Inland Edition, October 14, 2022

Mission Hills HS principal put on leave

By Laura Place

SAN MARCOS — Mis

sion Hills High School principal Cliff Mitchell has been placed on leave as the San Marcos Unified School District reviews a “con cern” shared with admin istrators, district officials confirmed.

According to San Mar cos Unified spokesperson Amy Ven tetuolo, the district was made aware of a concern on Sept. 29 and immedi ately placed Mitchell on leave the fol lowing morning.

Superintendent Andy Johnsen advised the Mis sion Hills community of Mitchell’s leave on Tues day, and emphasized the matter does not appear to involve any harm to a stu dent.

“The wellbeing of our students and staff remains our top priority and the dis trict has received no infor mation to date that would suggest that any students are or have been in harm’s way,” Johnsen said.

Officials declined to share any further details, stating that personnel mat ters are confidential.

However, Ventetuolo confirmed that law enforce ment has not been involved in the matter up to this point.

Mission Hills Assistant Principal Nathan Baker has taken over principal duties for the time being, Johnsen

City Councils wrangle over Prop. 1 support VOTE SEEKERS

By Laura Place and Jacqueline Covey REGION — San Mar cos City Council members and some members of the community clashed on Tuesday, Sept. 27, over a resolution urging local voters to support Proposi tion 1, which would codify rights to reproductive free dom in the California Con stitution.

Councilmembers Randy Walton and María Nuñez brought forward the resolution, which stated the city’s support for the state measure and commit

ment to protecting repro ductive freedom and urged local voters to vote yes on their ballots in November.

Proposition 1 seeks to expand the right to priva cy definition in the state Constitution to include the right to an abortion and to use or refuse contracep tion, following the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturn ing of landmark federal abortion protections under Roe v. Wade that had been in place for nearly half a century.

“Although California law provides meaning

ful protections for repro ductive rights today, the Dobbs opinion highlights how California will no longer be able to rely on longstanding federal pro tections that existed un der Roe,” Walton said, referring to the Dobbs v. Jackson case before the Supreme Court which ulti mately led to the overturn ing of federal abortion pro tections. “All cities should take a position on laws that affect their residents.”

Nuñez and Walton’s resolution was ultimately rejected by fellow council

members, who voted 3-2 to table the resolution indef initely. They insisted that taking a stance related to abortion was outside the council’s purview.

Mayor Rebecca Jones, who is running against Walton in her re-election bid this November, called the measure “divisive” and told the public it “seeks to influence your personal vote.”

“The agenda item to night does not follow our legislative platform. It is

Bogus threats target three Vista schools

By City News Service

VISTA — On Friday, Oct. 7, for the third time in as many days, a bogus threat of campus violence prompt ed heightened security mea sures at a Vista school.

The latest of the three malicious hoaxes began playing out about 11:30 a.m., when a youthful-sounding 911 caller claimed a friend was planning to carry out a shooting at Rancho Buena Vista High School, accord ing to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department.

Administrators put the Longhorn Drive school into a “secure camps” status — a less-intensive measure than a lockdown — and searched it along with deputies, find ing nothing amiss, Lt. Ryan Wisniewski said.

Officials cleared the school to return to normal operations about 12:40 p.m., Wisniewski said.

On Thursday morn ing, an anonymous caller claimed a bomb had been planted at Vista High School. Authorities put the campus on lockdown and conducted a walk-through of the grounds, finding no such device.

On Wednesday, yet an other unfounded threat of violence prompted height ened security and a campus search at Tri-City Christian School on Emerald Drive, sheriff’s officials reported.

In each case, the perpe trator placed the hoax call via a Voice over Internet Protocol service, a type of online communications con nection harder to trace back to users than more tradition al phones, Wisniewski said.

San Marcos Mayor Rebecca Jones speaks at a candidate forum host ed by the San Marcos Chamber of Commerce at The Father’s House church on Oct. 6. Others on hand included, from left, Jay Petrek, Randy Walton and Mike Sannella. Story on 7. Photo by Laura Place

Escondido foundation awards $200K

By Staff

ESCONDIDO — The Escondido Community Foundation (ECF) held its annual grant awards cele bration Sept. 22 and award ed $199,900 to eight local nonprofit programs that support workforce develop ment.

The list of 2022-2023 grantees included:

$15,000 to Escondi do Union High School Dis trict for its Escondido High Agriculture Farm to Fork Program: an after-school program that teaches culi nary and agricultural stu dents to cook seasonal food grown and raised within the onsite farm.

$33,000 to Escon dido Union High School District for its San Pasqual High SuperNURDs Robot ics Program: an after-school program that teaches en gineering and fabrication skills.

$17,900 to Fred Finch CARES for its Be havior Education and Skills Training that teaches the skills in serving youth with developmental disabilities.

$30,000 to Inter faith for its Veterans Em ployment Assistance Pro gram that provides veterans residing in Escondido with job training and certifica tion programs.

$35,000 to Neigh borhood Healthcare for its Medical Assistant Training Program that supports stu dent training through the Escondido Adult School.

$15,000 to Palomar College Foundation to pro vide 75 tablet computers for up-to-date medical training to students enrolled in the Escondido campus EMT/ paramedic program.

$25,000 to Solu tions for Change for Solu tions Academy: a workforce development program that teaches professional eti quette, public speaking, time management and more.

$29,000 to Urban Corps of San Diego County for its dual work-learn pro gram which places partici pants at the North County Campus in on-the-job in ternships with the city of Escondido.

14th Fall Fun Festival is Oct. 15 at Alta Vista Botanical Gardens

By Staff

VISTA — Come join the 14th Fall Fun Festival between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. this Saturday, Oct. 15, at Alta Vista Botanical Gar dens, 1270 Vale Terrace Drive.

The event is free for all visitors. Kids’ crafts will include painting pumpkins, macaroni neck laces, a beanbag toss, worms discovery, and oth er fall activities.

This year’s event also features a plant sale from GrowGetters, and vendors will sell their jewelry and other crafts.

Amigos de Vista Lions will sell a barbeque lunch and snacks and water will be available for sale.

This year’s Scare crow Contest will be for scarecrows constructed at home. Register and pick up scarecrow supplies at the Children’s Garden from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Oct. 14.

A deposit of $10 cov ers the armature (sticks), a head, stuffing and whatev er clothes you choose from

PRINCIPAL

said. Mitchell has been principal at Mission Hills since 2020. He previously served 12 years as princi pal at Mesa Verde Middle School in the Poway Uni fied School District.

our collection; $5 will be returned to you when the completed scarecrow is brought back to the Gar dens.

Create your scarecrow at home using your own colorful clothes and bling. Bring your completed scarecrow to the Gardens for judging on Oct. 14 or Oct. 15.

Home-made scare crows can also be regis tered for the contest for $5 that day.

Judges will choose winners, and gift card and other prizes will be deliv ered to three creative fam ilies. Scarecrows will stay at the Alta Vista Botanical Gardens through Aug. 1, 2023.

Walk the 14 acres of gardens filled with rare plants, our new Children’s Garden Discovery Trail, Ricardo Breceda sculp tures and intriguing water features.

For more information, email info@altavistabo tanicalgardens.org or visit altavistabotanicalgardens. org.

Officials emphasized that there are many in accurate rumors swirling regarding the nature of Mitchell’s leave, which they called “concerning.”

“As you know, when someone is placed on leave, it is not necessarily an indi cation of guilt,” Ventetuolo said.

Businesses, shoppers connect at 30th annual Harvest Fest

By Laura Place SAN MARCOS

— Via Vera Cruz was taken over by vendor booths and foot traffic on Sunday for the 30th annual Harvest Fest in San Marcos.

The city celebrat ed the annual fall shopping event under the warm sun with over 200 booths, where businesses and agen cies offered goods and advertised their ser vices and candidates for local and county

races connected with voters.

Organized by the San Marcos Chamber of Commerce, the an nual event also fea tured live music, a beer garden, all kinds of street food and drinks and a kids’ fun zone with bounce houses.

Small businesses had the chance to sell handmade goods that included butterscotch caramels, jewelry, dog treats, cookies and ap parel.

PUBLISHER

ASSOCIATE

Chris

MANAGING

Jordan

ACCOUNTING

Becky

COMMUNITY

Jean Gillette

GRAPHIC

Phyllis

ADVERTISING SALES

Sue 0tto

LEGAL ADVERTISING

Becky Roland

CONTACT THE EDITOR jordan@coastnewsgroup.com

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DISTRIBUTION distribution@coastnewsgroup.com

WRITERS/COLUMNISTS

Steve Puterski Carlsbad steve.p@coastnewsgroup.com

Samantha Nelson Oceanside, Escondido samantha@coastnewsgroup.com

Laura Place Del Mar, Solana Beach, San Marcos laura@coastnewsgroup.com

Jacqueline Covey Vista, Escondido jacqueline@coastnewsgroup.com

Chris Ahrens (Waterspot) waterspot@coastnewsgroup.com

David Boylan (Lick the Plate) david@artichoke-creative.com

E’Louise Ondash (Hit the Road) elouise@coastnewsgroup.com

Jano Nightingale (Jano’s Garden) janosgarden@gmail.com

Jay Paris (Sports Talk) jayparis8@aol.com

Ryan Woldt (Cheers) ryan@coastnewsgroup.com Scott Chambers (Edit Cartoon) scott@coastnewsgroup.com

Frank Mangio & Rico Cassoni (Taste of Wine) info@tasteofwineandfood.com

INTERNS

Anna Opalsky • Ryoga Grisnik Manya Anand • Ava DeAngelis

NCPC prevents youth substance use before it starts

By Aaron Byzak

On

Sept. 18, 2022,

Gov. Newsom

signed a package of bills to “strengthen California’s cannabis laws, expand the legal canna bis market and redress the harms of cannabis prohibi tion.”

What he failed to do, along with legislators across the state, was to strengthen protections for young peo ple by reducing marijuana’s marketing appeal and prod uct access to those under 21.

For decades we’ve known which products are most attractive to youth and that industries intentional ly market to teens to culti vate the next generation of users.

