A single-seat jet fighter crashed at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station on Thursday.

The pilot ejected shortly before his $40 million F/A-18 Hornet burst into flames about three miles east of the Miramar airfield. He was found near the wreckage and taken back to base headquarters in an ambulance. He suffered only cuts and bruises, base officials said.

The pilot is a member of VMFAT-101, a Marine fighter-attack training squadron.

The crash occurred about 12:20 p.m. and caused a small brush fire near Rue Chantemar, south of Pomerado Road, on base property.

Several witnesses said the aircraft came to rest in an open field on the base less than a mile from a section of Scripps Ranch.

Marine officials said they had launched an investigation and wouldn't speculate on the cause of the crash until the inquiry was completed. Such probes can last a year or longer.

Two arrested in March liquor store slayings

EL CAJON – Two men were arrested in the execution-style slayings in March of a liquor store co-owner and her friend during a robbery, El Cajon police announced last week. Months after Heather Nabil Mattia, 22, and Firas Waahid Eiso, 23, were shot in the back of the head as they lay on the floor of the Granada Liquor store, police said they got a break in the case.

Anthony Miller, 21, of Alpine and Jean Rices, 25, of El Cajon were arrested. El Cajon detective Sgt. Chuck Merino said Monday that the break came “from out of the blue” about 10 days before, with information given to sheriff's detectives in Santee.

Two detectives went to Miller's home in Alpine on Nov. 24 and took him into custody, Merino said. Rices, already in county jail facing trial on a bank-robbery charge, was booked Monday afternoon on charges of two counts each of murder and robbery, Merino said. Miller was booked on the same charges.

The two pleaded not guilty Wednesday.

Prosecutors have filed special charges that could allow them to seek the execution of the two men if they are convicted. District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis typically makes such decisions after a preliminary hearing to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to merit a trial.

San Diego council bans supercenter-size stores

It's San Diego vs. Wal-Mart.

In a move that pits the city squarely against the nation's largest retailer, San Diego on Tuesday joined a growing list of cities nationwide to restrict large retail developments.

The City Council voted 5-3 to ban stores with more than 90,000 square feet that use 10 percent of their space to sell groceries and other merchandise not subject to sales tax.

The council also agreed to place additional scrutiny on stores with more than 50,000 square feet.

The ban targets Wal-Mart Supercenters, which have been lauded nationwide for low prices and one-stop shopping but also criticized for destroying small businesses and creating traffic congestion.

The ban excludes membership stores, such as Costco and Sam's Club, which sell grocery items in bulk.

Mayor Jerry Sanders plans to veto the council's decision, preferring case-by-case regulation of large retail stores.

“Consumers should have choices,” he said. “I don't believe that the role of local government is to control choices by banning where people are allowed to shop. We shouldn't act to outlaw an entire class of businesses.”

The mayor's veto would be largely symbolic because the council can override it with the five votes used to approve the ban. The council would hold a hearing to consider the veto.

Orca bites trainer during SeaWorld show

A killer whale at SeaWorld bit a trainer's foot and took him to the bottom of the tank twice during the final afternoon performance Wednesday, officials said.

The 33-year-old trainer was alert and conscious when paramedics took him to UCSD Medical Center. He had suffered a broken left foot.

The female orca, Kasatka, was supposed to leap out of the water upright so the trainer could dive off her nose – a common show finale.

Instead, Kasatka grabbed the trainer's foot and dived to the bottom of the 36-foot tank. They surfaced less than a minute later, but the animal ignored other trainers' signals to draw her to the side. The orca dived a second time with the trainer for about a minute.

The trainer, who has worked at Shamu Stadium for 12 years, stayed calm until the whale let go. Other trainers worked a net between the two, and the trainer swam out.

Mike Scarpuzzi, vice president for zoological operations at the park, said the next day that he didn't know why Kasatka pulled the trainer down.

Aztecs beat Toreros in men's basketball

The San Diego State men's basketball team kept on winning Wednesday night when it beat USD 79-76 in the city championship game.

The victory was the Aztecs' eighth straight to start the season, 14th in their last 15 contests and 24th of their past 27 dating to Jan. 11.

The USD Toreros were 15-point underdogs, but they gave the Aztecs a battle. The game wasn't decided until a shot from three-quarter length of the court by USD redshirt freshman Chris Lewis bounced off the rim at the buzzer.

Senior SDSU guard Brandon Heath made a jumper and six straight free throws in the final 30 seconds.

Strip club ex-manager sentenced to time done

Former Cheetahs strip club manager John D'Intino was sentenced Thursday to two years in prison – time he already has served – for his role in the San Diego City Hall corruption scandal and a related gun case.

The defense had requested a two-year sentence, and the government made the same recommendation, citing D'Intino's acceptance of responsibility and assistance to prosecutors and FBI agents during trial preparation.

A federal grand jury indicted D'Intino, 59, a longtime La Jolla resident, in August 2003. His deal allowed him to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to receive and possess unregistered firearms with obliterated serial numbers.

He admitted he schemed with his boss, Cheetahs owner Michael Galardi, and Las Vegas lobbyist Lance Malone to repeal the no-touching rule at strip clubs by giving thousands of dollars to three San Diego councilmen.

D'Intino also admitted that he brokered the sale of 26 machine guns and pistols with silencers between two friends, one of whom turned out to be a government informant.

Unlike other convicted defendants in the case who have yet to spend a day in jail, D'Intino was taken into custody immediately after his guilty plea in August 2003. He was released on bail Aug. 31, 2005, pending sentencing.