The Coast News INLAND EDITION
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VISTA, SAN MARCOS, ESCONDIDO
VOL. 5, N0. 23
NOV. 15, 2019
Faculty Senate votes to oust Blake
An outdoor fitness first in North County?
By Steve Horn
By Steve Horn
SAN MARCOS — The Palomar College Faculty Senate voted nearly unanimously, with only one member abstaining, for a resolution in support of removing college President Joi Lin Blake at its Nov. 4 meeting. The resolution voted on at the meeting calls for the Palomar College Governing Board to “thoughtfully but expeditiously remove the Superintendent/President and immediately seek an interim replacement.” The Faculty Senate will next present the resolution to the Governing Board at its Nov. 12 meeting. The vote came less than two weeks after a poll of Faculty Senate members showed that 91.56% of those 237 members surveyed gave Blake a “vote of no confidence.” The resolution was crafted as a direct response to that survey, according to the Palomar Files Blog, a website maintained by several faculty labor union activist contributors. At the meeting, Faculty Senate members performed a close read and edit of the resolution’s 31 “Whereas” clauses and its final “Be it resolved” takeaway paragraph. The Faculty Senate eventually struck out some of the clauses and edited others, with each clause serving as an outline of a grievance about Blake held by the Faculty Senate. In particular, the resolution raises concerns about college budgetary matters, shared governance protoTURN TO BLAKE ON 10
EXPERIENCE BATTLE OF SAN PASQUAL ON DEC. 1 San Pasqual Battlefield Volunteer Association will host the San Pasqual Battlefield State Historic Park’s Battle Day, re-creating and commemorating the 1846 Battle of San Pasqual, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Dec. 1 at 15808 San Pasqual Valley Road in Escondido. Learn about the bloodiest battle fought in California during the Mexican-American War. This free event includes living history activities, a military encampment, period demonstrations and entertainment. Courtesy photo
ESCONDIDO — At its Nov. 6 meeting, City Council voted 5-0 to approve receipt of a $150,000 grant aiming to make the city home to North County’s first free outdoor “fitness court.” The grant came from the National Fitness Campaign, a group which began in San Francisco in 1979 and has a “simple goal of encouraging healthy lifestyles,” according to its website. The city of Escondido aims to place such a facility at Mountain View Park, which is located on the city’s east side, and then eventually build four other such facilities at other city parks. Joanna Axelrod, director of communications and community services for Escondido, said the National Fitness Campaign aims to bring in people of “all fitness levels” into the fold during her presentation about the grant. “Even though this calisthenics-based fitness has been around since the ‘70s, we’re really seeing TURN TO FITNESS ON 10
First two medical marijuana dispensaries open in Vista passage of Measure Z in VISTA — Going green 2018. The ballot item legalhas taken on a new mean- ized medicinal marijuana ing. after the City Council votAbout three weeks ago, ed to ban marijuana sales the first two legal medici- and uses after the passage nal marijuana dispensaries of Proposition 64 in 2016, opened in Vista, also be- which legalized recreationcoming the first such legal al marijuana. shops in North County. Measure Z allows for FloraVerde, 954 S. San- up to 11 dispensaries within ta Fe Ave., and Tradecraft city limits, and the city was Farms Vista, 732 E. Vista able to balance its budget Way, opened within days thanks to the tax revenue of each marking a mile- estimations from the disstone for the city after the pensaries.
By Steve Puterski
“Being a serial entrepreneur, I jumped in to see what the opportunity is,” Christman said. “You want to take advantage of being an early mover and being one of the first ones because we are competing against some big corporations.” He said being one of the first to open is an advantage to secure a consistent client base along with branding and awareness. Christman said the dispensaries also give Vista an
edge as they are the first in North County to open, thus having access to thousands of patients who don’t want to drive to San Diego or other areas. At his shop, Christman has a range of products including flower, CBD, edibles, vape cartridges, wax, dabs and pre-rolled joints. As for business, though, it has been slow as a result of the medicinal component, he added. Christman said because of the black
market, it has been a struggle to inform residents of the law. However, sales doubled in the second week of operation, he said, noting the shop is trending upward. Another challenge, though, he said is taxes, where his effective rate is 70%, thus making it a difficult industry to turn a profit. After Measure Z passed, the city was floodTURN TO MARIJUANA ON 10