No Steven Colbert. No “60 Minutes. No nothing this week on KFMB, the San Diego CBS affiliate, and CW San Diego for those looking for them on DirecTV and AT&T U-verse. What’s a satellite TV and cable junky to do? The latest in TV content disputes hit San Diego and 50 other markets hosting Tegna’s 64 TV stations reaching 41.7 million TV households covering 39%…
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Dateline Rancho Santa Fe. March 26, 1997. A 911 call came into the San Diego Sheriff’s Communications Center. It was treated as a prank call at first. From what turned out to be a nearby payphone, the caller said something so preposterous that dispatchers took their time in relaying the information to central command. “This is regarding a mass suicide. I can give you the address,” the…
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Nearly three months after San Diego County’s most destructive fire of 2020 burned down her Lawson Valley home, 78-year-old Eileen Menzies spends her days sifting through the rubble she has yet to completely clear from her property. A neighbor whose new hemp farm was nearly destroyed is meeting with lawmakers in hopes of improving agricultural insurance in fire-prone areas. And two miles across the hills…
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Omar Possenti popped it up at Cielo Village on Thanksgiving Day with what is the latest attempt at establishing a culinary presence at the seemingly foodie-cursed spot just off Del Dios Highway. This time, however, opportunity, occasion and karma just may be right as the exuberant Italian native and gourmet businessman dished out equal doses of La Dolce Italiano with authentic handmade pasta dishes, focaccia,…
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It all ended for Phil’s BBQ at San Marcos today when the fat lady sang no more mesquite grilled baby back and beef ribs, chicken and sandwiches for you, no thanks to COVID-19. In a stunning late Thursday announcement, especially distressing for local lovers of one of the best barbecue experiences in the nation, Phil’s BBQ said it was closing its San Marcos location permanently…
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(Taxpayer-funded San Diego County News Center provides the following tips and resources concerning keeping the holidays jolly by avoiding fraud and other miscreant behavior.) Santa’s checking receipts, he’s checking them twice — you should, too By Gig Conaughton Cash registers ring, are you listening? Black Friday’s back, sales are glistening! Make sure your shopping is sweet, double check your receipts. So you’re not accidentally overcharged…
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Ah, Thanksgiving – the holiday that toasts America’s richness and bounty as no other. When we think of the loving labor that goes into preparing dinner for relatives and friends, it can anything but a holiday. The Thanksgiving table allows us to keep the day special, beautiful, and relaxing without being stuck in the kitchen. Whether you’re having a San Diego style get-together, celebrating somewhere…
Forecasters are expecting cooler weather across San Diego County this week, with a steady stream of high clouds continuing through much of Saturday. Dense fog affected portions of the coast Saturday morning, with multiple reports of visibilities below 100-200 feet, the National Weather Service said. “Nonetheless, temperatures should warm nicely into the high 70s and low 80s for most inland valleys, making this the warmest…
(Editor’s Note: Ray Paulick’s Report, based at Lexington, Kentucky, is an authoritative home for Thoroughbred racing news shining light on the horse industry. North America’s leading independent Thoroughbred racing website can be found at www.paulickreport.com.) California’s horse racing industry has never been good at long-range planning. Instability will do that. Historic Bay Meadows racetrack in San Mateo in the Bay Area was shuttered for development…
News from around the Escondido-Rancho Santa Fe-San Marcos region… Get in shape at the park when COVID dies down Escondido officials Wednesday Nov. 18, unveiled a new outdoor fitness court located at Mountain View Park, 1160 South Citrus Avenue. This capital project is a featured part of a 2020 initiative launched by National Fitness Campaign (NFC), a nationwide consulting organization that partners with cities to…
You know what they say, a bad day of fishing is better than a good day at work. And then some. That’s what brought three diverse generations of the Brinneman clan to the shore of Lake Wohlford last week where they found the catfish fishing and it was good. “We’ve got three catfish in there,” Roy Brinneman said, pointing to a cooler. “They just stocked…
“Escondido Mayor Sam Abed, critics say, is old school, a stereotypically brash small-town mayor. His GOP creds have been challenged by his attempts to block a 99-cent store from coming to Escondido and his acceptance of union support during his 2014 re-election campaign.” — Thomas K. Arnold The race for the District 3 seat on the San Diego County Board of Supervisors is heating up,…
All three male members of the San Marcos Planning Commission, whose two-year terms expired in December, were reappointed by the mayor and city council in January. The only woman on the seven-member commission, Wendy Matthews, was also reappointed. There are no term limits for commissioners, allowing for the growth of the good old boys network. Kevin Norris begins his eleventh year on the council, while…
Spoiler alert. Rep, Duncan Hunter (R-50th Congressional District), like his President idol (for now) Donald Trump should do everyone a favor and resign. Considering Hunter’s multiple transgressions, topped off by breaking the law by spending campaign finance $$$ for his, and his family’s, personal expenses, self-admitted by Hunter: The vape, on-the-take, Hunter managed to outdo himself last week. Hunter VOTED FOR THE GOP TAX PLAN…
At a frenzied, yet fruitful, pace Saturday, and Sunday, Sustainable Heroes volunteers from across the nation transformed a parched piece of transitional housing dirt into Aster Street Gardens, a landscaping delight. Beginning shortly after sunrise, celebrity TV host Ahmed Hassan of DIY Network/HGTV “Yard Crashers” fame, along with outdoor living designer Duane Draughon of Columbus, Ohio and about 30 volunteers got down to work, and…
This bit of Escondido-mania has blown up on social media since Wednesday. Desiree Bates of iHeartMedia sent me the “scoop” saying, “Thought I’d send this to you since it’s relevant to Escondido.” No sale. I wrote her back, saying, “Whoa, what is this thing? Don’t think our viewers are into it though.” Wow, was I wrong. This sucker has blown up all over the Internet….
