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T he R ancho S anta F e News
March 7, 2014
Firefighters to participate in annual boot drive RANCHO SANTA FE — Rancho Santa Fe firefighters will be taking to the streets and intersections again this year to help raise money for burn survivors. The annual Burn Institute Boot Drive, taking place March 13, raises money to help fund burn prevention programs and survivor support services, including Camp Beyond the Scars for children who have survived burns. Firefighters will be standing at major intersections throughout the district during the morning and afternoon commute, collecting monetary donations of any amount in empty fire boots. “We look forward to this event every
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LADYBUG, LADYBUG From 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. April 5, join Ladybug Day at San Diego Botanic Garden, 230 Quail Gardens Dr. Encinitas, with a Ladybug Search at 10:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. The San Dieguito Garden Club will do flower arranging for children, and there is a ladybug release at noon. Courtesy photo
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day morning, the advisory was still in effect for some beaches. Giles noted the parking lot adjacent to Cardiff Reef flooded. And the large surf damaged or destroyed around 15 lobster traps. “We lost a lot of sand out there as well,” Giles said. But he added most in-
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project must meet National Environment Protection Act requirements as well as those of the California Environmental Quality Act. The state Coastal Commission boundary is the eastern side of El Camino Real. If that road is moved, the commission wants to move the boundary to retain the jurisdiction.
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properties in Escondido and Ramona who will also be billed. Jacob has argued since the passage of the fee that San Diego County residents in rural areas already pay for fire protection from local agencies with property taxes.
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arette of any kind, or any other lighted smoking equipment, or the lighting or emitting or exhaling the smoke of a pipe, cigar or cigarette of any kind; or the carrying, holding, or use of an electronic cigarette … or a similar device intended to emulate smoking that permits a person to inhale vapors or mists that may or may not include nicotine.” Smoking is further de-
cidents in Encinitas were wind related. Powerful gusts redirected traffic lights on Friday at Chesterfield Drive and Coast Highway 101, causing confusion for drivers, he said. Winds also broke a railroad-crossing arm near the intersection. “We’re getting a lot of reports of fallen power lines and trees with the wind — no big surprises,” said Battalion Chief Dismas
Abelman with the Encinitas Fire Department on Friday afternoon. Also, the county’s various swift-water rescue teams were on stand-by. The teams, made up of firefighters and lifeguards, rescues those caught in fast-moving water. They typically receive more calls during heavy rains, but since those never came, Giles said he wasn’t aware of the team being deployed in North County.
The city is hoping to secure CEQA and NEPA approvals by the summer of 2015 so construction can begin in January 2017. The bridge design has the ability to accommodate a ramp for horses, bicycles and pedestrians. The agreement with the San Diego Polo Club expired in 2012. The club continues to operate, but any agreement is on hold until the city determines how it will pro-
ceed with this project. The segment running on the border of Mary’s Tack & Feed will remain in place for access to those properties and Del Mar Horse Park. The project is expected to cause issues for patrons of the restaurants near the existing light. The western side of Via de la Valle will be widened by a developer, but no plans have been submitted yet.
She has also emphasized that the county pays a $15.5 million annually for fire protection services, $10.2 million of which is contracted with Cal Fire. The County Board of Supervisors letter explaining the vote on whether to support the two bills stated, “Although the tax is intended to fund a variety of fire prevention services within
the SRA, including brush clearance on public lands along roadways and evacuation routes, it appears as though almost all of the revenue is going to stay in the bureaucracy in Sacramento.” The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association is currently working to have the fire fee repealed via a class action lawsuit.
fined as “emitting or exhaling the fumes or vapor of any pipe, cigar, cigarette, or any other lighted smoking equipment used for burning any tobacco product, weed, plant or any other combustible substance, or any e-cigarette, hookah, or other similar device.” “This is the most expansive definition that we can provide for you,” City Attorney Johanna Canlas said. Following the initial discussion of a ban at the
Feb. 12 meeting, council members, in 4-0 with Mike Nichols absent, directed staff to prepare an ordnance amendment. Nichols said he was advised by the city attorney to recuse himself from the Feb. 26 discussion and vote because of “a potential conflict of interest through a family relationship in this industry.” The law will go into effect 30 days after its final adoption, likely at the March 12 meeting.
