Despite pleading guilty to massive campaign finance fraud, former Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Vapeville) was pardoned Tuesday, Dec. 22 by Donald Trump. A White House press release issued shortly after 4 p.m. PST also named 19 other people pardoned by Trump, including Russia probe figures George Papadopoulos and former Rep. Chris Collins, who, along with Hunter, were the first members of Congress to endorse Trump. Margaret…

Consider the California Republican Party. Or, what’s left of it. Not long ago, California Republicans slugged it out with Democrats in competitive statewide campaigns and threw considerable weight into legislative policy debates. But today, after a quarter-century slide into irrelevancy and dogma, it’s reasonable to consider if the state party still has a pulse and if its future includes a revival. The California party faces…

I was outraged when I read a Thanksgiving column by my 2020 election opponent for California’s 75th Assembly District, Marie Waldron, titled “Does California Owe You Money.” It was another reminder for me why I decided to run to bring change to our district.   The article begins: ”The holiday season is fast approaching and many are suffering from severe economic distress resulting from the COVID 19…

Three new members of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors were sworn induring a virtual event on Monday Jan. 4. Supervisor Nora Vargas succeeded long-time District 1 Supervisor Greg Cox, who had served on the board since 1995. The district covers Coronado, Imperial Beach, Chula Vista, National City, some communities within the City of San Diego, and unincorporated areas including Bonita, Lincoln Acres and…

Despite pleading guilty to massive campaign finance fraud, former Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Vapeville) was pardoned Tuesday, Dec. 22 by Donald Trump. A White House press release issued shortly after 4 p.m. PST also named 19 other people pardoned by Trump, including Russia probe figures George Papadopoulos and former Rep. Chris Collins, who, along with Hunter, were the first members of Congress to endorse Trump. Margaret…

A citizens group is accusing Escondido, Calif.-based Palomar Health of violating an open meetings law when approving a controversial physician contract change, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune.  An attorney hired by the group, which calls itself “Citizens to Save Palomar Health,” sent a letter to the public healthcare district’s seven elected directors. The group alleges that Palomar and its leaders lacked transparency when changing…

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…

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…

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…

You may have noticed a curious recent announcement: An international research team plans to use state-of-the-art DNA testing to establish once and for all whether the Loch Ness monster exists. And for those locally, check out The Grapevine’s consideration of our local monster wannabe, Hodgee, the friendly Lake Hodges Moster, posted  here… Regardless of the results, it’s unlikely the test will change the mind of…