The Coast News
VISTA, SAN MARCOS, ESCONDIDO
VOL. 11, N0. 6
Limited rail service to OC resumes
‘IT’S AN
ATROCITY WHAT I’VE DONE’
By City News Service
REGION — Limited Amtrak service resumed March 6 in Orange County through San Clemente, where cliffside erosion has forced multiple shutdowns of rail operations since last year. Metrolink service, however, is not yet ready to resume through the area. Construction crews have been building a catchment wall at Mariposa Point to keep debris from rolling onto the tracks. Amtrak Pacific Surfliner trains will pass through the area without stopping or relying on bus connections. Morning trains will pass through San Clemente between 7 and 8 a.m. with evening trains passing through between 6 and 7 p.m. Midday rail service, however, will not be offered so construction crews can continue shoring up the wall. Bus connections between Irvine and Oceanside will be available for trains 769, 770, 774, 777, 785, and 790 to detour commuters through the construction area. Construction crews expect to complete the wall later this month. A landslide on private property above the cityowned Mariposa Trail Pedestrian Bridge led to debris on the tracks on Jan. 24, halting all rail service. Some slow-speed freight trains have been moving through the affected section at night in recent weeks while shoring operations continued.
March 15, 2024
Esco tries new model for shelter Council: Sobriety, not Housing First By Samantha Nelson
JOSHUA TYLER BOYER, 31, of Escondido is handcuffed by sheriff’s deputies on March 1 at the Vista courthouse after being sentenced to eight years in state prison for torturing and killing at least 10 cats. Photo by Samantha Nelson
Escondido cat killer sentenced to 8 years By Samantha Nelson
ESCONDIDO — An Escondido man who tortured and killed at least 10 cats was sentenced to eight years in state prison on Friday morning at the Vista Courthouse. Joshua Tyler Boyer, 31, pleaded guilty to 10 felony counts of animal cruelty after law enforcement dis-
covered at least 10 deceased felines in and around a toolshed at his family’s property on Reed Road in Escondido. Judge Robert J. Kearney denied the defendant’s request for probation and sentenced Boyer to eight years, the prosecution’s requested full term. Boyer was granted credits for
time served and will likely serve between three and six years for what prosecutors called one of the worst cases of animal cruelty in San Diego County. The sentence follows a thorough, multi-agency investigation led by the San Diego Humane Society’s Humane Law Enforcement in collaboration with the
Escondido Police Department, San Diego County Sheriff’s Department and the FBI. Law enforcement officials started looking into Boyer on May 24, 2019, after a GPS tracker on a missing cat named Leonard led to the “gruesome” discovery TURN TO CAT KILLER ON 15
Cannabis equity
Robotics show
Vista officials discuss results of a study looking at equitable access to the cannabis industry in the city.
The Tri-City Christian High School robotics team demonstrated their creations for Carlsbad retirees.
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ESCONDIDO — The Escondido City Council has recently approved a homelessness policy embracing sobriety over the statewide Housing First model to serve as a framework for developing a new city-owned homeless shelter. The policy, drafted by Mayor Dane White and Councilmember Joe Garcia, employs Interfaith a “Public Safety First denies police a p p r o a c h ,” chief’s allegap r i o r i t i z - tions of CUP violations. ing sobriety and mental Story on 3 health care as prerequisites for the city’s homeless population to obtain longterm housing. The decision follows extensive research by White and Garcia, who previously formed an ad hoc subcommittee on homelessness and spent the last year visiting various shelters across the region. In Huntington Beach, shelter residents are required to discard drugs and paraphernalia in “amnesty boxes,” a concept the duo aims to emulate in Escondido. White described the policy as a crucial first step toward addressing homelessness in the community, emphasizing sobriety and mental health as essential steps toward attaining fiTURN TO SHELTER ON 3