.

The Stars station on Main Street in Ramona has been closed and is surrounded by crime-scene tape. A deputy is posted at the entrance of the station, and investigators are inside. Authorities have declined to say what is happening.

Ralph Bradley, who works at the Auto Zone story across the street, said about six or seven marked and unmarked sheriff's department vehicles showed up and about 9:30 a.m. Deputies told everybody to leave and taped off the gas station. Deputies removed items from the station and took numerous photographs, Bradley said.

The station is owned by James A. Kurtenbach of Poway. On Oct. 31, a house Kurtenbach owns near the fifth hole of the Mount Woodson Golf Club in Ramona exploded and burned.

Joseph Nesheiwat of Ramona, who had worked at the Stars gas station for seven years, died in the blast. Why Nesheiwat, 24, was in the house has been the focus of an investigation. Authorities have concluded the cause of the explosion and fire was arson.

County records show that Kurtenbach, 47, owes $40,000 in back taxes on the house on Woodson Drive and $16,600 on the house where he lives in Poway.

House fire near El Cajon extinguished

Firefighters have put out a fire that started in a garage and spread to a home on Grove Road near Merritt Drive this morning, according to a Heartland fire dispatcher.

No injuries were reported and authorities are investigating what sparked the flames.

Authorities received the call just before 9 a.m. and firefighters from five fire engines and one truck battled the blaze.

House on fire near El Cajon city limit

Firefighters are battling a garage fire at this hour inside a home on Grove Road near Merritt Drive near El Cajon, according to a Heartland fire dispatcher.

Authorities received the call just before 9 a.m. and firefighters from five fire engines and one truck are trying to bring the flames under control, the dispatcher said. There have been no reports of injuries.

No other information is available at this time.

Hydrant geyser is shut off

City water crews have shut off water to a broken hydrant that shot a geyser into the air in Mission Valley.

San Diego police blocked lanes at Camino de la Reina and Mission Center Road after the 8:30 p.m. incident. Witnesses told police a car hit the hydrant and kept going. Police are still looking for the car.

Broken hydrant, geyser in Mission Valley

A car has sheared off a fire hydrant, causing a huge geyser, in Mission Valley in front of a Hooters Restaurant, San Diego fire and police say.

The broken hydrant is gushing at Camino de la Reina and Mission Center Road. At least one witness reported to police that the driver of a Volkswagen Jetta hit the hydrant and kept going, possibly into the restaurant parking lot.

The accident was reported about 8:30 p.m.

Memorial paddle out Sunday for Kristan Wagner

See the story on Kristan Wagner here.

Friends and family of Kristan Wagner will hold a beach memorial and ocean paddle out at noon Sunday at Luscombs Point on Sunset Cliffs Boulevard at the foot of Hill Street in Point Loma. A funeral Mass will be held Wednesday in Old Town San Diego.

For more information on the Sunday event, call Merrylena Yeomans at (619) 224-2654.

Yeomans said the public is welcome. Wagner, who loved the ocean, had many friends in the local surfing community, she said.

Wagner died Sunday in an accidental fall at Sunset Cliffs.

The funeral Mass will take place at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, 2540 San Diego Ave., in Old Town San Diego. A reception will follow in the church hall.

The family said flowers or a donation to the San Diego Zoo in memory of Wagner, an animal lover, are welcome. The zoo's mailing address is P.O. Box 120551, San Diego, CA 92112. A zoo spokeswoman asked those mailing a donation to note it is in Wagner's memory.

Pedestrian struck & killed in Santee

A pedestrian was struck by a vehicle and killed in Santee Wednesday night, a sheriff's official said.

The accident occurred on Woodside Avenue near Riverford Road about 7 p.m., according to the California Highway Patrol's Web site.

No information about the victim, described only as man possibly in his mid-50s, has been released. Sheriff's Lt. Sylvester Washington said the driver pulled over and stopped after the collision. Deputies, CHP officers and paramedics are on the scene.

No one else was injured, a Heartland fire dispatcher said.

For more details, including the man's identity, click here.

No one injured at video store crash

No injuries were reported after a motorist drove into a plate-glass window at Blockbuster Video in the Fleetridge-Roseville neighborhood, a San Diego fire dispatcher said.

Damage to the building was not considered extensive. The crew of one fire rig remains at the scene to assist.

Driver crashes into video shop

A motorist has plowed into a window of a Blockbuster Video store on Rosecrans Street near Point Loma, San Diego police and fire officials said.

The accident was reported about 6:50 p.m. It occurred at the video shop near Byron Street, in the Fleetridge-Roseville neighborhood.

There is no word about any injuries.

Mayor vetoes council's budget vote

San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders just vetoed the City Council's approval of most of his proposed budget cuts.

The action, taken on the last day Sanders could veto the council's budget resolution, came in response to council action Monday to save six city customer service centers -- and three city painters -- from the budget ax.

The council had previously rejected Sanders' proposal to close seven libraries and 10 recreation facilities, and the mayor was not going to veto that action. But the council's latest move, to restore the customer centers and the painters, violated the city charter, the mayor said. The reason? The change meant the council's budget ordinance didn't match its budget resolution -- not allowed, the mayor said.

Sanders was awaiting word from City Attorney Michael Aguirre to invalidate the council action, but gave up waiting an issued the veto, his memo said.

Under the city charter, the eight-member council needs to muster five votes to override the veto. Because four new council members are being sworn in Monday, it's unclear whether the council will have the votes to do so.

Plastic-bags ban moves forward

San Diego's natural resources committee voted Wednesday to send a proposed ban on plastic bags to the full City Council for action early next year.

The committee asked incoming City Attorney Jan Goldsmith to make recommendations on the proposal, which would prohibit large grocery stores and pharmacies from providing single-use plastic bags. Those retailers would have to offer reusable bags and pay a fee to help cover the cost of recycling paper bags.

A growing number of cities statewide are adopting bans or imposing fees on plastic bags because they commonly foul beaches and bays. California's Ocean Protection Council recently proposed statewide fees for plastic bags.

The plastics industry opposes such measures, while environmentalists support them. Danielle Miller, manager of the marine debris campaign for the advocacy group San Diego Coastkeeper, figures the chances of San Diego adopting the ban are good.

"The momentum on this issue is building," she said.

--Mike Lee

Manslaughter verdict in wife's death

For more details, click here for the Union-Tribune story.

A jury has convicted Keith Turner of one count of voluntary manslaughter in his wife's slaying while acquitting him of a murder charge.

Turner, 57, was charged in the Sept. 19, 2005 slaying of Toby Turner, 42.

Investigators uncovered Toby Turner's skeletal remains in the backyard of her Ramona home in November 2007.

The jury announced its decision Wednesday afternoon after deliberating for several days. Deliberations began Nov. 25 but the jury had been excused for the rest of the week for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Turner, 57, admitted to sheriff's deputies in a videotaped interview that he killed Toby Turner, 44, then buried her in the back of his home on Oak Springs Drive.

Turner is charged with murder, but his lawyer said Turner hadn't planned to kill his wife. He said Turner was pushed to the breaking point by a wife who was a methamphetamine addict given to bizarre behavior and was living off-and-on with another man.

- Ray Huard