With about 75 protesters forming outside San Diego-based Trump wannabe and Russian influenced One America News Network (OAN) on Saturday, the kindergarten-quality station showed its bravery by posting armed guards behind locked gates. Then, it got even worse for the nation’s least influential media supporter of the Trump embarrassment. Network founder and CEO Robbert Herring Sr. brought out his own kindergarten-quality sign, tried to affix…
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Election polling is facing yet another reckoning following its uneven-at-best performance in this year’s voting. Although the outcome in the 2020 presidential race remained uncertain the next day, it was evident that polls collectively faltered, overall, in providing Americans with clear indications as to how the election would turn out. And that misstep promises to resonate through the field of survey research, which was battered…
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The delegates in Philadelphia agreed, in the summer of 1787, that the new country they were creating would not have a king but rather an elected executive. But they did not agree on how to choose that president. Pennsylvania delegate James Wilson called the problem of picking a president “in truth, one of the most difficult of all we have to decide.” Other delegates, when…
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(This is a very special interview conducted by ace cub reporter Ayomi Wolff for Madison 365, a fellow member of the LION group of independent online news organizations and used by special permission granted by editor Rob Chappell. For more, madison365.org. Check it out!) With only one more day until the election, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), urges BIPOC people, especially young people, to get out and…
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Got to hand it to the carpetbagging, shameless Darrell Issa, who self-quarantined himself from his 49th Congressional District home in 2018 due to voter revulsion. He says coronavirus is the result of a left-wing conspiracy. Actual fact, this is what Issa said in a fundraising letter district voters received this week: “I won’t ignore the true threats to our national security because of moronic doomsday…
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The “Beautify Escondido” mural project along the Grand Avenue barriers has come together in the past few weeks to paint about a hundred concrete barriers along Grand Avenue with beautiful, inspiring artwork. During the COVID-19 pandemic, eateries along Grand Avenue in historic downtown Escondido have been allowed to open outdoor patios on the sidewalk and street. To keep lanes of traffic safely separated from diners,…
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Dateline Rancho Santa Fe. March 26, 1997. A 911 call came into the San Diego Sheriff’s Communications Center. It was treated as a prank call at first. From what turned out to be a nearby payphone, the caller said something so preposterous that dispatchers took their time in relaying the information to central command. “This is regarding a mass suicide. I can give you the address,” the…
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People have been debating D.B. Cooper ever since his Thanksgiving 1971 leap into history and out of a commercial flight from Portland to Seattle with a whole bunch of money. The same, on a smaller scale, appears to be happening with North County’s own Geezer Bandit, so-called. He hit Vista — twice — Rancho Santa Fe, La Jolla — twice — Poway and 10 other…
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Go down to Hernandez Hideaway at rural Lake Drive in Del Dios and people will swear up and down the long wooden bar that Hodgee, the friendly Lake Hodges monster, really truly — well, almost definitely exists. “The Lake Hodges Hodgee monster is kind of like the Loch Ness monster,” said Stan Smith, a long-time Del Dios resident. Smith, a cowboy poet and man about…
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Editor’s Note: Michael Patrick Welch, renowned New Oreans writer, musician, teacher and friend of The Escondido Grapevine, conducted an interview with the provocateur known to Andy Kauffman and Bob Zmuda fans as Tony Clifton. While others have shunned this outstanding piece of informational journalism, we embrace it and re-print this as a public service. “After a year of chasing Tony Clifton to get his thoughts…
Click Here or title to read moreOmar Possenti popped it up at Cielo Village on Thanksgiving Day with what is the latest attempt at establishing a culinary presence at the seemingly foodie-cursed spot just off Del Dios Highway. This time, however, opportunity, occasion and karma just may be right as the exuberant Italian native and gourmet businessman dished out equal doses of La Dolce Italiano with authentic handmade pasta dishes, focaccia,…
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Water. Everybody needs it. Everybody uses it. Activated water, or as Dr. W. John Martin refers to it, waterceuticals, may be the health wave of the future, he says. “Many infectious diseases have yet to be conquered by modern science,” said Martin, leader of the South Pasadena-based Institute of Progressive Medicine, and president of the non-profit MI Hope charity. “This is generally attributed to both…
