What Would Columbus Have Said if He’d Landed at This Port?

The news, foreign and domestic.

* You ask why the Port District is filthy rich while cities are nearly bankrupt? Here’s one reason:

On Columbus Day, the city of San Diego declared a holiday for parking meters.

Not so for the Port District, which controls some meters along the Embarcadero. It was business (and tickets) as usual.

Which brings us to the guy who heard a local radio station say that all meters were going to be free and now is hopping mad after getting a parking ticket outside a waterfront restaurant.

The radio station has offered to pay the $20 fine.

* James Brosnahan, the San Francisco attorney who defended Dick Silberman, has been picked by Iran-contra special counsel Lawrence Walsh to prosecute Caspar Weinberger.

* San Diego prosecutors are handling six juvenile murder cases where the defendants are not gang members.

That’s more than at any time in official memory.

* Councilman John Hartley has been holding meetings of his anti-prostitution task force (community activists, cops, women’s groups) at the Hall of Champions in Balboa Park.

The group is about to make its recommendations, including “geographic probation” to keep convicted hookers away from El Cajon Boulevard and Midway, and more aggressive prosecution of pimps.

* John Duffy, the retired sheriff, left Sunday for a two-week working trip to El Salvador. More trips are planned.

Duffy is the lead consultant to the Salvadoran government on setting up a national police force. (He’s also consulted on police matters in Costa Rica.)

Under terms of a cease-fire agreement with rebels, El Salvador is replacing its military-run force with a civilian force, complete with training academy, Civil Service provisions, procedure manuals, etc.

“How often do you get the challenge of starting a new police force from scratch: from zero?” Duffy asks.

The goal is to have 5,900 cops on the job in the next 12 months. So far there’s only one: the director, a wealthy businessman named for his incorruptibility.

* Bumper sticker spotted on California 94 near Lemon Grove: “Uzbekistan. We Love You.”

No Beating Around the Bush

Political whirl.

* Republicans for Clinton will meet at Beverly Henry’s house in Clairemont to watch the final presidential debate tonight and give President Bush one more chance to reclaim their affection.

Don’t count on it happening.

The group is promising to serve “Bush W(h)ine.” One drink and you start blaming all your problems on Congress.

* Bumper sticker on a pickup truck in San Marcos: “Vote Out Boxer. We Have Checks & Balances, Not Unlimited Checking.”

(That’s Rep. Barbara Boxer, the U.S. Senate candidate, who can’t shake the checking scandal.)

* U.S. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) comes to San Diego today for a fund-raiser for congressional candidate Lynn Schenk.

Kerry will also tour a new privately run center for troubled Vietnam and Desert Storm veterans.

* Republican/business heavyweights (Clair Burgener, John Davies, Mel Katz, Malin Burnham, Ernie Hahn) are sending out scary/plaintive invitations to a Susan Golding fund-raiser Tuesday:

“San Diego’s already weakened economy can’t afford Peter Navarro as mayor. . . . Time is short. Your contribution today will help unmask Peter Navarro.”

‘Moby Dick’ Meets Star of India

Art and life.

* The Maritime Museum resumes its “Movies on the Mast” series Friday and Saturday night by turning the Star of India into an outdoor theater.

Last year’s showing of “Captain Blood” (1935, Errol Flynn) was a sell-out (plus boats pulling alongside for a free peek).

This year the first film is another watery classic: Gregory Peck and Orson Welles in “Moby Dick” (1956).

(You were expecting “Lawrence of Arabia,” maybe?)

* The Halloween season is young, but KFMB radio’s Vicci Taft thinks she’s seen the ultimate costumes at Capri Elementary School in Encinitas (where her daughter attends).

Among the costumes: An auto crash dummy, a Rastafarian, and Slash from Guns ‘N Roses.