PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID ENCINITAS, CA 92024 PERMIT NO. 94
THE COAST NEWS
.com MAKING WAVES IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD
VOL. 35, N0. 6
FEB. 11, 2022
‘Catholic Cowboy’ . Flores dies SAN MARCOS -NEWS
com
Woman gets life in prison for ’19 Carlsbad killing. A3 Residents getting heated over high utility bills. A3 Body of O’side woman found near Pendleton. A5
Business owner, THE musician,VISTA 71, loses battle withNEWS cancer
Carlsbad hatchery helps boost seabass numbers. A5 Del Mar sees fencing as threat to trail usage. A6 O’side clinic to offer mental health help for vets. A7
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By Bill Slane
Land Company. When the development was first started, owners of the earlier homes signed a sublease contract that guaranteed them a $15 monthly flat rate for the land lease, but that didn’t carry over to the additional newer homes that were built. Steve Gillis, a resident in one of the homes that pay the higher escalating fees, discovered what he calls the community’s “dirty little secret” back in 2020 when a neighbor reached
ENCINITAS — Earl Vincent Flores, a longtime Encinitas resident known to locals and audiences as Earl the Catholic Cowboy, passed away on Feb. 3 in his home following a lengthy battle with non-Hodgkins lymphoma. He was 71 years RANCHO old. SFNEWS Flores is survived by his wife, Linda, and their five children and 13 grandchildren. A wellknown musician, Earl also owned Earl Flores & Sons Masonry which c o n t r i b u t - EARL FLORES ed to many projects around Encinitas including the renovation of Moonlight Beach. Earl also recently served as grand marshal of the Encinitas Holiday Parade last December. Earl was first diagnosed with cancer 15 years ago. After years of fighting the disease with chemotherapy treatments, the disease returned five years ago. “It was many years of being sick, off and on, a rollercoaster ride,” said Linda, Earl's wife. “He’d get better, then he’d get sick again. He surprised them all though. He was like a cat with nine lives.” Earl’s oldest son, Earl
TURN TO LAND LEASE ON A11
TURN TO FLORES ON A14
Encinitas planners approve Santa Fe Drive upgrades. A7 Waterspot: Remembering the great Woody Ekstrom. A8 Inside Info: Super Bowl trivia challenge. A9 Sports Talk: Super Bowl kickers impress Carney. A9 Local educator retiring after 39 years. A11
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Carlsbad discusses moving Coast Highway. A13
FUN & FAUNA
HELEN WOODWARD Animal Center will host a Critter Camp beginning Feb. 14 for children pre-K through sixth grade to interact with animals, make crafts, play games and more. Each day has a unique theme and a variety of animal species for kids to meet. See Calendar on A26. Photo courtesy of Helen Woodward
Land lease fees divide senior community Equalization plan scheduled for vote in March By Samantha Nelson
OCEANSIDE — Residents of the Oceana senior community are divided over a controversial community measure that will equalize land lease fees for everyone living in the community, lowering monthly rent payments for the majority of members while raising monthly payments
for others. Since Oceana was developed in the 1960s, 398 of the development’s older homes have paid a flat $15 monthly rate for land lease fees, while the remaining 534 units pay higher, escalating fees based on the Consumer Price Index. The fees go towards the use of common areas throughout the community, which are subleased to the community’s homeowners association Oceanside Association OCEANA, developed in the 1960s, has older homes where Community residents pay a flat rate and newer ones subject to escalat- through the common area ing land lease fees. Courtesy photo landowner, Oceanside
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