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Cathy Ketchum is flying down Grand Avenue on a wig and a dream. “I just love the work I do with chemo patients,” Ketchum said. “I want to go over and above making them feel good about themselves.” Ketchum has a lot of experience helping cancer patients although she isn’t a medical professional or health care worker. In some ways, though, her work sometimes can…
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Not a lot of us are left, Doart Shoe Repair owner Lucia Capuano says before jumping out of her lunch to wait on yet another customer. Capuano’s talking cobblers, not customers. A steady stream of the latter enter the 35-year-old fixture at 103 S Broadway, just south of the 100 block of W Grand Avenue, constantly interrupting her attempt to lunch. Not to worry, time…
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Soap, bees, teachers, farmers, community “There is an urgent need to stop subsidizing the fossil fuel industry, dramatically reduce wasted energy, and significantly shift our power supplies from oil, coal, and natural gas to wind, solar, geothermal, and other renewable energy sources.” – Bill McKibben, Environmentalist “I’m convinced that if every home had solar panels on the roof, we could create all the energy we…
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Ah, Thanksgiving – the holiday that toasts America’s richness and bounty as no other. When we think of the loving labor that goes into preparing dinner for relatives and friends, it can anything but a holiday. The Thanksgiving table allows us to keep the day special, beautiful, and relaxing without being stuck in the kitchen. Whether you’re having a San Diego style get-together, celebrating somewhere…
Click Here or title to read more
Forecasters are expecting cooler weather across San Diego County this week, with a steady stream of high clouds continuing through much of Saturday. Dense fog affected portions of the coast Saturday morning, with multiple reports of visibilities below 100-200 feet, the National Weather Service said. “Nonetheless, temperatures should warm nicely into the high 70s and low 80s for most inland valleys, making this the warmest…
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(Editor’s Note: Ray Paulick’s Report, based at Lexington, Kentucky, is an authoritative home for Thoroughbred racing news shining light on the horse industry. North America’s leading independent Thoroughbred racing website can be found at www.paulickreport.com.) California’s horse racing industry has never been good at long-range planning. Instability will do that. Historic Bay Meadows racetrack in San Mateo in the Bay Area was shuttered for development…
Click Here or title to read more
News from around the Escondido-Rancho Santa Fe-San Marcos region… Get in shape at the park when COVID dies down Escondido officials Wednesday Nov. 18, unveiled a new outdoor fitness court located at Mountain View Park, 1160 South Citrus Avenue. This capital project is a featured part of a 2020 initiative launched by National Fitness Campaign (NFC), a nationwide consulting organization that partners with cities to…
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We are going to consider a few outstanding three-dot items stripped from below, well below, today’s coronavirus headlines. But first, a reminder and salute about he who pioneered the three-dot way It’s been over 20 years since famed San Francisco journalist Herb Caen (1916-1997) died. For journalists and San Franciscans, Caen was a superstar. Known as “Mr. San Francisco,” his columns were a vital piece…
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I’ve reached the breaking point on the ideological crusade built around self-victimization over attempts to slow or stem the coronavirus. Yes, I’m a high risk individual, but that’s not the reason why I’m ranting today. I’m just one part of a much bigger picture, namely the portion of the population certain politicians think is expendable in the name of profit. The nation is in the…
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Robynn Nussbaum put her heart and soul into The Shoe Lounge. It was a small, yet elegant, haute couture footwear and accessory store she opened at Del Rayo Plaza across from Fairbanks Country Club. An avid tri-athlete and marathon runner with three young children and four step-children, the 44-year-old Rancho Santa Fe resident had a passion for shoes. She dreamed for years of opening an…
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The Wisconsin of the West No More: San Diego is Now a Democratic Stronghold, What Will This Mean for Local Progressives and the Future of the City? With all the focus rightfully placed on the national picture, it’s worth noting how historic the election was here in San Diego. With Democratic victories in the County Board of Supervisors races, only one Republican left on the…
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