Oceanside Stories
As I pulled out my single dollar bill, I shrugged my shoulders and made a sad face at the Vietnamese man behind the glass at Oceanside’s Hill Street Donut House. …
Who needs a gym, or even a treadmill, when you’ve got … this? @media screen and (max-width:479px) { .image-float.half-width, .image-float.third-width, .image-float.fourth-width { width: 100%; } } Tucked between Carlsbad and …
Everyone has their favorite donut shop. Donut Bar in Pacific Beach gets high marks, as does The Goods in Carlsbad, whose website promises “artisan doughnuts crafted with the finest locally …
Most people don’t notice power lines unless there’s a problem with them. And as a kid, I was like most people — until my dad pointed up at the lines …
Oceanside Stories
San Diego County’s oceanfront beaches have long been showered with praise by everyone from local tourism officials and travel writers to hotels, travel agencies, and even universities. Platitudes about our “70 miles of glorious coastline” …
There are over 9,000 parcels in Carlsbad's single-family residential zone where up to 25 backyard chickens can be kept. Surprisingly, it's neighbors in one of the city's few agriculturally-zoned neighborhoods who are calling for limits. "Chicken …
Video:FEAST!: The irregularly delicious Parlor DoughnutsMost donut shops are independent operators, even individual operators. For example: with no employees on the payroll, the owner of my favorite neighborhood donuterry closes shop when he goes on …
Everybody has to start somewhere, in music as well as anything else. Eli-Mac, from La Mesa by way of the Philippines and Hawai’i, got going with the King of Rock and Roll and an old-time …
I’m sitting at a table in the Q&A Oyster Bar in the restored Brick Hotel complex in downtown Oceanside, a block and a half from the pier. The decor is elegant, but not overdone: polished …
I would happily argue that electronic bikes, or e-bikes as they are commonly known, have changed the transportation of humans more than anything since the invention of the internal combustion engine. These vehicles, which combine …
The cause of the historic fire at the end of the longest wooden pier on the West Coast has become a stew of outrageous hearsay.A random man-on-the-street poll of Oceansiders about what caused the fire …
In San Diego, Gen Z-ers, those born between the late 1990s and early 2010s, are better off renting. But they aren't exactly well off renting, either."Felt like I was living in a vacation place and …
Roberto Ignacio Flores, 32, who was convicted by two different juries of the attempted murder of an Oceanside cop, but had both convictions overturned, made a plea deal in which he admitted the attempted murder …
San Diego Reader: How long do you spend preparing your sermon?Pastor Drew Davis: My sermons are topically based. I usually spend Fridays working on my sermons, but I am daily processing what my sermon will …
“Partnering with the Seals was a natural fit for us, as their commitment to the local community echoes our own mission statement and ties to our San Diego roots,” explains Marc Truex, VP of Sales …
Living in a $7.5-million beach-front home can be downright "scary."That is, if you live next door to a short-term rental."There's so many scary people hanging out in the streets," says Ashley McDermott who lives on …
These are uneasy times for two mom-and-pop hardware stores in North County.And it's not because business is bad.Two Ace Hardware stores, favorites of locals who want to avoid the trek to a big box and …
Oceanside's newly certified Coast Highway Incentive District paves the way for big changes along the corridor, including housing. It comes after a long struggle to address the Coastal Commission's concerns that threatened to undo the …
Video:FEAST!: Bread & Cheese (and smoothies) and Breakfast BurritosA good number of restaurants — most even — switch their menus when breakfast time gives way to lunch hour. But I can’t recall any doing so …
You are more likely to be murdered by someone you know than by someone you don’t. The latest FBI statistics show that fewer than 10% of the 20,000 people who were murdered in the United …
The smell of barbecue permeates Pacific Coast Spirits, setting the tone for the Good Morning, Cowboy cocktail I’m about to sample. Lead bartender Ashley Soto recommends smoked brisket to go with the drink, “because you’re …
Oceanside has approved a moratorium on new short term rentals in all residential zoning districts outside the city's coastal zone.It's only the start, as the city tries to tame what has in some cases morphed …
The Avocado Festival in Fallbrook and Vista’s Strawberry Festival each draw an estimated 100,000 guests.On a weekend in May up to 75,000 come to the Fiesta Del Sol in Solana Beach to see two days of …
Late September is a time of celebration for beer lovers around the world as Oktoberfest gets underway. Making the pilgrimage to Munich each year isn’t realistic for most, but local breweries make it possible to …
Right up to the moment I park, I’m not sure which of South Oceanside’s new, Tex-inflected restaurants I’m going to try. But then, I spot them, just across from one another on Vista Way, where …
Oceanside civic leaders used to fret over unwanted businesses. They would complain over too many barber shops and dry cleaners that served Camp Pendleton Marines.Oceanside once was home to three topless bars. Now there are …