We’ve watched the to bacco industry with Joe Camel and modernized JUUL and e-cigarettes; and the alcohol industry with Budweiser frogs pri or to creating a plethora of fruity-flavored, high-alco hol content drinks like Four Loko.

I’ve served on the Board of Directors of the North Coastal Prevention Coa lition (NCPC) since 2003, drawn both personally and professionally to a collabo rative approach to prevent youth substance use.

Having grown up in the chaos of drug-using parents, I made the choice to never partake in alcohol, tobacco, marijuana and other drugs, and at 45 years old, my reso lution is stronger than ever.

NCPC has been making progress in reducing youth substance use, with over two-thirds of high school juniors in our region report ing no use in their lifetime. But that progress took col lective action, commitment, resources and agreement that preventing youth ac cess to alcohol, tobacco, marijuana and other illicit drugs was a priority.

Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to be the case when it comes to our state’s

approach to youth and mari juana. The governor’s prior ity is the expansion of an in dustry, not the protection of its young people: “I look for ward to partnering with the Legislature and policymak ers to fully realize cannabis legalization in communities across California.”

This recently approved bill requires that all Cali fornia cities permit deliv eries of medical marijuana.

alarmingly high (at 79% in April 2020) and the ABC issued industry warnings to noncompliant licensees.

According to statewide data, the violation rate dropped to 18% as of April 2021 and 246 misdemeanor citations have been issued.

It is routine for the state to award grants to local cit ies to conduct compliance checks to prevent alcohol and tobacco sales to minors and to issue fines and pen alties to businesses found in violation.

Yet with a focus on ex panding the retail cannabis market, there is nothing similar to prevent youth ac cess to marijuana and the Department of Cannabis Control could fill that gap by mandating compliance checks.

Our concerns are not without cause.

Despite years of ac complishment in reducing youth substance use in our region, marijuana is now the only substance which is NOT seeing declines in youth use, and 2019 marked the first time in Oceanside and Vista that reported past-month marijuana use by 11th graders was higher than alcohol use.

More efforts coming to cancel new laws

There’s something nearly missing from this fall’s gen eral election ballot, a seeming staple of every November vote of the last dozen years: This ballot contains just one referen dum, an attempt by tobac co companies to cancel a 2020 state law banning fla vored tobacco.

But not to worry. More referenda are coming up in 2024, and with plenty of money behind at least one of them.

Referenda are at tempts to cancel laws passed by the state Leg islature; two originally planned for this fall fiz zled when sponsors real ized they could not gather enough petition signatures to win a shot at a popular vote.

Backers of the effort to repeal the 2021 laws best known as SB 9 and SB 10, which effectively ended single family (R-1) zoning in California, say they’ll be back next year with a new drive to kill the two laws.

The measures also al low replacement of single homes with as many as six new dwelling units each.

The success of that drive is uncertain at best, given the sponsors’ failure last year.

No such uncertain ty afflicts the effort by Burger King, Chick-fil-A, In-N-Out Burgers, Jack in the Box and others to kill a newly signed law rais ing the minimum wage for fast-food franchise work ers to as much as $22 per hour next year.

The same law also sets up a new state-operated council to regulate work ing conditions in the fast food industry.

california focus

elias

the ballot. Yet, their suc cess rate is remarkable.

Most recently, the 2020 Proposition 25 passed easi ly, killing a controversial law ending cash bail state wide. That one succeeded because of a big-money campaign funded by bail bondsmen, whose very sur vival was threatened by the no-cash-bail law.

Another referendum in 2016 killed several com pacts signed by then-Gov. Jerry Brown that would have allowed construction of several off-reservation Indian casinos. That can cellation passed by a 60%40% margin.

And in 2018, a refer endum known as Proposi tion 58 threw out a state law fully restoring bilin gual education in public schools. It aimed to end a 20-year-old requirement that most English-learner children be taught exclu sively in English.

This history demon strates that the most crit ical part of any campaign to wipe out laws legislators have passed is the petition drive to put it on the ballot.

That also is why it ap pears the fast-food workers law has little chance of ul timate survival.

Unlike alcohol and tobac co, which both now have a purchase age of 21, medi cal marijuana can be sold to those 18 and over with a recommendation they can easily obtain online.

Unlike an actual pre scription, the “recommen dation” comes with no po tency limits, no product specifications and no time frame. And it’s a recommen dation for a product that research has demonstrated may contribute to teen anx iety, depression and psycho sis, among other challenges.

In late spring of 2020, the Department of Alcohol ic Beverage Control (ABC) conducted a series of al cohol delivery compliance checks across the state. Initial violation rates were

After decades of ef fort in this field, we know the connections between youth substance use and the devolution to harder illicit drugs, including those that are now laced with fentanyl.

Until we look upstream to ensure policies don’t lead young people down a path of easy access to substanc es, including marijuana, I fear we will continue to suf fer senseless tragedies.

For more information about North Coastal Pre vention Coalition visit: northcoastalpreventioncoa lition.org.

Aaron Byzak is president of the North Coastal Prevention Coalition Board of Directors and a resident of Vista.

Known in the Legis lature as AB 257, this law barely passed the state Senate, but Gov. Gavin Newsom signed it with a big grin on Labor Day. It takes effect Jan. 1 unless restaurant groups oppos ing it gather 623,000 valid voter signatures against it. If that happens, the law won’t take effect until or unless voters ratify it two years from now.

This is one initiative campaign that’s not the least bit deceptive, unlike several drives for initia tives like Propositions 27 and 30 this fall.

Far more money will be raised for the fast-food petition campaign than homeowner groups man aged to gather for their pu tative effort to dump SB 9 and SB 10.

Since petition carriers generally are paid by the signature, the more money a referendum or initiative campaign raises, the bet ter its chances.

There’s never a guar antee that any referendum will pass, even if it makes

For one thing, the campaign will emphasize that California’s mini mum wage, which becomes $15.50 per hour on Jan. 1, is already the highest in the nation. Raise it anoth er $6.50 in fast food empo riums and you’ll probably kill the dollar menus of fered by some operators, the ads will say.

One estimate from UC Riverside forecasters has pegged likely price increases for burgers and burritos at about 7% if the law remains, a figure ques tioned by other experts, who predict likely price increases of less than 3%.

The same prognos ticators also disagree on whether many jobs will be lost from outfits like Mc Donald’s.

These franchises, some say, already run with bare-bones staffing. But the new council governing working conditions might mandate higher staffing — and that could cause even more price increases.

Those will be the stakes in this likely upcom ing referendum, voters es sentially deciding if work er welfare is worth paying an extra dollar or two for lunch.

Despite years of accomplishment in reducing youth substance use in our re gion, marijuana is now the only substance which is NOT seeing declines in youth use.

THE STATE passed the Safe Sidewalk Vending Act in 2018, but cities still have some discretion in regulating sidewalk vendors. Courtesy photo

Escondido eyes additional rules for sidewalk vendors

By Samantha Nelson

ESCONDIDO — The city is considering local reg ulations for sidewalk ven dors after receiving com plaints about them over the last few years.

In August, Coun cilmember Mike Morasco requested that City Attor ney Mike McGuinness bring back an update on sidewalk vending regulations after receiving some of those complaints.

In 2018, the state passed the Safe Sidewalk Vending Act, which was designed to promote and support sidewalk vending in low-income and immi grant communities. Under the act, sidewalk vendors cannot be prohibited from operating under additional local ordinances. However, some level of local control over the vendors is still per missible.

Cities may adopt re quirements regarding the time, place and manner with which sidewalk ven dors operate. For example, a city could place reasonable time restrictions, require vendors to maintain sanita tion and make sure vendors comply with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act.

A local ordinance can also require vendors to ob tain permits and business licenses as well as prohibit stationary vendors, not mov ing vendors, in residential areas. Vendors could also be prohibited from city parks if there is already a con cession agreement with an other business in place and near farmer’s markets and swap meets during their limited hours of operation.

The city cannot restrict the number of vendors it has nor can the city require vendors to ask permission from private business and property owners. The city also cannot require side walk vendors to operate in certain areas of the public right-of-way except when it is related to objective health and safety concerns.

“If you have someone setting up on a sidewalk and people can’t pass and have to go in the street, that can be regulated,” McGuinness said.

Criminal penalties for sidewalk vendors are also not allowed, but they could be required to pay fines starting at $100 for the first violation and as high as $500 after multiple viola

tions. If they refuse to pay, vendors could have their licenses revoked. If they’re caught vending without a license, they could be fined as much as $1,000.

For Morasco, hav ing permits pertaining to health is important if side walk vendors are selling food that could potentially make someone sick. He also suggested vendors acquire insurance for their busi nesses as a means of legally protecting themselves.

“One lawsuit is going to put someone out of busi ness,” Morasco said. “It’s something to look into.”

As a matter of safety, Deputy Mayor Tina Inscoe suggested a potential time limit for some of the more rural areas of the city where there isn’t as much street lighting.

Councilmember Joe Garcia was also concerned about safety. He recalled a situation he witnessed where a vendor popup was caught by a gust of wind and landed on a car stopped at a redlight, damaging the vehicle.

“I’m more concerned about making sure it’s safe,” he said.

Councilmember Con suelo Martinez was disap pointed with the agenda item. She noted that some complaints have had noth ing to do with the safety regarding sidewalk vendors but rather with aesthetic purposes like having color ful umbrellas.

“It’s disheartening to hear the complaints when I feel there isn’t a reason,” Martinez said. “Some peo ple don’t even know what they’re selling … they won’t even go and approach them to see if they have a permit, they just assume.”

Martinez also noted that a local sidewalk vend ing ordinance would be an tithetical to her fellow coun cil members “pro-business” stance.

“If you have a push cart, you’re still an entre preneur,” she said. “They’re contributing members of society.”

Mayor Paul McNamara said he would like to see the city attorney come back with a reasonable ordi nance.

“We’re not looking to put them out of business, but at the same time we need to kind of give them a context to work in our city,” McNamara said.

Opportunity for once-incarcerated women

By Samantha Nelson

OCEANSIDE — A global sock producer is working with local agencies to recruit and employ for merly incarcerated women for its new manufacturing facility on Airport Road in Oceanside.

