PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID ENCINITAS, CA 92024 PERMIT NO. 94
THE COAST NEWS
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MAKING WAVES IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD
VOL. 23, NO. 47
NOV. 20, 2009
THISWEEK Mayor, candidates speak out on recall election By Promise Yee
le b a u Val pons cou ages on P2-B13 B1 SPEAKING OUT
OCEANSIDE — Mayor Jim Wood speaks out on the recall election for Councilman Jerry Kern slated for Dec. 8. Kern and candidates running for his seat also share their views on the recall election that comes with one more year left in the term.
residents to know where he stands on the recall election. “I totally support the recall,” Wood said. The reason is a list of comments and actions taken by Kern. “ I t ’s not
Mayor Jim Wood Mayor Wood wants
one thing,”Wood said.“It’s the history of comments Councilman Kern has made.” Wood said that Kern does not listen to the public on issues, yells at constituents at council meetings, verbally attacks the fire department, and has voted to cut public services to the point that safety may be affected. Wood said Kern
has repeatedly showed lack of support for the fire department by actions such as holding a meeting to consider outsourcing ambulance services, and discussing the closure of JERRY KERN firefighting training grounds to put in a waste management station.
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TURN TO RECALL ON A20
Debate over surf contest heats up
Residents get the chance to voice their opinions about the Del Mar Fairgrounds A7 expansion
Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . A7 Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . B18 Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . B22 Crime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A8 Crossword Puzzle . . . . B22 EyeWitness . . . . . . . . . . A12 Eye on the Coast . . . . . . A5 Frugal Living . . . . . . . . A19 Henry’s Health Tips . . . A11 Hit the Road . . . . . . . . . A13 Hot Off the Block . . . . . A6 Legal Notices . . . . . . . . A23 Lick the Plate . . . . . . . . A12 Odd Files . . . . . . . . . . . . A3 Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . A4 Outside Perspective . . . . A4 Pendleton News . . . . . A18 Pet of the Week . . . . . . A21 Second Opinion . . . . . . A19 Small Talk . . . . . . . . . . . B1 Taste of Wine . . . . . . . . B8 To Your Health . . . . . . . . B6 Who’s News? . . . . . . . . . A8
“The reason I ran for office was public safety,” Wood said. Oceanside has reduced its crime by 30 percent since Wood has been in office. “I don’t want it to change back to what it was,” Wood said. “Oceanside is always going to be my city,” Wood said. “Anything I can do to
By Wehtahnah Tucker
JAMMIN’ BMX freestyle expert John Baker demonstrates some high-flying stunts at the 11th annual Snow Jam Ski and Snowboard Expo Nov. 13 through Nov. 15 at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. See more photos on Page A17. Photo by Daniel Knighton
Tennis tour set to return to La Costa resort By Alyx Sariol
CARLSBAD — After a two-year hiatus, the La Costa Resort and Spa will welcome another professional tennis tournament to its facilities in 2010. The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour will run from July 31 to Aug. 8 and will be held at the resort’s tennis courts. More than 80,000 people are expected to attend the event, one of 10 tournaments comprising the Olympus U.S. Open Series. La Costa Resort has been searching for an oppor-
tunity to host another professional tennis tournament since it last hosted the Acura Women’s Tennis Classic two years ago. Despite the resort’s history of hosting successful tournaments, many stops return to where they were last hosted, said April Shute, vice president and general manager of La Costa Resort and Spa. “When this opportunity presented itself, we were very excited,” Shute said. The tournament will feature top players playing in 13 exciting sessions at the
resort’s state-of-the-art tennis facilities. Two sessions will be hosted per day throughout the tournament and more than 5,000 people are expected to attend each sold-out event, Raquel Giscafre, tournament director, said. “The tournament has been a popular stop on the tour, it attracts people from all over, not just California,” Giscafre said. The community of Carlsbad is projected to benefit greatly when the tour comes in to town. Based on numbers provided by past
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cities who have hosted the event, the Sony Ericsson WTA stop is estimated to bring in approximately $30 million in the eight-day period, Giscafre said. “It’s a high-end demographic, they want to go to a place where they can get a nice meal and watch tennis,” Giscafre said. The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour was last hosted in Los Angeles before deciding to return to the San Diego area. Although Los Angeles is a big TURN TO TENNIS ON A20
ENCINITAS — The community is divided by a recent move to hold a surf contest at Swami’s. The Women’s World L o n g b o a rd i n g Championship could be the first major competition held at the premiere surf break if organizers have their say. World-class surfer and local resident Linda Benson has asked the city’s Parks and Recreation Department to consider allowing her to hold the four-day event at Swami’s. The contest would run from Oct. 14 to Oct. 17 with qualifying rounds on Oct. 13 at Moonlight Beach. While Benson has the support of many in the community, including surfers and business organizations, there are a number of detractors. Jean-Paul St. Pierre, author of theleucadiablog.com and a local surfer, said the contest would set a bad precedent. “Once you have one contest at Swami’s, then my concern is that you will end up with five or six,” he said. “You end up privatizing a public beach.” But others view the relatively small contest as an opportunity to bring TURN TO SURF ON A20