Del Mar Stories
Early morning or late afternoons are the best times for birding on this section of the Pacific Flyway.
Birthday girl Sarah divulges the secret to picking winners at the track — check out their butts.
One of the most popular events on Opening Day at the Del Mar racetrack is the Hats Contest. Entrants are judged in five categories: 1) Most Glamorous 2) Best Fascinator 3) Best Racing Theme 4) …
Opening day at the Del Mar Racetrack was packed. True to San Diego form a wide variety of spectators were in attendance. There were young 20-somethings, the middle-age set, families with young children, tourists, and …
It was a perfect day in Rancho Santa Fe — wisps of white clouds floated through an azure sky and a cool, easy breeze complemented the warmth of the sun. The only thing missing from …
Performers at this year’s county fair in Del Mar are getting a variety of compensation, judging from a sampling of entertainment contracts taken up by the board of the state’s 22nd agricultural district, which operates …
Grand del Mar resort owner and GOP publisher Douglas Manchester’s U-T San Diego appears to have gotten itself a pretty good deal from the board of the fair district. According to a board report on …
San Diego city crews started sand removal from the Los Peñasquitos Lagoon on the morning of June 11. Less than a month ago, California State Parks did an emergency lagoon opening to release stagnant water …
Border Patrol agents Kallie Helwig and Gerald Torello were both accused of being involved in a sex act in public at the Del Mar Fairgrounds last year that resulted in a physical altercation between Helwig and an accuser. A jury found Torello not guilty; Helwig got probation.
For the 28th consecutive year, Escondido’s Margaret Austin, known as the “Pink Pig Lady,” was the first to walk through the front gates at the opening of the San Diego County Fair on June 8. …
At 7:00 this morning, California State Parks personnel began the process of opening the Los Peñasquitos Lagoon in Del Mar. On hand are Natural Resources personnel as well as heavy-equipment operators, lifeguards, and maintenance crews. …
An $87,000 fine and 150 hours of community service sounds like a harsh penalty for a couple permit violations — but not in the case of Doug Manchester’s Grand Del Mar resort, where repeated permit …
Del Mar City Council delays permitting of food trucks within city limits.
Former Padres owner John Moores’ Del Mar pad up for sale.
If the recent plan to have a train stop at the Del Mar Fairgrounds falls through, resurrecting the adjacent former airport is certainly a nonstarter. Located on the San Dieguito River wetlands between the Del …
Hi Matt: Travelling between San Diego and Oceanside via the 5 I’ve noticed a couple of things. At the Via de la Valle turn-off on both sides of the freeway there are white PVC pipes …
Will you map the distance from Mia and Kerry’s place to the theater?” I called to David from the bathroom, where I was busy patting my head with wet hands to de-frizz my hair. “Why?,” …
Nowadays, I spend much of my time eating in restaurants or locked up in my office documenting those experiences. But before I wrote my first word about food, most of my time was spent in …
Walk among Torrey pine trees through coastal sage scrub and chaparral plants.
The Offspring show at the Del Mar Racetrack on Friday evening, August 10, kept sheriff's deputies, medical officials, and Elite security guards on edge all night. A large, boisterous crowd waited for the concert to …
Margaret Austin of Escondido was the first person in line at the fair's front gate and said she has been for at least the past 25 years. She woke up at 3:00 a.m. to board …
A preview of this year's San Diego County Fair in Del Mar was hosted Friday night, June 1, along the midway of the fairgrounds. The exclusive invitee list included hundreds of local members of the …
When the San Diego County Fair paid $80,000 to Gym Class Heroes to be a Grandstand headliner in 2007, one talent buyer said the New York hip-hop quartet was paid $45,000 more than they would …
The true source of the bulk of a $15,000 contribution given to the 2014 reelection bid of Democratic governor Jerry Brown by the Thoroughbred Owners of California PAC has finally been revealed. As we reported …
Lawyer and Del Mar mayor Carl Hilliard, now running for third district county supervisor in a crowded field that includes Steve Danon, aide to GOP congressman Brian Bilbray, and Democratic Solana Beach deputy mayor Dave …
The election isn’t until 2014, but Democratic governor Jerry Brown is already out raising money for his reelection campaign. Recent donors include beer-making giant Anheuser-Busch, with a $25,900 donation on January 28, and the California …
“Once, I had a secret love/ That lived within the heart of me./ All too soon, my secret love/ Became impatient to be free.” So sang Doris Day in the Eisenhower-era film Calamity Jane. My …
