Oceanside Stories
“Bamboo Ben” Bassham has been involved in creating more than 20 tiki bars from San Francisco to Georgia. After he remade them in his version of Polynesian paradise, the bars and restaurants saw business pick …
“Oceanside is a big city. But it’s just like a small town. You can’t keep a secret here.” That’s from one of 23 candidates who applied for a vacancy created on the city council that …
Southern Californians are driving more this holiday season, as evidenced by an unusual post-Christmas Day traffic jam on December 26 through Camp Pendleton south to Del Mar on I-5. It was bumper-to-bumper most of the …
The video of 19-year-old hot dogger Lukas Soelberg surfing on the flooded South Oceanside block December 8 went viral. NBC-7 reported an immediate 40,000 hits of the street surfer getting towed by a rope. The …
“As soon as I saw the knife I disengaged from the suspect,” a Target store employee testified yesterday, December 10, about his confrontation with a suspected shoplifter three weeks ago. The loss prevention officer said …
A jury trial started this week, on November 26, for a young man who allegedly punched an Oceanside police officer while naked and high on meth. The attorney for Joshua Adams Lachica, 26, suggested that …
"I didn’t want to go over there in the first place,” David Herbert said. “Before I went over there I spoke with my HOA and contacted law enforcement asking them to help me with the …
Oceanside’s shady days as a wild jarhead romper room are long gone. Residential land values continue to bound upward. Its commercial profile flourishes with the soon-to-be-announced specifics of the new "pier hotel" by developer SD …
Alvarado Creek runs through La Mesa along the south side of Interstate 8 from the Mount Helix watershed to where it converges with the San Diego River a few hundred yards east of the mission. …
UPDATE: Brenda Moore of the UCLA Registrar's office called back three days after she was first contacted October 30 to confirm Victor Roy in fact did graduate from UCLA with a degree in geography in …
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, …
“Brother Benno’s has got to go,” says an irate businessperson in the Oceanside Industrial Park about how the visitors to a not-for-profit support center has impacted her business. “I don’t have a barber pole because …
A prosecutor said that Carey Lamont Reid Jr. cried and confessed to murdering a 77-year-old Oceanside man, and then he wrote an apology letter to the widow. Prosecutor Keith Watanabe spoke at the arraignment of …
The city of Oceanside’s mid-range employees are in the middle of a wage dispute battle with city hall. They’ve been working without a contract since July 1. At the council meeting on October 3, their …
It’s been one month now since Oceanside comedian Vicki Barbolak appeared in the live final round of America’s Got Talent. Although she missed out on the one-million-dollar prize placing (she placed sixth out of the …
Gentrification has accomplished what eluded city bureaucrats for decades. Oceanside’s Main Attraction, North County’s only remaining topless club, is going away. A five-story 308-unit, apartment complex is proposed as its replacement. Known to locals as …
The owner of a downtown Oceanside bar claims the city is railroading her out of business all because of a move to gentrify downtown. “Since we bought this bar two-and-a-half years ago we have never …
Oceanside police officer Chris Ruedi said he responded to a radio call after a man who had reported his $3,000 bicycle stolen that morning claimed he saw a man riding his bicycle in the beach …
The 20-year-old swap meet on Highway 76 which has had the reputation with locals as one big garage sale, is populated by vendors who pay $15 on Saturday or $45 on a Sunday to sell …
There’s an actual table at the center of Oceanside eatery, The Miller’s Table. It’s a large, stoutly constructed wood high top, about 6'x6', topped with plants, candles, and eclectic décor. The community table is not …
Drew Andrioff was suspicious about a driver “creeping up and down my street” in the middle of the day. The 495 houses in his Wanis View Estates neighborhood — between the Oceanside Municipal Airport and …
On July 28 at 4 pm, the spectators surrounding the Oceanside Pier had a double-feature; the pro-surfers in the water and the hand-standers in the sand by the rocks. This was the second day of …
David Christopher Herbert, now 37, is accused of using a knife and a baseball bat and a caustic chemical to hurt dogs that belonged to his neighbors. Herbert pleads not guilty, is set to go …
Mauro Campos, 37, served four years in the Marines in the infantry company known as Suicide Charley. After working construction and in a local airplane engine shop, he now manages a gun store called Firearms …
In court today, Felix Aaron Ruiz Bazan admitted he killed a bicyclist almost a year ago, in a plea deal in which he expects to be sentenced to ten years in prison. Bazan, now 26, …
A former Marine killed his neighbor after she came home from work and took her dog out for a walk, a San Diego County prosecutor alleged in court July 24, 2018. Eduardo Arriola, 25, made …
