Early Sunday morning, November 17, a Jehovah's Witnesses prayer group that was holding a meeting in a home on Calinda Drive returned to their parked vehicles afterward to find many had their car stereos stolen. …
November 19, 2013
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Stories by John T. Griffith
Car stereos stolen from Vista church group
Camp Pendleton commemorates Korean War operation in 1950
On Friday, September 13, veterans from the 1st Marine Division and Republic of Korea Marines, gathered at Camp Pendleton to commemorate the 63rd anniversary of the Inchon landing in Korea. The military operation involved 75,000 …
September 16, 2013
Hungry crows feast on figs in San Marcos
Fig-tree groves along North Twin Oaks Road in San Marcos are being invaded by thousands of crows. According to Jerry Burke, who has a small grove on Solar Lane, just off Twin Oaks Road, it’s …
September 11, 2013
Miramar National Cemetery opens memorial walkway
On Saturday, August 3, veterans and families came together at Miramar National Cemetery to honor fallen veterans. In a ceremony at the cemetery’s new Miramar Memorial Walkway, four stone monuments with bronze plaques were dedicated …
August 7, 2013
Marine warhorse Reckless honored at Camp Pendleton
On Thursday, July 25, Camp Pendleton Marines honored Staff Sgt. Reckless, an equine soldier of the Korean War, in a ceremony at Marine base in Oceanside. According to a couple websites and Cpt. Bradley Yates, …
July 27, 2013
Graffiti vandals make big strike in Vista
Early Monday morning, June 3, calls were made to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department to report graffiti painted on many vehicles and the sidewalk on the 400 block of Poinsettia Avenue in Vista. Most …
June 4, 2013
Food trucks cause concern near San Marcos elementary school
Food trucks have reportedly been causing unsafe traffic conditions while they sell snacks to children as they leave Joli Ann Leichtag Elementary School in the afternoon. According to Hector Romans, the father of two daughters, …
May 22, 2013
Vets’ shelter to remain open in Midway District until July
On Tuesday, April 22, the San Diego City Council voted to keep open the homeless veterans’ tent shelter at 2801 Sports Arena Boulevard. The shelter, a 150-bed facility for homeless vets that usually operates from …
April 25, 2013
Camp Pendleton erects war memorial
On Thursday, April 11, families and dignitaries gathered at Camp Pendleton in Oceanside to dedicate a memorial to honor coalition troops killed in Afghanistan’s Helmand Province. USMC Major General Charles Mark Gurganus with British Brigadier …
April 16, 2013
Carlsbad desalination plant pipeline installation proceeds
Due to the Carlsbad Desalination Project, Las Flores Drive, between Grand Avenue and Mirada Drive in San Marcos, will be closed for a week. KSD Construction manager Brendan Slagle said the closure is related to …
April 10, 2013
Big Lots store in Vista closes after 16 years
The Big Lots store at the Shadowridge Plaza Shopping Center located on Sycamore Road in Vista, is scheduled to close its doors forever on April 15. According to store manager Oliver Cregier, even though the …
April 8, 2013
Air traffic control tower at the Ramona Airport to close
The threat of the federal government to close the air traffic control tower at the Ramona Airport has caused the County Board of Supervisors to protest. The Federal Aviation Administration had placed the Ramona tower …
March 27, 2013
Bridge dedication for Oceanside police officer Dan Bessant
In an early-evening ceremony on Friday, March 8, the bridge on North Pacific Street (over the beach area of the San Luis Rey River, south of Oceanside Harbor) was dedicated to the memory of Oceanside …
March 12, 2013
Vista’s illegal parking problem on Poinsettia Avenue
On Poinsettia Avenue in Vista, which runs parallel along the westbound side of Highway 78, catering trucks, vehicles for sale, and vehicles parked there to advertise services are a everyday sight from the freeway. According …
March 9, 2013
Monumental: Alta M. Hulett at Mt. Hope Cemetery
Alta M. Hulett, born on June 4, 1854, in Rockford, Illinois, learned how to operate the telegraph at ten years of age and went on to become an operator. Fascinated with the legal profession, she …
February 1, 2013
Del Mar Racetrack’s long lost airport
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 …
January 23, 2013
Sandy Hook Elementary School Memorial in San Marcos
In the aftermath of the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, on December 14, the country was left devastated. One San Marcos man wanted to express more than his own grief by …
December 29, 2012
Vandals Smash Cars in Vista
Located on the 200 block of Smilax Road Vista, Mariposa Apartments has been the site of countless vehicle damage and vandalism incidents since the spring of 2012. Situated in a park-like setting, the complex is …
November 27, 2012
Monumental: SDSU War Memorial
Sponsored by the SDSU Alumni Association's Veterans War Memorial Committee, the war memorial at San Diego State is one of few such tributes of its kind to be erected on a U.S. college campus. Located …
November 21, 2012
Monumental: POW Liberation Memorial in Miramar
Dedicated on September 16, 2011, the POW Liberation Monument is located at the Miramar National Cemetery. Designed by artist Richard Becker, the memorial is a 15-foot tall, bronze, concrete, and stainless steel sculpture, a tribute …
November 5, 2012
Snails Invade Vista After Recent Rains
Shortly after the rainfall on the weekend of Oct. 19–21, Vista’s (southeastern) Buena Creek area and western Vista, near S. Santa Fe Avenue, were invaded by thousands of small cone-shaped snails. The terrestrial gastropod mollusks …
October 26, 2012
Monumental: Airplane Ridge
On the eastern slope of Japacha Peak, in Cuyamaca Rancho State Park, is the location of a little known and most unusual monument anywhere in San Diego County. This piece of history began 90 years …
October 19, 2012
Monumental: Military Dog Memorial in Encinitas
The Rancho Coastal Humane Society’s military working dog (MWD) memorial is the first of its kind on America's West Coast. Dedicated on April 16, 2011, the monument is to honor "all military working dogs and …
October 10, 2012