The murder of 17-year-old Chelsea King at Rancho Bernardo Community Park has led to an increased interest in local self-defense classes.

In response, a number of groups are providing free safety workshops for teenagers and adults.

Free self-defense training classes geared toward teens and women will be held for the next four Sunday afternoons at Poway Kenpo Karate, 13246 Poway Road, in the Lively Shopping Center.
Owner Barry Barker said the two classes will be on March 14, 21, 27 and April 3. The sessions will begin at 2 and 5 p.m. Free monthly classes are planned beyond that point, Barker said.

Participants must be 13 years and older and minors must be accompanied by a parent or older sibling.

(Update: Organizers announced Wednesday afternoon that "priority seating passes" will be issued in advance of the memorial service to King family members, friends, supporters, Poway High students, their families and "the Poway High community.")

Thousands of mourners are expected to fill Poway High School Stadium on Saturday for a memorial service for Chelsea King, who was murdered Feb. 25 during a run in a Rancho Bernardo park.

The service will begin at 2 p.m. and probably last until 4 p.m. at 15500 Espola Road, said Poway Unified School District officials, who added that the planning is being done by someone close to the King family.

Little about the content of the event has been released, but music, as well as memories about a classmate who was loved, reached out to others through peer counseling efforts, ran track and cross country, played the French horn and volunteered in the community, will likely provide an uplifting atmosphere to those on campus.

Erin Leonard, a Poway High student and school representative who attends school board meetings, said everyone is calling the event a celebration of Chelsea’s life.

MIRA MESA (CNS)— Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher called Tuesday for changes in California’s sex offender laws in the wake of Chelsea King’s murder and the arrest of a registered sex offender in the case.

Convicted sex offender John Albert Gardner III, 30, was arrested Feb. 28 in connection with the 17-year-old’s disappearance three days earlier when she went for a run behind Rancho Bernardo Community Park.

Gardner was charged March 2 with the teen’s murder and a special circumstance allegation that the killing happened during the commission of a rape or attempted rape.

Authorities also charged him with the attempted assault on a woman in Rancho Bernardo Community Park on Dec. 27.

Fletcher, a Republican who represents the 75th District that includes Rancho Bernardo, said Chelsea’s parents, Brent and Kelly, have asked him to lead their effort to enact the necessary legal reforms to better protect children in California.

(CNS)—  An Aug. 4 preliminary hearing date was set Tuesday for a registered sex offender charged with the rape-murder of a Poway High School senior who vanished while running behind Rancho Bernardo Community Park.

John Albert Gardner III, 30, could face the death penalty if convicted of murder and a special circumstance allegation of murder during the commission of a rape or attempted rape.

District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis will decide after the August hearing whether Gardner will face the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole if he’s convicted of killing Chelsea King.

Gardner was arrested Feb. 28 in connection with the 17-year-old cross- country runner’s disappearance three days earlier. Her body was discovered March 2 in a shallow grave in a tributary of nearby Lake Hodges.

Gardner is also charged with attempted assault on a Colorado woman who was running alone in Rancho Bernardo Community Park last Dec. 27.

The city’s offer to sell the Poway Royal Estates Mobilehome Park  has drawn the interest of 11 bidders, according to the city’s redevelopment director.

Dena Fuentes said Monday her staff will spend the next several weeks evaluating the bids, interview some of the prospective buyers and recommend to the City Council whether the park should be sold.

It was unknown late Monday whether residents of the city owned, 399-unit park were being represented by one of the bids. The city gave the residents a 60-day head start to prepare a bid before advertising the park for sale to the general public.