Half a block of prime downtown Oceanside real estate has just been sold, impacting a handful of longtime Oceanside businesses. “We have a week left and then we are moving to Hot Springs, Arkansas,” says …
It’s my first time passing through the doors of Legacy Brewing Co., and I’m not sure what to expect. The place has been here five years this fall, but. I count about forty miles and …
When Jim Wood talks, Oceanside listens. But Oceanside’s most popular politician is keeping mum. After serving 30-plus years as an Oceanside policeman, Wood was elected to the Oceanside City council in 2002. Two years later …
Though the cooking technique dates back countless centuries to natives of the Pacific Northwest, here in latter day America, cedar plank salmon has largely become the provenance of upscale dining venues. But don’t tell that …
Graffiti is nothing new along transit routes. The local trolley's general manager was quoted in 1987 saying graffiti clean-up was a high priority. "When graffiti is noticed, it is our policy to remove it immediately." …
Oceanside Unified School District suspended sexual health instruction for grades K-6 Monday (June 18) after getting feedback from parents and community members through an online and written survey. Acting Superintendent Reggie Thompkins announced, “The district …
If Oceanside residents who occupy some 2,500 mobile home spaces think they have housing security, maybe they should think again. The 57-space Catalina Mobile Home park on Coast Highway in South Oceanside has been razed …
A man standing in the parking lot of a busy Oceanside hotel on a Friday afternoon was actually a felon in possession of a 9mm Ruger handgun, according to testimony today, Thursday June 21, 2018. …
“I had just came back from the grocery store,” said Gary. The two-door car that belonged to the boyfriend of his housemate Katie was there. “His vehicle was in the driveway.” Katie had her own …
Whether the original members of As I Lay Dying should or should not get back together with Tim Lambesis is now only a philosophical question. The five internationally famous metalcore bandmates are in fact reuniting …
There’s good news for neighbors who spoke out at a May 9 Oceanside City Council meeting against a 99-room hotel to be built on a hillside just west of I-5. Based on drawings, they trashed …
Pizza lovers in Oceanside are disappointed to see the only Shakey’s Pizza Parlor in North County close down. No more Bunch-a-Lunch buffet, Mojo potatoes, big screen sports, and arcade games. Without notice, the pizza joint …
In the last six years, the Oceanside city clerk says he can only remember one other time when anyone blurted out “recall” from a city council meeting audience. “It was when the council approved district …
A 44-year-old man who was out on bail led officers on a 45 minute pursuit in a stolen car, and caused injury to multiple persons, a prosecutor alleged in court yesterday, Wednesday, May 2, 2018. …
What one former councilmember called Oceanside’s dirty little secret has been discussed in open session and appears to be on the chopping block. Oceanside is by far the largest city in North County. But its …
A Carlsbad police officer who was arrested on suspicion of two felonies, first-degree burglary and stalking, was ordered released from custody on April 11. Instead of the felony charges, Jeffry Edwards, 37, was instead arraigned …
The defense attorney seemed to admit that Esteysi Izazaga Sanchez, 31, drove her car up onto a sidewalk and hit a pedestrian so hard that part of one leg snapped off, while the rest of …
It was only a couple months ago the Reader reported Oceanside Ale Works had shut its doors as the result of a partner dispute. As of March 17th, its doors are officially open to the …
A jury will decide if a 46-year-old registered sex offender went to the home of a 16-year-old girl two years ago to act out his fantasies, or to give her a bible as he claims. …
“He told me he wanted to provoke the police officer,” said Oceanside police officer Ivan Sanchez, who was called to a confrontation on the main drag of the beach town on February 2, 2018. Officer …
The Metal Monarch is none too pleased. Monarch is an Encinitas-based Allman Brothers–ish instrumental jam band. They released their album Two Isles in 2016. One problem: there was another band named Monarch that had been …
There are a dozens of good reasons to visit the Bagby Beer Company pub in downtown Oceanside, and most of them fit inside a pint glass. Yes, the gastro-brewpub launched by O.G. San Diego brewmaster …
One of Oceanside's newest beer companies sold its first bottles of beer to the public this week, but you probably didn't get one. Horus Aged Ales doesn't have a public tasting room, nor even the …
Look near the top of any Thai restaurant menu in America, and you're sure to find one Thai dish in particular: Pad Thai. However, as chef Nattapon "Nat" Thitathan explained to me in a recent …
Practice sessions for Flogging Molly’s Matt Hensley used to be a pain. He’s been in North County for decades. The other six Celtic punkers lived in greater L.A. Lately it’s gotten a lot harder for …
The future of public access to the Carlsbad Highlands Ecological Reserve for the recreational set appears to be up in the air once again. After trails were closed last summer, an unofficial truce seemed to …