San Diegans to Go to Diego’s Alcala

San Diego has nine sister cities around the world, ranging from Yantai in the People’s Republic of China to Edinburgh, Scotland. But arguably the closest ties are with the sister city of Alcala, Spain.

Friar-turned-saint Diego de Alcala, who ministered to Alcala’s poor university students, is San Diego’s namesake, from the day when, in his honor, Junipero Serra arrived here in 1769 and named the first of his California mission--and the first European settlement in these parts--Mission San Diego de Alcala. The University of San Diego is situated in Alcala Park; its buildings are architecturally modeled after Alcala’s own 450-year-old university.

In fact, all of America has an interest in Alcala. Christopher Columbus, in search of a sponsor for his voyage to the Indies, had his first audience with Queen Isabella in Alcala in October, 1485.

So it probably only makes sense that, to help commemorate the 500th anniversary of Columbus’ meeting the queen in Alcala, and given San Diego’s ties to the city, a two-week trip to Spain is planned for October by the San Diego Alcala Sister City Assn.

Alfonso de Bourbon, founder and president of the nonprofit sister city group, is helping to organize the tour, which he likes to refer to as a “good-will mission. Everyone who joins us will be ambassadors of San Diego.”

The trip is open to anyone who can afford to pop for the $2,223 tickets; further information may be obtained by writing Bourbon at P.O. Box 1257, La Jolla 92038.

The trip will be led by Philip Klauber, head of the San Diego Historical Society. Among those thinking about tagging along is Police Chief Bill Kolender. Mayor Roger Hedgecock has been asked to join the party, too, but he hasn’t made any travel plans yet for October.

Auction Echoes

One of San Diego’s more interesting auctions was staged last November, you may recall: an estate sale in which many of fraudulent financier J. David (Jerry) Dominelli’s prized possessions were, as they say, liquidated.

A red, 1956 Gullwing Mercedes-Benz sold for $121,800 to a Rancho Santa Fe man. Also sold was a slope-nose 1982 Porsche 930 Turbo, which fetched $63,000 in the bidding. But the couple who wanted the car could not, it turns out, pay for it. “The guy was relying on some money he said was due him from the Navy, but it never came,” said Rick Cole, who conducted the auction on behalf of Dominelli’s trustees.

So, at another auction the other day in Newport Beach, Dominelli’s Porsche was again up for grabs. This time it went for $47,000. (Eight months’ depreciation was a real whammy, huh?)

Another Dominelli vehicle, a 1984 Jaguar XJS--which had been in an accident and was in the body shop, getting pieced back together during the November auction--went for $19,000.

“We felt pretty damn good about that price, considering the Jaguar had been in a serious accident and was rebuilt from a wreck,” said auctioneer Cole.

Cole wasn’t too delighted, though, by the price brought by the Porsche, considering what it got the first time around. A lawsuit against the original would-be buyers is being contemplated, he said.

But at least it’s already paid for, Cole added.

And the Porsche’s new owner--Century 21 real estate founder Art Bartlett--is delighted with the car, which he bought for his wife.

“I had to give her an hour’s lesson on how to drive a 930 Turbo,” Cole said. “We drove around the block a few times, and I kept having to tell her, ‘Dear, you’ve got to keep your foot off the accelerator pedal.’ ”

What’s New?

In our New Products Department, we bring you these items:

- Thirteen years ago, Pine Valley musician Bob Brown tangled some guitar and amplifier wires. The resulting screech caused rats to literally fall from the rafters.

Brown saw it as his big career break; he developed an ultrasound device to kill pests, including feisty fire ants, one of the plagues of the South and Midwest.

He moved to Atlanta to pursue his work, but has returned to San Diego, this time marketing his “Miracle Pest Prevention System,” an anti-gopher gizmo which runs on electricity. The idea is, you stick a probe into the ground; it emits some sort of signal that disorients and confuses gophers to the point where they stop eating. In time, they die.

It costs $179. It may be cheaper to pour used cat litter into the gopher hole and send him retreating over to your neighbor’s yard.

- Rhe Defender Company, an outfit in La Mesa, has come out with a hand-held device similar to a Taser gun, which police use to fire wire-attached barbs into violent criminals, electrically shocking them into submission.

This product, called Defender 1, doesn’t shoot anything, though. Operating on a nine-volt battery, you simply press it against your attacker and squeeze the trigger. If the 50,000 volts of what they call “stunning power” doesn’t stop him, the crackling blue arcs across the two probes might at least get his attention.

You can get from 50 to 100 zaps on a single battery charge, which ought to safely get you through an evening in Oceanside or the Gaslamp District.

It costs $59.95 and, at a third of the price of the Miracle Pest Prevention System, maybe you can use it on gophers too.