Oceanside Ca

Downtown has taken a giant step closer to shedding its notorious reputation as a honky-tonk for off-duty Marines and sailors. No more will there be a Playgirl Club, which for four decades allowed even underage military personnel from nearby Camp Pendleton to drink soda pop and go bug-eyed looking at buck-naked women. At a ceremony last week, cheers came from city officials who had tried for 20 years to convince Playgirl owner Edward "Skip" Arthur to sell.

A teenager was found guilty Monday in the 2006 shooting death of Oceanside Police Officer Dan Bessant. Penifoti Taeotui, 18, was convicted of first-degree murder, said Julie Myers, a spokeswoman for San Diego County Superior Court. Taeotui also was found guilty of shooting at Bessant and another officer "for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with a criminal street gang" and using a semi-automatic rifle during in the shooting, according to court documents.

It was once known as a gritty military town, but Oceanside's rough-and-tumble image is softening. The Irving Gill-designed building that was City Hall has been remodeled into a museum as part of a Civic Center revitalization. This, along with vibrant new housing, has sparked the start of a downtown renaissance in the San Diego County community. Beginnings Oceanside's first inhabitants were the Luiseno Indians who lived in the San Luis Rey Val- ley.

The unarmed wife of a Marine and her 8-year-old son were recovering Tuesday after an off-duty San Diego police officer shot them in a weekend road rage incident, authorities said. Police offered few details about the shooting, which occurred at 9:14 p.m. Saturday in Oceanside. Sgt. Kelan Poorman of the Oceanside Police Department said that the incident remains under investigation, and that detectives have not interviewed the woman, who was being treated at Sharp Memorial Hospital in San Diego.

Conditions for the first round of the Bud Surf Tour's annual stop here are historic--and hysteric ("The worst contest surf I've ever seen," says a veteran surf journalist). Stiff onshore winds destroy what little swell there is as Rick Massie paddles into a peak and dances across the wave, kicking the lip with his tiny board. The swell leaves Massie wet as it dies beneath him, and the judges give him a 4.10 out of 10. He's falling fast, from first to fourth out of four. He needs a 5.

A 17-year-old boy was arrested Thursday, and another teenager questioned, in the killing of a police officer during a routine traffic stop. Officer Dan Bessant was the second policeman shot to death in this city in less than four years. Oceanside Police Capt. David Heering declined to release the juveniles' names or explain their alleged roles in the shooting.

Two Air Force F-16 fighters forced a small plane to land here Wednesday afternoon after federal officials became concerned when the plane flew north across the Mexican border and the pilot did not respond to radio calls. Once the Cessna landed at the municipal airport, the plane and its three occupants were met by Oceanside police, San Diego County sheriff's deputies, agents of U.S. Customs and Border Protection and a drug-sniffing dog.

Organizers intend to press on with a waterfront Fourth of July fireworks display despite opposition from a police officers union concerned about unruly crowds. Kim Heim, director of a group that is raising money for the $30,000 celebration, said the fireworks had been ordered. Plans call for their launching from a pyrotechnic barge near the Oceanside Municipal Pier. But Heim said that raising money had been difficult since the Oceanside Police Officers Assn.

Speeding, you spot the police cruiser just in time. You brake, then smile as you glide by the unsuspecting officer at the legal speed limit. But who is fooling whom? Oceanside's finest has just put one over on you. The latest addition to the city's police force is Sandra Safety, a blond, life-size mannequin decked out in a patrolman's tunic that sits all day inside a police car parked on Oceanside streets.

Police have arrested seven men suspected in a series of robberies targeting migrant farm workers. The suspects are all in their late teens or early 20s, Oceanside Police Sgt. Tom Aguigui said Wednesday. The robbers preyed on the laborers, many of whom were confronted shortly after they had cashed their paychecks, police said. Some victims were beaten for not complying with demands; others were threatened with handguns.

In his medley of train songs, Fallbrook singer Ken Graydon hit upon one Friday with the refrain "there was always a train in my dreams." Graydon was the opening act for an afternoon of hoopla to hail the debut of the North County Transit District's latest public conveyance, German-made light-rail cars that will travel the 22 miles from Oceanside to Escondido on two sets of tracks, with 15 stops.

Police say two men broke into an Oceanside sex shop on Christmas Day and stole about $700 worth of pornographic videos and magazines. An alarm was triggered at Sinsations about 1 a.m. Tuesday. Officers say they found the men, a 48-year-old and a 26-year-old, by a nearby garbage bin with a bag of stolen goods. The suspects were booked into county jail and are being held in lieu of $30,000 bond.

Two Air Force F-16 fighters forced a small plane to land here Wednesday afternoon after federal officials became concerned when the plane flew north across the Mexican border and the pilot did not respond to radio calls. Once the Cessna landed at the municipal airport, the plane and its three occupants were met by Oceanside police, San Diego County sheriff's deputies, agents of U.S. Customs and Border Protection and a drug-sniffing dog.

A second teenager has been arrested and booked on suspicion of murder in the fatal shooting of a police officer during a traffic stop, authorities said Friday. The 16-year-old boy from Oceanside was booked into Juvenile Hall late Thursday after being questioned by detectives investigating the death of Officer Dan Bessant. A 17-year-old boy, also from Oceanside, was arrested earlier Thursday and also booked on suspicion of murder.

A 17-year-old boy was arrested Thursday, and another teenager questioned, in the killing of a police officer during a routine traffic stop. Officer Dan Bessant was the second policeman shot to death in this city in less than four years. Oceanside Police Capt. David Heering declined to release the juveniles' names or explain their alleged roles in the shooting.

A 23-year-old police officer was shot and killed Wednesday after a routine traffic stop, authorities said. The incident occurred about 6:30 p.m. after the male officer was called to assist another officer who had made a traffic stop at Gold Drive and Arthur Avenue in Oceanside. About 15 minutes after making the stop, the officer who had called for assistance radioed that shots had been fired and asked for additional backup, said Capt. David Heering.

Marines from Camp Pendleton searched the beach here Monday looking for sealed plastic wrappers containing syringes with the drug atropine. About 145 of the packages washed up on shore Sunday and were turned over to officials. The syringes are issued to troops in Iraq. Atropine is used to counteract the effects of chemical nerve agents.

Police arrested a 72-year-old former Catholic priest Thursday on charges of repeatedly molesting an 11-year-old boy in 1971 and 1972. Harold Charles Depp, who spent most of his career in Detroit, was visiting at the Prince of Peace Abbey in Oceanside when the attacks allegedly occurred. Depp was convicted of child molestation in Alaska in the 1980s, police said. He was arrested at his home in Palm Springs.

A jury awarded the widow of a slain police officer $3.6 million Thursday because his protective vest failed to stop a bullet fired by an ex-convict during a traffic stop. After five days of deliberation, the San Diego County Superior Court jury found that the vest makers failed to warn Oceanside Police Officer Anthony Zeppetella that the vest could fail because its synthetic fibers would degrade over time.

Marines from Camp Pendleton searched the beach here Monday looking for sealed plastic wrappers containing syringes with the drug atropine. About 145 of the packages washed up on shore Sunday and were turned over to officials. The syringes are issued to troops in Iraq. Atropine is used to counteract the effects of chemical nerve agents.