October 2017

Blast from the past, Dick Noel dead at 90

Dick Noel, a crooner with the Ray Anthony Orchestra who went on to be known as “The King of the Jingles” for his work on commercials, died Friday, Oct. 23 at Escondido after a long illness, his friend Hank Jones said. He was 90. A Time for Love, his highly regarded 1978 album made in collaboration with pianist Larry Novak, featured world-weary renditions of such…


Celebrating state of California at age 167

On Sept. 9, 1850, California was admitted as the 31st state in the U.S. Here are a few things to know about our 167-year old state: Plenty of people to celebrate with: California’s population has gone from 92,597 in 1850 to an estimated 39 million in 2017. In 1962, California became the most populous state in the nation when it surpassed New York. Places to throw a…


Trump’s views on science have Dems California dreamin’

Story by George Cahlink, E&E News Reporter. Reprinted from E&E Daily with permission from E&E News. Copyright 2017. E&E provides essential news for energy and environment professionals at www.eenews.net. For the original story click here [https://www.eenews.net/stories/1060064423/] Issa shifts Vista, Calif. — Rep. Darrell Issa, who won the narrowest re-election of any incumbent last year, is taking a different tact. As the nine-term Republican faces what’s expected to be…


Scenes from a Democratic Convention

There were no fireworks at the seventh biennial San Diego County Democratic Convention on Saturday, Oct. 21 at Escondido’s California Center for the Arts. The old cliché of organizing Democrats being akin to herding cats did not apply to this particular gathering. Some people–gasp!–were even having fun. The trauma of Trump has eased, and what I saw were a bunch of folks bound and determined…


Want to escape? Take a stab at Clue Ave.

Part game, part theater, part team-building exercise, escape rooms are taking off around the world, and that includes Escondido and San Marcos. Growth has been explosive. The number of permanent rooms world-wide has gone from zero at the outset of 2010 to at least 2,800 worldwide today, according to MarketWatch calculations based on rooms registered to escape-room directories. The concept was birthed in Japan, spread…


Through Pulitzer photog Don Bartletti’s lens

California State University Bakersfield’s Walter Stiern Library Presents Program is exploring issues in immigration with a series of events through December. The series includes a Pulitzer Prize winning photographer, a documentary screening, and a poetry reading. The prize-winning photographer, Don Bartlett of the Los Angeles Times, spent a lot of time visiting migrant camps around North County San Diego, including Oceanside, Carlsbad, Fallbrook, Valley Center and Escondido….


Breeder’s Cup brings racing’s best to town

For the first time ever, the world-famous Breeder’s Cup graces the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club where, of course, the surf, as always, meets the hallowed turf. Located in the Southern California sweet spot that is the beach town of Del Mar, the historic racetrack known as Del Mar sits astride the Pacific Ocean where the dancing summer sea breezes and the sparkling sun make it…


Trump targets Issa, the last Cal Republicans

It’s hard to know exactly what shape Republican “tax reform” will take. Many details are missing from the “framework” that the administration presented last month. (Describing actions, or promises of action, by the Donald Trump administration often necessitates the use of quotation marks.) But it must have seemed a good idea to someone to complement Trump’s culture war against liberals with a fiscal war. The…


Whacking Welk: Et tu theatre, time shares

The year of no Welk Resort Theatre For nearly four decades, Welk Resort Theatre has showcased all manner of live stage shows at a 309-seat showcase. That tradition comes to an end with the final performance of “A Christmas Carol” on Dec. 31. Following the Dickens of a show, the string of live dinner shows at the north Escondido resort dating to 1981 comes to an…


Local farms hurt by lack of workers

Across San Diego County and California, farmers and ranchers face chronic problems in finding and hiring qualified and willing people to work in agriculture, according to a survey conducted by the California Farm Bureau Federation. The informal survey of Farm Bureau members showed that more than half of responding farmers had experienced employee shortages during the past year. The figure was higher among farmers who…