The coast news, may 18, 2018

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

THE COAST NEWS

.com SERVING NORTH COUNTY SINCE 1987

VOL. 32, N0. 20

MAY 18, 2018

SAN MARCOS -NEWS

District 5 candidates .com talk issues

Four in running for supervisorTHE seat

VISTA REGION NEWS — It is a

.com

By Steve Puterski

four-person race to fill the seat left by San Diego County Board of Supervisor Bill Horn in District 5. Vying for the seat are republican Mayor Jim Desmond of San Marcos and Oceanside City Councilman Jerry Kern. For the democrats, legislative analyst RANCHO Michelle Gomez of Oceanside and Jacqueline SFNEWS Arsivaud, chairwoman of the Elfin Forest/Harmony Grove Town Council. If no candidate receives 50 percent plus one of the vote, the top two will run off in the November general election. The primary is June 5 and the district consists of about 620,000 residents. For District 5, though, it will be the first time in 24 years someone other than Horn will represent much of North County. It is the largest district, spanning from Camp Pendleton south to Carlsbad, and east through Vista, San Marcos, Valley Center and Borrego Springs. The county faces numerous issues, especially in North County, where housing, economic development and transportation are areas of financial support, improvement and expansion. The Coast News spoke with each candidate about how they would approach each issue to ensure North County remains viable and

.com

San Diego County Sheriff Deputy Jason Burk works alongside emergency responders as they process the scene of a pedestrian rail-trespass fatality early Tuesday morning on the railroad tracks between South Coast Highway and South Vulcan Avenue in Encinitas. Yellow tarps were placed over the victim’s remains. Photo by Jordan P. Ingram

BLOOD ON THE TRACKS After fourth train death in a month, concerns raised about rail safety By Aaron Burgin & Jordan P. Ingram

ENCINITAS — A recent spate of deaths along North County train tracks has once again raised the question of what officials can do to make the tracks less accessible to the public. The latest death occurred the morning of May 15, when a man was struck and killed after allegedly jumping in front of a northbound Amtrak Coaster commuter train near the transit center just south of E Street between South Coast Highway and South Vulcan Avenue in downtown Encinitas. San Diego County Sheriff’s deputies responded after receiving a call shortly before 5 a.m. of a pos-

sible pedestrian trespassing fatality. The train was traveling around 75 mph when it struck the victim. The victim was described as a white male in his late 50s but has not been identified, according to San Diego County Sheriff’s Deputy Jason Burk. Authorities said they couldn’t rule out suicide as a possible reason for the accident, but further details surrounding the death remain unclear. This incident marks the fourth pedestrian fatality along the railroad tracks in North County in the last month. Last week, a southbound Amtrak train traveling at just under

80 mph struck and killed a woman seated on the tracks near South Vulcan Avenue, between G and H streets, according to witness statements. On April 25, a man dove in front of a train in Oceanside and was killed before he could be taken to the hospital. About 10 days later, a 42-year-old female pedestrian standing on the tracks was killed by an Amtrak Pacific Surfliner train near the Sorrento Valley station, severely delaying service between Old Town San Diego and Solana Beach. So far this year, there have been seven fatal incidents in which a train has struck a person on the

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tracks, and nine “strikes” overall, according to statistics provided by the North County Transit District. Last year, there were 15 fatal strikes on the rails and 24 total strikes, the highest number of incidents over the past five years. Since 2012, 70 people have died in such incidents. Many of the incidents have occurred in Encinitas, where the train tracks are largely at grade and are not fenced off. Pedestrians frequently traverse the tracks to get to the beaches, especially in the communities of Leucadia and Cardiff-by-the-Sea. TURN TO RAIL DEATHS ON A9

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The coast news, may 18, 2018 by Coast News Group - Issuu