Mom Melissa is a curvy woman with long blonde hair. She came into the courtroom with a determined stride and testified at a pre-trial hearing on July 10. Melissa told the judge she has four children, …
Ryan wore a T-shirt and jeans when he testified, he looked as if he might have come straight from his mechanic job to the courthouse on July 5. Ryan said he paid $18,000 when he …
Antique stores and malls are fast becoming antiques themselves. The famed “Antique Row” along Adams Avenue in Normal Heights, which at its peak numbered 25 stores — and gave the stalwart Antique Row Cafe its …
At 2200 square feet, the average American house offers ample ways of escape from the inevitable (if occasional) unpleasantries that accompany extended cohabitation. Each party can usually find a corner into which to retreat for …
Irma Cabrera has seen major changes in downtown Oceanside since her hair salon opened 29 years ago. Vanessa’s Hair Salon, named for her then four-year-old daughter, was right across the street from the newly-built Oceanside …
Oceanside police responded to a call from the public library at 4:30 pm on Saturday May 13. Patrol officer Ryan Heinze spoke to a tall man named Dominick, “He told me that he had tied …
Inside the Self-Realization Fellowship The temple sits on the bluffs at the southern edge of Encinitas, perched beside the ocean and the community like a kind of 25-acre transplant from India, uprooted halfway around the …
Oceanside’s Ryes & Grind is a West Coast Jewish Deli that gives off upscale coffee shop vibes, underlain by a tinge of surfer grunge. Most people I saw dining in either wore beanies or had …
“Where the fuck is the red carpet?” I think to myself as I mosey into the lobby of the Sunshine Brooks Theater. My ticket for this segment of the Oceanside International Film Festival clearly states, …
“Well, like anything else, showing up is half the battle,” says Smash Mouth singer Zach Goode. Goode, a longtime local musician, is talking about the voiceover work he’s done for commercials, including a Taco Bell …
On May 11, the Federal Department of Health and Human Services will end the Covid public health emergency. But the bureaucratic behemoth is a slow-footed beast; John Q. Public knows the pandemic ended some time …
As housing costs push more people out of San Diego, those lucky enough to own a home or rental property aren't rushing to sell. A study of the state's 30 largest cities by Point2 Homes, …
The new-ish rooftop bar Cococabana is what lures me to the Brick Hotel in Oceanside. But the Q&A bar below is where I start things off — by trying an oyster for the very first …
Video:You Don't Need a Record To Attend Set Free ChurchThe painter Michael Cassidy is either the least or most practical person I know. Least in that he doesn’t measure success in terms of money; most …
As thousands of people were stuck at the San Diego International Airport during and after Christmas because of canceled flights, many people rented cars inside and near the airport and drove to their destinations. One …
It was December 24, 2013, Christmas Eve, shortly after midnight. Ilona Flint was excited. She was just finishing up a long shift at the Cathy Jean shoe store in the Mission Valley mall. As soon …
December Nights Balboa Park Join your fellow citizens on December 2 and 3 for the City of San Diego’s largest free holiday festival in beautiful Balboa Park. The family friendly event brings San Diegans together …
The 16th annual Nissan Super Girl Surf Pro contest and concert series ran from September 16 to 18, and played host to events such as Saturday’s Super Girl Sound Session, an all-female DJ competition. Booming …
There was good beer in San Diego near the turn of the millennium, back when I was a newly legal drinker, just returned to San Diego from my years at college. But it took some …
“You are going to get out of prison while you are still a young man,” the judge spoke directly to Carey Reid, who turned 25 this month. Reid made a plea deal, admitting that he …
Victor Roy, whose signature is used to certify the validity of checks issued by the City of Oceanside, says the reason he was viewing “inappropriate material” at a city library was because he was on …
Buckle Up Slide into the passenger seat and buckle up: we’re about to take a driving tour down a decidedly rocky road. Yes, California’s second-largest city will always take a backseat to Los Angeles, which …
In Oceanside, like many cities, tattoo parlors have been nudged away from schools and neighborhoods. The city prohibits them within 500 feet of a residential district. As with cannabis outlets, they were long seen as …
One day in late March, I got a call from Louise Wyatt. I had just interviewed her for a story on how genetic genealogy had enabled detectives to solve the murder of her daughter Michelle, …
Christopher Rodriguez appeared four years ago as one of North County’s most promising Republican up-and-comers. An Iraq war veteran who was awarded a Purple Heart, he still sports a high-and-tight Marine haircut. During Oceanside City …
Oceanside’s most recognized yet most neglected building is about to get its first major upgrade since it was built in 1950. The beachfront “bandshell” immediately south of the Oceanside pier has hosted high school graduation …