Escondido Stories
At the September 2 Escondido City Council meeting, Larry Steneck, president of the Coalition of Escondido Mobile/Manufactured Home Voters, discussed the plight of residents at the Green Tree Mobile Estates, who had to deal with …
Police drunk-driving checkpoints are big business. Just ask the City of Escondido, which has been racking up profits courtesy of federal grants and an aggressive vehicle-impound regime instituted by the Escondido Police Department with the …
On July 30 at about 2 a.m., the clerk working at the 1290 West Valley Parkway 7-Eleven saw a man walk out of the store with a six-pack of beer he hadn't paid for. After …
Escondido resident Bruce Simms addressed the city council on July 21 on the topic of the Portland Beavers, a Padres affiliate AAA baseball team that may be relocating to Escondido from Oregon. According to a …
Despite concerns from a majority of speakers during public comment, on June 30 the Escondido City Council approved the allocation of a large subsidy to a developer who plans to build a luxury Marriott hotel …
Rural roads suitable for bicycling still exist around Escondido, particularly north of town, where the landscape slopes upward toward boulder-studded hillsides. The route featured here covers ten miles, with a significant elevation gain of 1100 …
“It’s unconstitutional,” said longtime Escondido resident Scott Davis on June 23, speaking in front of the Escondido City Council to address the red-light cameras within city limits. The city, according to the police department, has …
After numerous cancellations, the date for a public hearing on the downtown Escondido Marriott has been posted. On June 30, at 4 p.m., the public will have a chance to give their support or express …
On June 3, John Van Doorn, a candidate hoping to unseat District 5 county supervisor Bill Horn, held an American flag and waved at cars from an Interstate 15 overpass in Escondido. While red-faced and …
"I hear the noise and the music coming through the walls of my house.... The police department [is] not enforcing the city's noise ordinance. Sometimes officers will knock on my door at two in the …
The Escondido City Council held a public hearing on May 19 to discuss a proposed fee increase for landscape-maintenance costs in the area located west of the El Norte Parkway and Rees Road intersection. Ballots …
The Business Improvement District fees charged by the Downtown Business Association of Escondido were contested by a pair of business owners at the May 5 city council meeting. Greta Kurtz, a business owner for 25 …
Escondido resident and president of the Chamber of Citizens, Lisa Prazeau, is calling on Mayor Lori Holt Pfeiler and city councilmembers Dick Daniels, Sam Abed, and Marie Waldron to stick up for fellow councilmember Olga …
On March 19 at about 6 p.m., an auto-theft suspect led Escondido police officers on a chase in which gunfire struck four police cars and the car of a passerby. According to a press release, …
Quinn scoffs when I ask him if he worries about getting hit by a car. “They [meaning his fellow panhandlers] get run over ’cause they get drunk,” says Quinn. He says he’s too smart to …
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...” In her 12th and final state of the city address, Mayor Lori Holt Pfeiler quoted Charles Dickens's Tale of Two Cities to describe …
Phap Vuong Monastery, a Buddhist temple nestled among pine trees in northern Escondido, is hosting the world's largest hand-carved gem-quality jade Buddha for the next two weeks. To mark the beginning of its visit, a …
At the February 3 Escondido City Council meeting, the council directed the budget subcommittee to consider the possibility of using $17 million worth of reserves in order to avoid closing the performing arts center, the …
In a meeting at Escondido City Hall on January 26, planning commissioners voted 3-2 to deny a request allowing an auto-services development to be built on a corner near the intersection of Brotherton Road and …
"It's really a life raft to keep the city afloat," said Escondido councilmember Marie Waldron during Wednesday evening's city council meeting. The life raft that Waldron was referring to was a list of proposed cuts …
On January 21 at about 9 p.m., sheriff's deputies arrested a resident of the San Pasqual Reservation after a traffic stop led to the discovery of numerous types of illegal narcotics and drug paraphernalia that …
Where will you be when your automotive Karma wears out? I know exactly where I was - on the 15 south going to work, January 8th, 2010. It happened in an instant. For only a …
When a full plate of entertainment at the Wild Animal Park, San Diego Zoo or Sea World isn’t feasible, but you want to get out and do something, the “World’s Largest Auto Museum of Convertibles …
At a December 16 meeting, the Escondido City Council voted to write off a $530,731 loan given to the California Center for the Arts Foundation in 2001. "[I]f we haven't been paid back by now," …
"Join the revolution!" says “Big Kahuna” from his post in front of Target on Auto Park Way. "Legalize marijuana!" Kahuna (who says he was born in Hawaii) has gathered signatures at Target, Walmart, and grocery …
On December 2, the Escondido City Council declined to initiate a downtown zoning amendment that would allow hookah lounges to operate in the city. Within the past two months, the City has received four to …
