Inland edition, july 31, 2015

Page 1

PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID ENCINITAS, CA 92025 PERMIT NO. 94

The Coast News

INLAND EDITION

VISTA, SAN MARCOS, ESCONDIDO

VOL. 2, N0. 16

Chilling and Grilling From left: Melissa Cortez, Miss Vista, Rocio Quesada, Miss Teen Vista Princess, and Caitlin Dahlin, Miss Greater San Diego attend the Vista BBQ Classic last weekend. See more photos from the event on page 6. Photo by Tony Cagala

Warfighter Academy opens its doors in former Escondido police headquarters By Ellen Wright

ESCONDIDO — The former Police Headquarters on 700 West Grand Ave. had been overtaken with vagrants. Graffiti splashed the walls, $40,000 worth of pipes and electrical wires had been ripped out and one vagrant had even outfitted the chief of police’s former office as his own personal bedroom, according to Warfighter Academy Partner Mathew Quinn. Yet the founders of the Warfighter Academy saw potential. The 32,000 square foot building is now home to the Warfighter Academy, a tactical training facility for both civilian and professional training, including law enforcement and military training. Instructors lead participants through different scenarios and film them, to show them their strengths and weaknesses afterwards. “It’s paintball on steroids,” said Quinn. One area is set up to look like a home, to give people experience defending themselves against home attacks. Another course pits people against each other with cardboard boxes as their only barriers. Quinn said this type of environment helps people improve their left- and right-handed shooting tech-

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Participants at the Warfighter Academy learn force training using paintball guns. The academy trains civilians and professionals. Courtesy photo

niques since participants are in such a confined area, they must switch the weapon between hands. Participants are outfitted with paintball guns loaded with clear paintballs, which co-Founder Sonny Garcia developed himself. When they explode, they don’t ruin expensive protective gear and people aren’t splattered with bright colored paint. The paintball guns are

also modified so they don’t shoot as fast, which ensures people don’t get bruised during their time at the Warfighter Academy. Garcia said there is no other similar training facility in the nation. The Warfighter Academy got its name from the people it aims to serve, combat veterans looking for an outlet to use their military training once they’ve returned home. Instructor Eugene

Neal said the Academy has helped him fit in to the “real world” since returning from a tour in 2005. “It’s helped me a lot with anxiety and it’s been an amazing tool,” said Neal. “Ever since I got out of the marine core, I don’t really feel like I belong anywhere. I felt out of place everywhere that I’ve been.” He said he’s found camaraderie at the academy TURN TO ACADEMY ON 15

JULY 31, 2015

Denette Tanksley, left, and Jessica Evans walk every year in the Free to Breathe San Diego 5K Walk/Run to raise awareness and funds for lung cancer. Tanksley’s cousin and Evan’s boyfriend Tim Bumbalough passed away from lung cancer at 32 years old. Courtesy photo

Escondido walks to raise awareness for lung cancer By Ellen Wright

ESCONDIDO — Every year nearly 160,000 people die of lung cancer in the U.S., more than breast, prostate and colon cancers combined, yet Escondido resident Denette Tanksley said lung cancer research is still wildly underfunded. In fiscal year 2015, Congress appropriated $10.5 million towards lung cancer research compared to the $120 million appropriated for breast cancer research and the $80 million appropriated for prostate cancer. Tanksley lost her cousin Tim Bumbalough in 2013 to stage IV lung cancer. He was 31-years-old when he was diagnosed and passed away a year later. She said he was not a smoker and lived a healthy lifestyle. About 10 to 15 percent of people diagnosed with lung cancer never smoked. In order to raise awareness and funds for lung cancer research, Tanksley began walking the San Diego Free to Breathe 5k Run/Walk. She said she began in 2014 as a way to grieve her cousin who did the walk the year before. “I was excited to participate in the next one, but he didn’t make it to the next one. We were all able to walk in his honor,” said Tanksley. She did the walk with her husband, four children and Bumbalough’s friends and family as Team TimStrong.

Funding from the walk goes towards Free to Breathe’s mission of doubling the lung cancer survival rate by 2022. This year, event organizers hope to raise $43,500 towards supporting lung cancer research and educational programs. In total, Team TimStrong has raised more than $5,100 for Free to Breathe. The most difficult part of the walk, Tanksley said, is continuing. “I think it’s difficult for the ones left behind to continue the fight,” she said. She said she reminds herself that the reason she walks is to hopefully have a small hand in changing other people’s outcomes with the disease. “This is why I do this, so that other people don’t have to go through this,” Tanksley said. “I might have just a teeny tiny hand in preventing someone else from having this experience (and) then it’s all worth it.” She believes that if her cousin had been diagnosed earlier, he would still be alive today. By walking in Free to Breathe, she hopes to raise awareness to enact change within the healthcare industry and to encourage insurance companies to broaden their parameters in regards to routine lung-cancer screenings. A computed tomography scan, or CT scan, is used to diagnosis lung-canTURN TO BREATHE ON 15


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Inland edition, july 31, 2015 by Coast News Group - Issuu