The World

Featured, History, The World September 10, 2022

Local ironworker Paul Pursley spent 10 weeks at Ground Zero following Sept. 11

Sept. 11, 2001: Local ironworker Paul Pursley spent 10 weeks at “Ground Zero” following the terrorist attack. His major complaint in the years following concerned his inability to get correct, and affordable, treatment due to the costs involved, costs that Congress finally agreed to add funding to the 9/11 First Responders fund almost 18 years later. “Ironworkers worked every day,” Pursley said. “We went on 12-hour shifts…

Del Mar/Solana Beach/Encinitas/Carlsbad, Horse racing, Rancho Santa Fe, Sports, The World November 5, 2021

Breeders Cup Notes: Saturday contenders complete final preparations at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club

The Breeders’ Cup World Championships, the ultimate handicapping challenge for horseplayers, returns to Del Mar in Southern California this weekend, with Saturday’s schedule featuring nine championship races, including the $4 million Breeders’ Cup Turf and $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic. The latter features an elite field. Seven of the nine horses already have won a Grade 1 race and six of the nine have earned…

Blogs, Columns/Blogs, Opinion, The World June 11, 2021

It’s my birthday. Please punch a racist for me.

Now that I’ve got your attention, do me a favor and recognize that the headline to this story is hyperbolic sarcasm. Because if you punch a racist, you’re not getting the point of what’s going on in this country. By now you’ve no doubt heard the artificially induced hue and cry over something called Critical Race Theory. With everything else that’s going on in the…

Health, Health & Fitness, Lifestyle/Society, The World May 11, 2021

Climate change uncertainty hurts everyone

Tarik Benmarhnia didn’t plan on ending up here, in an office overlooking the pier at UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography. As a young student in France, he started out studying environmental engineering, with an interest in soil decontamination. During his schooling, he developed an interest in environmental justice. That eventually drove him to pursue a Ph.D. in epidemiology. Most stories about climate change…

Blogs, Columns/Blogs, Dean Weissmann presents, San Diego, The World May 9, 2021

Ride, Sally Ride

Editor’s Note: Last May represented a great month for Americans in space. SpaceX became the first private corporation to launch people in space as Dragon capsule blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center, carrying two NASA astronauts up, up and away from United States soil for the first time in nearly a decade. As it hurtled towards the International Space Center, the day’s hurrahs extended to…

Del Mar/Solana Beach/Encinitas/Carlsbad, Entertainment/Arts, Featured, Lifestyle, Lifestyle/Society, Media, Rancho Santa Fe, The World February 19, 2021

Larry King comes to San Diego for Kids Korps

I met Larry King at a Kids Korps gala event in March 2007. He made me laugh, and was a fun person to interview. February 2021 I recall he had this to say about Kids Korps: “As a whole, KK the best thing about it is your kids getting involved and getting something done. It is not that complex. They see a goal they accomplish…

California, Coronavirus, The World December 9, 2020

COVID, seniors, vaccines — what to expect

Vaccines that protect against COVID-19 are on the way. What should older adults expect? The first candidates, from Pfizer and Moderna, could arrive before Christmas, according to Alex Azar, who heads the Department of Health and Human Services. Both vaccines are notably effective in preventing illness due to the coronavirus, according to information released by the companies, although much of the data from clinical trials…

History, The World, Tourism, Transportation, Travel December 8, 2020

Women aviation influencers to be feted

The San Diego Air & Space Museum will host its annual International Air & Space Hall of Fame Virtual Gala at 6 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 17 where it will induct two influential women in the world of aviation. The museum will induct Barbara Barrett, a businesswoman, attorney and diplomat currently serving as Secretary of the United States Air Force, and Tammie Jo Shults, retired Southwest…

History, The World, Tourism, Valley Center December 7, 2020

1846 Battle of San Pasqual redux

In the San Pasqual Valley southeast of Escondido, in the darkness of early morning on December 6, 1846, the American Army under Stephen Watts Kearny fought the bloodiest encounter to win California from Mexico. The San Pasqual battle was only one of the military encounters in California in the war, but proved to be the bloodiest and most controversial as to outcome. San Pasqual Battlefield…