The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • 72

SAN DIEGO COUNTY Hos Angeles (Times Friday. May 6, 1988 LOCAL NEWS EDITORIALS LETTERS CCtPart II Coronado High School Flunks Prize Teacher 2 Get Prison for Trying to Bomb Abortion Clinic By DAVID SMOLLAR, Times Staff Writer For students taking writing or literature courses from Chris Skelton, the Coronado High School teacher is a rare gem in his ability to interest them in poets and authors a world away from MTV videos. Skelton won the "Coronado's Greatest Teacher" contest this spring because of essays submitted by students to the local newspaper, which sponsored the award. The testimonials he has received from parents whose children now talk of Greek myths and French philosophers at the dinner table must leave his ears burning. Yet, despite his strong support from students and parents, the Coronado school board has voted not to renew Skelton's contract for next year, following the recommendation of the high school principal.

The move has caused an uproar among parents and students in this tightly knit, one-high-school town insulated by the bay from the rest of the San Diego metropolitan area. Skelton, as a second-year teacher, has no tenure and thus can be summarily removed without being given an official reason, and the board has consistently declined to give a reason, even though one parent, Marry Marrero, said that at least one board member told her privately during a phone conversation that Skelton is an excellent teacher. However, at a lively school board meeting Wednesday night, there were strong indications that his grading policies and general demeanor around the close-knit school bothered Coronado administrators because, in the words of one parent, "he doesn't fit the Coronado image." There was talk that Skelton gave too many A's and B's to students whom other teachers had labeled "losers" and therefore were seen as incapable of achieving good grades in any class. There was talk that he didn't socialize with other teachers during the lunch hour but stayed in his room to talk with students needing help or wanting extra work. "Everyone praises the movie "Stand and where the teacher Jaime Escalante turns around a whole class of non-achievers," said parent Nancy Fallin, a former teacher whose son has become excited about literature this year despite a reading disability.

"Yet here we have a fantastic teacher in that mold and they let him go because he doesn't fit the traditional style of Coronado. What a tragedy." Please tee CORONADO, Page 6 4 tisf ma By RALPH FRAMMOLINO, Times Staff Writer Saying he wanted to set an example for those who would consider breaking the law even for a righteous cause, a federal judge Thursday imposed stiff prison terms on the first of the Rev. Dorman Owens' followers to be sentenced for conspiring to bomb a San Diego abortion clinic. U.S. District Judge Earl B.

Gil-lam sentenced Cheryl Sullenger, 32, to three years. He sentenced her husband, Randall Sullenger, 35, to an 18-month term six months of it in a halfway house so he can continue working at a warehouse before leaving for one year in prison. In both cases, the sentences exceeded those suggested by a federal probation officer two years for Cheryl Sullenger and one year and a day for her husband. First to be Sentenced The Sullengers are the first of eight members of the fundamentalist Bible Missionary Fellowship in Santee to be sentenced for their part in the attempted bombing of the Family Planning Associates Medical Group on July 27. The gasoline bomb failed to go off when wind blew out the fuse.

"I agree with all of you that these are good people," Gillam told defense attorneys who argued vigorously for light sentences because the Sullengers, devout Christians, felt remorse and now understand that their strong biblical convictions were no excuse to violate the law. But the couple overstepped the bounds of free speech during their anti-abortion crusade by plotting 1, I I i I it 3 SI I 1,1 limits w-i a i i i IVJ I Hitchhiker Testimony Out for Peyer Retrial V. RICHARD HAHO Lot Angela Timet The bright clouds on a sunny Thursday afternoon are reflected on the glass windows of California Federal building in Hillcrest. Weekend Forecast Looks Good as Storm Slips Away I Wrn iiii ii way to clear weather Sunday, as temperatures continue to warm gradually over the weekend. Skies over San Diego should be clear and sunny by Sunday, Shigehara said.

