L ATIMES.COM THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 2019B
CITY & STATE
AU.S. Navy F/A-18E Su-
per Hornet jet crashed in
Death Valley National Park
near Father Crowley Vista
Point Wednesday morning,
leaving seven visitors with
minor injuries.
The pilot’s status was un-
known.
The crash occurred at
about 10 a.m. near an area
often referred to as Star
Wars Canyon, not far from
Naval Air Weapons Station
China Lake.
“We’re still trying to fig-
ure things out on our end,”
said Navy Lt. Cmdr. Lydia
Bock. “We have a search-
and-rescue that has been
dispatched out of China
Lake and search-and-rescue
out of Naval Station Le-
moore with a medic on
board.”
While it is not common
for military jets to fly low
over national parks, it is a
standard practice in Death
Valley. “It’s one of the main
attractions,” said Death Val-
ley National Park public in-
formation officer Patrick
Taylor.
The Air Force and Navy
have used the area for train-
ing since the early 1930s.
Most of the aircraft thatpass through come from
Naval Air Weapons Station
China Lake, Naval Air Sta-
tion Lemoore, Edwards Air
Force Base, Fresno Air Na-
tional Guard Base and Nellis
Air Force Base in Nevada.
International jets are also
known to make flybys.
It’s unclear whether
those who reported injuries
were in the area to observe
the jets.
Taylor said the area also
provides a parking lot and a
restroom.
“There’s a lot of people
that stop there totally unas-
sociated with the jets,” he
said.Times staff writer Ruben
Vives contributed to this
report.APHOTOGRAPHER said he captured the Navy jet before the crash in Death Valley as it passed low on Wednesday, and after, below.
Photographs by KGrif photographyNavy jet crashes in Death Valley
Seven visitors suffer
minor injuries in the
accident near a
popular viewpoint.
By Colleen Shalby
THE CRASH scene is near an area of Death Valley
National Park often referred to as Star Wars Canyon.Burbank officials have
taken the first steps to free
the city of polystyrene and
other single-use plastic ma-
terials.
The City Council unani-
mously voted last week to di-
rect city staff to hire a con-
sultant to help develop a ban
on expanded polystyrene,
commonly known as Styro-
foam, over the next year.
Burbank will be setting
aside $250,000 to hire the
consultant and conduct
workshops for businesses
and the public to determine
the best way to implement a
ban on cups, plates,
clamshell containers, pack-
ing peanuts, utensils, lids,
stirrers and coolers made
from polystyrene, as well as
single-use food containers
and cups.
Instead of using products
with plastic, restaurants
and other businesses that
sell food and beverages are
encouraged to use reusable
or compostable food con-
tainers.
Council members also di-
rected staff to ban the use of
polystyrene products at city
facilities and functions
within the next three
months.
The City Council also di-
rected staff members to
have the consultant study
the feasibility of having
restaurants and other busi-
nesses charge a 25-cent fee
for single-use cups.
John Molinar, assistant
public works director for
streets and sanitation, said
it can take about a year to
hire a consultant, conduct
workshops and develop an
ordinance banning polysty-
rene.
Kreigh Hampel, recycling
coordinator for the city, add-
ed that the consultant will
meet with business owners
or representatives to iden-
tify how they can transition
from single-use products to
more sustainable alterna-
tives.
“We would help develop
protocols for each [busi-
ness],” Hampel said. “We’d
like to see a range of options
that restaurants could
adopt.”
Councilman Tim Mur-
phy said he wanted to take a
more aggressive approach
to the proposed ban, which
would have required restau-
rants to use reusable plates
and utensils for dine-in serv-
ice, as well as require that
disposable food containers
be compostable.
“We’ve got to go all in,”
Murphy said.
“It’s for our kids and it’s
for our planet. Let’s just do
it.”Carpio writes for Times
Community News.Burbank
seeks
ban on
plastics
Officials move to bar
single-use items like
cups and plates
within city limits.
By Anthony
Clark CarpioSAN DIEGO — Officials
are breaking ground on the
final segment of state Route
11 on Wednesday — connect-
ing the San Diego region’s
highway system to the future
Otay Mesa East Port of En-
try.
Sections of SR-11 have
been completed since 2016,
but the highway currently
ends at Enrico Fermi Drive
in Otay Mesa. This final leg
of construction, which in-
cludes several highway in-
terchanges, would connect
the envisioned port of entry
to state Routes 905 and 125.
