The Coast News INLAND EDITION
.com
VISTA, SAN MARCOS, ESCONDIDO
VOL. 4, N0. 23
NOV. 16, 2018
‘Blue Wave’ washes over North County Democrats see gains in midterm elections By Aaron Burgin
activity. Hill said the reason is because of the dynamic duo of consistently calm winds and an amicable year-round weather forecast. The beautiful views seen at coastal and mountainous areas alike doesn’t hurt the cause, either, he added. San Diego’s paragliding collective often carpools to different flying areas, depending on which
REGION — For a long time, most of North County was a reliable bastion of support for the Republican Party at all levels of government. The rosters of council members and mayors, state Assembly members, county supervisors and representatives in Congress would read off like the Re- Abed trails publican Party of San Diego San Diego County’s en- County is still dorsement list. counting ballots, But a look but as of Thursacross the re- day morning, gion following Paul McNamera the 2018 mid- holds a 237-vote term elections lead over incumshows that a bent Sam Abed change has in the Escondido definitely tak- mayor’s race. en hold of the region, includ- More election ing areas that coverage on are still consid- Pages 6-7 ered reliable Republican bastions. From the potential change in the majority on the Carlsbad City Council, a sweep of the Encinitas City Council, and a too-close-to-call showing in the Escondido Mayor’s race, to the Democrat takeover of the 49th Congressional District and the 76th State Assembly District, Democrats continue to make substantial gains throughout North County. Experts and candidates agreed that the so-called “Blue Wave” — the term being used
TURN TO PARAGLIDING ON 10
TURN TO BLUE WAVE ON 6
PETER HILL of Vista, shown over Lake Elsinore, paraglades nearly every weekend to get a bird’s-eye view of the region’s beauty.
Courtesy photo
‘That is the coolest thing I have ever seen’ Vista man is hooked on paragliding — and the views he gets from high above By Steve Horn
VISTA — Tourists and locals alike enjoy San Diego by land through hiking, running, cycling and other forms of exercise. By sea, many more take up kayaking, sailing, open water swimming and surfing. But by air? Generally, that’s geographic territory reserved for pilots. Yet a select few, such as Vista’s Peter Hill, have started paragliding as one way to
take in the county’s bountiful beauty. Hill is a New Zealand native and cloud computing implementation professional who has dwelled in Vista for five years. He said encountering the extreme sport in-person about two decades ago compelled him to learn how to do it. He has never looked back, he said, and he now paraglides nearly every weekend in various spots around the county
and beyond. “One day when I was on a hiking trip with some friends, I saw a guy who had hiked up a mountain and flown off and I just thought, ‘That is the coolest thing I have ever seen,’” said Hill. Soon he began taking lessons and got hooked. Hill and his wife had worked and lived for years in the cold state of Michigan and were looking to escape to the warmth of
North County. Realizing that housing in coastal cities such as Carlsbad were expensive, the Hill family moved to Vista. Hill, who works at home remotely for his job, said that paragliding was a major draw for him eventually moving to Vista and he is now an active member of the San Diego Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association. The San Diego-area, he added, is one of the best in the country for the
The Art of Healing
Oceanside artist W.B. May shares message of hope with fellow vets By Jordan P. Ingram
OCEANSIDE — Nearly three decades removed from battleship operations in the Persian Gulf, Oceanside artist and U.S. Navy veteran W.B. May said he still struggles with symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. But unlike so many men and women in the armed services, the Gulf War combat veteran has discovered a way to heal — through artistic expression. W.B., 50, was given a special opportunity this Veterans Day to share his artwork with the local community as the featured artist for the grand opening of the Veterans Art Gallery on Nov. 11 at the Veterans Museum at Balboa Park.
The event was his first solo showcase and a chance to share a message of hope and recovery through art with other vets suffering from PTSD. “From my experience, art truly saves lives,” W.B. said. “For combat veterans suffering from traumatic experiences, art is an outlet to express ourselves and to lose ourselves in our projects.” The self-taught artist started painting when he was 29 and considers himself a lifelong student of the craft. Some of his primary influences are Dutch painters Johannes Vermeer and Rembrandt van Rijn and Italy’s Michelangelo Merisi da Carvaggio. Last summer, W.B. and his wife Cynthia opened “Cynthia’s
Artistic Expressions,” a gallery and art studio located at Oceanside Village. The Navy-veteran couple said they spend most of their time at their Oceanside business, hosting community arts events, participating in veteran outreach projects and offering art classes to students of all ages and skill levels. “(Painting) started with (W.B.) to help him deal with his own issues, but I watched his artwork grow and become really good,” Cynthia said. “If he’s benefitting from it, maybe someone else can benefit. That was the idea for getting the art studio and NAVY VETERAN W.B. MAY works on a mural he created for the Veterans TURN TO VETERAN ON 20
Art Gallery grand opening on Nov. 11 at the Veterans Museum in Balboa Park. Photo by Jordan P. Ingram