Del Mar Stories
Frank Hope Sr. was a World War I veteran and UC Berkeley dropout when he came to San Diego to work for the esteemed architectural firm Requa & Jackson. By 1928, he had struck out …
Propping up Del Mar's failing bluffs with piles, plants and seawalls is a temporary fix until the railway can be relocated. But many see the work causing lasting changes. A skinnier beach. Industrial looking bluffs. …
“The horse was named after the doctor that did my wife’s breast implants,” said Erik, the owner of Dr. Troutman, the odds-on favored horse in the first race, on the first day of the 82nd …
The next segment of the growing Coastal Rail Trail will be built in Encinitas, adding another half-mile to a network planned to yield 44 miles of car-free links from Oceanside to San Diego. Running along …
When friends ask Zach Johnson’s daughters what their daddy does, it can be hard. How do you tell someone your daddy races pigs? But he must be doing something right. He has four teams of …
“Better than I expected. I’m very pleased,” said Terrill at the High Seas Hawaiian Shirt booth, inside Bing Crosby Hall, at the Covid-abbreviated San Diego County Fair. He thought most of the other booth operators …
As summer nears, sharks are on the move. And so are people, packed like sardines on beaches and in the water where sometimes, a large predatory fish swims right below, unnoticed. Over the last five …
I remember the first time I felt nervous about what I was eating. “Nervous,” as opposed to “apprehensive,” which describes how I felt the first time I ate ant eggs, corn smut, and rattlesnake at …
After Del Mar re-zoned its North Commercial area last fall to help meet affordable housing goals, locals moved swiftly to reverse the change. Now, it's the city council pushing back on the effort to thwart …
Del Mar doesn't have food waste pickup. But by next year, it will have to. And restaurants, hard hit by the pandemic, are sweating the new costs, from dumpsters to rodent control. State regulations aimed …
The North County Transit District held off on plans to install the Del Mar portion of its rail corridor fencing last fall due to intense opposition, but as the year begins, the waiting is over. …
Politics can get rough in the county’s smallest city where just 3450 voters decide who runs the five-person Del Mar city council. In last month’s election, two different slates were running to occupy three seats. …
While Covid-triggered cancelations pushed the Del Mar Fairgrounds into a $10 million deficit as of September, two former fairground employees claim that that the fairgrounds governing board and its staff was headed for a fall …
The Mainly Mozart Festival has gotten underway and now it’s almost over. The festival concludes on Saturday, October 24 at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. On opening night, Saturday, October 17, the event was sold out …
The city of Del Mar passed a key zoning amendment on October 19 that helps it comply with state housing laws, but it's too little, too late for the developer of the lots, who will …
This week, we visit a “stunning Cape Cod style home nestled in the trees of Olde Del Mar,” billed in listing materials retrieved from realtor.com as “a true masterpiece by John O’Brien of Flagg Coastal …
Singer Whitney Shay headlined a recent live show (complete with a real audience) on August 15 in the overflow parking lot of the Del Mar fairgrounds. It was one example of where live music might …
There's only one place to cross the railway legally to get to the beach in Del Mar. But instead of adding more safe crossings, transit officials want to add 1.4 miles of fencing along the …
Beach fire rings are a beloved beach tradition for families and youth groups to roast marshmallows and tell stories. Or are they an attractive nuisance drawing in transient drunks who fight and make late night …
San Marcos City Manager Jack Griffin begins his annual June letter to the mayor and city council, “It is kind of my pleasure to submit the Fiscal Year 2020-2021 Operations and Maintenance Budget.” That “kind …
Without the fair and special events held throughout the year, the Del Mar fairgrounds has announced it expects to be $65 million in the hole by the end of summer. A hat-in-hand plea to borrow …
To keep Del Mar's essential services going amid the pandemic, the city proposed a pause on tree and view complaints through June 30, 2021. It didn't go well. To many residents, defending a scenic view …
Del Mar Fairgrounds executive director Tim Fennell has blamed COVID-19 as the key reason why his 160-employee district, now $20 million in the red, could implode and leave the future of the Del Mar Fair …
A new ordinance regulating the use of drones in Del Mar will take effect on June 17. The rules will "add to guidelines set by the FAA," a city report says. While the Federal Aviation …
Not ready to move 600 homes inland As Del Mar sees it, they've worked tirelessly to amend their local coastal plan to account for sea rise. Flooding, beach loss, and coastal bluff erosion were all …
This week, we visit what’s billed as “the highest standard of California coastal living,” a 6532-square-foot oceanview mansion at 516 Stratford Court. According to listing remarks retrieved from Trulia, the home is “ideally situated on …