The highway project, a
joint venture between Cal-
trans and the San Diego
Assn. of Governments, is
slated for completion by
- Construction of the
new Otay Mesa crossing is
planned to begin that same
year and completed by 2023.
“It will be state-of-the-art
with traffic management,
congestion pricing and bor-
der wait-time information,”
said Mario Orso, trade corri-
dor director for Caltrans
District 11. “This could po-tentially be the last border
crossing that gets con-
structed in the San Diego-
Tijuana region.
“We’re trying to reduce
emissions at the border by
reducing queues and mak-
ing a more reliable and effi-cient border crossing,” he
added.
The $100-million highway
project includes a four-lane
toll road connecting to the
site of the future U.S. Cus-
toms and Border Protection
crossing as well as a Califor-nia Highway Patrol com-
mercial vehicle enforcement
facility.
The hope is that the en-
tire roughly $800-million
project, including the border
crossing, will fuel economic
growth and binational trade
in the San Diego-Baja Cali-
fornia region by reducing
travel times. The commer-
cial traffic at the current
Otay Mesa Port of Entry rep-
resents the second busiest
on the U.S.-Mexico border,
averaging roughly 3,
truck crossings per day.
“Mexico is our most im-
portant trade partner for
California, but in order to
continue the growth of the
partnership, as well as the
cross-border traffic, we
needed to plan for this,”
Orso said.
Transportation officials
said once SR-11 is completed
they’re looking forward to
focusing on the devel-
opment of the port of entry.
The project has been
in some stage of devel-
opment for nearly two
decades.Smith writes for the San
Diego Union-Tribune.Work starts on new highway link to border
State Route 11 will
connect to a future
Otay Mesa crossing,
planned for 2023.
By Joshua
Emerson Smith
THE STATE ROUTE 11 HIGHWAY PROJECT,a joint venture between Cal-
trans and the San Diego Assn. of Governments, is slated for completion by 2021.John GibbinsSan Diego Union-TribuneSAN DIEGO — The 19-
year-old man accused of
opening fire at a Poway
synagogue on April 27,
killing one person and injur-
ing three others, purchased
his AR-15 assault rifle from a
San Diego gun store for
$963.41, according to a batch
of previously secret court
records unsealed Wednes-
day.
The records, 383 pages of
search warrants and other
materials, provide details of
what investigators sought in
the days after the fatal
shooting. John T. Earnest of
San Diego is accused of the
attack. A judge ordered the
records unsealed after a co-
alition of local media organi-
zations, including the San
Diego Union-Tribune, went
to court seeking public dis-
closure of the materials.
In an affidavit for a May 6
warrant seeking informa-
tion from a bank account
that Earnest had opened, an
investigator wrote that dur-
ing a search of the suspect’s
home at Freeport Court
where he lived with his par-
ents, a receipt for the pur-
chase of the rifle from San
Diego Guns on Mission
Gorge Road was found. He
paid for it using a credit
card, the warrant said.
A person at the store said
in a brief phone conversa-tion, “That is not something
we’re interested in com-
menting on at this time.”
Earnest is facing charges
in state and federal court
that, if he’s convicted, make
him eligible for the death
penalty in connection with
the shooting. He has
pleaded not guilty.
Authorities said he at-
tacked the Chabad of Poway
synagogue just before 11:
a.m. April 27 during a Pass-
over service.
Lori Gilbert-Kaye, 60,
was killed, and and three
others were injured, includ-
ing the rabbi and an 8-year-
old child.
According to court re-
cords, Earnest fired up to 10
rounds, then had trouble
reloading the weapon.
A congregant, armed
with a handgun from anoth-er congregant, chased the
gunman out of the syna-
gogue and fired four rounds,
missing him. Minutes later
Earnest called 911, where au-
thorities said he admitted to
the shooting. He was later
arrested by San Diego po-
lice.
The warrants show that
investigators cast a wide net,
collecting information from
numerous phones, comput-
ers, cameras and laptops
connected to Earnest, as
well as searching records
from Mt. Carmel High
School and Cal State San
Marcos, where he was
enrolled. They also obtained
information from social me-
dia and Google accounts
connected to Earnest.Moran writes for the San
Diego Union-Tribune.383 pages on suspect in synagogue killing unsealed
JOHN EARNEST, accused in the Poway synagogue
attack, bought an AR-15 in San Diego, records show.Nelvin C. CepedaSan Diego Union-TribuneRecords show scope
of investigation into
man accused of Poway
attack in April.
By Greg Moran