Headquartered in nearby San Clemente, Fu ture Stitch is an innova tive knitwear producer has partnered with well-known brands Stance, Toms, Crocs and Everlane to create unique, durable socks.

Future Stitch found er Taylor Shupe is also a co-founder of Stance, a sock, underwear and t-shirt brand. Shupe left Stance, moved into the manufac turing side of the business, and now produces Stance socks through his company.

When it comes to busi ness, Shupe likes to chal lenge old ways of think ing – turning a throwaway fashion item like a sock into a commodity, or chang ing how society treats peo ple impacted by the justice system.

The United States has the world's highest overall incarceration rate and the highest female incarcera tion rate.

In 2020, California had the country’s second highest prison population, with 97,328 prisoners un der state or federal juris diction. It was outpaced by Texas, which had a whop ping 135,906 prisoners.

Returning to regular life after prison is chal lenging for many formerly incarcerated individuals. According to a report re leased by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, nearly a third of formerly incarcer ated people could not find jobs for years after release.

“They have to check a box when they apply to a big corporation, and once they do, they’re likely not going to get that job,” Shupe said.

Shupe noted that for merly incarcerated — or justice-impacted — indi viduals also have to deal with other hurdles, includ ing mandatory drug tests, parole visitation and court dates that can often inter fere with a work schedule.

“The whole system is unfair and inequitable,” Shupe said.

But with his new Oceanside facility and future manufacturing lo

cations, Shupe hopes to demonstrate to other com panies that hiring formerly incarcerated employees is more profitable to every one involved.

Since the facility opened, Future Stitch has worked with San Diego Workforce Partners and North County Lifeline to recruit formerly incarcer ated women as employees.

Shupe also takes it a step further by providing various classes like yoga, meditation and affirma tions that aim to improve his employees’ mental and emotional health while at work. He plans to hire ther apists and other specialists for the team in the future as well.

The facility also has an Airstream trailer for nurs ing mothers and is work ing on completing a recre ational space for employee events.

“If coming to work al lows them to accept them selves and find hope in life, then maybe we can prove that the incarceration sys tem isn’t worth the taxpay er dollars and additional crime and perpetuation of it to the next generation,” Shupe said. “Because now they’re here, so if they’re producing GDP and hap py, and their families are intact, then why not hire them?”

Sarah Porter, who heads Human Resources, leads the yoga and medita tion classes and has close ly bonded with the people

San Diego gas prices headed down

By City News Service

REGION — The aver age price of a gallon of selfserve regular gasoline in San Diego County record ed its largest one-day de crease since at least 2019, dropping 4.3 cents Wednes day to $6.253, its seventh straight decrease after ris ing to a record.

The average price has dropped 18.2 cents over the past seven days, including 4.2 cents Tuesday, accord ing to figures from the AAA and the Oil Price Informa tion Service. The decreases follow a run of 32 increases in 33 days totaling $1.213.

The average price is 18.2 cents less than a week ago but 90.5 cents more than a month ago and $1.863 higher than a year ago.

“Gas prices in Califor nia are finally cooling off, as more refineries come back online after undergo ing maintenance and the switch to cheaper winter blends takes effect,” said Andrew Gross, AAA nation al public relations manager.

The national average price dropped one-tenth of a cent to $3.922. It ended a streak of increases in 20 of the past 21 days.

who work there.

“I’m so sad our society doesn’t see there is value in our mistakes,” Porter said. “Instead of shutting people down as soon as they check that box, let’s help and serve each other.”

Future Stitch’s Oceans ide facility has been oper ating for only two months, but several employees have learned to love their job.

“I look forward to com ing to work every day,” said Miremah Brown. “It’s the energy here, the moti vation – we’re helping each other out, working together as a team – it just makes you want to come to work.”

While Brown was not incarcerated, she had fall en on hard times, which forced her to move into a shelter for some time. Things began turning around for her earlier this year when she got a new apartment with her kids.

A few months later, she found Future Stitch while looking for a job that better suited her children’s school hours. Now, she’s only look ing forward.

“I’m not where I’ve been, I’m where I’m going,” Brown said.

Like Brown, Ana Al vizo is not focusing on her past, but she feels more comfortable talking about it since joining Future Stitch. Before, it was stan dard for her to keep the fact that she was former ly incarcerated to herself to avoid judgment — and when she had to reveal her

past for job interviews, she could feel a shift in how they treated her.

“You could tell by how their faces would change a little bit, and they’d tell you they would call you, but they don’t,” Alvizo said.

In the years after her release, Alvizo had a baby and returned to school at MiraCosta College, where she joined Transitions, a group that helps support justice-impacted people. Before Future Stitch, she worked at McDonald’s for several years, gaining lead ership skills that she still carries with her today.

Production manager Tasha Almanza said she “lost everything” before Future Stitch. Now, she sees the company as her foundation.

Almanza, like the oth ers, feels appreciated and accepted by Shupe and Porter, who know and care about the people who work there.

“They’re giving us women another chance,” Almanza said.

All three women are excited about their futures in the company.

“There’s so much room for growth,” Alvizo said.

Shupe plans to open other Future Stitch facto ries throughout the coun try, with the next slated for Dallas, Texas. The compa ny is on track to reach reve nues of over $50 million in 2022 and plans to use these funds in its expansion.

Palomar Health board District 3 candidate forum set for Monday

By Staff

SAN MARCOS —

The San Marcos Chamber of Commerce is hosting a candidate forum for the District 3 candidates for the Palomar Health Board of Directors.

The forum is sched uled for Monday, Oct. 17 at 5 p.m. It will be held via Zoom.

Candidates partici pating include incumbent Laurie Edwards-Tate and challenger Rod Jones.

Edwards-Tate was

elected to the nonpartisan seat in 2018.

To register for the vir tual candidate forum, vis it bit.ly/3Ve5MyZ.

The Chamber of Com merce invites residents to submit a question for the candidates at bit.ly/3Ex EM7y.

The final questions to be asked during the forum will be decided by the Chamber’s Board of Directors.

Election Day is Tues day, Nov. 8.

FUTURE STITCH production manager Tasha Almanza demonstrates a step in the process of the company’s sock production. The manufacturer has worked with popular brands such as Toms and Crocs to create fashionable yet sturdy socks. Photo by Samantha Nelson

E l Ection 2022

Rundown of North County’s municipal and school board races

By Staff

The

Coast News pre views each of the school board, city council and county board races across North County San Diego.

Board of Supervisors

The race for the redis tricted fifth district for the San Diego County Board of Supervisors features incumbent Jim Desmond against challenger Tiffany Boyd-Hodgson.

The district looks new after the county’s redis tricting commission ap proved its final map earli er this year. According to media reports, 1 million county residents have a new district.

In North County, where D5 is located, Carlsbad was moved out of the district and placed in D3, which now runs down the coast to Coronado. In D5, most of Es condido was moved into D5.

District 5 also covers Camp Pendleton, Oceans ide, Vista, San Marcos, Val ley Center, Fallbrook and east to Borrego Springs.

Desmond is the former mayor of San Marcos and was elected to the Board of Supervisors in 2018 and is the Republican-endorsed candidate. Boyd-Hodgson, endorsed by the Democrat ic party, was elected to the Vallecitos Water District Board of Directors in 2020.

Sheriff

Two candidates will be on the November ballot for the position of San Diego County Sheriff, with voters facing the choice between undersheriff Kelly Marti nez and former San Diego assistant city attorney John Hemmerling.

November marks the first time in 12 years that Bill Gore, who retired earli er this year, will not be on

the ballot for the county’s top law enforcement seat.

An original pool of seven candidates was narrowed down to two in the June primary, with Martinez receiving the most votes followed by Hemmerling, who defeated fellow front runner, Dave Meyers by a small margin for a spot on the ballot.

Martinez has worked in the San Diego Sheriff’s Department since 1985 and serves as the department’s first female undersheriff and second in command.

She is now vying to be the county’s first-ever female sheriff.

Hemmerling first joined the San Diego At torney’s Office in 2002, serving as a head criminal prosecutor at the time of his retirement in May amid the sheriff’s office race. He was previously a police officer with the San Diego Police Department and a Marine Corps commander.

Both candidates have

shared different goals re garding pertinent issues facing the department, such as the rise in in-custo dy deaths at the San Diego County Jail. Martinez has proposed increasing onsite medical and mental health professionals, while Hem merling has proposed im mediate behavioral health assessments for all inmates and increased support for jail deputies.

San Marcos council

In San Marcos, voters will be tasked with choos ing candidates for the may or’s seat and the District 1 and District 2 city council seats.

Mayor Rebecca Jones, who has served on the city council since 2007 and as mayor since 2018, is seek ing re-election against chal lenger and current District 2 Councilmember Randy Walton.

Jones has raised $78,348.56 for her cam paign, while Walton has

raised $45,548.46.

Four challengers have thrown their hats into the ring with no incumbents in the race to represent Dis trict 2, which covers Ques thaven, La Costa, and Lake San Marcos.

These include Valleci tos Water District Division 4 Director Mike Sannella, doctor Ambreen Ahmed, educator Lionel Saulsber ry, and former San Marcos Unified School District trustee Jay Petrek, who was appointed to and served on the city council from 20192020.

Councilmember Ma ria Nuñez is running unop posed to represent District 1, covering the business and industrial district and part of Richmar. She was first elected to the council in 2018.

Escondido City Council

Two council seats and the mayor are up for reelec tion this year.

Incumbent Mayor Paul

McNamara will face chal lenger Dane White. Mc Namara, a Marine veteran and executive director of the Marine Corps Recruits Depot Museum Foundation, was first elected mayor in 2018.

McNamara has raised over $17,000 in campaign contributions with $5,000 from loans. White has raised over $26,000 with $8,750 in loans.

In District 1, incum bent candidate Consuelo Martinez will face Mi chael Johnson-Palomares. Martinez, who was first elected in 2018, has raised over $26,000 in campaign contributions, while John son-Palomares has raised just over $2,000.

