A group of skateboarders made their pitch to the Encinitas Parks and Recreation Board this week for the construction of a skate bowl. It would be the second in Encinitas but the first on a North County public beach.

By most accounts, Encinitas holds the unofficial claim to the title “Skateboard Capitol of the World.” With the many world-class skate parks in the San Diego area and a skate bowl in Encinitas Community Park, is more better?

“It keeps you out of trouble. It keeps you out of your head, too,” skater Jacob Yocum said.

The force behind a second skate bowl in Encinitas doesn’t hail from Generation Z or Alpha. Instead, they are three sexagenarians.

“Pushing our minds, bodies and balance — I think that positive stress on a person keeps you sharp. It keeps you young,” said Douglas Marker, an advocate for the new skate bowl.

Encinitas residents Marker, Barry Blumenthal and David Skinner brought to the Encinitas Parks and Recreation Tuesday a rare standing-room-only gallery and a plan to build a 6,000-square-foot skate bowl in the northeast corner of Moonlight Beach.

“That shows the world that we are absolutely the mecca of skateboarding,” Marker said.

Marker is a former professional skateboarder. Even at 62, Marker and his group, Deathracer413, dare the depths of the skate bowl called “Poods” in the community park.

On any given Saturday, the skaters meet up at one of the dozens of skateparks in San Diego County’s to skate and catch up with one another, but, most of all to have fun with similar-aged people that share a common love of skateboarding.

The bowl in Encinitas Community Park attracts skaters from all over the world, but it has its limits.

“Sometimes I come here, and there is crowds of people around the entire park, but there is only two people allowed in the bowl at a time,” skater J.J. Hurd said.

Marker says that 70 years ago, when the waves were flat, surfers would attach wheels to wood and practice their tricks on land. A bowl at the beach is a logical return to skateboarding roots.

“I hope the city sees how much they need it, how much we want it, and I hope they help us move forward to make our dream come true,” Marker said.

Tuesday night’s Parks and Rec meeting was the first chance for the group to officially make a formal request.

There are still a lot of hoops to jump through, but one thing that could work in their favor is the construction cost. The group says they’ll get the million dollars it will take to build the skate bowl from the private sector.

A man arrested in the shooting of his elderly mother and two others who died at a home in Point Loma Wednesday afternoon was identified by police Thursday.

William Bushey, 60, was arrested on double murder charges in the shooting deaths of a woman in her 60s and a man in his 30s at the home on Zola Street, according to the San Diego Police Department. He is also accused of attempted murder in the shooting of his mother, who is in her 80s and remains hospitalized following the shooting.

Colleen Crowden, a neighbor and friend, said the woman who lived there was June Bushey. June Bushey has a daughter and grandsons who match the ages of the two people who were killed. San Diego police were expected to release the identities of the victims Friday.

Crowden said June Bushey had lived in the Point Loma home her entire life. The gray single-family home was her childhood home and she was a graduate of Point Loma High School, which is just a block away.

William Bushey lived with his mother for the last two-plus decades, according to Crowden.

Two people are dead and a woman in her 80s is fighting for her life after she was allegedly shot by her son. NBC 7’s Dave Summers reports on Aug. 21, 2024.

On Wednesday shortly before 4 p.m., Crowden heard a commotion at her neighbor’s house but didn’t immediately realize they were gunshots. She saw her neighbor come outside bloodied and thought she had cut herself. When police arrived, she pieced details together.

Crowden was talking to police on her own patio when she saw officers bring Bushy out of her neighbor’s home in handcuffs. She told them, “That’s her son, Billy” and the officer called in to police, “Witness has identified the suspect as the victim’s son,” she said.

According to Lt. Jud Campbell with the San Diego Police Department, William Bushey was at the front of the house when officers arrived and was taken into custody without struggle,

At the scene of the shooting Wednesday, a woman who described herself to police as a close friend of the victims was near collapse after hearing of the tragedy. She said the family contacted police about the potential of this very thing happening one or two days ago.

“This is my best friend, and the police turned her away yesterday,” she was heard telling police.

Campbell said during a news conference one victim was found in a side-yard area, while the other one may have been found in the kitchen area inside. The elderly woman was found in front of the home.

“She was found out front here at the street,” Campbell said. “Officers took her away from the scene and began rendering aid until paramedics could come and get her and rush her to the hospital.”

Her condition on Thursday was not known.

Officers also located what appears to be a shotgun in the front yard near where the suspect was found that they say is likely the murder weapon, SDPD said.