There is a wind advisory today the deserts and mountains, where gusts are expected to reach 20-40 m.p.h. Winds in those areas, well as the rest of the county, will decrease as the weekend wears The weather should return to the typical May forecast of night-and-morning low clouds with sun Odyssey Los Angeles Times Cheryl Sullenger to plant the gasoline bomb at the clinic, Gillam added. "Wrapped up in the punishment, this court feels it should almost make this an example, too," Gillam said. Gillam opted for the stiffer sentences, despite apologies from the Sullengers. 'What We Did Was Wrong' "Well, Your Honor, I know what we did was wrong," Cheryl Sullenger said, adding that her religious beliefs "put a lot of emotional pressure on us to do this." "I believe it says in the Bible that abortion is murder, and when you see that, you are compelled to do something about that," she said.

Added Randall: "Your Honor, this whole situation was a bad plan Please see BOMB, Page 10 Staff Writer because it bars attorneys from presenting the hitchhiker as an alternative suspect in the murder of Knott, who was a San Diego State University student. Prosecutors charge that Peyer, a former California Highway Patrol officer, pulled Knott over while on duty, strangled her and threw her body from an abandoned highway bridge near the Mercy Road exit on Interstate 15. During the first trial, three young women and a retired Navy pilot testified that they saw a shabbily dressed man standing on the Escondido on-ramp that Knott used to reach southbound Interstate 15 after leaving a gas station on Via Rancho Parkway. Each witness said the man behaved very strangely, waving money at them and lunging at their cars in an apparent attempt to snare a ride. "He jumped in front of my car, and I had to swerve to the right," student Kim Vito testified during Please see PEYER, Page 4 1 By JENIFER WARREN, Times Four defense witnesses whose testimony in Craig Peyer's first murder trial suggested that an unidentified hitchhiker may have killed Cara Knott will not be allowed to take the stand in the retrial, the Superior Court judge handling the case ruled Thursday.

Judge Richard Huffman said he found no evidence connecting a "phantom hitchhiker" seen on an Interstate 15 on-ramp to the death of Knott on Dec. 27, 1986. 'Speculation at Best' "It is speculation at best to single out the hitchhiker from anybody else near where the victim was last seen at the gas station," Huffman said, in ruling for the prosecution's request. Citing a California Supreme Court case, the judge noted that defense attorneys failed to provide "direct or circumstantial evidence" linking Knott and the hitchhiker. The ruling is likely to erode to some degree the Peyer defense 1 T- ny afternoons by the middle of next week, Shigehara said, and no more showers are in sight.

Temperatures are forecast to stay cool today, with highs in the mid-60s on the coast and inland. Coastal temperatures of 66-69 degrees Saturday are predicted, warming to 67-72 on Sunday. Nighttime temperatures on the coast will be 52-58 tonight, dropping to 50-57 Saturday and Sunday as the protective cloud cover dissipates, Shigehara said. Inland temperatures will hit many who didn't qualify, as well as for those who didn't come forwardbecause of fear, lack of funds ($250 or so in various application costs) or other reasons. But, for Otilia Vaca and her daughter, Edith Maldonado Lovato, 21, housecleaners in the Bay Area, there were only good feelings after an exasperating day.

"I feel happy," Maldonado said after submitting her application, holding her 15-month-old daughter, Lucia, a U.S. citizen by virtue of having been born in the United States. Their time in San Diego, capped by the mad midnight dash to the amnesty center, had a Chaplines-que mix of drama and slapstick. The threesome grandmother, daughter and granddaughter-flew from San Francisco to San Diego on Tuesday with the intention of obtaining a letter from one of the Maldonados' former employers attesting to Maldonado's time in the United States. (Vaca is a legal resident.) They arrived late, and, in Beat Clock in Mad Midnight Dash to File Papers By LESLIE WOLF, Times Staff Writer The latest spring storm will depart today, weather forecasters predict, paving the way for a dry and warmer weekend.

The cool temperatures and high winds that accompanied the latest round of showers will linger through today and possibly into Saturday, said Wilbur Shigehara of the National Weather Service. A 40 chance of showers this morning will decrease to a 10 chance this afternoon and Saturday. Partly cloudy conditions today and Saturday are supposed to give Amnesty Mom, Daughter By PATRICK McDONNELL, 7imcs The clock was approaching midnight when Otilia Vaca, her daughter and her granddaughter burst through the door of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service's amnesty office in San Diego. Soon, checks, dollars, receipts and other paper work were tossed from her bulging pocketbook onto the counter, along with lipstick, tissues and other miscellaneous items scooped from the depths.