Councilmember Joe Garcia, representing Dis trict 3, is running for the District 2 council seat this year against retired fire captain Jeff Griffith. Gar cia and many of his con stituents were moved into District 2 due to the redis

tricting process required by municipalities across the region and state following the release of the U.S. Cen sus 2020 data.

Deputy Mayor Tina Inscoe, who currently rep resents District 2, is not running for reelection.

Garcia, who was first elected to council in 2020, has raised nearly $19,000, while Griffith has raised over $5,000.

Escondido voters will also decide on three mea sures this year: a ¾-cent sales tax that would go to ward public safety and ser vices revenue, a term limit measure that would restrict the mayor to two terms and council members plus the treasurer to three terms, and a third measure that would reduce the treasur er’s compensation to coun cil’s compensation as well as standardize vacancy procedures for elected offi cials.

Vista City Council

The Vista City Council recently approved new vot ing maps that shift about 1,700 residents from Dis trict 3 to District 4.

The total deviation between districts with the largest and smallest pop ulations was 12.4%, and revisions to Vista’s voting map attempted to create four districts that each con tained about 24,700 resi dents.

With Mayor Judy Rit ter retiring, Deputy Mayor John Franklin, the current representative for District 4, will face the current president of the Vista Uni fied School Board, Cipriano Vargas, and former Council member and current Plan ning Commissioner John Aguilera to succeed her.

All three candidates

TURN TO RACES ON 7

not a decision that we have any authority over,” Jones said. “We are a nonpartisan body, one that must always work to serve each resident to the best of our abilities despite our differences, and doing so in a fair, honest and inclusive manner.”

Councilmembers Sha ron Jenkins and Ed Mus grove said they believed the issue should be left to voters to decide.

Public commenters were split in their opinions about the resolution. Sever al residents urged the city to speak out in support of reproductive rights, others shared pro-choice senti ments but felt the council should stay out of the top ic of abortion, and others claimed that Proposition 1 itself is dangerous.

“The repeal of Roe will not decrease abortions; it will only serve to decrease safe ones. I and the majority of women in our community would love to live in a com

munity that supports women and their health care choic es,” said resident Kathy Steel. “Although the council can’t do anything legisla tively, affirming the women in our community would be meaningful to us.”

Wendy Matthews, a for mer San Marcos planning commissioner, said she be lieved this kind of resolution was outside of the council’s sphere of duties as elected officials.

“It feels like the City Council is kind of going off the rails,” Matthews said. “Just please do your jobs.”

While the city’s legis lative platform has health care goals, they are limit ed to supporting specific reforms to the Affordable Care Act.

Nuñez argued that, as a health care issue, the mat ter of reproductive rights is highly pertinent to the city’s residents. She gave the ex ample of the council becom ing involved in COVID-19 efforts over the past two years.

“This is an issue that di

rectly impacts our residents — this is a health and safety issue. I know this even more certain today because we're still in a pandemic,” Nuñez said. “Part of as a city what we needed to decide was what our involvement, what our response was going to be to this horrific pandemic.”

In Vista, the City Coun cil was also divided over its support of the statewide proposition.

The Vista City Council voted on Sept. 27 to replace a resolution presented by Councilmember Katie Me lendez in support of Propo sition 1 for a substitute from Councilmember Joe Green, which instead stated that city officials stand by Cali fornia state law protecting reproductive freedoms.

Green said he aimed for a resolution to assure “resi dents of Vista that they have nothing to fear in the event there’s an unplanned preg nancy.”

“And they need help,” Green said. “We need to be able to assure them that we still protect them as their

elected officials. Our jobs are public safety, infrastruc ture, business development — and a woman’s right to choose or rights, in general, are part of public safety.”

The substitute resolu tion failed with 2-2-1, with Melendez abstaining.

Four members of the public, including mayoral candidate Cipriano Vargas, president of Vista Unified School District, spoke in fa vor of the resolution of sup port at the public meeting. The city also received one letter in support and one in opposition to the council backing a “YES” vote on Proposition 1 in the general election on Nov. 8.

“This proposition will ensure full freedoms re garding free health care de cisions for the women of our state,” said Jocelyn Ahlers. “No woman should have to divulge her most private de cisions to persuade legisla tors that she deserves bodily autonomy. Please elect to support the passage of Prop 1 on behalf of the Vista pop ulace.”

Green argued that the Melendez resolution was too “political” and a controver sial topic that didn’t repre sent the whole community.

Melendez’s proposal found that “On June 24, 2022, in the historic and far-reaching decision, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the U.S. Su preme Court reversed Roe v. Wade, which guarantees that federal constitution al protection of abortion rights.”

Melendez said she brought the letter of support forward to show unity for women’s health, not just ac cess to abortions.

“I think this is really important,” Melendez said, “not just for women who want to access abortions and contraceptives, but any woman of childbearing age who wants to have adequate medical treatment and not be seen as an incubator. At the end of the day, I think that’s what we all deserve.”

However, Melendez’s colleagues disagreed.

Mayor Judy Ritter said

that she is, overall, not in support of Proposition 1. Franklin, who seconded Green’s motion, agreed that the city could educate the public but should not take a stance on a topic that “vot ers have strong feelings about.”

“I believe it is far-reach ing to overturn Roe v. Wade,” Councilmember Corinna Contreras said. “I believe that the substitu tion motion is kinda sad. As a resolution, it doesn’t hold any kind of resolve of the council.”

California state law cur rently protects abortions up until viability — between 24 and 26 weeks of pregnancy — with exceptions when the health or life of the mother is at risk.

Twenty-six states have enacted abortion restric tions of various levels since the matter of abortion was returned to the state level, from total bans to bans on abortions after six weeks from the last menstrual pe riod, according to the Cen ter for Reproductive Rights.

IN VISTA, City Councilman John Franklin, left, and Vista Unified school board president Cipriano Vargas will seek the may or’s seat in the Nov. 8 election. Current mayor Judy Ritter is retiring. Courtesy photos/The Coast News grahic

E l Ection 2022

San Marcos mayoral, council hopefuls talk issues at forum

By Laura Place

SAN MARCOS — Near ly 50 San Marcos residents gathered at The Father’s House on Thursday to hear from the candidates in the city’s mayoral and city council races about their views on various critical is sues ahead of the November election.

Incumbent Mayor Re becca Jones is running against District 2 Coun cilmember Randy Walton for the mayoral seat. Four candidates have stepped up in the race for the council’s District 2 seat — Vallecitos Water District board mem ber Mike Sannella, former Escondido city administra tor and two-year San Mar cos City Council appointee Jay Petrek, former U.S. Ma rine Lionel Saulsberry and Abreen Ahmed.

District 1 incumbent Councilmember Maria Nuñez is running unop posed for her seat.

The forum, organized and moderated by the San Marcos Chamber of Com merce, included questions related to housing and local control, small businesses, transportation and SAN DAG’s vehicle mileage tax, and candidates’ general

RACES

have served on one or multi ple city boards.

In District 1, incum bent Corinna Contreras will defend her seat against Christa Medeiros.

Vista Finance Com mittee member Vince Hi nojosa, Armen Kurdian, an ambassador with the Vista Chamber of Commerce and community advocate Dan O’Donnell are on the ballot for the District 4 seat that Franklin currently rep resents.

Palomar College

San Marcos voters with

goals for the position.

Candidates were sent questions ahead of time, and all candidates, except Ahmed, were present for the forum.

Regarding housing, candidates had different opinions regarding balanc ing the needs for local con trol and affordable housing availability. Among the mayoral candidates, Jones took a strong stance against the state’s high-density housing requirements and shared her record of advo cating for land use to be de termined locally.

“Local control is what will save our community and keep it the way that we want it,” Jones said.

Walton said the lack of affordable housing options is driving young people and middle-class workers out of the area and that all new housing projects need to be looked at through the lens of affordability.

Among the District 2 candidates, Saulsberry said overall housing growth needs to be embraced in areas where there is space, and Petrek said the city should focus on wellplanned workforce housing.

Sannella, who also ran

in the Palomar Community College District will also elect candidates to fill three open seats on the college’s governing board.

The race for the Area 1 seat will not include incum bent Mark Evilsizer, who has served on the board for 20 years. Instead, Mira mar College professor Judy Patacsil faces off against Frank Xu, cofounder of San Diego Asian Americans for Equality and president of Californians for Equal Rights.

Xu’s work with Califor nians for Equal Rights has focused on fighting critical race theory and diversity, equity and inclusion prac

for City Council in 2018, agreed with Jones that lo cal control is essential for cities to determine “how we build, how much we build and where we build” hous ing.

“For me, my focus is really about making sure developments that are built are high quality, that they contribute to our communi ty with new parks and trails and that they fund road and water infrastructure and schools,” Sannella said.

Walton fired shots at his mayoral opponent regard ing transportation, claim ing Jones has not pursued and has even rejected op tions for meaningful trans portation improvements to relieve traffic.

“During Rebecca’s 16 years on this council, there has been a limitless approv al of projects in a resistance to meaningful infrastruc ture to support the growth,” Walton said. “For example, Rebecca voted against the (SANDAG) 2021 Regional (Transportation) Plan, a plan that provides tremen dous benefit to San Marcos, while proposing no alterna tives.”

Walton also brought up Jones’ San Marcos Area

tices statewide. His cam paign for Palomar College has focused on overturning these policies at the college. The Palomar Faculty Asso ciation has invested $58,000 in Patacsil’s campaign.

The Area 4 race in cludes incumbent Kartik Raju, appointed to the board in 2021, running against small business own er Michelle Rains.

Area 5 incumbent Nor ma Miyamoto, who served 21 years in various positions at the college before being elected to the board in 2018, is running for re-election against Jacqueline Kaiser, an insurance agent and elected member of the Fall

Residents Transportation Solution (SMARTS) Plan to reduce traffic by restoring school bus service in the San Marcos Unified School District — which she an nounced with Sannella back during her 2018 campaign but never came to fruition — calling it a “campaign gimmick.”

In her response, Jones described her track record of supporting microtrans it initiatives, including an ongoing effort to provide on-demand micro-transit, such as ride-sharing for stu dents at local educational institutions. Jones added the COVID-19 pandemic had slowed many city proj ects.

