Several small fires within the Rancho Santa Fe Fire Protection District within the last couple of months have prompted fire officials to ask for the public’s diligence, and vigilance, when it comes to fire prevention.

While the fires do not appear to be related, they serve as a reminder that attentiveness is important during fire season.

The first two incidents were grass fires. One happened on May 24, burning 1.5 acres near Lake Drive and Ash Lane in the Del Dios area while the other occurred on June 29 in a vacant lot along Artesian Road, just outside the community of 4S Ranch, and burned 2.2 acres. 

The third fire, which took place July 1, charred a small area of vegetation along the 9700 block of Del Dios Highway. The most recent incident, which involved an outbuilding near Albert Avenue and Camino San Thomas in 4S Ranch, happened July 14. No injuries were reported in an of the incidents.

“Fortunately, these fires were all reported quickly, allowing our firefighters to extinguish them... (more)

What's an extra $110,000, or so, when it comes to finding a quieter way of alerting people to the 52 trains passing daily through an upscale city such as Del Mar?

Apparently well worth it as city officials this week sounded support for a nearly $277,000 private fundraising effort to replace the current warning mode. Currently, warnings consist of train engineers sounding multidirectional horns 15 to 20 seconds before reaching 100 feet of crossings, as required by federal law.

Fundraisers may face a bit of a challenge since Del Mar officials have pledged not to spend any public money on a quieter horn system and the private fundraising campaign has raised only $12,000 to date. However, raising millions of dollars privately for civic projects is not unheard of at pricey Del Mar.

Transit tracks cut across Del Mar's far western edges as trains travel the coastline between Oceanside and downtown San Diego. Those tracks also intersect pathways from city streets to the magnificent beach.

Federal law mandates warning horns must reach 92 decibels, which is the equivalent of a lawnmower, shop tools or loud truck traffic.

City officials, and residents, have considered alternative warning systems since April. Proposals to install gates and median barriers, or other safety measures, to lessen the need for engineers to sound horns were discarded due to costs estimated at $1 million per intersection for several intersections.

Enter Quiet Zone Technologies, based at Benbrook, near Fort Worth, Texas. Quiet Zone sells a "wayside" horn system placing directional horns at intersections, eliminating the need for train horns except in emergencies.

These quieter horns, when demonstrated for city officials in April, seemed to muffle the noise so it couldn't be heard at nearby residences.

Quiet Zone said it could install the system for $160,000. However, this turned into a moot point when the North County Transit District, which has final say in the matter, said almost $277,000 would be needed.

The increased pricing included an $83,000 contingency fund for possible cost overruns and annual maintenance estimated at $3,000 to $5,000 annually.

The private citizen fundraising committee -- which includes Del Mar Mayor Richard Earnest as well as former mayor, and council member, Carl Hilliard, among others -- had to go back to the sounding board.

An ad-hoc Citizens Wayside Horn Committee met on Monday, July 19, to consider its next move. Members pledged to continue raising funds to meet the new funding challenge.

Wayside Horn Committee members agreed to go to the Aug. 2 Del Mar council meeting to ask officials to accept the almost $277,000 contract required by North County Transit District, provided the money was raised through private sources.

Organizers expressed confidence they would raise the money, citing previously successful fundraising efforts.

Those included raising more than $5.6 million toward an overall $8.5 million 2005 purchase of the Shores property from the Del Mar Unified School District. The property was converted into Del Mar Shores Park.

Also cited were funds raised privately to convert the 1920s-era Powerhouse facility, and surrounding areas, into the Powerhouse Community Center.

With three weeks left to file a candidacy for the Nov. 2 general election, 11 people have filed papers with the San Diego County Registrar of Voters to run for nine local school board posts. Filing deadline is Aug. 6

The San Dieguito Union High School District board has three openings. Filing so far: Andrew Brown, governing board member Cardiff School District, from Encinitas; Barbara Groth, SDUHSD president from Rancho Santa Fe; Amy Herman, business owner/parent from Carmel Valley; John Salazar, Rancho Santa Fe resident; Rick Shea, retired administrator from Encinitas, and Sandra Timmons, community volunteer from Encinitas.