The garage door of the home looked like it was recently crushed inward, but no vehicle in the area seemed to have caused it. Police later confirmed that patrol officers breached the door while checking the scene.

The circumstances that led to the shooting were not immediately clear. SDPD’s Homicide Unit is still investigating.

Campbell said that multiple people called 911, including the shooter. He also said there have been prior calls to the residence, but it is not known what those calls were for or when.

“As part of this investigation, we are going to be looking at every time that we may have been on this street or been in contact with anyone that is involved in this,” Campbell said.

Marjie Carver lives down the street. She was home at the time and didn’t hear the shooting, but she saw the helicopter.

“We’ve lived here over 20 years and never had anything like that,” Carver said. “I’m stunned that it ever happened. I am saddened that it happened.”

Police are asking anyone with information or who knows the family to call the Homicide Unit at 619-531-2293 or Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477.

Gary Clark Jr., with Suzanne Santo

Returning to the Shell for the first time since his electrifying 2021 debut at the venue, Gary Clark Jr. has evolved considerably since then.

While his blues-drenched guitar work and soulful singing are still key elements, the music featured on his latest album, this year’s “JPEG RAW,” draws equally from hip-hop, rock, vintage soul, funk and electronically processed pop, with elements of jazz, West African chants and country providing extra textures.

The album features such esteemed guest artists as Stevie Wonder, George Clinton, Valerie June, Ghanaian singer-producer Naala, rising jazz trumpeter Keyon Harrold and more.

It’s an ambitious work that may present some challenges to fully realize on a concert stage without those guests. But If anyone is up for such a challenge, it’s Texas native Clark, who played the role of blues pioneer Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup in Baz Luhrmann’s Oscar-nominated film “Elvis.”

Be sure to arrive early to hear former honeyhoney mainstay Suzanne Santo, an American roots-music dynamo who spent most of 2019 doing double-duty on a world tour with Hozier as both his opening act and one of his band members.

A gifted singer songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Santo has two notable solo albums to her credit, 2017’s “Ruby Red” and 2021’s “Yard Sale,” the latter of which features a guest spot by Clark.

7 p.m. Saturday. The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park, 222 Marina Park Way, downtown. $33-$140. theshell.org

“Celebrate Ameri’Kana” Music & Arts Festival

With seven bands and solo artists performing over eight hours — and free admission — this qualifies as the music-marathon bargain of the month. The lineup includes Los Texmaniacs, Making Movies, Renee Goust, Gaby Moreno, the Ameri’kana All Stars & Friends, and a yet-to-be-announced band and DJ.

Likely highlights include the Max Baca-led Los Texmaniacs (a Grammy Award-winning San Antonio band that specializes in the accordion-led conjunto music popularized in Texas), and fellow Grammy-winner Gaby Moreno (a versatile Guatemalan singer-songwriter whose collaborators have included Kris Kristofferson, Benin’s Angelique Kidjo, Nickel Creek’s Chris Thile and U2’s Bono).

And don’t miss “Celebrate Ameri’Kana” masterminds Making Movies, the Kansas City-bred band that fuses rock, cumbia, merengue and more into a zesty, propulsive whole.

2 p.m. Sunday. Epstein Family Amphitheater, 9480 Innovation Lane, UC San Diego, La Jolla. Free, but advance online registration is requested at: amphitheater.ucsd.edu/event/celebrate-amerikana/

Santana, with Counting Crows

Former Tijuana guitar-slinger Carlos Santana turned 77 in July, but he shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon.

The pioneering Latin-rock band he leads — featuring his wife, Cindy Blackman Santana, on drums — continues to tour regularly. And its leader has released new recordings over the past year with Run DMC’s Darryl McDaniels, producer and drum great Narada Michael Walden, as well as with both Santana’s son and nephew, Salvador and Jose Santana.

For good measure, at his most recent residency at Las Vegas’ House of Blues, the mustachioed guitarist and Rock & Roll Hall of Famer has been mixing Santana classics with a medley of Eric Burdon & War’s “Spill the Wine,” The Temptations’ “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone” and The Zombies’ “She’s Not There,” which Santana scored a hit of its own with in 1977.

7 p.m. next Friday, Aug. 30. North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre, 2050 Entertainment Circle, Chula Vista. $67.20-$354. VIP packages are priced from $374 to $870. livenation.com

Originally Published: August 22, 2024 at 7:45 a.m.