The majority of candi dates said they were strong ly opposed to the idea of SANDAG’s controversial road user fee, which would charge residents around 4 cents per mile to fund trans portation projects through out the county.

Petrek said while such a fee could level the play ing field for electric and gas-powered vehicles if it replaced the gas tax, he did not support SANDAG’s spe cific plan.

Candidates for both

brook Community Planning Group since 2020.

The Palomar Faculty Association also put $32,000 each toward Miyamoto’s and Raju’s campaigns.

Escondido Union

Like the high school district, Escondido’s board representing elementa ry and middle schools has three trustee seats for elec tion this year.

Incumbent candidate Joan Gardner, who rep resents Trustee Area No. 2, is running against Eliza beth Shulok.

Trustee Area No. 4 in cumbent and current Board President Georgine Toma

mayoral and city council seats boasted various levels of experience supporting small businesses.

Nuñez reminded her fellow candidates of the very specific small business needs in District 1, where many residents earn their income as street vendors, and described her record of voting against a proposed street vendor ordinance that would have set various restrictions on vendors.

Walton described how he fought against the place ment of a Walmart on Ran cho Santa Fe Road before he was ever on the council, while Jones claimed a long track record of supporting small businesses during her 16 years on the council.

Sannella claimed a rep utation as being the person to call at Vallecitos Water District when businesses or residents are experiencing issues, while his District 2 opponent Petrek described his experience overseeing businesses and pursuing business grants in his for mer role as Escondido’s as sistant city manager.

“I have 36 years of local municipal experience, many in leadership positions,” Pe trek said. “My involvement

si will face former school board member Zesty Harp er, while incumbent Frank Huston is running unop posed in Area 5.

Escondido Union HS

Three trustee seats are up for election this year.

Bob Weller is running against Mickey E. Jackson for Trustee Area No. 1. Bill Durney, who currently rep resents Trustee Area No. 2, is running unopposed.

In Trustee Area No. 5, incumbent trustee Jon Petersen is challenged by Kathryn McCarthy.

Vista Unified

In the Vista Union

in city administration, my education in urban plan ning, and my experience as an appointed city council member provide me with a unique depth of knowledge that will … benefit San Mar cos in many ways.”

Saulsberry said he sup ported the small business loan-turned-grant program offered by the city during the COVID-19 pandemic and is eager to work with and help local businesses on the council. He added that while he is new to the San Marcos area, moving to the area in 2019, he is not new to leadership, having served as a U.S. Marine.

“It comes with being new to politics and new to San Marcos … the ability to listen, listen to what the community has to say, and learn,” Saulsberry said, describing himself as a ser vant leader. “I’ve lived here for three years, and with that, I bring a fresh, bright perspective as to what San Marcos has to offer and what San Marcos needs for years to come.”

A video recording of the forum will be available on the San Marcos Cham ber of Commerce’s YouTube channel.

School District, residents may vote for one of the fol lowing board member in two of the five district ar eas. See the district website for map boundaries.

In the race for the open seat for Trustee Area 2 is a business owner and Vis ta parent Rena Marrocco, incumbent Debbie Morton and educator Carla Rive ra-Cruz.

In Trustee Area 3, in cumbent Martha Alvarado will face Jen Telles, a par ent and business owner.

Laura Place, Samantha Nelson, Jacqueline Covey and Steve Puterski all contributed reporting.

MAYORAL CANDIDATE Randy Walton, the city’s current District 2 City Councilman, speaks at a candidate forum at The Father’s House church hosted by the San Marcos Chamber of Commerce on Oct. 6. Photo by Laura Place

DISTRICT 2 candidate Lionel Saulsberry, right, speaks at a candidate forum on Oct. 6 along side City Council opponent Mike Sannella. Saulsberry and Sannella are vying to replace Randy Walton, who is running for mayor. Photo by Laura Place

Copenhagen racing into future on two wheels

hit the road

e’louise ondash

Stepping off a Copen hagen curb is remi niscent of crossing the street in Britain — you have to think twice before you do it.

In Britain, it’s because cars drive on the opposite side of the road; in Copen hagen, it’s because bike lanes are as busy as car lanes, people on two wheels have the right of way and they go fast.

Walk around this island city and you’ll see bunches of bikes parked everywhere — sometimes thousands — especially near subway en trances. Even at Christians borg Palace, Denmark’s equivalent of the White House, Congress and the Supreme Court all in one, bikes are prevalent.

“Many people in gov ernment ride their bikes to work,” says our guide, Una Stewart, an ex-pat from Se attle who fell in love with Denmark while traveling the world several decades ago. She was so enamored that she claimed it as her new home, learned the lan guage and became a walk ing encyclopedia on Danish history.

“There goes a day care,” Stewart says, pointing to a “cargo bike” with a large wooden box where a front basket would normally be. Just above the top of the box we can see four little heads, perfectly still, watching the world pedal by. When these preschoolers turn 11, they’ll take a test to allow them to ride their bikes to school un accompanied.

Stewart is our guide during our nearly four days in Denmark, part of a 15day tour with Odysseys Un limited, a small-group tour company based in Newton, Massachusetts.

As Stewart leads us on a walkabout through Copen hagen, there are constant reminders to avoid the pos sible pedestrian-bicycle col lisions. According to 2019 city statistics, 62% of this capital city’s 805,000-plus residents commute to work and school via bicycle. Stew art says that number today is 68%. This translates to five bicycles for every car.

This is all the result of Copenhagen’s 14-yearplan to “improve the qual ity, safety and comfort of cycling” and to fulfill the city’s pledge of becoming the world’s first carbon-neu tral capital city by 2025. The city didn’t just set a goal; it gave residents a way to attain it.

Commuting via bicycle is possible because of the incredible network of bike lanes throughout the city — more than 250 miles — sometimes designated just by painted lines, but often cyclists have their own par allel roadways.

They also have their own bridges.

The city built 17 bicy cle-only bridges in the last few years to traverse the canals and harbors, and the suburbs haven’t been forgot ten.

Cycle superhighways known as “supercykelsti” have been constructed to al low suburbanites to ride on high-speed paths that are free of traffic lights.

At least one person asks the obvious.

“What about when it rains and snows?”

“Rain gear and warm clothes,” Stewart says mat ter-of-factly.

So, yes, the Danish ride in all kinds of weath er — and in all kinds of clothes. While most riders don various types of sports wear (local store windows display almost nothing but sportswear, gear and puffy jackets), it’s not unusual to

see men in suits and women in dresses. Overall though, daily couture is pretty casu

al and functional.

Many who don’t ride bikes, like Stewart, a sub

urbanite, commute on the trains.

Working toward their

goal of being green means Danes have found ways to combine form, function and fun. For instance, standing across the water from the iconic sculpture of Hans Christian Andersen’s Lit tle Mermaid is the Amager Bakke waste incinerator.

As one of the largest waste-to-energy plants in northern Europe, it pro cesses 400,000 tons of waste annually, enough to heat and provide electricity for 150,000 of the area’s homes.

But wait … there’s more.

The sloping roof dou bles as a 450-yard-long, downhill ski run, the only “peak” in a country where the average elevation is barely above sea level.

For more photos and discussion, visit www.face book.com/elouise.ondash or Instagram at elouiseondash.

Forward

a more

NEARLY 70% of Copenhagen’s workforce commutes via bicycle, including government workers and elected officials. This is the weekday scene in front of Christiansborg Palace, Denmark’s equivalent of the White House, the U.S. Capitol building and the Supreme Court rolled into one. It’s the only building in the world that houses all three branches of a country’s government, and parts of the palace are used by Denmark’s royal family. Photo by Jerry Ondash

YOUR VOTING

your ballot

date

MAIL IT.

AgTech Hackathon bridges region’s industries to find farming solutions

By Samantha Nelson

ESCONDIDO — A firstof-its-kind “hackathon” will bring together the region’s historical agriculture and technology industries to inspire new companies and find solutions for area farm ers.

Plans for the first AgTech Hackathon emerged almost exactly a year ago when Jennifer Schoeneck, the city’s dep uty director of economic development, reached out to entrepreneur and inves tor Neal Bloom of Fresh Brewed Tech.

Bloom’s media com pany aims to promote and bring together the county’s tech industries.

Agricultural tech nology, also known by its shorthand name “ag-tech,” has emerged through a va riety of advances, includ ing the science of livestock and crops, soil improve ment, equipment, sensors, improved sustainability practices, food safety, and data stewardship through the use of artificial intelli gence (AI), 5G technology, geographical information systems (GIS) and even ag riculture-related cyberse curity.

Ag-tech builds upon al

ready existing agricultural practices through the use of new, advanced technolo gies.

San Diego is home to a plethora of agricultural re sources and biotechnology, making it an ideal location for the upcoming AgTech Hackathon, the first of its kind in the county to be hosted in Escondido, a city known for its farming his tory.

“What’s unique about it here, especially in North County, is that we have a lot of agriculture – a lot of farms – and those farms have challenges whether it’s water or soil related,” Bloom said. “We have a lot of opportunity in the logis tics part of the movement of food, getting it across bor

ders from local to abroad, and a lot of real-world prob lems solving that is ripe for tech to come into play.”

Through the hack athon, community members from both industries and beyond can come together to find solutions to existing problems with the use of technology for farmers to day.

“We need to create new solutions,” Bloom said.

Bloom has previous ly worked on hackathons for other industries in the region. After a four-year break, he is excited to start hosting more of these types of hackathons in the future.

The AgTech Hackathon will take place Oct. 21-23

IT. VISIT.

Return your ballot to any of the Registrar’s official ballot drop box locations around the county starting Monday, Oct. 10 through Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 8.

Vote in person or drop off your voted ballot at any Vote Center daily from Saturday, Oct. 29 through Monday, Nov. 7 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

On Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 8, voting hours change to 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

A list of Ballot Drop Box and Vote Center locations are available at sdvote.com

the JOY of Music to Everyone!

