2017

Legal analysis of Hunter art take-down

For several weeks earlier this year, an odd battle was waged in the halls of the U.S. Capitol over a controversial work of art by a high school student placed there after an art competition in St. Louis. At issue is whether the Architect of the Capitol had the right to direct the permanent removal of the painting, or whether doing so violated the student’s…


Shazam! Climate science denier Darrell Issa joins House climate change caucus

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-49th District) announced last week he has joined a bipartisan House caucus on climate change. But the news, first reported by Reuters, glossed over one major point: Issa has been a long-time climate science denier. He is now part of the Climate Solutions Caucus, a bipartisan group looking at “policy options that address the impacts, causes, and challenges of our changing climate.” But in…


Hunter to Issa to Sessions to Russia

Needless to say, perhaps, fervent Donald Trump supporters and fellow Republican congressmen under the microscope Duncan Hunter (R-50th District) and Darrell Issa (R-49th District) came out swinging today on the Russian field of play. Just from different sides of the plate. Hunter told the Los Angeles Times that the Democrats were engaging in a political “Witch Hunt” against Donald Trump and friends while Attorney General…


Encinitas goes to pot, other Prop 64 tales

It’s a tough job, but somebody’s got to do it. Encinitas leaders this month cleared the way for a commercial marijuana growing industry intended to cater to recreational marijuana users allowed to do their thing this January thanks to passage of Proposition 64 last fall. Recreational marijuana is now the lay of the land. Starting in January, pot and it’s varied forms no longer will…


Heaven’s Gate survivor 20 years later

A former Heaven’s Gate member is looking back on the time he spent with the cult 20 years after dozens of its members committed suicide together at Rancho Santa Fe. The man, who goes by the name Sawyer, told Inside Edition that he spent 18 years with the cult, reaching the rank of “overseer” before leaving in 1994. He recalled his conversations with the leader of the cult,…


Issa, Hunter protests for the week

Indivisible San Diego, the network of county groups who have adapted the format and organizing techniques of the guidebook, Indivisible, are targeting Congressional Republicans Duncan Hunter, Jr. and Darrel Issa the week of Feb. 27th. Most actions this week are on Tuesday, Feb. 28th (only 10% chance of rain). The document was written by congressional staffers who experienced the Tea Party’s impact. They put together the…


Fake or real? Esco HS party turns viral

Video of an Escondido Charter High School teacher violently reacting to a group of students intruding on his class has drawn widespread criticism from Australia to Cape Verde – but more than one viewer insists not all was as it seemed. Footage showing Escondido Charter students entering the classroom of a teacher was uploaded to streaming website Streamable earlier today. Wearing party hats, stick-on moustaches, sombreros and…


World’s largest lithium-ion storage battery

Escondido got the world’s largest something this weekend, so that’s something big. Let us introduce to you the world’s largest lithium-ion bayberry presented Saturday by San Diego Gas & Electric. It’s online and humming, officially unveiled by the utility following a fast-track procurement process that began less than a year ago. The 30-MW, 120-MWh system supplied by AES Energy Storage, a Virginia-based company was built…


February fools? Issa calls for special prosecutor, Hunter to hold town hall

Pigs flying. Signs of apocalypse? Was there something in the water today? A double-bent moon shot full of tequila. Could King George III be sane? On Friday, unconfirmed word circulated that Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-50th District) would reverse course suddenly and hold an in-person town hall meeting. The next day, Mike Harrison, a Hunter aide, sent emails to Indivisible leaders saying a town hall would…


Crafting local independent online news

(Editor’s Note: The Escondido Grapevine last year was admitted to the Local Independent Online News Publishers (LION) den. Matt DeRienzo recently was named the group’s first full-time executive director. Kristen Hare of the Poynter Institute, one of journalism’s leading think tanks, today posted a Q&A with DeRienzo in the “innovation” section of Poynter’s online journal discussing LION and the future of independent online journalism like that presented…