In Greek mythology, Bacchus (aka Dionysus), the god of wine, is said to inspire artists, musicians and poets and bring an end to care and worry. Dionysus discovered the culture of the vine and how …
An Orange County developer who led the effort to delay San Diego’s general plan update until his own project could be approved is one step away from his goal. On October 23, the San Diego …
"When you want to watch a Charger football game, you should just go over to the new police and fire headquarters because they are going to have the latest in audio technology," Escondido mayor Lori …
The lights dimmed in the purple quarter-circle church, and Pastor Hitchcock appeared behind the baptismal pool situated high in the back of the Sanctuary. New congregant Catherine, clad in a white robe, stepped down into …
BALBOA PARK Another Perfect DayBy downtownphotoguy, June 26Today we were in Presidio Park in the morning and Balboa Park in the afternoon. We were shooting with a variety of lenses and techniques…. It seems everybody …
Nathaniel Hawthorne once wrote, of a garden, in his 1854 collection of stories Mosses from an Old Manse: “I used to visit and revisit it a dozen times a day, and stand in deep contemplation …
The U.S. Postal Service has revised the list of post offices it hopes to close, sparing three San Diego locations. However, the USPS branches in North Park and Golden Hill remain on the chopping block. …
Tough acts to follow. Welk Resorts Theatre begins The Andrews Brothers with video clips from the old USO Command Performance radio shows. Bob Hope jokes with Lana Turner. Young-ish Judy Garland sings an “Over the …
As I write this, Transformers 2 has just finished taking in over $200 million in five days. One of the main characters in that film is a robot who disguises himself as a 2009 Chevy …
Escondido city councilmembers want to be fair when adjusting water rates, but water is scarce, and over the past year regional water suppliers have raised rates by 17.5 percent while reducing water allocations by 8 …
Grandma glared at my bloody forearm and shouted, "Sam, come in here!" It was close to midnight, a late hour for my 80-year-old grandpa, but he came running down the hall. He gaped when he …
“I wrote a song that became a children’s book,” says New Archaic singer-violinist Alicia Previn, who will perform “The Earthworm Song” at an August 9 release party for The Earthworm Book at Escondido’s Stone Brewery. …
Tiffany is tall; her chunky red heels — dark red, bordering on purple — make her taller. Red seams run up the back of her black stockings to the hem of her black dress, patterned …
Secretly tucked away behind a pond at Kit Carson Park lies Niki De Saint Phalle’s colorful sacred creatures. The entrance to the sculpture garden leads you past a snake wall, through a black-and-white maze of …
According to San Diego County assessor/clerk/recorder David L. Butler, the assessed value of all taxable property in the county has dropped to a 25-year low -- an overall decrease of 2.3 percent from the previous …
Junior Wells and John Belushi must have been grinning up from wherever they are now — mumbling and slurring with cocaine-and-Tanqueray-addled approval at “Doc” Holliday’s riffing over the keyboard — a faux Hammond B-3 setting …
The “ponds tour,” suitable for hikers, runners, and mountain bikers, serves as a fine introduction to the City of Escondido’s Daley Ranch — a sprawling, 3000-acre open-space preserve in the hills north of town. The …
In the grips of a $6.7 million deficit, the City of Escondido is grabbing for every penny in savings. So far, revenues have dropped by $4.1 million. This year’s expenditures are $6.6 million less than …
I am staying in Escondido. I am unfamiliar with this town (which is called a city) and so I set out to explore on a Friday night and a Saturday afternoon. For purists who demand …
Many Escondido citizens have reservations about contributing $18.9 million toward a $67 million luxury hotel downtown. Most thought the proposal was dead in the water when developer C.W. Clark was unable to acquire funding by …
How to explain what I was doing in Escondido as parking-lot cop on a Friday night in May for “Cruisin’ Grand: Pre-’74 American Hot Rods, Customs, Classics, Vintage & Muscle Cars.” Since I was 15, …
In 2004, Escondido residents approved Proposition P, a bond measure that gave the city $84.3 million of property-tax revenue to upgrade police and fire facilities. The projects included the construction of a new police and …
Escondido city hall was packed with onlookers on Wednesday, February 11, as Mayor Lori Holt Pfeiler gave her annual state of the city address. She said Escondido's revenue continues to decline and there's uncertainty about …
This month and in early February, city managers and finance directors in cities across San Diego County are appearing before their respective city councils to report significant budget deficits. Of the county’s 18 municipalities, 14 …
The 40 X 60 foot American flag that flew over the Escondido Auto Park has now been replaced after being stolen sometime between New Year's Eve and New Year’s Day 2009. Tim and Tom Brecht …
Escondido Councilmember Sam Abed changed his mind. He wants to give back 5 percent of the 10-percent pay increase he supported for the city council back in 2007. At a January 7 city-council meeting, Abed …