Free workshops,

orchestra,

MEMORY

Cherish Your Time Together

Silvergate’s newly remodeled Memory Care Suites offers families the ability to let go of full-time

decades of experience

and return to being a full-time loved one.

for seniors with Alzheimer’s, dementia

experts at Silvergate.

at the Synergy CoWorking Centre — home to several startup companies and a coding school in Escondi do — starting with a social event on Friday, followed by the hackathon’s kickoff.

Attendees interested in developing solutions will collaborate in teams and create their plans through out Saturday. Then on Sun

day, the teams will pitch their solutions to investors, who will rate their ideas and award cash prizes and mentorship opportunities to the top performers.

The hackathon is also a way for city staff like Schoe neck to gauge the communi ty’s interest in starting an ag-tech business incubator.

Depending on the success of this year’s AgTech Hack athon, Schoeneck hopes to begin hosting them annual

ly in the city.

“From a data and his torical perspective, it just makes sense for Escondi do,” Schoeneck said.

According to Schoe neck, agriculture is listed as one of the key industry groups in the city’s Compre hensive Economic Develop ment Strategy (CEDS), a plan that creates objectives to guide city staff in explor ing the city’s potential for economic growth.

The agriculture indus try contributes more than $77 million in gross region al product for Escondido, which has a rich agricul tural history compared to other regions of the county. The city’s farms account for 19% of the county’s agricul tural production – a $1.79 billion industry county wide.

“The first avocado tree in San Diego County was planted in Escondido,” Schoeneck said.

Beyond the AgTech Hackathon, Escondido is also working on its Mem brane Filtration and Re verse Osmosis (MFRO) project, which will con struct a facility to treat a portion of the city’s existing recycled water supply using membrane filtration and re verse osmosis technologies.

The treated water will be blended with recycled water not treated by the MFRO process to produce water with a good salt concentration and will be pumped to agricultural us ers. The facility will have a maximum production ca pacity of 20 million gallons

of water per day and is set to debut in 2023.

California, in general, is both a tech sector and the largest food-growing state in the nation. The state av erages $50 million annually in agricultural revenue but also faces many challenges with climate change, water resources and workforce numbers.

While farmers and tech developers are welcomed to the hackathon, other com munity members and indus tries

encouraged to par ticipate in the event.

lot of di verse

RAIN, WIND, AND FIRE...

“The three menaces to any chimney, fireplace, or stove.”

Every year there are over twenty thousand chimney / fireplace related house fires in the US alone. Losses to homes as a result of chimney fires, leaks, and wind damage exceeds one hundred million dollars annually in the US.

CHIMNEY SWEEPS, INC., one of San Diego’s leading chimney repair and maintenance companies, is here to protect you and your home from losses due to structural damage and chimney fires.

Family owned and operated and having been in business for over 30 years, Chimney Sweeps Inc. is a fully licensed and insured chimney contracting company (License # 976438) and they are certified with the National Fireplace Institute and have an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau.

For a limited time, readers of this paper will receive a special discount on our full chimney cleaning and safety inspection package with special attention to chimney water intrusion points in preparation for the rainy season.

Food &Wine

search, they sailed in from Asia on a load of used tires and swiftly made them selves at home.

Oh,

goodie. More insect issues. There are two new breeds of mosqui to in town and they have a nasty disposition.

I haven’t had more than one mosquito bite in the past 15 years. Put that in the context that all my life I have been every mos quito’s favorite snack and have been munched on in multiple countries.

Then I went through menopause, and even when I could hear them buzzing around my bedroom, no bites.

I figured that had to be the one upside to that whole tiresome syndrome. Maybe whatever causes hot flashes made me taste bad and I was thrilled.

Fast forward to last week. I have been walking the Batiquitos Lagoon trail with my friend for a year now, with no insect inter action.

By mid-walk last week, I could feel multiple itchy spots blooming, several right through my clothes. I came home with nine big, miserable welts and went straight for the cortisone lotion.

I shortly learned that I can thank the Aedes ae gypti yellow fever mosqui to and/or Aedes albopictus tiger mosquito.

According to the Cen ter for Invasive Species Re

They reportedly bite aggressively all day long (not just at dusk) and hap pily lay their eggs in any small container of water, easily breeding in back yards and even inside homes.

In warmer months, these mosquitoes can go from egg to adult in less than one week.

A tiny bit of good news is that since they are hatching where there is no yellow fever, zika or dengue fever, they can, but don’t, carry any disease.

Well, dang. So far, I have only been bitten once in my own backyard and have been on a raging crusade to find the slight est hint of standing water. Then it’s a trip to the store for some serious repellent that I can drench myself in.

I walked the lagoon again yesterday, after stealing my daughter’s re pellent and spraying every square inch of myself, in cluding over my clothes. I missed a pea-sized spot on my ankle and, by George, one bit me.

The rest of me came out unscathed, so there is hope.

I’m hoping the vector control folks will spray here soon. My motto re mains, “The only good mosquito is a dead mosqui to.”

Jean Gillette is a free lance writer who seems to still smell delicious. Contact her at jean@coastnews group.com.

10 more discovery wines for ’22

It’s

that time of the year when Frank and I like to go over great wines that we discovered since our bi-annual Top 10s.

For this list, both of us picked five wines out of the 100+ that we have tried over the last three months.

I have three Italian beau ties, a brand new Daou cu vée, and a Lewis from Napa to share before handing off to Frank for his picks.

Rico’s Picks

Daou Family Estates Cuvee Katherine, Paso Ro bles (2020) $85: Daniel Daou does it again with his newly released innovative 2020 Cuvée Katherine, ded icated to his oldest child, Katherine, who watched her father plant the initial Daou wines.

This 100% cabernet sauvignon blends 11 clones of estate fruit aged for 18 months in 100% new French oak. The black cherry nose and palate also has boysenberry and hints of fig, cocoa, and herbs on

taste of wine

the finish. With silky tan nins, this is another Daou masterpiece. daouvine yards.com.

Lewis Alec’s Blend, Napa Valley (2018) $75: Af ter 23 years as a race car driver including 8 years as an Indy 500 racer, wine aficionado Randy Lewis shifted gears. He creat ed a small family winery in Napa Valley where he, his wife Debbie, and son Dennis run all aspects of the winery with the help of winemaker James Mc Ceney. Alec’s blend is a 75% syrah blend with 22% merlot and 3% petite sirah. Wild black cherry, plum, and fig dominate the flavor profile with hints of coffee and cinnamon on the long juicy finish. lewiscellars.

com.

Rosa dell’Olmo Baro lo, Piedmont, Italy (2015) $29: The Rosa dell’Olmo Barolo comes from the heart of Italy’s Piedmont district known for Nebbio lo grapes that both Barolo and Barbaresco wines are made from. I was intro duced to this great value wine during my monthly Italian Stallion lunch at San Diego’s The Godfather Restaurant owned and op erated by the Balistreri family.

This garnet-colored vino has violet and rose on the nose, cherry with plum on the palate, and an earthy finish. It was perfet to with my chicken parmi giana. rosadellolmo.it.

Tenuta di Renieri Chianti Classico Riserva, Tuscany, Italy (2018) $30: Renieri is in the heart of Tuscany and specializes in Chiantis. South facing with soil containing round ed pebbles, creates an ideal terroir with plenty of sun and natural draining for growing superb sangiovese fruit.

The fruit forward aro ma with cherry and spice on the palate along with crisp acidity was perfect for the lasagna paired with this great value wine. A must try! bacciwines.it.

been singing the praises from the critics so it’s time to share some.

Cakebread Cellars Pi not Noir, Anderson Valley (2020) $60: Cakebread’s two vineyards that produce their superb grapes are for mer apple orchards that sit on the banks of Anderson Creek, close to the Pacif ic Ocean and just north of Napa.

The grapes are crushed in open top tanks and fer mented with native yeasts. The process is designed for maximum extraction of color, flavor and tannins, while aging in new French oak enhances complexity. cakebread.com.

1858 Caymus Vineyards

Pinot Noir, Napa/Fairfield (2019) $30: Charlie Wag ner, the son of Chuck Wag ner, the honcho at Caymus Vineyards and Winery, has produced an 1858 series of wines led by his Monterey Pinot. Rugged vines aged from blustery winds and searing heat make Monte rey worthy of wine acclaim. If you love your Pinot fruit forward and bursting on your palate, don’t miss this one. caymus.com.

to Firefighters

Viticcio Chianti Classi co Riserva, Tuscany, Italy (2017) $30: This is the third of my Italian beauty trio. It has similar characteris tics to the Renieri from a color, bouquet, and palate perspective. The Viticcio is almost all sangiovese fruit (98%) with a 2% splash of merlot.

However, the Viticcio, seemed to have more earth iness to it with stronger hints of tobacco and graph ite. Based on Viticcio’s 50 year history, bring out the San Marzanos, Bolognese, and other dishes with mari nara for this fair valued se lection. viticcio.com.

Frank’s Picks

Grazie Rico! In pre paring for my dive into the wine barrel, I kept think ing of the gold rush that pinot noir makers have had since Joe Wagner of Napa Valley became Mr. Pinot Noir with his Meiomi some years ago, which is now a household word with pinot lovers.

The latest pinot rendi tions from ’19 and ’20 have

J Vineyards and Win ery Pinot Noir, Sonoma (2019) $27: Three appella tions, Monterey, Sonoma and Santa Barbara are bril liantly mixed into this ex pression of some of the best places to grow this delight ful wine. Flavors include dark cherry, raspberry and lavender. jwine.com.

Ken Wright Cellars Pi not Noir, Willamette Valley, Oregon (2017) $25: This Burgundian style Pinot has one of the prettiest labels I’ve ever seen, with four stylish local birds from the Willamette Valley of Ore gon.

Both Wine Spectator and Wine Enthusiast have rung this wine up frequent ly with 91 ratings. Spec tator said, “sleek and ele gantly rich, with a vibrant backbone of polished tan nins.” Learn more at ken wrightcellars.com.

Carol Shelton Monga Zin Old Vine Zinfandel, Cucamonga, Calif. (2019) $28: The Zin Queen, Carol Shelton, with her latest and finest creation, the 2019 Monga Zin from an old vine in the Cucamonga Valley in SoCal. No, it’s not a Pi not Noir, just the best darn Zinfandel on the planet. carolshelton.com.

