December 2020

Doug Porter may be down, but he’s not out

As of December 10th, I’ll be taking a break from my daily musings. To make a long story short, I’m going to have surgery at UCSD La Jolla on December 11th. All the preoperative appointments are crowding my schedule making it difficult to write a daily column, so I’ve missed a day or two recently. This has been on the horizon for a while. A…


Women aviation influencers to be feted

The San Diego Air & Space Museum will host its annual International Air & Space Hall of Fame Virtual Gala at 6 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 17 where it will induct two influential women in the world of aviation. The museum will induct Barbara Barrett, a businesswoman, attorney and diplomat currently serving as Secretary of the United States Air Force, and Tammie Jo Shults, retired Southwest…


1846 Battle of San Pasqual redux

In the San Pasqual Valley southeast of Escondido, in the darkness of early morning on December 6, 1846, the American Army under Stephen Watts Kearny fought the bloodiest encounter to win California from Mexico. The San Pasqual battle was only one of the military encounters in California in the war, but proved to be the bloodiest and most controversial as to outcome. San Pasqual Battlefield…


Old West theme parks paint a false picture

In 1940, just a year before Pearl Harbor plunged the United States into a world war, Walter and Cordelia Knott began construction on a notable addition to their thriving berry patch and chicken restaurant in the Orange County, California, city of Buena Park. This new venture was an Old West town celebrating both westward expansion and the California Dream – the notion that this Gold…


California buckles down to beat back COVID

COVID-19 is running roughshod over San Diego County and California, and state officials are about to clamp down like Junior Seau dropping an opposing running back. On Thursday, Dec. 3, San Diego County health officials reported 1,504 new COVID-19 cases and five additional deaths. Thursday’s data raise the county’s totals to 86,142 cases and 1,040 deaths Rising hospitalization rates throughout the state prompted Gov. Gavin…


Quakebot sez…3.7 tremor rocks Temecula; 3.6 tremor hits Ramona two days later

A few people felt it. Other people didn’t. Some said L.A. earthquakes have felt stronger in Wine Country. Some said they and their cats were scared for an hour after feeling the tremor. The tie-breaking quote, however, came from Quakebot, a computer application that monitors the latest earthquakes detected by the U.S. Geological Survey. A magnitude 3.7 earthquake was reported Friday at 9:41 p.m. Pacific…


SDG&E pulls plug cause of Santa Ana winds

As if 2020 weren’t bad enough, thousands of local residents got their power cut late Wednesday and early Thursday by San Diego Gas & Electric. And the worst may be yet to come. SDG&E initially pulled the plug on about 24,000 customers with another 94,000 in the crosshairs. That number quickly grew to 61,609 without power as of 2:30 a.m. Thursday, and possibly through Monday,…


Where oh where did KFMB-8 and CW 9 go?

No Steven Colbert. No “60 Minutes. No nothing this week on KFMB, the San Diego CBS affiliate, and CW San Diego for those looking for them on DirecTV and AT&T U-verse. What’s a satellite TV and cable junky to do? The latest in TV content disputes hit San Diego and 50 other markets hosting Tegna’s 64 TV stations reaching 41.7 million TV households covering 39%…