The Coast News INLAND EDITION
.com
VISTA, SAN MARCOS, ESCONDIDO
VOL. 10, N0. 2
JAN. 20, 2023
Vista OKs Safe Parking contract
Teen charged with having gun at school By Laura Place
VISTA — An 18-yearold student at Alta Vista High School was arrested last week on multiple charges after bringing a ghost gun, ammunition and liquor to school grounds. The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department confirmed that Eduardo Soto was contacted by school staff on Jan. 11 after appearing intoxicated and that he became aggressive and pushed a staff member. After school security intervened, a handgun fell out of Soto’s jacket pocket; school officials said was the gun was unloaded. It was determined to be a ghost gun without a serial number. Authorities also discovered ammunition, a handgun magazine and liquor in his possession. Soto was detained by school security until deputies from the Vista Sheriff’s Station arrived at Alta Vista. The department said Soto did not make any threatening statements toward school staff. He is being charged with possession of a weapon on school grounds, carrying a handgun while not the registered owner, possession of a ghost gun, carrying a handgun, possession of liquor on school property and battery on a school official. Vista Unified School District Superintendent Matt Doyle released a statement regarding the incident on Jan. 12, noting that district staff completed a safety training for gun-related incidents just last week. “I want to assure our community that no other students were engaged in this situation, and no one was harmed,” Doyle said. “I am deeply grateful to staff for their immediate action and to local law enforcement, including our School Resource Officer, for their swift response to our call for assistance.” Soto is being held at the Vista Detention Facility with bail set at $25,000.
First task for JFS, city: Site selection By Steve Puterski
TICKETS PUNCHED
A trio of Vista Boxing Club boxers, including Uleena Torres, 13, left, recently qualified for next month’s National Silver Gloves tournament in Missouri. Story on 15. Courtesy photo
CSUSM task force: Rename Craven Hall By Laura Place
SAN MARCOS — A Cal State San Marcos task force has issued a long-anticipated recommendation to rename a prominent campus building named after the late state senator William A. Craven, the university announced Friday. The Craven Taskforce’s recommendation to rename Craven Hall will go to the CSU board of trustees for final approval at its Jan. 24-25 meeting. A full report outlining the task force’s decision process was also released Friday. University administrators created the task force in 2021 following the CSUSM Faculty Senate’s
recommendation to rename Craven Hall and other campus sites and monuments with the former San Diego County supervisor’s name. Task force members were charged with examining the university’s complicated relationship with Craven, who has been criticized for his inflammatory statements regarding Hispanic and undocumented persons as far back as the 90s. After 18 months of deliberation, the majority of task force members were in favor of renaming Craven Hall, as well as contextualizing Craven’s contributions to the college in a new way on cam-
pus. CSUSM President Dr. Ellen Neufeldt stated her support for the task force recommendations and said the final decision now rests with the university system’s directing board. “While the late Sen. Craven will always be known and appreciated for his founding role here at CSUSM, I am moving forward the task force’s well-deliberated recommendation to rename Craven Hall to the CSU board of trustees for its consideration,” Neufeldt said. “Should the Board of Trustees approve the recommended name change, TURN TO CRAVEN HALL ON 16
New Richland Elementary opens its doors San Marcos Unified welcomes students to new campus, an update two decades in the making. 3
VISTA — The City Council last week approved a contract with Jewish Family Services for the city’s new Safe Parking Program. The program, which is similar to one the nonprofit operates in Encinitas, will allocate $250,000 to develop the program. However, a location has not yet been determined. JFS and the city will work over the next two weeks to determine a site, according to the staff report. The program will be conducted in two phases — the first is site selection, and the second includes all costs to operate the program. The phasedin approach will take 12 weeks before the program is open to homeless residents. “One of the things that hit me when I did the point-in-time count last year was how many people are living in cars at the library parking lot,” Mayor John Franklin said during the Jan. 10 meeting. “We had an unsanctioned safe parking lot, and we didn’t even know. The only question is whether or not we’re going to secure it with a security officer, have appropriate trash and sanitary facilities and most important, conduct outreach to help people living in their cars get out of their cars.” The program calls for 10 to 25 parking spaces, site management, including case management and housing navigation, on-site restrooms, a handwashing station, fencing and lighting. It also calls for the program to be pet friendly and open seven days a week. Vista also received a $65,000 grant from the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency, Department of Homeless Solutions and Equitable Communities for capital improvements related to the program. According to its application, JFS began its Safe Parking ProTURN TO SAFE PARKING ON 22