Articles by Special to The Grapevine

Can males get pregnant? Ask a La Jolla seadragon.

In “an extremely rare occurrence,” a pregnant male seadragon made history at a La Jolla aquarium. The weedy seadragon’s pregnancy marks “the first successful transfer of eggs from a female seadragon to a male” at the Seadragons & Seahorses habitat at the Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, a Jan. 9 news release from the aquarium said. “We’re elated to…


Palomar College building new football, softball stadiums

Erickson-Hall Construction has broken ground of new football stadium and softball fields of Palomar College at San Marcos, California. The $22.8 million facilities were designed by HMC Architects and funded by the $694 million Proposition M (Maintain & Modernize Palomar College) which was approved by voters in Nov. 2006. The proposition was passed for $694 million to be given to Palomar College in a series…


Is California drought over? Rain, snow, and reservoirs.

The year 2023 began with a historic bang — record precipitation and disastrous flooding throughout much of California. Parched watersheds soaked up the first rains, but soon became waterlogged. Runoff accelerated. Sodden hillsides collapsed. Rural levees burst and rivers spilled their banks. Towns went underwater. People died. Meanwhile, the Pacific Ocean continued to whip up more atmospheric rivers and “bomb cyclones,” and one after another,…


Paw Paw, Maw Maw, getting stoned, going to emergency rooms at record levels, UCSD research doctors say

As a growing number of older adults are experimenting with cannabis to help alleviate chronic symptoms, a new University of California San Diego School of Medicine study has identified a sharp increase in cannabis-related emergency department visits among the elderly. The study, published Jan. 9, 2023 in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, identified a 1,808% relative increase in the rate of cannabis-related trips…


An interview with Escondido

Ever wondered about the western indie duo Escondido, otherwise known as the team of Jessica Maros and Tyler James? They’re based at Nashville, but adopted Escondido as a name, and claim Mayor Sam Abed keeps emailing them. Will they ever play at their namesake town, who knows? But for now, listen to them speak courtesy of University of Toronto student Michaela Fuchs who interviewed them when they…


Key issues shaping California in 2023

Welcome to 2023 — a year that will likely prove decisive in California’s attempts to address some of its most pervasive challenges, ranging from housing and homelessness to climate change. CalMatters, open source state journalism project, sets forth some of the noteworthy issues in the year ahead. Wednesday, state lawmakers are set to return to Sacramento (though some may be driving instead of flying Southwest…


San Diego hotels recovering from pandemic downturn

Recovery from two-year pandemic shutdown not complete, but 2022 uptick promising San Diego County Lodging Association’s 2023 Hotel Economic Forecast predicts that the region’s hotels are poised to continue their recovery from nearly two years of pandemic shutdowns, welcoming business and convention travelers who are choosing Southern California over other destinations. “We are recovering, but we’re not recovered yet,” said Fred Tayco, Executive Director of…


(Trust?) But verify before donating to non-profits

Why Should You Research a Nonprofit Before You Donate? In general, nonprofit organizations exist to further a social cause or provide a public benefit. While many do, some don’t live up to the values and mission they claim. How nonprofits spend their money may be different than what you expect. For instance, ProPublica has reported on how the Red Cross built just six homes after…


Local news is getting creative about building sustainable business models

This article was originally published on Northwestern University’s Medill Local News Initiative website and is republished here with permission. Richland County is nestled smack dab in the middle of north central Ohio. It’s a mostly rural enclave in the center of a state in the heartland of America. Richland is not a wealthy place. The median household income and the percentage of adults with college degrees are…


You’re eating microplastics and don’t know it

We’re increasingly aware of how plastic is polluting our environment. Much recent attention has focused on how microplastics – tiny pieces ranging from 5 millimetres down to 100 nanometres in diameter – are filling the seas and working their way into the creatures that live in them. That means these ocean microplastics are entering the food chain and, ultimately, our bodies. But fish and shellfish…