2015

Shadows across the Hidden Valley

Gregory Paul Welch and Ivan Rios couldn’t be more different. You may not know them, but you’ve seen them. As this holiday season winds down Grand Avenue to its inevitable conclusion, the poignant reflections of these two ghosts casts a spell along the city’s shadows. Walking the streets of Escondido today, delivering newspapers to stores incarnate, these men’s stories struck an odd note surrounded and…


Police seek stabbing suspect from Sunday brawl near Bear Valley Middle School

Another whodunnit has caused Escondido Police to reach out to the public for help identifying a stabbing suspect from large fight just after midnight Sunday, Dec. 20. The brawl took place just outside Bear Valley Middle School near the intersection of Bear Valley Parkway and Canyon Drive. The fight was one for the ages, or at least young adults, in the 2800 block of Bear…


San Marcos 14-year-old shot dead last month identified, killer or killers at large

His name now is known. His killer or killers remain at large. The San Diego Sheriff’s Office Monday appealed to the public for help in solving what has become a disturbing mystery. Fourteen year old Brandon Gonzalez was found collapsed on a sidewalk in the 3500 block of De Leone Road around 11 p.m. Friday, Nov. 20. Witnesses reported hearing multiple gun shots around the…


Escondido, San Marcos public safety allocations revealed by SANDAG report

Escondido led San Diego County jurisdictions this fiscal year in the percentage of overall public safety funding allocated in the city budget. The city allocated 43 percent of its budget to law enforcement, a similar percentage as El Cajon. Otherwise, the nine incorporated cities in the county spent an average of 33 percent of budgets on law enforcement. Not all the Escondido funding came from…


Four killed, three injured in fiery Hwy 78 crash near Nordahl Drive late Sunday

A young boy, a teenage girl and two women from Loma Linda died late Sunday on Highway 78 while a Fallbrook driver was arrested, then released following a fiery crash, California Highway Patrol officers said. Three other people driving with the four killed were injured. Just before 11 p.m., according to CHP Sgt. Curtis Martin, the driver of a 2014 Chevy Sonic attempted to change…


Valley Center ‘pH Miracle’ advocate Robert Young’s trial resumes Dec. 30

The trial of Valley Center’s Robert Oldham Young, best known for his pH Miracle Living Center, and popular series of books advocating an alkaline diet, resumes Dec. 30, more than a month after opening statements were made. Young faces charges in Vista Superior Court related to activities at the ranch including two counts of grand theft and seven counts of practicing medicine without a license…



Upon further review: Mayflower Dog Park is back for the holidays

As with Mark Twain’s famous refutation of his publicly reported death, reports of the Escondido Dog Park’s demise were greatly exaggerated, according to Escondido officials. Closed last week due to fears of the presence of the highly contagious parvovirus, Escondido dog officials re-opened the park today, Wednesday, Dec. 16. Dog park lovers beware, however. Despite reports of parvovirus at the park, Escondido officials did nothing…


North County Transit District comes clean about leadership after costly court battle

The North County Transit District has turned over a leadership assessment summary after more than a year of legal back-and-forth between inewsource and the public agency, at a cost to both organizations of more than a quarter-million dollars in combined legal fees. A San Diego public transportation agency spent more than $100,000 to fight a public records act request, eventually producing a partial summary of a leadership…


Long night’s fiery (vehicles) journey into day at Eagles Point Apartments

Dazed and confused residents of Eagles Point Apartments at 1501 E Grand Avenue were reeling from a series of vexing vehicle fires early Wednesday morning. The jury remains out whether the fires were accidental or set by arsonists. The long night’s fiery journey into day started around 1 a.m. when Escondido Fire Department units responded to a report of three vehicles — a car, SUV…