Little doubt a great many among our younger generations are unaware that the one-time world’s largest astronomical telescope is located on nearby Palomar Mountain, which is less than an hour’s drive from the North San Diego County communities of Oceanside, Vista, San Marcos or Escondido. With a $6 million grant from the Rockefeller Foundation, astronomer George Ellery Hale orchestrated the planning, design and construction of the…
When Charles Manson died in November 2017, his name carried weight even among those who weren’t alive when he committed his crimes. For decades, Manson was the symbol of evil, a real-life boogeyman who loomed as the American conception of wickedness incarnate. His death ended 48 years of imprisonment for a series of murders in August 1969, some of which he committed, most of which…
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,…
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…
New California laws taking effect on January 1, 2023 include: Abortion (AB-2223) — It protects a woman or pregnant person who chooses to end a pregnancy from prosecution, even if the abortion is self-induced or happens outside the medical system. It also abolishes the requirement that coroners investigate stillbirths and protects someone who helps a pregnant person end their pregnancy voluntarily from criminal or civil…
The more things change the more they stay they same eerily reflects the appointment of a new Escondido police chief. That would be Ed Varso, announced Tuesday as new police chief come Dec. 27. Varso was Escondido police chief from January 2020 before leaving in June of this year to become Menifee’s second police chief. Varso served in the Escondido Police Department from 2002 until…
Once improved, desalination could be a better drought solution for California than water reuse or more sustainable groundwater management. If the climate crisis is coming, the water crisis is already here. As rice fields were fallowed in California, Lake Mead water levels almost sunk so lowthat Hoover Dam could no longer generate power, and life-threatening toxic dust blew off the dried-up Salton Sea. Thirty percent…
Get that up to $1,050 California direct tax refund today? Fret not, direct payments or money cards for about 23 million Californians are going in the direct deposit account or mailbox through next year, state officials said. Part of the $308 billion state budget signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom on June 30, one-time payments known as the Middle Class Tax Refund (MCTR) will be sent…
California now features a first-in-the-nation law requiring social media companies to publicly post their policies regarding hate speech, disinformation, harassment and extremism on their platforms, and report data on their enforcement of the policies. Social media companies through their Internet Coalition and other trade associations vigorously opposed the law authorized through AB 587. Court challenges are being considered, trade groups said. Gov, Gavin Newsom signed…
California Gov. Gavin Newsom this week announced $53 million in new housing grants intended to create more residential care options for older adults and adults with disabilities, including people at risk of experiencing homelessness. “California is making significant housing investments to support some of our most vulnerable residents – low-income older adults and adults with disabilities – to live with safety and dignity in their communities,” Newsom said…