December 2020

Encinitas cracks down on maskholes

(Editor’s note: This New Year’s Eve coronavirus update is provided by Encinitas Mayor Catherine Blakespear. She was elected to the Encinitas City Council in 2014 and won her mayoral election in 2018 with 83% of the vote. Blakespear holds a BA and MA injournalism from Northwestern University and JD from the Universty of Utah. As mayor and a representative of the City of Encinitas, she…


Olivenhain housing project comes under fire

The Encinitas Boulevard Apartments, a proposed housing development in Olivenhain, has sparked controversy among Encinitas residents. Some fear that the new housing will change the neighborhood’s character and cause traffic issues. The project would add a 283-unit, seven-story apartment complex near Encinitas Boulevard and Rancho Santa Fe Road. Developer Randy Goodson has submitted several similar proposals since at least 2005. In 2019, Goodson submitted another…


High-density avocado plantings profitable?

Growers considering producing avocados in San Diego County with high-density plantings now have help to determine the economic feasibility. A new study on the costs and returns of establishing and producing avocados in San Diego County has been released by UC Agriculture and Natural Resources’ Cooperative Extension, UC Agricultural Issues Center and the UC Davis Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics. Avocado has been one…


California’s New Laws Starting Jan. 1, 2021

Every year hundreds of new California laws take effect Jan. 1. Many of them won’t have much effect on your daily life. Here’s a closer look at some that might in 2021. Note: Thank you to our friends at Capital Public Radio for putting together this overview. You also can watch a video playlist of explainers below courtesy of CalMatters, or click to jump to…


San Diego’s most endangered historic sites

Save Our Heritage Organisation (SOHO), San Diego’s only countywide historic preservation advocacy group wraps up this year with its 22nd annual Most Endangered List of 12 historic buildings, sites, and landscapes. The pandemic’s stressors of uncertainty, inequity, and loss underscore the unifying power of our shared multicultural heritage and venerated historic places. The pandemic also threatens historic buildings and places that are not now regularly…


‘2051 Cucina Italiana’ staying at Cielo Village

Che bello! Following a successful 2-month pop-up run at Tuscany-themed Cielo Village, the boys from Bologna are staying through spring at 18021 Calle Ambiente #506, just around the corner from Rancho Santa Fe Fire Protetion District offices. Omar Possenti and Simone Guidotti took their Carlsbad authentic Etruscan dining experience to The Ranch just before Thanksgiving as their space near Palomar Airport was being renovated. Originally…


4 citrus disease pests found in Fallbrook

During routine pest trapping in Fallbrook this week, state agricultural inspectors detected bacteria on an insect that can cause a plant disease. It is not harmful to people or animals, but is deadly to citrus trees and is a dangerous agricultural threat, they said. California Department of Food & Agriculture (CDFA) inspectors on December 28 collected a group of four adult Asian citrus psyllids (ACP)…


Palomar Medical Center COVID wing opened

In the latest sign that COVID-19 has reached a critical stage in California, Gov. Gavin Newsom Wednesday activated the federal medical station at Palomar Medical Center. National Guard personnel descended on the regional hospital to take charge of activation of the 202-bed medical station installed on the 10th and 11th floors of the facility back in April. The federal medical station includes general use beds,…


Mission Hills QB Tuttle now leads Indiana U.

It’s been a long journey from San Marcos’ Mission Hills High School by way of Salt Lake City, Utah to the University of Indiana for quarterback Jack Tuttle, but all’s well that’s well ended. Tuttle, a redshirt sophomore, finally got his big break on Nov. 28 in the Hoosiers 27-11 win over the University of Maryland after starting quarterback Michael Penix suffered a bad break,…


Trump pardons Duncan Hunter, who pled guilty to $150K campaign finance fraud

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…