Newly appointed Del Mar Fair trustee David Lizerbram says he wants the fairgrounds to host more major music events. That’s just not going to happen, according to promoter Garry Thayer, who organized the Hellbilly Fest …
A longtime member of the local music scene has been tapped to help run the Del Mar Fairgrounds. David Lizerbram occasionally sits in with Rio Peligroso when the Americana band plays the Riviera Supper Club. …
San Diego Reader: How long do you spend writing your sermon? PL: I think, on average, more than 20 hours. I usually follow a book of the Bible, choose a passage and study the words …
A newly formed lobbying outfit in Sacramento has picked up some of San Diego County’s heaviest political hitters as clients, including one very influential public agency. According to state disclosure records, Capitol Strategic Advisors, LLC, …
Today, July 18, at the Vista courthouse, a 61-year-old Carlsbad man admitted to molesting a 5-year-old girl on Dog Beach in Del Mar more than a year ago. William Wright Harris was free on his …
And where do they go — not after the gates spring open — but after the race is run, after all their races are run? After the society matrons’ $1000 hats are back in the …
Visiting the San Diego County Fair is always fun — an exception being Friday night, July 1, when my family and I were leaving the fairgrounds. As our van was parked up on Via de …
With the recently announced closing of UltraStar Cinemas' Flower Hill four-plex in Del Mar, North County residents between south Carlsbad and Carmel Valley will be without a multiplex movie theater. The Flower Hill theater will …
Jason Maitland was the final chef at Arterra before the Marriott fired him and everybody else to remake the restaurant from scratch. (I haven’t been to the new incarnation and can’t say I’m eager: for …
Another rainy day: Del Mar is not its usual sunny self. I’ve been sheltering in their grand old library. Big ol’ house. What a gem. Now waiting just across Highway 101 — they call this …
In last week’s cover story, we described how two of America’s richest and most powerful oil barons took a small La Jolla hotel called Del Charro and turned it into an unlikely base for their …
Hotel del Charro: PART ONE It was the vortex of a dark universe, hiding in plain sight. “At La Jolla (pronounced La Hoya), San Diego’s northern suburb,” the New York Times reported on January 17, …
During a January 3 meeting, city councilmembers agreed to retain former city councilmember Crystal Crawford to provide legal counsel, on a pro-bono basis, in their efforts to purchase the Del Mar Fairgrounds from the State …
On December 27, 3375 gallons of sewage gushed into the Zanja Creek after crews from San Diego's Waste Water Department unblocked a clogged sewage pipe in San Diego's Fairbanks Ranch community. Crews were unable to …
Yes, I know. When I reviewed Addison in December 2006, shortly after its opening, I swore, “I wouldn’t go back there if somebody paid me — and somebody does.” Service conformed to some vulgar idea …
"Something has to change at the track. We need new energy. We need to excite new people, and this new betting system is going to do that,” says Carl Hilliard in a soft voice. He’s …
Solana Beach city councilmembers gathered in council chambers on Thanksgiving eve expecting to review the response from Del Mar councilmembers about their proposal for both cities to combine efforts and buy the Del Mar Fairgrounds …
A group of residents named Neighbors for a Transit Solution appeared before the Del Mar City Council on October 18 to protest the possible construction of a multimillion-dollar train platform between 21st and 24th streets …
Justin Fornelli, Chief Rail Engineer for the North County Transit District, appeared before the transit system's board of directors on October 19 at NCTD’s headquarters in Oceanside to report on the status of the temporary …
Several Del Mar residents and members of the press surrounded a table in Nancy Fisher's Del Mar living room. At the table sat the executive director for North County Transit Matt Tucker, chief rail engineer …
"We need to get as many people as possible to attend meetings and write letters. We need to drive the City nuts to get them on our side. Wherever they want to put it is …
San Dieguito Lagoon’s new “Lagoon Trail” and boardwalk now stretches 1.4 miles between Jimmy Durante Boulevard and the Albertsons shopping center just south of Via de la Valle. The new segment of trail is yet …
Twenty feet from the front door of a stone-fronted Del Mar home, just south of the San Dieguito River, sits a white-wooden structure that houses railroad utilities. The structure marks the spot where North County …
On July 12, the Del Mar City Council unanimously adopted a new ordinance to declare certain private property open to public parking and added a parking-meter zone on the 1400 block of Maiden Lane. The …