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. 27, NO. 16
JULY 5, 2013
Yoga program ‘passes constitutional muster’ By Jared Whitlock
ENCINITAS — Judge John Meyer ruled Monday morning that an Encinitas school yoga program can continue, setting a legal precedent in possibly the first trial of its kind. Meyer, rather than a jury, was tasked with deciding whether the Encinitas Union School District (EUSD) yoga program violates separation of church and state. “The court is determining that EUSD yoga passes constitutional muster under the United States and California constitutions,” Meyer said. From left: Alex Fidel, Dr. David Banks, Simone Siebert and her 7-year-old daughter Summer hold signs out front of the OMWD offices on Monday protesting against fluoride being added to the water supply. “I’m just generally worried about my daughter’s health,” Siebert said, adding that she prefers to be able to choose what is in their drinking water. Photo by Tony Cagala
Fluoridation process delayed for OMWD By Tony Cagala
ENCINITAS — The introduction of sodium fluoride into the OMWD (Olivenhain Municipal Water District) water supply was delayed by a week or two, following a permit amendment issue, according to Tom Kennedy, operations manager of OMWD. Initially scheduled to begin the fluoridation process on July 1, Kennedy, in an email Tuesday, said the delay stems from a permit amendment issue with the California Department of Public Health. Originally seeking to file one permit amendment that included the fluoride addition, which Kennedy called a, “very small part of a much larger project,” said the DPH
wasn’t ready to issue a permit amendment for the entire project. He said the DPH decided to split off the fluoride permit and it will take a week or perhaps two to get the paperwork done. The new fluoride facility finished construction more than a month ago at the David C. McCollom Water Treatment Plant in Elfin Forest and took about six months to complete, though the design plans for the project began back in 2007-08, Kennedy said. At a cost of more than a million dollars, it was paid for mostly with grants received from the First 5 Commission and the CDAF (California Dental Association Foundation).
Prop A needs coastal commission approval
The First 5 Commission contributed $892,384, with the CDAF contributing $110,000. Once the fluoridation process begins, OMWD will begin adding small doses to the 30 million gallons of water that go in and out of the plant. Kennedy said that there’s already a naturallyoccurring amount of fluoride in the water that varies from about 0.2 to 0.3 parts per million. He said it varies depending on the blend of water they receive from the Colorado State River or the state water project. Typically, the district will be adding another 0.4 parts per million of sodium fluoride to reach a target number of about 0.7 parts per
Two Sections, 48 pages
The California Coastal Commission weighed in on Encinitas’ Prop A initiative this week. A7
Arts & Entertainment . . A8 Food & Wine . . . . . . . . A12
Taking a stand Carlsbad parents at Poinsettia Elementary are fighting to save the school’s art classes. A5
Legals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A21
Mike Tom, an Oceanside letter carrier, helps to save a woman lost in grief and despair. B1
Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A4 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A16
million — a number suggested by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in July 2011 to water systems practicing fluoridation. “And that’ll match what’s in the city of San Diego and water authorities as well as water districts pretty much in all of the state,” Kennedy said. The granular form of sodium fluoride the district opted to use comes from Univar, a global distributor of commodity and specialty chemicals. They have more than 260 distribution centers around the world, including one in Redmond, Wash. The sodium fluoride is delivered by truckload, which makes for safer transportation TURN TO FLUORIDATION ON A18
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Meyer opened his remarks, which lasted for 90 minutes, by stating: “this is not an easy case for a variety of reasons.” He said that yoga has roots in Hinduism and other religions, as evidenced by witness testimony. But ultimately, Meyer found that the EUSD brand of yoga only promotes physical and mental wellness, not any religious doctrine. Attorney Dean Broyles, who filed the lawsuit for EUSD parents Stephen and Jennifer Sedlock, said it’s likely he will appeal the deciTURN TO YOGA ON A19
Shortages, delays expected under still strained court budget By Rachel Stine
COAST CITIES — After five years of devastating cuts, the California Judicial Branch has received a marginal raise in state funds for the new fiscal year. Yet downsized staff, courtroom closures, case delays, and other deficiencies are expected to remain throughout the San Diego Superior Court system, including the North County Division at the Vista Courthouse, until pre-recession funding levels are restored. About half a billion dollars in state funding has been cut from California courts’ budgets over the previous five years due to General Fund deficits from the economic downturn. The state’s 2013-14 budget, which Gov. Jerry Brown signed on June 27, restores $60 million to trial courts funding. Though it will receive a modest increase this year, San Diego Superior Court’s budget has been cut by over $30 million during the previous five years, according to Karen Dalton, public affairs officer for the county courts. Because of the budget cuts, the San Diego Superior Court has eliminated more
than 330 court employees, closed or restructured operations in over 20 courtrooms, as well as cut down phone and business counter service hours during that time, she said. The Vista courthouse, which serves all of North County, closed its entire probate department and one of its two juvenile dependency courtrooms in 2012, and cases that would have been heard at those locations have been added to the downtown courthouse’s load. Forty nine court employee positions were eliminated at the North County branch as well. With these reductions, judges and court staff must handle more cases on the same schedule. As a result, the backlog of cases in the county has been growing, according to Dalton. The backlog of cases and crowded court schedules have caused extensive delays for court appearances and ruling entries, according to a recent report by the SDCBA (San Diego County Bar Association). The report, the “State of the Judiciary in San Diego TURN TO BUDGET ON A19