n
d
e
d e
-
s
d
s d
PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID ENCINITAS, CA 92024 PERMIT NO. 94
THE COAST NEWS
MAKING WAVES IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD
VOL. 25, NO. 37
NICE ENTRANCE Santa Claus parachutes in to kick off the Christmas season in B1 Oceanside
NEIGHBORS
By Bianca Kaplanek
With the addition of five new members to the board, the Del Mar Fairgrounds is repairing its shaky relationship A3 with nearby cities
INSIDE TWO SECTIONS, 48 PAGES
HOW TO REACH US (760) 436-9737 CALENDAR SECTION: calendar@coastnewsgroup.com COMMUNITY NEWS: community@coastnewsgroup.com LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: letters@coastnewsgroup.com
FREE CLASSIFIED ADS Sell your car at any price, or any one item $150 or less for free! Go online to www.coastnewsgroup.com or call our free ad hot line at (760) 436-1070. Deadline is Monday at 4 p.m.
DEC. 2, 2011
Hwy 101 plans get approval
THISWEEK
Baby Boomer Peace . B9 Calendar . . . . . . A10 Camp Pendleton . . B11 Classifieds . . . . . . . B17 Coastal Cosmos . . . . . . . . B4 Comics & Puzzles . . . . . B13 Dining Guide . . . . . . . . B14 Entertainment . . . . . . . A10 Eye Spy . . . . . . . . . . . . . B3 Hit the Road . . . . . . . . . B5 Lick the Plate . . . . . . . B12 Life, Liberty, Leadership . . A4 Obituaries . . . . . . . . . . A16 Odd Files . . . . . . . . . . . . A3 Pet of the Week . . . . . . . A9 Sea Notes . . . . . . . . . . . A17 Small Talk . . . . . . . . . . . B1 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . A18 Taste of Wine . . . . . . . A14 Who’s News? . . . . . . . . . A9
.com
Oceanside’s 6th annual Turkey Trot race saw more than 8,000 racers fill the streets Nov. 24. The large turnout set a new record for attendance. Many of the racers wore their best Thanksgiving-themed outfits and turkey caps like Oceanside residents Abby and Doug Woelke to compete in either the 5-mile or 5K races. The race was not only about having good fun, but also about raising funds for schools and charities. Photo by Daniel Knighton
No child left behind at El Camino High School By Promise Yee
OCEANSIDE — Bob Rowe has been principal of El Camino High School since July and said he already feels a cultural change at the school that is working to raise its overall student Academic Performance Index, or API, score and leave no child behind. “We do a great job with high-end kids,” Rowe said. “Our AP (advanced placement) program is stellar. We want to reach another 50 percent of the kids who are really struggling for various reasons. That’s our focus.” To boost scores of low-achieving students, teachers are tasked to hone in on exactly where students are falling behind, decide what intervention is needed, and develop assessments to measure new comprehension. Rowe said he wants all students to achieve a high enough GPA to have the option of going to college following high school. The school focus is to provide intervention to students who are performing below a grade C. “The worst grade kids can have is a D,” Rowe said. “With an F, kids have to retake a class.With a D, they passed at the lowest level and are not eligible for college. Everybody should have the opportunity and chance for academic success and college.” To improve student learning, the staff TURN TO HIGH SCHOOL ON A16
Bob Rowe feels a cultural change at El Camino High School since taking over as principal in July. Photo by Promise Yee
SOLANA BEACH — City Council unanimously approved final design plans for improvements along the west side of Coast Highway 101 and authorized staff to advertise for construction bids. Those actions at the Nov. 16 meeting move forward an enhancement project that has been discussed for at least 15 years, although preliminary planning began in 2009. Since then, the city has held public workshops and meetings and met with property owners to garner input to refine design plans, which at one time included roundabouts and reverse-angle parking. Improvements will be made in three phases, beginning at Cliff Street and going south to Estrella Street, then moving to Plaza Street and finishing at Dahlia Drive. In response to concerns raised at an August meeting, the design team switched from reverse-angle parking to headin diagonal spaces only. Overall the project will include 27 additional spaces from Cliff to Dahlia and another 20 to the south for a total of about 125 spaces compared to the approximately 75 that are available now. Four crosswalks will be added, including two at Estrella and Cliff and midblock crossings with flashing beacons near the stairs at the train station and between Dahlia Drive and Lomas Santa Fe Drive. All new streetlight, traffic signal and rapid-flashing beacon poles in the project area will be decorative and complementary to the rest of the street furniture. A decorative base will be added to existing traffic poles, which will be painted to match the new ones. “We’re definitely going to have a theme throughout the corridor,” City Engineer Mo Sammak, said. Speed will be reduced to 35 mph beginning at Solana Vista Drive. Seating areas will be added throughout the project area, and newspaper TURN TO PLANS ON A16