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 …
April 30, 2024
Ken Leighton contributes regularly to the Reader's Blurt music column.
Articles by Ken Leighton
Locals sound off on the Oceanside Pier fire
Oceanside short-term rental guy David Fischbach attracts enemies
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 …
March 12, 2024
Unintended results of five roundabouts in Oceanside
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 …
February 26, 2024
Oceanside suddenly ends Harbor Days
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 …
September 26, 2023
30 tugs do the pulling in San Diego Bay
Tugboats of San Diego Bay“We got a call from a friend with the Navy on a Saturday morning before Easter, and he said, ‘How fast can you get to Camp Pendleton?’ We said we could …
September 11, 2023
Oceanside's coffee explosion brings mixed reactions
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 …
September 5, 2023
No more honky-tonks in Poway
Poway – why the rodeo still does well It’s rodeo time: seven seconds of hell on an angry bull. That’s what many San Diegans picture when they think of Poway. But times have changed in …
August 13, 2023
Oceanside Chamber of Commerce gives 30 days to its tenants
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 …
June 19, 2023
Switchfoot, Dinettes, Queen Bees, ASCAP, Billie Joe Armstrong, Brandon "Tiny Doo" Duncan, Agent 51
One of the first stories I did when I started three-blurts-a-week was about Switchfoot in January, 1999. I was happy to be the first local writer to cover Switchfoot, Jason Mraz, Sam Outlaw, and Daring …
March 12, 2023