The battle for Lake Hodges raged not against water, but against bureaucratic chains that bound its potential like steel fetters. In the harsh, unforgiving landscape of North County, where nature’s fury could ignite with the slightest provocation, men and women stood resolute, challenging the cold calculus of state mandates. The lake, a titan of water constrained by governmental decree, trembled at 273 feet—the lowest mark…
San Diego County, in its restless and sprawling way, has opened another Immigrant and Refugee Welcome Center, this time at Escondido. It’s a gesture steeped in good intentions, wrapped in the hopeful language of inclusion. Here, they say, the doors are open wide, no questions asked about where you came from or how you got here. They call it a place where people can seek…
Ah, dear reader, let us weave a tale of holiday cheer, as though by the pen of Dickens himself, capturing the festive spirit that stirs the hearts of North County! Picture if you will, a panorama of joy and delight, wherein every corner bursts with the enchantments of the season, inviting families and friends to partake in yuletide merriment. Carlsbad: A Tapestry of Cheer Through…
The San Luis Rey River Park, a significant regional park, includes a historic 18-mile trail that has been used by equestrians for decades, according to “Help Save Our Trails,” a local equestrian group. The Bonsall Community Park plan should integrate more with the existing trail network, group leaders said. However, during the community outreach for the park’s development, equestrian groups were notably absent from discussions….
Sept. 10, 2001 was pretty much like any other day. That is to say honored only in its passing, don’t remember what happened. Sept. 11, 2001, as we all know, was a day seared in our personal and national memories like few others. Don’t know when the carnage began, but at my Del Dios home phones started ringing way too early in the morning and…
Seen a wild pandemonium of parrots lately? Report it immediately. That’s the question and request posed by University of San Diego Biology Instructor Dr. Janel Ortiz and her San Diego Parrot Project, along with “parrot sighting submission form” and a hardy SDPP thank you. Ortiz took the academic show on the road Wednesday. That’s when she and her flock of students took flight with a…
Its gates are forever locked. The koi have died. A lonesome breeze blows through faded gardens overgrown with weeds. The waterfalls have ceased falling and even the roses have faded into wilted dreams. Welcome to Pikake Botanical Gardens at 15515 Villa Sierra Road, once one of the wonders of the horticultural world, now reduced to ashes and memories. A private botanical garden on nine acres,…
Pala Store may be a hundred yards away from Pala Casino Spa & Resort, but it feels like a creature from another planet. It is, too, for this store lives in a parallel universe, both in space and time. At 3000 Pala Mission Road, the store that has served as focal point for nearly eight decades was, and remains, the only store from Pala at…
(Editor’s Note: Originally published Sept. 22, 2001 in the North County Times…) Clown came to town. He was talking peace by the freeway as others spoke of war. “I’m mainly out here for world peace,” said the thin, wispy-bearded 22-year-old who blew in from a Sonoma organic farm to visit his “girl,” and child in Ramona. In case you missed Clown — his nom d’pax…
“March 21, 2023 is the 12th Anniversary of the first show of Mark’s Groovy Trip on Rez Radio 91.3. Join us today from 1:00-4:00PM Pacific Time for our special !2th Anniversary Show featuring songs that peaked out at the #12 position on the Billboard Hot 100. Download the RezRadio 91.3 app at Google Play or the Apple App Store for the best listening experience. You…