"Is there time?" she asked, frantic, her hair mussed, as journalists and photographers closed in. "Is there time?" There was time. Her daughter, Edith Maldonado, became one of the last people to apply for legal status in San Diego under the year-old amnesty program. How did she feel when she walked in the door? "I felt I was going to faint," Vaca said afterward, recovered somewhat from the odyssey that brought her from her Bay Area home in San Rafael, to the San Diego amnesty for is on. Staff had out on the past 67-72 Saturday, and may go as high as 77 on Sunday.

Lows will fall in the 47- to 52-degree range tonight, dropping to 40 to 50 degrees Saturday and Sunday. Mountain high temperatures will be 35-40 degrees Friday, 40-45 Saturday and slightly warmer Sunday. Lows will dip into the 20s at night. In the desert, highs will be in the 72- to 77-degree range today, up to 76-82 on Saturday and warming up to 80-85 Sunday. Nighttime lows will be 48-54 degrees.

an attempt to economize, spent the evening in the Santa Fe railroad station, they said. On Wednesday, as Vaca recounts it, they set out to find the employer, address in hand. A friend did the driving. They found the street, but could not find the house. The search ended about 9 p.m.

Then they tried to find the amnesty center. For three hours, they said, they drove around San Diego asking people where the office was. Again, the language barrier the family speaks Spanishcomplicated things. Again, no luck. "We stopped at 7-Elevens, we stopped at the jail, we asked American people, we asked Mexican people no one knew," Vaca recalled, getting excited at the memory of those hours driving in circles.

"We went to La Mesa, to El Cajon. We knew it was near a stadium somewhere. I'm tell-Please see AMNESTY, Page 10 Inaugural S.D.-London Air Service Meets Turbulence By RAYMOND L. SANCHEZ, Times Staff Writer British Airways said Thursday it will begin daily service from San Diego International Airport to London's Gatwick Airport via Los Angeles June 1, but San Diego's first air service to Europe has encountered turbulence. U.S.

Customs officials have told the carrier that incoming flights must clear customs in Los Angeles because Lindbergh Field's facilities are inadequate. Doesn't Meet Federal Requirements Michael Fields, newly appointed customer services manager for British Airways in San Diego, said the move to provide San Diego-to-London service was a year in the making. He said the company was surprised to learn last month that Customs officials deemed Lindbergh inadequate to handle international flights. "We don't design or build airports," he said. "We just fly into them." Jerry Martin, a spokesman for the Customs Service in San Diego, said Lindbergh Field does not meet federal security requirements set out by Customs and the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

The federal inspection service requirements, he said, Please see FLIGHTS, Page 10 Writer office just before the deadline. By the time the clock struck midnight, the brisk crowds that characterized the sterile amnesty office in recent days had dwindled, although many immigrants still mingled inside, filling forms and compiling paper work. It wasn't quite Times Square New Year's Eve, but a festive mood filled the room as the countdown to midnight progressed. First Year of Program Closed "The first year of amnesty is officially closed," James Turnage, immigration service's district director in San Diego, announced at 12:15 a.m., amid scattered cheers. Officials were pleased with the results, noting that about 80,000 applicants had signed up during the year in the three amnesty offices in San Diego and Imperial counties, contrasted with earlier projections of only 52,500.

Others, although happy for those who made it, expressed regret for the Bank Seeks to Speed High-Rise Project Great American First Savings Bank said it is negotiating to buy a site for Santa Fe Southern Pacific's new high-rise headquarters in San Diego. BUSINESS, Page 1 Fiesta Time Among the best bets is Ballet Folk-lorico Cuicacalli, featured at a two-day fiesta in Old Town. CALENDAR, Page 1 Held Over in Las Vegas Outfielder Shane Mack has hit in 25 consecutive games for the Padres' triple-A farm team in Las Vegas. So what is he still doing there? SPORTS, Page 1.