PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID ENCINITAS, CA 92025 PERMIT NO. 94
The Coast News
INLAND EDITION
.com
VISTA, SAN MARCOS, ESCONDIDO
VOL. 28, N0. 29
JULY 18, 2014
Bugs may tell new story about watershed health By Tony Cagala
ESCONDIDO — Last month, teams of researchers and trained volunteers with San Diego Coastkeeper waded into the shallow waters of Escondido Creek and a handful of other local rivers, collecting whatever forms of benthic invertebrates they could find. What they were doing was conducting a bioassessment of some of the rivers around the county, which, according to Travis Pritchard, program director with Coastkeeper, will help them to tell a new story on the health of local watersheds. By pairing the chemical data of the county’s rivers, something Coastkeeper has been collecting and studying for a long time, with the new biological data ought to tell a lot about the creeks and rivers. Water samples, Pritchard explained, can show the chemistry of the water there, what the pH levels or nutrient levels are like. “And that’s good because it tells you what the water quality is like,” he added. “It gives you a snap-
shot into what the current water quality is. When you measure bugs though, you can take that information and tell a bigger story. “It’s a direct measure of the integrity of the aquatic life and you can see what effect those pollutants are having on the life of the stream,” he added. Taking five samples in five days from sites in Sweetwater, Buena Vista Creek, two in Escondido and one at the San Diego River, the samples are waiting to be sent to a taxonomy lab so that all of the bugs can be identified down to their genus and species level, Pritchard said. Of the water quality data Coastkeeper already has, Pritchard said Escondido Creek has the highest levels of nitrates of any other river in San Diego County. “And I don’t think anybody knows why,” he added. Though Taya Lazootin, a student in San Diego State University’s master’s degree watershed science program is studying the nutrient pollution in the creek to try and find out why. She’s spent the last six
The Tri-City board is filing a lawsuit that would force the sale of the vacant building on its campus on Vista Way to the hospital for fair market value. Photo by Tony Cagala
Travis Pritchard, program director with San Diego Coastkeeper takes samples in June during a bioassessment of San Diego County rivers. Photo courtesy of San Diego Coastkeeper
months specifically looking at nutrient pollution, nitrates and phosphates, trying to correlate land use to nutrient concentrations in Escondido Creek, which drains into the San Elijo lagoon, a protected estuary. “You would think that nutrients are good, because they help the vitality of the system,” Lazootin said, “but when you have an overconcentration or an overabun-
By Aaron Burgin
dance of nutrients it can also be detrimental to the habitat.” Basically, she explained, when you have too much algae in the water, it takes up a lot of the oxygen in the water, which can deplete the oxygen for anything else that’s living in the water. And eventually, if it gets really bad, she added, then the TURN TO BUGS ON 19
Craft beer creating a buzz in Vista By Ellen Wright
VISTA — This past June marked a milestone in American craft breweries — the most in operation since 1873, according to the Brewers Association. California has the most breweries among them, producing close to 3 million barrels of craft beer a year. During a time of brewery booms, North County is witnessing a boom of its own, with Vista surpassing Portland, Ore., for the amount of breweries per capita, according to head of Vista Brewers Guild Melody Campbell. The city is home to 10 breweries, with two set to open by the end of the summer and one by the end of the year. “It’s really great that it’s getting to the point where each neighborhood now is developing its own identity as part of the (craft beer) community,” said Jill Davidson, sales and brand ambassador for Pizza Port Brewing, which operates a cannery on the outskirts of Vista in Bressi Ranch. She pointed out that the San Diego craft beer industry has long had roots in North County, including Stone Brewing Co. and Pizza Port Brewing, but the amount of breweries is changing dramatically. Vista officials made it easier for the small businesses to get started and they worked closely with brewers to find out their needs and what ordi-
Cans wait to be filled at the Pizza Port Brewing Co. in Bressi Ranch. Photo by Ellen Wright
nances weren’t working. “They were really gracious and they welcomed us with open arms,” said Daniel Love, CEO of Mother Earth Brew Co. It all started when the CEO of Stone, Greg Koch, was looking to change locations from their San Marcos brewery. While he didn’t eventually choose Vista, Stone’s move opened the eyes of city officials to the possibilities. “In working with them we realized it was really kind of a bio-tech company in what they did,” said Kev-
Tri-City lawsuit alleges conflicts of interest over building
in Ham, economic development director with Vista. Ham worked closely with Love and other brewers to make Vista the brewing hub that it is today. “You want to create spaces and places where people want to live and work. The breweries have really added to that environment,” said Ham. The city worked with brewers to start the guild, which meets monthly to discuss issues. “The reason we created the guild TURN TO BEER ON 19
OCEANSIDE — TriCity Healthcare District’s former CEO and board chairwoman had illegal conflicts of interest when they pushed for the district to enter into an agreement with a Carlsbad insurance underwriter to build a medical office building on the hospital’s campus, the hospital alleges in a lawsuit filed this month. The accusations are spelled out in the 149page suit filed on July 3 by the district, which is seeking to void the pact between the hospital district and Medical Acquisition Co., (MAC), which the district said has left it with an unfinished project and a deal that has been to the district’s detriment. Yet, Larry Anderson, the former CEO, board chairwoman Rosemarie Reno and an attorney with MAC each categorically deny the accusations the district made in the lawsuit. “Everything that they have accused me of is completely false,” Anderson said. “I am really getting tired of being accused of things that are totally false, and I have been dealing with this for nine months, and clearly have more to deal with for the foreseeable future, but the accusations are false and in time everyone will see this.” The complex development agreement called for MAC to lease district land for 50 years and build a 60,000-square-foot complex. The hospital would then lease almost half
the space for $75,000 a month and prepay $7.5 million in up-front rent. MAC would use the rest of the space to house doctors from a side company it set up for spinal surgeries in Tri-City’s operation rooms, as well as other services. As of today, the office building sits vacant on the southern edge of the campus. The lawsuit says that Anderson pushed the lease arrangement even though it had a clause that virtually guaranteed him employment for eight years and while MAC owner and founder Charles Perez had bought him various gifts, including a home-security system, guns and other gratuities. The original agreement had a poison-pill clause that would have forced the hospital to pay MAC $18 million if the board were to fire Anderson or his executive team. Even though the hospital board later voted to remove the language, the lawsuit says the conflict still existed at the time the deal was being negotiated. The district terminated Anderson in October 2013, and in November of that year outlined several causes for his termination, including that he misled the district about its financial condition, pressured the former hospital financial officer to misstate financial reserves, conducted an inappropriate investigation of Carlsbad Mayor Matt Hall, spent district money for TURN TO LAWSUIT ON 18