The Coast News, Feb. 1, 2013

Page 1

PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID ENCINITAS, CA 92024 PERMIT NO. 94

THE COAST NEWS

.com

MAKING WAVES IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD

VOL. 27, NO. 5

Council approves RV ordinance

Combat already a reality for women in service By Jared Whitlock

By Rachel Stine

CARLSBAD — Introduced at the Jan. 29 City Council meeting, the proposed recreational vehicle ordinance has garnered a wave of passionate responses, including more than 125 written comments submitted to the city. Most of the public comments at the City Council meeting and several of the written comments alleged that the ordinance was a means of pushing homeless people who live in their RVs out of Carlsbad. The introduced ordinance would ban parking oversized vehicles between 2 and 5 a.m. on public streets within Carlsbad, except for residents and businesses that obtain free, temporary permits from the city. City officials repeatedly emphasized that Carlsbad’s municipal code has prohibited people from camping in their vehicles on city property since 2000. “This isn’t a homeless issue. This is an oversize vehicle restriction,” said Bryan Jones, Carlsbad’s deputy transportation director. D e b b i e Fountain, the city’s director of Housing

FEB. 1, 2013

Dennis Penick asks City Council to consider allocating overnight parking spaces for people who live in their RVs. Photo by Rachel Stine

and Neighborhood Services, also presented on the city’s homeless services, highlighting that they provide case management services that can help people find more permanent housing and jobs. “I think they do have other options though, and that’s what we were trying to get across to them. We know they have chosen to live in their RVs, but there are other options,” Fountain said. About a dozen people remained agitated and argued that homeless people should be allowed to live in TURN TO RV BAN ON A15

COAST CITIES — On paper, retired Petty Officer 3rd Class Elisa Wyatt’s job as an IT specialist in Afghanistan shielded her from battle. But in reality, she was often in harm’s way. She carried an M4 assault rifle and handgun when moving from base to base to help with network operations. During these trips, she was warned of an increased threat of being ambushed, kidnapped or put into other dangerous situations. In fact, two in her communications team were killed after they went “outside the wire.” Rockets struck her base periodically. On one occasion, she was close enough to hear one whizz by. Luckily, she was unscathed. “It doesn’t matter if people like it or not; combat is a reality for women,” Wyatt said. “The enemy isn’t going to scan a convoy and differentiate between genders.” Under a recently announced Pentagon plan, women would be able to apply for combat jobs previously only available to men. The plan drew some rebuke from critics who questioned whether women possessed the agility and strength to permanently serve in direct combat situations. In response, some argue that women are already serving in battle positions, and that they deserve recognition for doing so. Since 1994, women have technically been prohibited from serving in direct combat roles on the ground. But many women serving in Iraq found themselves caught in ambushes or in unexpected firefights — a common occurrence because of frontlines being much less defined in modern warTURN TO COMBAT ON A16

The enemy isn’t going to scan a convoy and differentiate between genders.” Elisa Wyatt Retired Petty Officer 3rd Class Veteran Elisa Wyatt stands in a gunner’s turret during training. Although she was an IT specialist in Afghanistan, she found herself in harm’s way. Courtesy photo

Bike lane, ‘sharrows’ cycling forward following Council vote By Jared Whitlock

ENCINITAS — Bicyclists breathed a sigh of relief at Wednesday night’s Council meeting. Under siege, a bike lane and “sharrows” are back on track and will soon debut on Coast Highway 101. Council voted 5-0 to go ahead with the traffic projects despite objections from the California

Coastal Commission. “Driving down Highway 101 today, something needs to be done ASAP,” Councilman Mark Muir said. Just last week, the bike lane and sharrows — markings that remind cyclists and motorists to share the road — were scheduled to move forward. But the work unexpectedly came to a grind-

Two Sections, 40 pages

TO THE RESCUE Encinitas Lifeguards have rescued four stranded sea lion pups in the past three weeks on local beaches and turned them over to SeaWorld. B2

Arts & Entertainment . A13 Food & Wine . . . . . . . . A10 Legals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A17 Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A4

ing halt. On Jan. 23, city staff received a letter from the Coastal Commission stating that proper permits hadn’t been filed for the projects. In turn, city staff argued that Encinitas is exempt from the permits. Still, staff recommended Council hold off the bike lane for fear of TURN TO BIKE LANE ON A15

HOW TO REACH US (760) 436-9737 Calendar: calendar@coastnewsgroup.com Community News: community@coastnewsgroup.com Letters to the Editor: letters@coastnewsgroup.com

A bicyclist rides northbound along Coast Highway 101 in Leucadia, near where a bike lane will be installed. The bike lane was threatened by a recent objection from the California Coastal Commission. Photo by Jared Whitlock

Featuring Keynote Speaker Presents

Improve Your Game

FREE Men's Health Symposium Saturday, February 9th, 8:30am to 2pm Tri-City Wellness Center, 6250 El Camino Real, Carlsbad

RSVP Appreciated 855.222.8262

www.tricitymed.org

Olympic Silver Medalist & 2-Time World Heavyweight Champion Olympic Silver Medalist & 2-Time World Heavyweight

Expert Medical Presentations Activities & Exhibits Classic Car Show t Robotics Expo Golf Swing Analysis t FREE Breakfast & Lunch


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.
The Coast News, Feb. 1, 2013 by Coast News Group - Issuu