California

No more Del Mar gun sales shows for you

The California Assembly voted Thursday, April 25 to ban gun and ammunition sales at the Del Mar Fairgrounds in San Diego County, one of two legislative efforts to ban gun shows on state property. Assembly members Todd Gloria, D-San Diego, and Tasha Boerner-Horvath, D-Encinitas, introduced the bill in February. Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego, added her name as a co-author earlier this month. The bill…


As climate change erodes US coastlines, an invasive plant could become an ally

Many invasive species are found along U.S. coasts, including fishes, crabs, mollusks and marsh grasses. Since the general opinion is that invasives are harmful, land managers and communities spend a lot of time and resources attempting to remove them. Often this happens before much is known about their actual effects, either good or bad. The common reed Phragmites australis is a tall perennial grass with…


Yes, we still have avocados, for now

Ah, Avocados;  it’s been a tough month, but Henry Avocado Corp. is back from a listeria recall and so far, no Trump border closure. His threatened U.S.-Mexico border closure would mean no avocados on store shelves within three week, according to experts. With all the controversy, however, avocado prices jumped higher than an NBA all-star at the dunking competition. Prices have remained higher than usual…


Three-Dot Lounge goes loco, er, local

There was a method to the madness of presenting San Francisco legend Herb Caen’s three-dot lounge history along with its various re-interpretations. That was to set up Escondido Grapevine’s own three-dot lounge approach to local and state news. For more about the concept, visit our story here. For more local three-dot news, keep on trucking below… Time to get smART at the Seventh Annual Escondido Youth…


Newsom’s death penalty hold and the nation

Both celebration – and ire – followed Gov. Gavin Newsom’s announcement of a moratorium on the death penalty in California. California’s 737 death row inmates constitute more than a quarter of the national number. Keeping them on death row costs $150 million a year more than sentencing them to life without parole. California’s death penalty has been at an impasse for decades. The state has…


Introduction to Herb Caen’s three-dot lounge

Anything following an ellipsis is a friend of mine for the night. It’s code for ‘you didn’t hear it from me, but. … ‘” —  Mark Pargas, “A Visit to the Three-Dot Lounge” It’s been over 20 years since famed San Francisco journalist Herb Caen (1916-1997) died. For journalists and San Franciscans, Caen was a superstar. Known as “Mr. San Francisco,” his columns were a…


SDSU: The shape of Imperial Valley water

SDSU researchers examine the effects of shrinking water supplies in the Imperial-Mexicali Valley. Whenever it rained, six-year-old Trent Biggs would get in trouble for digging ditches in the school playground. “I just liked watching water flow around,” he explained. He still does. Now a San Diego State University geography professor, Biggs leads water-use studies from the Himalayan foothills of Nepal to the Amazon rainforests of…


Lake Hodges good to go at 2/3rds capacity

More rain in one of San Diego County’s rainiest of winter seasons is expected to drop an inch or two across the San Diego region Wednesday through Friday, but Lake Hodges Dam is holding strong. The dam has spilled and last overflowed February-to-March 2011. It also overflowed in February 2005. However, despite a small El Nino pineapple express of rains this season, while Lake Hodges…


DMV reorganizes, recycling disappoints

As California continues to look for ways to curb long wait times at Department of Motor Vehicle offices, state lawmakers are introducing a series of proposals to help out motorists, including one that would permit vehicle registration every two years instead of annually. Under Senate Bill 460, the DMV’s director would be authorized to permit biennial registration beginning on Jan. 1, 2020. Subsequent vehicle registration…


California Pacific Airlines says it will rise again

Like the Black Knight in “Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” who kept on fighting despite being torn apart limb by limb, California Pacific Airlines chief Ted Vallas said Tuesday his troubled 10-year airline project would fly again “within three months.” California Pacific Airlines flew for one month last year, incurred large debts, grounded its airplane, left employees without payments, got kicked out of the…