March 2020

Escondido gets serious about smoke-free

The Escondido City Council voted unanimously on March 5 to move forward with an ordinance prohibiting smoking and vaping in outdoor dining areas, public places including sidewalks, and public events such as parades. The smoke-free policy will come back for final approval on April 1 and, if approved, will become effective 30 days later. A new policy requiring all tobacco retailers to obtain a license…


Coronavirus Escondido, SD schools update

(Editor’s Note: We will be updating coronavirus information on a regular basis starting today, March 16, 2020. This is not intended as a comprehensive source, but aims to highlight resources and news of interest to the community.) San Diego County schools closed, student meals continue The kids, hopefully, will be — apologies to The Who — alright, but they’ll be doing it at home for…


Spring trends are in the air with Penelope

Eco-friendly furniture made of recycled or reclaimed woods is very popular for the spring season, and are showing up more than ever throughout designer showrooms…… — Rancho Santa Fe interior designer Penelope Voisen There’s a pretty outlook for Spring 2020.  On the home decorating front, it’s a season of renewal and reinvention.  Spring is the perfect time to change out a few accessories or introduce…


Coronavirus threat sends CSUSM online only

Cal State San Marcos has begun the transition to virtual instruction for the rest of the spring semester as the university responds to the coronavirus pandemic that is affecting daily life in ways big and small around the world.   During a four-day transitionary period, from Monday, March 16 through Thursday, March 19, there will be no in-person classes at CSUSM or CSUSM at Temecula, and courses…


ACLU to ICE: Get Coronavirus act together

Today, Wednesday, March 11, the ACLU Foundation of California sent letters to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) immigration detention center officials urging them to develop a comprehensive emergency plan for the prevention and management of potential Coronavirus (or COVID-19) cases at its detention centers. In the letters, the ACLU asks for written responses from ICE and other detention center officials that explain how they…


Escondido Councilman John Masson dies

Escondido city officials announced Wednesday morning that longtime Escondido Councilman John Masson has died. Flags at all city facilities, including City Hall, offices and parks, were lowered shortly after 10 a.m. and will remain lowered until the day of Masson’s internment. Masson, who was 55 years old, died after a yearlong battle with cancer. Funeral services are pending. The city-issued statement said: “The Escondido City…


Three-dot lounge visits fowl, fish and features

There was a method to the madness of presenting San Francisco legend Herb Caen’s three-dot lounge history along with its various re-interpretations. That was to set up Escondido Grapevine’s own three-dot lounge approach to local news. For more about the concept, visit our story here. For more local three-dot news, keep on trucking below… Lake Hodges Wildlife gets down to business First came the mating of…


San Diego police stop black people at a rate 219 percent higher than white people

“They did what human beings looking for freedom, throughout history, have often done. They left.” These are the words of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Isabel Wilkerson in her book, “The Warmth of Other Suns.” The book follows the story of three Black Southerners and their journey escaping racial violence — a sharecropper’s wife who left Mississippi in the 1930s for Chicago, an agricultural worker who left…


Ethnic Studies gallery pops up at CSUSM

For Jason Magabo Perez, it’s not enough to stand in front of his Ethnic Studies classroom and lecture. In his teaching career, Perez has never been content with simply assigning readings, distributing exams and grading papers. The first-year Cal State San Marcos assistant professor subscribes to the idea that hands-on learning sticks with students longer. The world is the best classroom in Perez’s philosophy. Hence…