Late night rhymes at Tony Pepperoni It was going on 10 pm, and I found myself hungry in the thick of North County suburbia. Which is to say, my expectations were not high. A precursory …
June 25, 2023
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Stories by Alastair Bland
Where Rancho Bernardo homes abut a Carmel Mountain Ranch industrial corner
Rancho Bernardo – in the thick of North County suburbia
A Feeling of Hope in Rancho Bernardo How do I even begin to tell you about the incredible turnaround my neighborhood has taken? I will start here. Hi, my name is Mychal McMahon. I am …
November 18, 2019
Hot Guacamole: Avocado Theft in North County
Almost as surely as avocados grow, thieves steal them and turn the fruit into quick and untraceable cash. Over the past decade, San Diego County law enforcement agencies have stepped up patrols, pursuits, and prosecution …
February 23, 2011
Fewer whales in San Ignacio and Scammon lagoons
For 15 years, Kenny Manzoni of Adventure Rib Rides has been motoring paying customers out of San Diego to watch whales and other marine mammals. He recalls the late 1990s, when he sometimes saw in …
June 9, 2010
Great White sharks tagged on Guadalupe Island
In late 2007, when local shark researcher Michael Domeier teamed up with a television crew and National Geographic to tag great white sharks off Guadalupe Island, Patric Douglas took an interest. Douglas runs a cage-diving …
December 16, 2009
Beer makers want Bernardo Winery's yeasty vats
At Bernardo Winery, 50 large redwood vats have resided in the warehouse for more than a century. Until the 1960s they were used as fermenters, but today winemaker Ross Rizzo keeps the vats as decor …
November 24, 2009
Citrus greening bug appears in Tijuana and at Sweetwater Reservoir
Should it appear in California, there might be no stopping it: citrus greening, or huanglongbing. The fearsome citrus-killing bacterium, first seen in China in the early 1900s, has spread steadily across the continents. It recently …
April 22, 2009
Baja bluefin business produces 10 percent of the world’s bluefin tuna
For the sushi-savoring diner who bites into a raw slice of bluefin tuna belly meat, the world may seem perfect for a moment, and at Zenbu Sushi Bar and Restaurant in La Jolla, patrons reverently …
March 4, 2009
By 2010 Marine Life Protection Act will close 20 percent of coast to fishing
Tim Green, captain of the 80-foot sportfishing vessel Premiere, has been motoring paying customers from San Diego Bay to the Point Loma kelp beds for over 20 years. His anglers catch calico bass, halibut, white …
January 7, 2009
Why they're stumping San Diego's avocado trees
Throughout last winter and spring, one could put one’s ear to the wind almost anywhere in North County and hear the buzz of chainsaws as avocado farmers cut down their trees. While this tropical fruit …
December 23, 2008
Olive fruit fly invades San Diego orchards
At Bernardo Winery, one of the oldest olive oil producers in California, oil flow has come to a standstill. While the Rancho Bernardo company has historically produced 300 to 400 gallons of olive oil per …
October 15, 2008
What San Diego beekeepers are doing about Africanized bees
They came, they conquered, and they stayed, but you’d hardly know it if you weren’t an entomologist. After years of media hype, Africanized hybrid honeybees, once commonly called “killer bees,” have established themselves in urban …
August 27, 2008
San Diego breweries face hops shortage
Yuseff Cherney says his revered and super-bitter Dorado Double India Pale Ale has become too expensive, if not impossible, to make. Cherney is head brewer at Ballast Point Brewing Company, which has breweries in Linda …
March 26, 2008
Imperial Valley bumps fig season into mid-winter
Few fruits evoke the sunny blue skies of the Mediterranean and the balmy days of September quite so poignantly as the fig, but local farmers and advanced agricultural science may be turning that image inside …
November 21, 2007