The Coast News INLAND EDITION
.com ESCONDIDO, SAN MARCOS, VISTA
VOL. 6, N0. 15
JULY 23, 2021
Council OKs hotel use for housing needs
Synagogue shooter, 22, pleads guilty By City News Service
REGION — A young man who carried out a hate-motivated shooting at the Chabad of Poway that killed one woman and injured three other people pleaded guilty July 20 to murder and other state charges. In exchange for his pleas, 22-year-old John Earnest is expected to be sentenced on Sept. 30 to life in prison without the possibility of parole, plus 137 years to life, for the April 27, 2019, shooting. He also pleaded guilty to an arson charge for setting fire to the JOHN D a r- u l-A rEARNEST qam Mosque in Escondido on March 24, 2019. He previously admitted to both the shooting and the mosque fire in an online open letter in which he espoused flagrant anti-Semitic sentiments and a need to protect the “European race.” State prosecutors announced last year that they would seek the death penalty against Earnest, but capital punishment will no longer be pursued in light of his pleas to all charges and allegations filed against him, which include hate crime allegations specifying that the crimes were carried out because of the victims’ race. Last month, Earnest agreed to a conditional plea agreement on federal charges stemming from the shooting, though federal prosecutors said at a June hearing that the plea agreement still required approval from “the appropriate decision-makers,” who will determine whether to accept or reject it, meaning Earnest still could go to trial on more than 100 federal counts. Deputy District Attorney Leonard Trinh, one of the state’s prosecutors handling Earnest’s case, said TURN TO GUILTY ON 3
By Tigist Layne
WAFFLES DRAW A CROWD
Bicyclists roll through San Marcos on Sunday to compete in the Belgian Waffle Ride, which returned after a COVID-19 hiatus last year and marked the city’s largest event since the start of the pandemic. The race, which included worldclass riders and over 50 miles of off-road terrain, capped a three-day expo that featured vendors, a beer garden and, yes, plenty of Belgian waffles. In the race itself, American Peter Stetina successfully defended his 2019 title. Photo via
ESCONDIDO — The Escondido City Council met on Wednesday, July 14, and voted to amend the city zoning ordinance so that existing hotels and motels may be converted to supportive housing, transitional housing, single-room occupancy or multi-family housing. The ordinance would provide one solution to the severe housing shortage in Escondido and throughout the state of California. “The rising housing costs and lack of affordable housing options have led to a rise in homelessness in the region, including within Escondido,” the staff report said. “Many cities, like Escondido, are attempting to increase housing production.” Partially in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the state established Project Homekey, which is a program that provides grant funding to public agencies and nonprofit corporations for the purchase and conversion of hotels and motels into permanent residential housing units. According to the staff report, units created under this program would be deed-restricted as affordable housing units and would assist cities in meeting their affordable housing goals. “With hotels and motels experiencing devastatingly low occupancy levels in 2020 and 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, industry experts are predicting an uncertain or grim future for their continued operations post-pandemic,” the staff report said. “Amending the Zoning Code to support conversions of hotels and motels to housing would provide more market-based choices for the current property owner and could TURN TO HOTELS ON 3
Belgian Waffle Ride on Facebook
Desmond blasts proposed SANDAG taxes, mileage tracking By Steve Puterski
REGION — The San Diego Association of Governments is pushing hard for new transportation taxes to build out its proposed “5 Big Moves.” The mostly transit-centric proposal was unveiled in 2019 and its budget was
revealed last year and its funding mechanisms have drawn the ire of numerous elected officials. In particular, Supervisor Jim Desmond is dismayed at SANDAG’s call for a tax-per-mile, potential “tax and track” and two ballot measures to fund the
estimated $163 billion project. The project proposes going all-in on transit, such as more trains, trolleys, buses and mobility hubs leveraging flexible fleets to address traffic congestion and greenhouse gases. SANDAG is tasked with
lanes up the I-5 (interstate) and they’re only building one. And one HOV lane across the 78 (state route) and they’ve said they’re not going to build those at all.” In addition to the more than $1 county residents TURN TO SANDAG ON 5
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