PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID ENCINITAS, CA 92024 PERMIT NO. 94
THE COAST NEWS
VOL. 27, NO. 13
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MAKING WAVES IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD
JUNE 14, 2013
Southern California Edison announced that the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station would be shut down permanently. The plant hasn’t produced power since problems with the generator tubes were discovered in January 2012. Photo courtesy of Southern California Edison
DIGGING IN Swifty swines, The Beach Boys and a pie-eating contest signal the opening of the San Diego County Fair. Above: 6-year-old San Diego resident Ruby Marquez tied for 2nd place in the Coco’s Pie Eating Contest. The fair this year features the theme “Game On,” highlighting classic video games to TV shows. This year’s opening weekend saw 91,174 people attend, a 3 percent increase from last year. See more photos on page B8. Photo by Daniel Knighton
RDO streetlight repair plans still pending By Promise Yee
OCEANSIDE — Decorative streetlights installed in the Rancho del Oro neighborhood in the 1980s need to be replaced. About one-third of the 640 streetlights have been removed by the city because they have fallen down or deteriorated. The city and the Villages
THE BIG READ If a cook needs a restaurant — a writer needs a bookstore. So says Sean Christopher, a budding author, who began his own unique bookstore where passersby can take any book they find. B1
of Rancho del Oro Association have differing views on whether homeowners or the city are responsible to pay for the replacement of the streetlights. The HOA filed a lawsuit against the city, charging the city with the obligation to replace the lights. The lawsuit was dismissed and it was determined that the city was
not responsible to provide additional maintenance for the streetlights beyond the standard it maintains over other city lights, namely providing electricity and light bulbs. The city is moving forward with actions to allow Rancho del Oro homeowners to vote on a lighting assessment district to fund the
installation and maintenance of its neighborhood streetlights. Although the lawsuit against the city is already dismissed, Attorney Carrie M. Timko, who represented association members in their lawsuit, said she stands by the belief that the lights are on
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TURN TO STREETLIGHTS ON A21
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SONGS shut down. Now what? SDG&E says loss of plant should not lead to blackouts By Bianca Kaplanek
COAST CITIES — Opposition to the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station shifted into high gear in 2011 after an earthquake-generated tsunami caused a meltdown at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi plant. Efforts by local environmentalists to shut down SONGS intensified less than a year later when vibrations in steam generator tubes resulted in a small radioactive leak. Majority plant owner Southern California Edison announced June 7 that SONGS would be permanently shut down. But with every bit of radioactive waste produced
by the plant since 1983 stored on the site, is the area any safer should a natural or manmade disaster hit? “U.S. nuclear plants are among the most secure, safe facilities in the world,” SCE spokeswoman Maureen Brown said. “That was true last Friday (when the announcement was made) and it’s true today.” Even though the plant will no longer produce energy, “strict regulatory oversight continues and that includes spent fuel storage,” Brown said. “There are very specific federal regulations that must be complied with to ensure facilities are secure.” The white containment domes along Interstate 5 will be in place indefinitely as decommissioning the plant will be a decades-long process. The spent fuel rods must be cooled in a containment pool for at least five years. TURN TO SONGS ON A21
YES = gives residents control over increased
density, building heights YES = allows residents to improve their property NO = developers and outside building industry money have control NO = supersized construction and traffic gridlock
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