The Solana Beach School District has three openings. Filing so far: Jeff Busby, incumbent from Solana Beach; Vicki King, incumbent from Carmel Valley, Debra Schade, incumbent from Solana Beach.

The Del Mar Union School District has three openings. Filing so far: Jason Maletic, small business owner from Del Mar; Doug Rafner, attorney/mediator from Carmel Valley, and Scott Wooden, bio-pharmaceutical... (more)

Congressman Brian Bilbray recently sent out a tri-fold color brochure promoting himself to the residents in California’s 50th congressional district. The mailer would have been a very expense campaign piece, but was sent in the guise of a “public document” as “official business” prepared and paid for at taxpayer expense.

In 1994, Congressman Bilbray, along with other Republicans signed the “Contract with America,” a promise to restore “accountability” to Congress asserting government too easily spent the public’s money.

In 2007, the Congressional Research Service prepared a report for Congress advising representatives that the “franking” privilege had cost taxpayers $113.4 million in current dollars from 1988 to 2007.

So why isn’t Mr. Bilbray concerned about wasting taxpayer dollars and why has he continued to send mail to voters whether asked for or not in the 50th District?

On June 12, 2007, HR 2687 was introduced to end the practice... (more)

Rep. Brian Bilbray, R- 50th Congressional District, representing Rancho Santa Fe and surrounding areas, debated Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D- 4th Congressional District, Chicago, about immigration on ABC News "This Week"  7/11/10.                                                    

In a "This Week" debate, two top members of Congress on immigration issues agreed that the U.S. needs better Immigration enforcement, but found no common ground on what to do with the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants now in the U.S. 

Democratic Congressman Luis Gutierrez, chairman of the Immigration Task Force of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus told me he agrees the federal government has failed to enforce immigration laws.  He acknowledged that “we have a problem at the border and that “we may need more” border agents.  “We should do everything we need to in order to secure that border,... (more)

Hey, you want to be hip? Be yourself. Nothing says I am who I am and I don't care like being who you want to be.  It's called confidence. Nothing is more attractive, more of a turn-on than pure confidence.

I saw the ugliest damn woman in my life walking down Cedros Boulevard in Solana Beach's Design District today. She was dog ugly walking a dog and, you know what, the dog was dog ugly, too. She was wearing a black shawl, the dog, and the lady was wearing a baggy pair of parachute pants, black ninja ripstop nylon up the butt.

But the lady didn't care. She strut that butt. She sashayed this way. And you know something, the more I watched as she strode down the street like a colossus of funk, the better looking she became. By the time, she hit the intersection of mind and body, she was Athena, Venus, the goddess of ten million desires.

Fashion, my young friends, comes and goes. I've got a Nieman's jacket I had to break out the other day when I worked as an extra on "Terriers," a new television show being... (more)

What's a couple of golf carts at Fairbanks Ranch Country Club, when the sprinkler system saves the entire cart barn?

That was the case around 10:20 a.m., Monday when a fire broke out in the golf cart barn at the fabled country club and the sprinkler system did its job, according to Rancho Santa Fe fire officials.

Rancho Santa Fe firefighters along with San Diego city firefighters responded to the country club fire in the 14000 block of San Dieguito Road only to find the sprinkler system holding the blazes at bay, according to Julie Taber, Rancho Santa Fe Fire public information officer. Firefighters quickly extinguished what was left of the blaze, she said.

“This incident clearly demonstrates the importance of properly working fire sprinkler systems,” said Nick Pavone, Rancho Santa Fe Fire chief. “If not for the sprinkler system activating, the fire would have been much worse and the building could have been a total loss.”

Damage to  confined to two golf carts was estimated at... (more)

The new R. Roger Rowe School construction continues on pace, according to school district officials, racing towards a Sept. 7 date with the opening of the new school year.