And that’s why the San Dieguito River Valley, which threads a quarter of a million acres and stretches over most of the east, west ridge of the county, was chosen as a spot for the project. “It really does contain most of the habitats that are found within San Diego County,” O’Connor said. “It’s just a diverse system,” he added. The collected samples are being sent to the University of Guelph Biodiversity Institute in Ontario, Canada. The idea behind DNA bar coding is using a small piece of the DNA that every organism has to identify its species, explained Dirk Steinke, director of education and outreach for IBoL. “As far as we know, this will be the first time such a study is done in this region,” O’Connor said. The benefits of the study will yield detailed information on the insect communities in San Diego. As the data increases over the years, O’Connor is hopeful that they’ll be able to notice changes in the insect community. This will allow them to see if something strange or good is happening in the ecosystem, such as climate change or if habitat restoration projects are working.
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gether by having an arts center a block from the ocean. … I’m still hopeful that the School Board will decide to postpone the auction and continue negotiations with us.” According to Save Pacific View, an organization created for the sole purpose of halting the auction so that negotiations with the city can be restored, March 24 is the deadline for receipt of sealed written bids and March 25 is the public opening of bid and public auction. Scott Chatfield, creator of SavePacificView. org comments, “Right now, our only goal is to stop the auction and allow time for a compromise to be created. “That’s why as many
year,” said Firefighter Nathan Fritchle, who is coordinating RSFFPD’s efforts this year. “It’s a great chance for us to interact with members of the community and raise funds for a very important cause. It also creates a friendly competition among participating fire agencies to see who can raise the most money.” Fire Chief Tony Michel added “Due to the nature of this once-a-year endeavor, there may be some minor traffic delays at a few intersections in our district. We want to thank everyone for their patience and understanding as we strive to raise money for this great cause.”
In just one week of sampling, O’Connor said preliminary results found more than 730 different species. “That was hugely surprising,” he added. Of the more than 730 species that were sent to IBoL, there were some 245 species that were new to that database, O’Connor said. “That was the first time they’ve even been put into that database.” He said that was somewhat to be expected because this hasn’t been done before, adding that it also means they may have found new species. The library has been compiling species information for at least 10 years. It contains not just insects, but also flora and fauna and other organisms, Steinke said. The database is public and is already being used by several agencies, including here in the U.S. Steinke said groups are using the database to help identify any pests that may be traveling across borders. The FDA uses the database as their official method of testing seafood to control what kinds of species are sold. The use of the malaise traps is becoming a worldwide thing, Steinke said. “We have several people across the planet that are willing to put up a trap like that over a course of an entire year and collect and
ship the samples here,” he said. In Canada, which has a rougher climate, people tend to think the insect diversity is not as great as would be found in a warmer region like San Diego’s, Steinke explained. “We think 70,000 species haven’t been discovered in Canada,” he said. “And the more you go towards the tropics, the worse that might get; so the numbers get higher. There’s a good chance that half of what you encounter could be new at some point.” There aren’t any traps on the ground now, O’Connor explained. The traps have been set quarterly with the latest traps being removed this February. They expect to set the traps once more later this May. O’Connor said that a long-term goal would be to create a San Diego region barcode of life database. Creating a county, or even statewide, database will help the institute better understand the region and grow smartly in the future, he said. They are looking for biotech companies in the area to help create the barcode database in the future and are seeking other support to conduct and grow the project beyond this year. Contact O’Connor at doconnor16@gmail.com for more information.
Save Pacific View emails as possible need to be sent, as soon as possible.” Chatfield adds, “If the SavePacificView.org site works, it’ll focus the droplets of people’s passion about the Pacific View property into a giant firehose that should be hard to ignore.” The Save Pacific View website enables residents to submit emails which are automatically forwarded to the Encinitas Union School District Superintendent and Board members and each member of the City Council of Encinitas. Emails are also posted anonymously for viewing on the website. One concerned citizen quoted the wisdom of internationally renowned artist Andy Warhol, “I think having land and not ruining it is the most
beautiful art that anybody could ever want to own.” It would be prudent of EUSD to consider adopting this pragmatic approach to Pacific View. The Pacific View property is an irreplaceable treasure nestled both geographically and emotionally within the heart of Encinitas. If auctioned to the highest bidder with financial interests as primary consideration, the historic site will be irretrievably lost as a legacy of the community. Kay Colvin is director of L Street Fine Art Gallery in San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter, and specializes in promoting emerging and mid-career artists. Contact her at kaycolvin@lstreetfineart. com