It’s a Long Shot, But Search Continues for Long-Lost Sister

Against all odds.

* This one’s a several million-to-one shot.

Olga Dubinin, who lives in the Crimea in what used to be the U.S.S.R., was watching television recently.

State-run television being somewhat slow in reporting the news, the show was about the Soviet Arts Festival held in San Diego in October/November, 1989.

Dubinin was watching her TV when she swore she saw her long-lost sister, Kate, who was born in 1910 and separated from the family in 1940.

Kate was married to a merchant seaman named Carl Overy and moved away. The rulers in Moscow forbade correspondence with overseas relatives.

But Olga Dubinin was sure the face on the screen was her sister. So she wrote San Diego City Hall asking the mayor for help and enclosing a picture of Kate from 1931.

She asked that the picture be publicized, in hopes that someone will recognize her sister:

“I know that fulfillment of my request costs some money. Unfortunately I have no dollars but may be as an exception my Soviet money will be exchanged for dollars and I will be able to pay for the done service.

“What a happy it will be for me if I find my sister!”

(P.S. San Diego families named Overy say they have no relatives named Kate.)

* If ex-Rep. Jim Bates wins the Democratic primary in the 50th Congressional District, is there any doubt he’ll be the comeback candidate of the year?

Bates is fighting a triple political whammy: the check scandal, the congressional pay raise and sex harassment charges from female staff members that drove him from office.

The harassment charges are probably the most damaging, but that does not mean Bates has written off women voters. In fact, Bates is looking to women to provide a winning margin.

His campaign is sending a major mailer noting that Bates is “100%” for keeping abortion legal while state Sen. Wadie Deddeh (D-Bonita), considered by Bates his top opponent, is not.

But Bates has not heard the last of his prior problems.

The third candidate in the race, Councilman Bob Filner, will be stressing his own pro-abortion rights record (he marched in last week’s rally in Washington) and reminding voters of Bates’ checkered history.

Mixed Message

Other things.

* Why do I think MADD would not be amused?

License plate on a Porsche spotted near Rancho Santa Fe: CUTY H20.

* Polled by San Diego gay newspapers, mayoral candidates Peter Navarro and Tom Carter support gay and lesbian marriages, but Susan Golding and Ron Roberts do not.

* Golding has been endorsed for mayor by the Los Angeles Women’s Campaign Fund, a bipartisan group whose goal is to elect women who believe in keeping abortion legal. Fund-raising is possible.

* San Diego bumper sticker: “This Fall: Fire ‘Em All. Re-elect Nobody.”

* Leighton Worthey, 18, a would-be San Diego mayoral candidate for several weeks before dropping out, says he’s writing a book about his experiences. Interviewing other candidates.

Fugitive Unit Runs Out of Time

Farewell to the Top 10 Fugitives list of the San Diego Police Department.

The list is being discontinued as part of a duty shuffle as the department stretches its manpower ever thinner.

The Fugitive Apprehension Unit is being renamed and given new duties: chasing auto-theft rings and other property crimes. Fugitives will only be a third priority, if time permits, which is doubtful.

The shift is necessary because cops who had been doing auto theft and property crimes have been assigned to beef up the narcotics squad.

In its 5 1/2 years, the fugitive unit (a sergeant and eight detectives) made 3,225 felony arrests (including 122 for murder, 105 for prison escape and 91 for rape). Of the 236 fugitives who were put on the Top Ten list, 79% were caught.

The unit also gained a reputation among other departments for effectiveness.

The day before the San Diego fugitive unit was disbanded, Las Vegas cops were in San Diego to study the unit’s manhunting methods.

Did the San Diego cops tell their visitors that, despite its success, the unit was being disbanded?

“I didn’t have the heart,” said Sgt. Gordon Redding.