Ah-Ha was there Friday, July 2, checking out the scene so you could check out the latest images. Also attached are files showing the architect's design outlines as well as a project fact sheet.

"Those of us on campus every day cannot help but notice the incremental changes," school officials said. "Yet, it is still striking to consider how far we have come."

The new Rowe School is a beginning, for sure, but also represents the culmination of a process that took upwards of 15 years as school officials sought to find a solution to overcrowding in the unique, one-school district.

Several proposals to locate a separate middle school or relocate the Village campus went down to narrow defeats in bond proposals. Following a lengthy public process, the district finally passed a comprehensive bond issue to build up rather than build elsewhere. A... (more)

With the 4th of July just around the corner, the Rancho Santa Fe Fire Protection District would like to remind everyone that fireworks, an exciting and traditional part of our Independence Day celebrations, are best left to the experts.

Legal firework displays done by professional pyrotechnicians can be viewed throughout San Diego County. However, aside from those professionally done shows, ALL fireworks are illegal in San Diego County. This includes, but is not limited to, firecrackers, torpedoes, sky-rockets, Roman candles, sparklers, snap caps, and poppers.

According to the National Fire Protection Association, thousands of people, including children and teens, are injured every year while using consumer fireworks. Even something as “harmless” as a sparkler, which burns at over 1,200 degrees Fahrenheit, can cause critical injuries and pose a serious fire hazard. Due to the high risk of injury and fire presented by these items, possessing fireworks is a&... (more)

Rancho Santa Fe firefighters around 11:15 a.m. Tuesday beat down a brush fire burning on 2.2 acres on Artesian Road, just north of Crosby Estate. No injuries were reported although the fire did burn near several luxury homes and horse ranches.

Firefighters responding to the fire in the 7900 block of Artesian Road quickly put out the blaze, said Julie Taber, the fire protection district pubic affairs officer. "Crews remained on the scene for several hours to make sure there were no hot spots or flare‐ups," she said.

Responders included two brush engines, one water tender, one fire engine, three chief officers and the fire marshal, according to Taber. A fire engine and two hand crews from Cal Fire along with a fire engine from the city of San Diego also were on scene. Rancho Santa Fe Fire Battalion Chief Fred Cox commanded the operation., Taber said.

The cause of the blaze remains under investigation, Taber said.

SOLANA BEACH ---- This isn't Del Mar, but it's close, as local merchants and developers, with the help of city officials, have taken a four-block stretch of South Cedros Avenue and turned it into an upscale shopping area rivaling that of Solana Beach's sister city to the south.

Retail spending alone amounted to around $22.3 million in the Cedros Design District last year, and office vacancies are nonexistent.

A lot of civic pride is invested in this area, which once was funky industrial-warehouse-central and now is an airy promenade of 65 retail stores catering to the affluent set, as well as dozens of architectural and design-themed offices.

The perfumed air that permeates the South Cedros district from Lomas Santa Fe on the north to Rosa Street on the south not only brings in a lot of business, according to development leaders, but also adds a certain cachet to a community looking for an identity.

"Cedros has generated a significant amount of sales tax receipts for the city," said David... (more)

The Equinox Center research group says the Santa Fe Irrigation District, which includes Rancho Santa Fe and Solana Beach, uses much more water per person than anywhere else in San Diego County. This, and more regional information, was included in the center's "Regonal Quality of Life Dashboard" released this month.

(Visit http://www.equinoxcenter.org/regional-dashboard.html for more information about water use and other regional issues.)

The county is expected to raise rates even higher next month because of an extra charge it has to pay for importing water.

San Diego and the Sweetwater District, which includes parts of South Bay, uses less than a hundred gallons per person per day, according to center research.

Valley Center residents use about 250 gallons per person. The Olivenhain District uses 272 gallons and the Santa Fe Irrigation District, which includes Rancho Santa Fe and Solana Beach, uses 544 gallons per person.

While sinks and showers use water, more than half of all... (more)