PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID ENCINITAS, CA 92024 PERMIT NO. 94
THE COAST NEWS
MAKING WAVES IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD
VOL. 27, NO. 2
Gun show issues aired out
TURN TO GUN SHOW ON A16
JAN. 11, 2013
Potential land gift a ‘oncein-a-lifetime opportunity’ By Jared Whitlock
By Bianca Kaplanek
DEL MAR — A growing group of area residents is seeking to halt gun shows at the Del Mar Fairgrounds, but at the Jan. 8 meeting of the facility’s board of directors, more people spoke in favor of the e vent than those who oppose it. “In a rush to make life safer, we must be careful not to do more harm than good,” state Sen. Joel Anderson said. “A legally purchased firearm is often the onl y protection a single mom has to protect her c hildren against an intruder ,” he said, noting his 36th District includes many low-income communities, where security fences and systems aren’t an option. “The Del Mar gun show provides a safe, legal avenue for many of my lawabiding constituents to purchase protection for their families.” He added that canceling the shows could have unintended consequences. One of those, according to Marc Halcon, owner of American Shooting Center in Kearny Mesa, is lost revenue to area hotels, restaurants and stores from show vendors and patrons. How many more decisions do we need to help this state go off that fiscal cliff? Halcon asked. Carl Higgins, a frequent gun sho w patron, noted the e vent provides safety classes and equipment. “Why discourage (that) access?” he asked, adding that most gun owners are responsible people. Tragedies such as the Dec. 14 shooting last month in Connecticut that killed 20 first-graders and six adults at Sand y Hook Elementary School are the acts “of criminally insane” madmen,” he said. Other speakers who support continuing the gun shows included Kit Leeger, who said the n umber of murders “averted by good
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Adam Riojas sits in his office where he serves as Oceanside Calvary Chapel’s outreach minister, a position he gained after serving 13 years in state prisons for a murder he did not commit. Photo by Rachel Stine
FINDING S A LVA T I O N After spending 13 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, Adam Riojas regained his freedom, found God and became a pastor By Rachel Stine
OCEANSIDE — Those who kno w him best say nothing but glo wing things about the joyful outreach pastor at Oceanside’ s Calvary Chapel. “I love the guy, I think he is the real deal,” said his boss, Pastor Mike Reed. His wife, Cleta Riojas, said that when she first met him, “You could just see the light beaming from him. I just felt so much peace with him, so much love and joy.” Both of them said that it r arely occurs to them that Adam Riojas spent more than 13 years in state prisons f or second-degree murder — a murder Riojas did not commit. Riojas, whose face is mar ked with creases from smiling so broadly, was released from Chuckawalla Valley State Prison in 2004 after ser ving 13 y ears in California prisons. He was convicted for a murder that he later learned his father had committed.
“I walked into this place where I knew I didn’t belong and I w as unafraid,” said Riojas about his time behind bars. “I think a lot of that has to with what God gave me.” While he views his time in prison as a gift for bringing him to God, Riojas still struggles with the 13 years he lost. Riojas grew up in Oceanside during the 1960s and ‘70s. He played football and ran track for Oceanside High School, where he graduated, and surfed on the side. By his late 20s, Riojas was in the process of moving from Carlsbad to Hawaii to pursue his career as a r eal estate agent when he was arrested on suspicion of m urdering Jose Rodarte. Rodarte was shot and killed in Los Angeles in December of 1989. From the start of the in vestigation to this day, Riojas has maintained that he had
Two Sections, 40 pages COMMANDING RESPECT Despite the controversy, ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ is a film worthy of respect.
A9
Arts & Entertainment . . A8 Food & Wine . . . . . . . . A10 Legals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A17 Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A4 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A15
ENCINITAS — The San Diego Botanic Gar den in Encinitas has longed to expand its grounds for years. The hope looked like a longshot with de velopment increasingly swallowing up the surr ounding area. But growth might be in sight after all. The Leichtag Foundation proposed a plan last Saturday to gift land that’s adjacent to the northern part of the Botanic Garden. Last month, the Leichtag Foundation completed its pur chase of the 67-acre Ecke Ranch property. Under the Leic htag Foundation’s plan, it would donate around 12 acr es of that land to the 37-acr e Botanic Garden. A new parking lot, welcome center, possible arts village and other potential amenities could be built on the land, where poinsettiagrowing greenhouses can be found presently. “This could be our last chance to expand,” said Julian Duval, president of the Botanic Garden. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. If it all goes well this would be cele brated for hundreds of years.” While more than worthwhile in his mind, Duval cautioned that moving forward with the plan “won’t be easy ,” because there are “some fair con-
cerns” that need to be addressed. For the e xpansion to get the g reen light, the Botanic Garden will have to raise enough mone y and meet other r equirements laid out b y the Leic htag Foundation, according to Jim Farley, the organization’s president and CEO. Farley said the Botanic Garden must bring in an estimated $25 mil lion to $40 million fr om donors to construct improvements, particularly a new parking lot and welcome center. Farley explained that most believe the curr ent parking lot at the Garden is not well placed for visitors, and the e xpansion would only compound this pr oblem. Among other amenities, funds would also go to an arts village in the vein of offerings at Balboa P ark, Farley said. “We want a robust collaboration between different groups; the idea is that this would create a lot of enthusiasm by getting people in the comm unity involved,” Farley said. Farley said the arts center would likely fit within the land’ s current agricultural zoning. That’s because the arts center would place ag ricultural education at its cor e, he said. The second qualificaTURN TO GARDEN ON A16
TURN TO SALVATION ON A19
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The Carlsbad-based nonprofit Leichtag Foundation completed the purchase of the 67-acre Paul Ecke Ranch site in Encinitas last month. The foundation announced it would be gifting 12 acres to the San Diego Botanic Gardens to help them expand, though the gift comes with some conditions. Photo by Tony Cagala