Lottery Misplaces S.D. Man’s $5,000

What could be worse than losing a $5,000 lottery ticket? Having the California Lottery officials lose it for you.

That apparently is what happened to Scott Radder. Back in October, Radder’s co-workers at the Guaranteed Print Shop in Escondido watched with glee as he scratched off the big winner, and that very afternoon a friend drove Radder to the San Diego lottery office to file his claim. They looked on as the secretary stapled the ticket to his claim form and Radder took his copy of the form as proof and was told to wait eight weeks for his prize.

But after eight weeks, Radder still had not received the money. So he made six phone calls to San Diego and Sacramento lottery officials, who were at a loss to explain the missing ticket. Then he demanded an audit of the lottery’s Prize Validation system, but that proved fruitless as well. “It looks like the thing just got lost,” said Gordon Jones, the lottery’s chief of finance, and, regardless of the circumstances, he says he isn’t allowed to pay the prize without the ticket.

Now, Radder’s only avenue of appeal is with the state Board of Control, which is the final authority in disputes over cash prizes.

Hot Dogging Out

Last year, when Padres owner Ballard Smith handed down an edict banning beer sales after the seventh inning, officials with the San Diego Stadium Authority reported to the city on the subject of rowdy conduct by sports fans at the stadium. Their conclusion was that there were more problems caused by pre- and postgame revelry in the parking lot than during the games.

This baseball season, there could be an entirely different atmosphere in the parking lots. Last week, the stadium bosses forwarded to the City Council a sweeping list of regulations on fan behavior. If the council adopts the proposed rules, it will be illegal to throw a Frisbee, football or “any solid object” in the lot. And if you want to skate, jog or ride your bicycle, you’ll have to get permission from the stadium manager first. Postgame parties will also be illegal.

There’s a new regulation for conduct inside the stadium as well: “No person of either sex shall enter the clearly marked and designated restroom facilities of the opposite sex.”

Weather Alert

Next time somebody from back East calls you a softie because you live in such a mild climate, send him a copy of the “Prepare for Storms” pamphlet mailed to coastal residents last week by the city’s Office of Emergency Management. It paints a picture of San Diego’s weather that is downright frightening.

When the surf kicks up, as it did during the recent storms, beach residents are advised to:

Stock up on first aid and medical supplies, keep a stock of food that requires little cooking or refrigeration, and plenty of drinking water. And make sure the car’s gas tank is filled, because service stations may not be able to pump fuel during power outages.

“In recent years, storms in California have become more intense and longer lasting,” the pamphlet said. “Flash floods, mud slides (and) high coastal surf . . . have all occurred, claiming lives and damaging property. Wherever you live or travel, you should be aware of the dangers of a winter storm and be prepared to cope with one.”

Drive-In Driven Out

The last drive-in movie theater in the San Diego city limits is gone, making room for a shopping center.

In recent days, workmen have torn down the movie marquees and dismantled the huge screens at the venerable Frontier Drive-In. It’s not that drive-ins have lost their popularity--the Frontier packed in the cars at all three of its screens right up until the night it closed.

But, according to Janice Roane, of the city Planning Department, it is no longer economically feasible to devote such a valuable piece of property (14.8 acres in the heart of the bustling Midway Avenue commercial area) to a drive-in. “There’s just a lot more money to be made from a shopping center,” she said.

In the interim, as grading on the site continues, the Frontier property is being devoted to another use, one that’s technically illegal. On weekends, when there are no workers on the site, it’s been taken over by dirt bikes and other off-road vehicles.

Message Medium

Since the advent of supermarket computer price-scanners, you can buy your groceries without exchanging a spoken word with the checkers. But that doesn’t mean a trip to the supermarket has to be a totally impersonal experience.

At the Safeway Store on Del Mar Heights Road, shoppers will find a timely, friendly message at the bottom of their sales receipts. When the big breakers formed off the North County coast, for example, the message tipped shoppers that “The surf is up.” But on Super Bowl Sunday, they were advised to plop down in front of the tube: “No surf, Super Bowl.”

Sharon Brown, a spokeswoman for Safeway in Los Angeles, was impressed by the initiative of the Del Mar store management. She said a different axiom for the sales slips can be coded into the computers each day. “Usually they just say something like, ‘Thanks for shopping Safeway,’ ” she said. “That manager down in Del Mar must be more creative than the rest of us.”