2015

TEN Tenors come home for the holidays at California Center for the Arts, Escondido

Seven, eight nine, but 10, count ’em, The Ten Tenors at the California Center for the Arts (CCAE) , 7:30 p.m., Dec. 3? Sure, why not. The more the merrier the holiday season. What’s a better way to celebrate the holiday season than with international singing sensation The TEN Tenors? “I’m excited about the TEN Tenors,” enthused CCAE executive director Jerry Van Leeuwen said when…


Big Escondido city manager salary reveal and more came Wednesday (spoiler alert)

Time for the big reveal on Wednesday, Nov. 18. That’s when the Escondido City Council members unanimously approved, with no practical discussion, the new $234,719 annual base salary with an additional, and lucrative, benefits package and contract for newly hired city manager Graham Mitchell who assumes office Dec. 18. It’s the same as outgoing city manager Clay Phillips got in his last three-year contract although Mitchell…


Thanksgiving Escondido is about to pop

  Thanksgiving in the U.S. brought together families from near and far to celebrate a day of turkey, football, parades and possibly, this year, shopping. It’s one of the major American holidays laden with traditions and sometimes misconceptions about its origins. The holiday is mythologized as beginning in 1621 when the Pilgrims invited the native Wampanoag Indians to their colony to celebrate the first harvest…


Lake Wohlford where the catfish are biting

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…


Two-alarm fire guts two condo units, causes $50K in damages on E. Valley Parkway

Four Escondido residents, a dog and two cats were displaced today as a 2-alarm fire ripped through their 2-story condo complex in the 2100 block of E. Valley Parkway, according to Escondido Fire battalion chief Mike Bertrand. Escondido firefights received the first alarm via 911 shortly after noon, Bertrand said. A roofing contractor doing repair work on the roof did the honors. “The initial report of…


Get your tamales on at Grape Day Park along with Dos Valles poinsettias, VC art

Here today, gone tamale? With a salute to that classic Speedy Gonzalez Looney Tunes animated feature, and a tip of the corn-based dough, Escondido hosts its first ever, and hopefully annual ,Tamale Festival. Tamales are set to roll from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 14 at Grape Day Park, 321 N. Broadway. The FREE festival will feature a VIP tamale tasting area —…


San Marcos Civics 101: Have committees, need members (Video)

San Marcos officials today were encouraging residents to get involved and make a difference in their community by applying for open positions on several city commissions and committees. Openings exist on the Community Services Commission, Planning Commission, San Marcos Community Foundation, Student and Neighborhood Relations Committee and Traffic Commission. The deadline to apply for each of these openings is 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec, 22. Appointments…


Mall movies, Haggen, TOT, Hager Pacific, NAPP, Nordahl Marketplace, say what?

Movie madness at Westfield North County With cable, satellite, Netflix, Youtube and and Apple TV, among other outlets, who said going to the movies was out of style? Not Westfield North County. Even as the Westfield Corporation said it was selling fellow regional Westfield Carlsbad mall to Rouse Properties, it announce3d a new 10-screen theater headed to its Escondido mall. The theater will be built…


Color Veteran’s Day red, white and blue at San Marcos and Escondido parks

More than 400 people joined the City of San Marcos for a Veterans Day Ceremony to celebrate and thank the hometown veteran heroes on Wednesday, Nov. 11. Taking place from noon to 3 p.m. at Helen Bougher Memorial Park, 1243 Borden Road, the program celebrated local veterans though a formal military ceremony. Lunch was followed by a traditional reception with complimentary cake provided by Mission…


Melissa Etheridge provides fine time at California Center for the Arts, Escondido

For its 2014-15 season, the California Center for the Arts, Escondido featured 26 shows with 10 sellouts and a total of 285,000 visits to Escondido’s cultural hub. Revenue was up about $35,000 as a result. “We re-established our performing arts season,” — California Center for the Arts, Escondido executive director Jerry Van Leeuwen Melissa Etheridge came to town on Nov. 6, playing the only North County…