When ballyhooed East Coast burger chain Shake Shack made its way west a few years ago, all we loyal Southern California burger fans rushed to say how much we still prefer In-N-Out. And yet, somehow, …
Del Mar officials want the trains off the bluffs. Transit officials want the people off the tracks. Neither side is succeeding, and with the number of trains increasing from 50 to 79 this year, the …
While other cities in San Diego have stopped using red light cameras, a photo enforcement tool meant to reduce accidents, Del Mar, Solana Beach and Encinitas, which installed the cameras in 2004, are keeping theirs. …
A little over a year ago, a new San Diego-focused alcohol distributor announced its launch. Scout Distribution boasted a small portfolio of known and emerging local brands including Abnormal Beer, Bivouac Cider, and Juneshine hard …
As Del Mar sees it, they've worked tirelessly to amend their local coastal plan to account for sea rise. Flooding, beach loss, and coastal bluff erosion were all considered, and the adaptation plan put into …
San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station may be retired, but to many area residents, it's a sleeping giant. In July, it stirred. That's when its operator, Southern California Edison, was allowed to resume loading spent nuclear …
As horses have dropped dead at California tracks, some state politicos have been professing public concern regarding racing's public relations nightmare, including state Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins. Atkins showed up at Del Mar …
San Diego has trained me well. When I see the words “fresh fish market” associated with a restaurant, I imagine glass counters that contain glistening fresh filets tempting customers toward one seasonal catch or another. …
‘Well, I know the headlines won’t be about big hats.” Joe Harper, longtime CEO of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, is candid. It’s race time at Del Mar, where the humid days of summer usher …
Who knew back in 1977, when the Coastal Act was passed, that the sea would rise so quickly? Now, cities and the agency formed to protect the coastline, must deal with it - and with …
Time is ticking, deadlines loom. Del Mar needed affordable housing yesterday, and they will need it tomorrow. The city has until 2021 to fulfill their low-income housing allocation for the current housing element. That's 12 …
Like the scarecrow without a brain, this year’s Oz-themed San Diego County Fair had individually cataloged hundreds of lost and found items. The most unusual lost item? “A gold grill with diamonds in it,” said …
Last week, I found myself at the Del Mar Fairgrounds, feeling dizzy. Funny thing is, I hadn’t even made it on any of the rides yet. What addled me were the sights and smells of …
Is Del Mar’s world-famous attraction headed for extinction? “I grew up watching races with my dad, but maybe it’s time we end all this,” said a lifelong horse racing fan at the Santa Anita Racetrack …
The newly constructed home at 2811 Heather Lane is perched on a hillside just south of San Dieguito Lagoon, the slim body of water separating a neighborhood of high-end luxury estates from the adjacent Del …
San Dieguito Lagoon is the largest of San Diego County’s six lagoons and is part of the 92,000-acre San Dieguito River Park. The park contains the Coast to Crest Trail, which will eventually run from …
“The weather app said it was supposed to be sunny until later this afternoon,” my friend Valerie said as we watched large raindrops fall on our outdoor table at Pacifica Breeze Café in Del Mar. …
On Oct. 9, 1975, the Reader published a story on driving shortcuts. It was written by then cabbie Ray Lilly and contained 14 San Diego shortcuts when gas went for about $.57 per gallon. In …
The seaside Del Mar Resort, if built, would be the biggest project ever built in Del Mar. Some are wondering why a project atop Del Mar’s last open coastal bluff is even being considered. Others …
To our credit or to our chagrin, San Diego has been the breeding ground for at least a couple of successful fast food chains: most notably Jack in the Box and Rubio’s Coastal Grill. Not …
A month after gun show opponents Ira and Rose Ann Sharp and their advocacy group helped convince the Del Mar Fairgrounds board that public land was no place for a gun show, Ms. Sharp received …
Will Del Mar horse groomers and fairground carnies be the next group to get squeezed out in the ongoing housing shakedown? Those temporary Del Mar fairground employees may eventually feel the pain due to a …
A man and woman accused of working together to steal an expensive bicycle from a Del Mar diner four months ago were in court this morning to hear evidence against them. Colleen Marie Donovan, 29, …
Thirty-six years ago, the Reader surveyed the San Diego County coastline in search of any remaining vacant, buildable land along the coast. In January of 1982, we found a scant 79 parcels of land remaining, …
My son was ready for a rite of passage: Going through the haunted attractions at the Scream Zone on the Del Mar Fairgrounds. Yes, at the age of 12, he was ready to deal with …
Teri from Allied Gardens made $450 over the weekend driving her Hyundai Sonata for Uber and Lyft; much of her “best weekend ever” monies was due to the Kaaboo 3-day music festival (September 14-16) held …