PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID ENCINITAS, CA 92024 PERMIT NO. 94
THE COAST NEWS
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MAKING WAVES IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD
VOL. 24, NO. 41
OCT. 22, ,2010
Shooting suspect pleads not guilty
THISWEEK ELECTION SECTION
Local city council and Congressional candidates were invited to submit a campaign A19 statement
BOATHOUSE TOURS UNDER WAY
By Shelli DeRobertis
VISTA — Brendan Liam O’Rourke entered a not guilty plea at his arraignment Oct. 13 against charges that he opened fire on a school playground full of children, where he aimed to kill but ended up injuring two. The Vista courthouse was filled with people, and cameras captured the 41-year-old accused man who stood tall in his green jumpsuit but with his head tilted down. O’Rourke appeared in court for the first time since the Kelly Elementary School shooting on Oct. 8 that shook up the community and created a wave of disbelief that was quickly spread throughout the nation. He faces seven counts of
Many turn out for historical downtown Encinitas tour that includes the famous A14 boathouses
JUST SAYING NO
Solana Beach comes out against the controversial marijuana legalization measure on November’s ballot A9
INSIDE
TWO SECTIONS, 52 PAGES
Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . A9 Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . B20 Consumer Reports . . . . A12 Crime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A8 Eye on the Coast . . . . . . A5 Frugal Living . . . . . . . . . B3 Hit the Road . . . . . . . . A12 Hot Off the Block . . . . . A15 Legal Notices . . . . . . . . . A8 Lick the Plate . . . . . . . . B4 Not That You Asked . . . . A4 Obituaries . . . . . . . . . . A25 Odd Files . . . . . . . . . . . . A3 Pendleton News . . . . . . A18 Pet of the Week . . . . . . . B4 Second Opinion . . . . . . A13 Small Talk . . . . . . . . . . . B1 Taste of Wine . . . . . . . A16 Who’s News? . . . . . . . . A10
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ART in their
HEARTS Above, San Diego resident Alyssa Harry performs with dancers from Canyon Crest Academy at the Cliff Street bridge during a Coastal Rail Trail celebration in Solana Beach on Oct. 17.
TURN TO SHOOTING ON A27
City updates residents on fairgrounds buyout plan
Right, the San Diego group Steam Powered Giraffe perform. From left are John Sprague, David Bennett, Christopher Bennett and Erin Burke. Photos by Daniel Knighton
By Bianca Kaplanek
pletely separate from the Science Exploration and Design Center that we are putting on the Quail Garden property.” Both Baird and Shapiro specifically named Mike Andreen as an opponent who has skewed the relationship between the garden leased from the school district and the use of funds from the bond. Andreen “has purposely misstated these facts to attack Proposition P,” Baird said in his e-mail. Shapiro told the council
DEL MAR — Sworn to secrecy by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger during negotiations, City Council held its first public hearing Oct. 18 to provide an update on the city’s proposal to buy the Del Mar Fairgrounds. While the majority of the 12 speakers supported the $120 million purchase, at least one resident remains skeptical. “I can’t help but note ... the secrecy of the negotiations, your failure to disclose a coherent business plan and your apparent blindness to the current financial plight of cities and racetracks,” longtime resident and retired reporter Peter Kaye said. “I can’t help but notice the unwillingness to provide
TURN TO BOND ON A24
TURN TO FAIRGROUNDS ON A27
Confusion surrounds proposed school bond By Wehtahnah Tucker
ENCINITAS — Opponents and supporters of the Encinitas Union School Board’s Proposition P have been vying for the attention of voters to clear the air over the facts of what the $44 million funds would pay for. Some of the confusion surrounds the new community garden that will be installed on school-owned property along Quail Gardens Drive. Home Town Farms, a company that uses high technology vertical urban farming methods, is in negotiations to lease approx-
imately one to two acres of the land. In turn, the company will lease part of the site to the Encinitas Community Garden, a nonprofit that hopes to begin operations next year. According to Sanford Shapiro, a local resident, the gardening by these two groups has been linked without any basis in fact to funds from the proposed school bond. “The gardening is not connected with nor dependent in any way on Proposition P,” he told the City Council on Oct. 13. Superintendent Dr. Tim
Baird suggested that misinformation was being spread about the community garden and the bond to sway voters from supporting the measure. “EUSD has already publicly stated that no money will be used from Proposition P to support any components of farming or gardening,” Baird wrote in an e-mail to Gordon Smith, president of the Encinitas Community Garden board of directors. “Our arrangement with Home Town Farms and their arrangement with the Community Garden are com-