THE TASTE OF WINE duo has selected 10 great wines out of hundreds they’ve tried in recent months. Stock photo

frank mangio & rico cassoni

EVENTS CALENDAR

OCT. 14

MAINLY MOZART

Mainly Mozart All-Star Orchestra Festival returns to Del Mar at 7 p.m. Oct. 14 and Oct. 15 at the Del Mar Fairgrounds, 2260 Jimmy Durante Blvd., Del Mar. Tickets at mainlymozart. org.

FRIDAY NIGHT MUSIC

The English Beat, Smoke and Mirrors and Sound System will play the Belly Up Tavern at 9 p.m. Oct. 14 at 143 S. Ced ros Ave., Solana Beach. For tickets and information, bellyup.com.

KEVIN HART

Comedian Kevin Hart performs at Viejas Arena at 8 p.m. Oct 14 and 7 p.m. Oct. 15. Tickets at vividseats. com.

MOTOWN DOWNTOWN

From 6:30 to 9:30 pm. Oct. 14, Elizabeth Hospice will host Motown Down town, at Escondido City Hall, 201 N. Broadway, Es condido, at the fountain, with dinner, wine and per formance by a Temptations Tribute group. The cost per person is $175.

MYSTERY WEEKEND

Omni La Costa is put ting on its Murder Mystery Weekend Oct. 14 to Oct. 16 at 2100 Costa Del Mar Road, Carlsbad. Register at omnihotels.com/hotels/ san-diego-la-costa/specials/ murder-mystery-weekend.

BLACK IN CONCERT

Lewis Black: Off The Rails coming at 8 p.m. Oct. 14 at the Balboa Theatre, 868 Fourth Ave., San Di ego. Tickets at sandiegothe atres.org.

OCT. 15

TOUGH TRAIL RACE

Register now for the 9th annual Carmel Valley trail race, through hilly Gonzales Canyon open space and Torrey Highlands Community Park, with 15K at 7:30 a.m., 10K at 8 a.m., 5K at 8:30 a.m. Oct. 15 at Lansdale Drive at Del Mar Heights Road, San Diego. Register at tinyurl.com/bd c2u3s6.

to attend, the presentation will be available on the group’s YouTube channel the day after the webinar.

BOOGIE 4 BABIES

Miracle Babies will hold a ’60s-themed Boogie 4 Babies fundraiser con cert Oct. 15 at the Belly Up 143 S. Cedros Ave., Solana Beach, with dinner, live en tertainment, live auction and dancing. Tickets at miraclebabies.org.

PARKINSONS FUNDRAISER

Quartet Luminoso will perform at 2:30 p.m. Oct. 15 at the Community Church of Poway,13501 Commu nity Road. This event is a Parkinson’s benefit for Tremble Clefs’ “Fighting Parkinson’s One Song at a Time” effort. Tickets at trembleclefs.com/events/ quartet-luminoso-2022.

DNA INTEREST

“The Human Genome Project “ will be presented for the DNA Interest Group of North San Diego County Genealogical Society from 1 to 2:30 p.m. Oct. 15 at Geor gina Cole Library, 1250 Carlsbad Village Drive. The speaker will present virtu ally. For information, con tact dig@nsdcgs.org.

BIRD HOUSE AUCTION

al Communities Concert Band, Carlsbad Community Church, Oct. 15. Reserva tions are required at (760) 696-3502. More informa tion at cwwnc.com.

OCT. 16

VOTER JAM

Safer CA PAC announc es a Voter Jam 2022 youth voter outreach will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. Oct. 16 at Pine Avenue Park Amphi theater, 755 Chestnut Ave., Carlsbad, with live bands, voter registration and elect ed officials/candidates.

COWBOY TIME

Courtesy photo

CELEBRATE PLANTS

The San Diego Botanic Garden presents a Celebra tion of Local Biodiversity: Connect with Plants & Peo ple with afternoon activi ties from 2 to 4 p.m. and an evening reception from 4 to 6:30 p.m. Oct. 15.

MORE MOZART

Mozart’s “Turkish” highlights the Mainly Mo zart Closing Night concert, 7 to 8:30 p.m. Oct. 15 at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. Tick ets at mainlymozart.org.

SEE THE WORLD

Cowboy Jack brings his vintage country sounds from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Oct. 16, Oct. 23 and Oct. 30 at the Mellano Farm Stand Fall Festival, 5750 N. River Road, Oceanside.

SLIM MAN

Singer, composer Slim Man will play at 6 p.m. Oct. 16 at Humphreys Backstage Live, 2241 Shelter Island Drive, San Diego. Tickets at closeseats.com and hum phreysbackstagelive.com/.

ITALIAN FILMS

by the chamber office, 170 Eucalyptus Ave., Ste. 115, Vista and drop off your pea nut butter jars or donate online at fooddriveonline. org/northcounty/return. php?c=72e1a37.

CATHOLIC FRIENDS

The Catholic Widows and Widowers of North County will have lunch at P.F. Chang’s in Carlsbad Oct. 17. Reservations are required at (760) 696-3502. More information at www. cwwnc.com.

OCT. 19

INTERNATIONAL FILMS

The San Diego Inter national Film Festival runs from Oct. 19 to Oct. 23 at AMC 14 @ Westfield UTC with opening night film “Ar mageddon Time” featuring Anthony Hopkins, Anne Ha thaway and Jeremy Strong. Tickets, venues and info at sdfilmfest.com.

Fe Drive, Suite D, Solana Beach. Tickets at northcoas trep.org.

SPOOKY SILHOUETTE

Join “Artsy Adults: Spooky Silhouette Paint ing” from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Oct. 19 at the Escondido Public Library, 239 S. Kal mia St., Escondido.

‘LIFT EVERY VOICE’

Multiple congregations will gather to worship, pray and pledge to vote at “Lift Every Voice: A Night of Spiritual and Uplifting Mu sic to Mobilize the Vote” at 7 p.m. Oct. 19 at Oceanside Sanctuary, 204 S. Freeman St., Oceanside.

REPUBLICAN CLUB

The Republican Club of North County will focus on voting in 2022 at noon Oct. 19 at El Camino Coun try Club, 3202 Vista Way, Oceanside. Cost is $30 per person. Cash or check only at the door (credit cards not accepted). For more infor mation and lunch choices, call or text Barbara at (760) 212-9995.

OCT. 20

KIDS NIGHT OUT

Boys & Girls Club of Vista is holding Kids Night Out! from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Oct. 20 at 410 W. California Ave., Vista. Includes din ner, prizes and activities. Tickets at bgcvista.org/kidsnight-out.

HELPING VETS

The North County Vet erans Stand Down starts at 8 a.m. Oct. 20 through noon Oct. 23 at Green Oak Ranch in Vista. The four-day event offers veterans and their families needed services. Register to attend, volun teer, or donate at ncvsd.org.

BELLY UP

Ripe is onstage at the Belly Up Tavern at 8 p.m. Oct. 20 at 143 S. Cedros Ave., Solana Beach. For tickets and information, vis it bellyup.com.

COUNTRY WESTERN

BALLOT PROS AND CONS

The League of Women Voters North County San Diego is hosting an online presentation at 10 a.m. Oct. 15, of nonpartisan pros and cons about California state and local North County San Diego ballot propositions. Preregister at https://bit. ly/LWVNCSD_ProsAnd Cons2022. For those unable

Buena Vista Audubon Society presents its Bird House and Art Auction from 4 to 7 p.m. Oct. 15, at 2202 S. Coast Highway, ad jacent to the Buena Vista Lagoon Ecological Reserve. Cost is $15 per person dona tion.

CATHOLIC FRIENDS

The Catholic Widows and Widowers of North County will see the Coast

Escondido Public Li brary host the “Around the World in Many Ways” series at 239 S. Kalmia St., Escon dido, with Danza Xinaxtli, 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Oct. 15 and Tradición Mexicana USA, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Dec. 3.

PUMPKIN PLUNGE

Enjoy Halloween themed pool activities and games for the whole family during the city of Carlsbad’s annual Pumpkin Plunge from 5 to 9 p.m. Oct. 15 at Alga Norte Aquatic Center, 6565 Alicante Road, Carls bad. Tickets in advance at carlsbadconnect.org, $10/ person; 3 and under free.

San Diego Italian Film Festival shows “Settembre” at 7 p.m. Oct. 16 at La Palo ma Theatre, 471 S. Coast Highway 101, Encinitas. Tickets $16 at sandiegoital ianfilmfestival.com.

WORD ON HAWKS

Torrey Pines Docent Society’s Nature Discovery Series presents “Raptors: Birds of Prey” at 3 p.m. Oct. 16. Meet at the pavilion area near the Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve up per parking lot. More infor mation at torreypine.org.

OCT. 17

PEANUT BUTTER DRIVE

Join the Vista Cham ber of Commerce for the Scare Away Hunger Peanut Butter Drive. You can stop

Willie Nelson & Fami ly will be in San Diego at 8 p.m. Oct 19 at Humphrey’s Concerts by the Bay, 2241 Shelter Island Drive, San Diego. Tickets at ticket source.com.

‘INTO THE BREECHES’

North Coast Repertory Theatre presents “Into The Breeches!” with a preview Oct. 19, running through Nov. 13 at 987 Lomas Santa

Viejas Arena welcomes Cody Johnson at 7 p.m. Oct. 20 at 5500 Canyon Crest Drive, San Diego. Tickets through ticketmaster.com or at arena box office.

OCT. 21

GHOST TOWN

The San Dieguito Her itage Museum and Ovation Theatre are collaborating on a Haunted Ghost Town at Heritage Ranch, 450 Quail Gardens Drive on the week ends of Oct. 21 to Oct. 23 and Oct. 28 to Oct. 30. Visit SDHeritage.org to buy tick ets and for more informa tion. Ticket prices are $20 for adults and $10 for chil dren 10 and under.

