MEXICALI: The diesel crisis began to ease in Mexicali yesterday as fuel arrived via pipeline from a plant in Rosarito Beach.
Rodrigo Llantada, director of the Association of Gasoline Stations, said Pemex started resupplying most of the 53 stations that sell diesel in the city. Pemex is Mexico's national oil company.
However, customers are only able to buy a limited amount because Pemex has back orders to fill, which should be completed by this weekend, he said.
“There's a huge demand, and we have not been able to increase our inventories,” he said. “But we have begun to supply the trucking sector, which was the most affected.”
The state capital endured 10 days of scarce diesel, which was rationed to public transit and municipal vehicles.
Tijuana suffered a similar fate last week until a fresh supply arrived by tanker ship over the weekend. Gas stations, including those closest to the border crossings, were selling any amount to customers yesterday.
Diesel ran critically short in Tijuana after motorists from the United States began to buy it in record amounts. In Mexico, the cost of the fuel is about half of what it is north of the border. –O.M.S.
City reaches deal with
Mount Soledad group
SAN DIEGO: It took 19 years, but the city of San Diego has disentangled itself from a legal fight over a 43-foot-tall cross on public parkland on Mount Soledad.
On Tuesday, the City Council unanimously agreed to a settlement with the Mount Soledad Memorial Association.
The association is seeking $1.2 million in compensation for congressional action taking the city land in 2006. The association was seeking $1.1 million to recover its investment as caretaker of the cross, on a land purchase and site improvements.
The association agreed to drop its claim against the city if it would agree to give the association any federal payment for the land. The U.S. government is required to pay market value under the act that took the land, and a recent appraisal put the site's value at $840,000.
The U.S. government's acceptance of the cross all but removed San Diego from the long-running skirmish, but yesterday's deal allowed the city to walk away entirely.
A legal battle over the presence of the cross on federal land continues. –M.T.H.
Suspect in agent's death
freed, won't be charged
A man jailed in Mexicali on suspicion of running down a Border Patrol agent in January, killing him, has been released without charges, it was reported yesterday.
The Attorney General's Office in Baja California confirmed to The Associated Press that Jesús Navarro Montes had been released from a Mexicali jail. No explanation for his release was given.
Navarro was arrested Jan. 22 by Mexican authorities. He was accused of driving a Hummer carrying drugs on Jan. 19 near Yuma, Ariz. Border Patrol Agent Luis Aguilar was placing spike strips on a road to stop the Hummer and a second vehicle when he was struck and killed, Border Patrol authorities said.
Mexican authorities alleged Navarro kept going, crossed into Mexico and gave the Hummer to accomplices. –P.R.
Swallows probably died
of starvation, vet says
SOUTH COUNTY: The county's veterinarian yesterday said starvation likely caused the cliff swallow die-off that occurred about a month ago at the Lower Otay reservoir.
About 100 of the birds died during Memorial Day weekend and the subsequent week near the reservoir's boat house.
In a report, veterinarian Nikos Gurfield said the birds' thin bodies, the lack of food in their stomachs and other factors suggest they didn't have enough insects to eat. He linked the low bug population to unseasonably cold weather in late May. –M.L.
Worker burned in blast
at hotel leaves center
SAN DIEGO: One of the three construction workers seriously burned in the explosion that rocked the Hilton Bayside hotel last month has been released from the UCSD Burn Center, while the condition of the other two injured men has been upgraded.
The worker, released Monday, will continue treatment at another hospital but had recovered enough to leave the specialized burn unit, said Kim Edwards, a hospital spokeswoman.
All three men spent nearly a month in medically induced comas while undergoing several operations to remove burned tissue and graft new skin.
The two men remaining in the burn center have been revived from their comas and are breathing on their own. Their condition has been upgraded from critical to serious.
The May 19 explosion, which remains under investigation by the California Occupational Safety & Health Administration, knocked out the northern face of the fourth through seventh floors of the 30-story structure being built near the San Diego Convention Center. –D.H.
Trolley car to promote
Balboa Park, green ways
SAN DIEGO: The San Diego Metropolitan Transit System and Balboa Park officials today will roll out a special “green” trolley car splashed with the park name and environmental messages. The car will run on the Blue trolley line from the border through downtown to Old Town.
It joins a Route 7 bus that was recently painted with environmental messages by more than 200 schoolchildren at the park. The trolley and bus are intended to showcase Balboa Park institutions and an environmental ethic.
The trolley connects with the Route 7 bus line at the City College Trolley Station. Once boarding the bus, riders will arrive at the stops serving the park in minutes, officials said. –J.S.
Staff writers Matthew T. Hall, Pauline Repard, Mike Lee, David Hasemyer, Jeanette Steele and Liz Neely and Enlace writer Omar Millán González contributed to this report.
