Yummy foods comfort seniors B-10
Earthquake risk in California C-4
FAA offers dreamscapes D-5
Village News Fallbrook & Bonsall
a l s o se rv i n g t h e c o m m u n i t i e s o f
a nd
Pau m a
www.VillageNews.com
March 2, 2017
Organic citrus growers continue to battle ACP
D e L u z , R a i n b ow , C a m p P e ndl e t o n , Pa l a ,
50¢
Sales tax included at news stand
Volume 21, Issue 9
Students dig big at Los Jilgueros
Tom Ferrall Staff Writer
Local organic citrus growers gathered at the Pala Mesa Resort Feb. 22 to discuss their continuing battle with Asian Citrus Psyllid (ACP) and the efforts to prevent the disease Huanglongbing (HLB) from spreading to their groves. The psyllid feed on citrus leaves and stems and can infect the trees with a bacteria that causes HLB. “California has a bug that can transmit a bacteria that kill your trees, and there are limited ways in which we can deal with it at this time,” Enrico Ferro, a pest control advisor, told the audience while providing an update on the Citrus Pest & Disease Prevention Program. “What our goal is, is to keep the industry alive and to keep the industry thriving.” Florida, which had its commercial orange groves hit with ACP in 1998 and subsequently HLB in 2004, has been devastated by the disease, according to Ferro. “They’ve shown graphics of the infection moving through a grove in Florida and within a couple years it will spread throughout the entire grove,” said Ferro. “That bacteria will be spread and you’ll start to see the trees that had the infection earliest will start dying.” The tree is greatly weakened by the disease and production suffers. “The fruit is smaller, the taste becomes bitter and the really hard situation to deal with is it doesn’t take much for the fruit to drop off the tree,” said Ferro. “You can just go up and grab a branch and give it a little shake, and if the tree is infected with HLB, the fruit will just rain off.”
see CITRUS, page A-8
thisweek
Village News
Announcements �������������������������A-3 Business ���������������������������������������B-7 Business Directory ���������������������B-3 Classifieds ������������������������������������B-5 Dining & Food ��������������������������� B-10 Education.......................................B-6 Entertainment ������������������������������D-4 Health & Fitness ��������������������������B-2 Home & Garden �������������������������C-2 Legals.............................................B-4 Obituaries �������������������������������������A-6 Opinion �����������������������������������������A-4 Real Estate �����������������������������������C-2 Sheriff’s Log ���������������������������������A-6 Sports.............................................D-1 Wine................................................D-6
Nancy Heins-Glaser photo Fallbrook Street School students take part in the big dig effort at Los Jilgueros Preserve, planting native plants on Jan. 31. Five local elementary schools participated in the Environmental Education Program of Save Our Forest this year. See story and more photos on page C-1.
Pickett named as Warriors’ new head football coach
Joe Naiman Village News Correspondent
The search for a new Fallbrook High School head football coach ended with the selection of Darius Pickett. “I’m excited for the opportunity, and I think I’m at a real good place,” said Pickett. “The community is one of the few communities that actually value and enjoy football and rally around the team, so it’s exciting for me.” Bob Burt coached the Fallbrook varsity squad in 2016. “It was a good experience for me with the players and the parents,” said Burt. “I think the kids who played for me had a good experience.” Burt told the team members that he was stepping down following the Dec. 11 team banquet. His departure allows Burt and his wife
Darius Pickett
Courtesy photo
the flexibility to move to Arizona. “We were close to moving about a year ago, and when the Fallbrook thing happened we stayed,” said Burt.
K y l e Wi l l i a m s h a d b e e n Fallbrook’s head coach from 2013 to 2015 but accepted the Westview High School head coach position in February 2016. Burt was hired in April 2016. “The players were phenomenal to deal with,” said Burt. “I couldn’t ask for a better group of young people and a better group of parents. Our kids never quit and played hard.” Burt’s wife works in the automotive finance industry. “I’ll probably coach somewhere else,” said Burt. Approximately 15 potential coaches applied with the Fallbrook Union High School District to replace Burt, and five of those were chosen for interviews. “We were happy with all five,” said Fallbrook High School athletic director Patrick Walker.
Fallbrook Animal Sanctuary presents inaugural Canine Mayor election FALLBROOK − Calling all canines! The Fallbrook Animal Sanctuary will host the inaugural Canine Mayor election fundraiser and would like to invite all residents of Fallbrook, Bonsall, Rainbow and De Luz to nominate their fur baby. The “Caninedate” that receives the most votes will have the prestigious honor of becoming Fallbrook’s first canine mayor. The top five runners up will become Canine Council Members. The Canine Mayor will serve as goodwill ambassador to all the pets in the community and advocate on their behalf. The Canine Mayor will make appearances at community events as applicable. A Canine Council Member may be asked to fill in when the Canine Mayor is unavailable. The winner will receive: a prestigious one year term in office, an official mayor collar, a medal, a framed certificate, a gift basket from the Barkery Cafe, a gift certificate from Kahoots Fallbrook, participation in community events, and an assortment of other prizes. Nominations will be accepted starting March 1, and ending March 22. Each nomination is $25. The official campaign kick off rally, which is open to the public, will be held Saturday, April 15, from 10 a.m. to noon at the Fallbrook Village Square, located at the corner of Main and Alvarado. The winner will be announced at the inauguration festivities, also open to the public, on Saturday, May 13, at the Fallbrook Village Square from 10 a.m. to noon. Rules and entry forms can be picked up at the Fallbrook Animal Sanctuary, Paradise Pet Spa, Avocado
“They were highly qualified. The selling point for Pickett is he’s a teacher and my main goal is to get an on-campus football coach.” Pickett currently teaches math at Oceanside High School. “I’m hopeful that he will have the opportunity to teach here,” said Walker. Pickett had been an Oceanside High School assistant coach for 10 years before making his head coaching debut last year with Francis Parker. The Fallbrook opening enticed Pickett to leave Francis Parker, which is located in San Diego. “I wanted to be closer to home,” said Pickett, who resides in Oceanside with his wife, May. “It was kind of a rare opportunity. I know that Fallbrook has been
see COACH, page A-7
Supervisors support comprehensive renewable energy plan program Joe Naiman Village News Correspondent
Snickers is ready to promote the Fallbrook Animal
see CANINE, page A-2 Sanctuary’s inaugural Canine Mayor election fundraiser.
Courtesy photo
The San Diego County Board of Supervisors held a hearing on Phase I of the county’s comprehensive renewable energy plan February 15 and selected seven items for the Phase II implementation stage. A 4-0 Board of Supervisors vote with Ron Roberts in Washington, DC, approved a program to establish a sustainability task force within the county’s existing framework, track community solar and wind energyinitiatives within the county, and increase the county’s renewable energy generation and use along with transmission and storage. The program will also develop strategies to address barriers to the use of alternative fuels including electric vehicles, establish and promote mechanisms to finance consumer installation, develop and implement a renewable energy education and outreach strategy, and develop a strategy to support legislation favorable to the use of renewable energy in San Diego County. Although a motion to prepare a feasibility study for a Community Choice Aggregation program (a CCA program allows local governments to pool electricity customers to purchase power and allows the jurisdictions to administer energy programs on behalf of the residents and businesses) did not receive a second, a separate 4-0 vote
see ENERGY, page A-2