Courtesy photo

Courtesy photo

WILLIE NELSON

OCT. 22-23: Exposure Skate, founded to help empower girls and women through skating, is holding Exposure 2022 at Encinitas Community Park. Above, pro skateboarder Lizzie Armanto performs at the 2017 event. More at exposureskate. org. Photo by Jamie Owens

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GEMINI (May 21 to June 20) You might want to delay making a deci sion on the future of a long-standing relationship until you check out some heretofore hidden details that are just now beginning to emerge.

CANCER (June 21 to July 22) Your reluctance to compromise on an important issue could backfire with out more facts to support your posi tion. Weigh your options carefully before making your next move.

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BORN THIS WEEK: You have a gift for understanding people’s needs. You have a low tolerance for those who act without concern for others.

Diego performs music from Renaissance, Baroque and early classical eras at 7 p.m. Oct. 21 at Saints Constan tine and Helen Greek Or thodox Church, 3459 Man chester Ave., Cardiff and Oct. 22 at All Souls Episco pal Church, 1475 Catalina Blvd., San Diego.

SHINING SOUND

The Shining Sound Ensemble with soprano Marina Hovhannisyan will perform at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 21 at the Encinitas Library 540 Cornish Drive, Enci nitas. Tickets at tinyurl. com/4zxj2e23.

MIRACOSTA UPDATE

The public is invited to MiraCosta College’s Com munity Leaders Breakfast: Report to the Region, 7 to 9 a.m. Oct. 21 at the Cape Rey Resort, Carlsbad. Complimentary breakfast and networking from 7 to 7:30 a.m., followed by the program from 7:30 to 9 a.m. RSVP at miracosta. edu/events.

OCT. 22 BEER FEST

The Great Pumpkin Beer Festival returns from 3:25 to 10:25 p.m. Oct. 22 with pumpkin-themed brews, live entertainment and squash-based foodie creations in the Gaslamp Quarter. Tickets at great pumpkinbeerfestsd.com/ tickets.

WALK FOR HEALTH

The Huntington’s Dis ease Society of America’s San Diego Chapter will host the San Diego Team Hope Walk at 9 a.m. Oct. 22 at Coronado Tidelands Park, Coronado. Regis ter at san-diego.hdsa.org/ events/san-diego-teamhope-walk.

ENVIRONMENTAL FAIR

Escondido Explorer’s Environmental Fair is 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Oct. 22 for all ages at the Escondido Public Library, 239 S. Kal mia St., Escondido. Get information about the San Dieguito watershed, local wildlife, conservation, safety, history, volunteer opportunities, and more.

SKATE DAYS

Exposure Skate hosts skateboarding events Oct. 22 and Oct. 23 at the En cinitas Community Park, 425 Santa Fe Drive, En cinitas. Exposure Skate is co-founded by Olym pic skateboarder Amelia Brodka.

HALLOWEEN FUN

Plaza Paseo Real in vites all to its Halloween Spooktacular event from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Oct. 22 at 6941-6985 El Camino Real, Carlsbad.

FINDING ANCESTORS

“Lost in Time: Recon necting to Our Ancestors” is the subject of the North San Diego County Genea logical Society Fall Sem inar from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Oct. 22. Registration is $15 at register.nsdcgs.org.

OCT. 23

SPOOKY CONCERT

Adam Lambert per forms his spectacularly spooky extravaganza con cert, “The Witch Hunt,” at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 23 to the Bal boa Theatre, 868 Fourth Ave., San Diego. Tickets at ticketmaster.com.

MOONLIGHT 5K

Save by registering now for the October Moon light Beach “Low Tide” Beach Run and Sandcastle Contest. Visit excelarace. com/moonlight-beach-funrun-2022.html. Discount Code: lowtide40.

Top vegan cookie company relies on Cox Business to bring in the dough

In 2015, San Diegan Maya Madsen had two kids in college and started a “side hustle” making plantbased vegan cookies to help pay for their expenses.

She ventured out to local farmers markets and community events, and by 2020, Maya’s Cookies had grown in popularity and Madsen was ready to open her first retail location in central San Diego.

In July, Madsen’s team expanded again to a second location in North City, a new urban neighborhood near Cal State San Marcos.

Besides the traditional chocolate chip and snicker doodle, among other clas sic flavors, Maya’s Cookies boasts unique options such as chocolate chip s’mores and the Famous “Every thing” Cookie (with choco late chips, pretzels, oatmeal, pecans, butterscotch chips, and marshmallows). Wheatfree options are available for some flavors.

And just in time for the change in season, Maya’s Cookies is baking up its Fall Collection, which includes pumpkin spice chocolate chip, chai snickerdoodle and the new apple crumble cookie.

STRONG INTERNET CONNECTION A RECIPE FOR SUCCESS

Today, Maya’s Cookies prides itself on being Amer ica’s #1 Black-Owned Gour met Vegan Cookie Company. Achieving this distinction would not have been pos sible without Cox Business technology and “high-touch customer” service, accord ing to Madsen.

“Our Cox Business rep resentative Chantel Baylor ensures that we have what

we need to operate, and scale up as needed, so that I can focus on my artistry and growing the business,” said Madsen. “She also came to our grand opening for the San Marcos location to en sure everything was run ning smoothly.”

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tem, host virtual meetings including interviews with media, and expand its reach to a national audience.

“We recently became a vendor with the Home Shopping Network (HSN), and in order to be approved, we had to test our internet connection to ensure its re liability in order for me to appear live on the network,” explained Madsen.

“A strong internet con nection was part of our contract and understand ably since HSN broadcasts to more than eight million viewers across the United States.”

Sounds like a recipe for success.

Visit Maya’s Cookies at 250 North City Dr., Ste. 8 in San Marcos, 4760 Mission Gorge Place, Ste. G in San Diego, or at mayascookies. com.

For more information on how a fast, reliable in ternet connection can boost productivity for your busi ness, visit Coxbusiness.com.

Leading the way in senior oral healthcare

Oral health impacts overall health for all ages, especially older adults. Indi viduals with chronic health conditions like heart disease, arthritis, diabetes and can cer are at higher risk of peri odontal disease. If diagnosed early, patients can avoid the negative effects of pain, in flammation, bad breath, diffi culty chewing, and tooth loss.

For these reasons, it is important for seniors to see a dentist at least twice a year to ensure that the mouth is healthy. Routine checkups and cleanings help spot cav ities and prevent progression of potential problems. How ever, in spite of the urgent need for consistent dental care as we age, many seniors forgo semiannual exams due to mobility and transporta tion issues. Consequently, necessary treatments are of ten overlooked as some older adults are unable to access a traditional dental office.

The primary goal of the Gary and Mary West Senior Dental Center is to restore and empower seniors to care for and maintain their oral health. The Senior Dental Center uses a combination of both education and pre ventative dental services to mitigate the progression of disease before it becomes more painful, complicated and costly.

On average, providing oral healthcare for older adults requires more time and attention due to visual and hearing barriers, re duced mobility, and memory issues, among other factors. Moreover, seniors often re

quire additional reassurance and communication around their immediate personal issues. It has been shown, that a highly empathetic ap proach is beneficial in mak ing this process as efficient as possible. Establishing trust with the patient reduces anx iety and improves final treat ment outcomes. The team at the Senior Dental Center is highly trained in providing age-specific oral healthcare to seniors.

The Gary and Mary West Senior Dental Center is located inside an active se nior facility that hundreds of seniors visit daily. This co-lo cation significantly lowers the barriers of access to care as it was designed specifical ly for older adults. For those seniors who cannot make it to the center, they offer the op tion of Mobile Oral Hygiene Services. The mobile team features a resident Regis tered Dental Hygienist in Al

ternative Practice (RDHAP), Lucy Angulo, who has over 20 years of experience in the dental field and understands the importance of access to oral healthcare and preven tion.

By bringing these es sential services directly to homes, institutions, resi dence and skilled nursing facilities, she helps maintain healthy smiles, decreasing the risk of her patients de veloping more serious health conditions, often associated with poor oral health. Mobile services featured through her care include oral cancer assessment, dental cleanings, fluoride varnish and in some specific cases teeth whiten ing.

When a person can no longer eat, speak or even smile, a slow deterioration and isolation process begins, and the attention to physical wellbeing starts to dimin ish. A loving grandparent

with poor oral heath starts talking, eating and smiling less, often leading to slower mental function and a poor quality of life. Older adults deserve to thrive wherever they are living. To help with this the Senior Dental Cen ter offers alternatives for the role that oral health and ag ing play in the lives of their patients.

By providing accessible oral healthcare of the highest quality, the center seeks to enhance the quality of life for North County seniors. Even without insurance, patients can receive preventive care with discounted plans. Pay ment plans and alternative options are offered for quali fying patients to ensure that all seniors can find treatment that meets their budget.

Dr. Karen Becerra-Pena gos, DDS, MPH, CEO/Dental Director of the centers says, “We are doing everything we can to make life better for se niors in the communities we serve through on-site and mo bile services.”

The Senior Dental Cen ter’s qualified team provides specialized services and have become a beacon of hope for seniors in our community, restoring their ability to eat, speak and smile with dignity as they continue aging.

To schedule an appoint ment at the Gary and Mary West Senior Dental Center of North County call 760280-2270. They are located at 1706 Descanso Ave. Suite A in San Marcos, California. You can also request an ap pointment by visiting www. seniordentalnc.com.

MAYA’S COOKIES is baking up its Fall Collection, which in cludes pumpkin spice chocolate chip, chai snickerdoodle and the new apple crumble cookie. Courtesy photo

LUCY ANGULO, RDHAP - Mobile Dental Hygienist at Gary and Mary West Senior Dental Center. Courtesy photo

NEVILLE ALLEYNE, MD Orthopedic Spine Surgeon

Our surgeons transform the POWER OF TECHNOLOGY into the ART OF HEALING.

IT STARTS WITH CARING. We use our skill, our mind and our heart to provide compassionate care to our patients. We know that there’s no such thing as a routine procedure–that every time we perform surgery, it requires our supreme effort. So in addition to traditional surgery, Tri-City Medical Center offers minimally-invasive robotic surgery. Our surgeons perform procedures that result in faster recovery, less pain, smaller scars and less risk of complications. It’s all part of providing you the best possible care.