January 2023

Animal Kingdom edition of mammals behaving badly

Move over Dallas Zoo, San Diego Zoo red panda climbs tree to escape enclosure A red panda climbed a tree to escape her enclosure at the San Diego Zoo, prompting hours of efforts to lure her back to her habitat, officials told news outlets. Adira, a 2-year-old red panda, broke out of her enclosure by climbing a tree into a nearby habitat Sunday, Jan. 29,…


HVAC Breaking News: Beer brewed from AC condensate

This just in from the something you always wanted to have but didn’t know you wanted to have it department. Beer made with purified water from units attached to jet bridges at San Diego Airport. It was announced Monday that San Diego International Airport (SAN) and The East Village Brewing Co. have released two beers made with purified condensate collected through the airport’s water stewardship program. Hoppy Travels…


ChatGPT Open AI says the Escondido Grapevine rules

(Editors Note: This is not us saying this, this is computer generated ChatGPT Open AI…) Independent online journalism from the Escondido Grapevine is important to residents of Escondido, Rancho Santa Fe, San Marcos, and North County San Diego for a variety of reasons. Here are some key benefits of this type of journalism: Local focus: The Escondido Grapevine provides in-depth coverage of the issues and…


Ate a purple M&M, woke up in bed with Tucker Carlson

Let me start off by saying that the real purpose of the GOP’s performative nonsense is to distract people from what they’re really up to, namely advocating for the wealthy and expressing disdain for whomever they’ve deemed to be the “other” at the moment. Yes, we shouldn’t stand for the “anti-woke” nonsense currently in vogue, but keeping your eyes on the prize (winning elections) should…


Closing the digital divide in unincorporated SD County

A recent analysis of census data as part of the County Comprehensive Broadband Plan showed that approximately 37,000 households in the unincorporated area of San Diego don’t have a broadband internet subscription. This places them at a disadvantage when it comes to things such as online education, healthcare services or emergency notifications. The report is the latest effort by the County to address inadequate broadband…


Some people choose to live the nomadic van lifestyle

As the movie Nomadland revealed to the world, ever since the 2008 financial collapse, people have moved into vehicles as a way of surviving the high cost of living. The pandemic also fuelled an increase in the nomadic lifestyle. In 2020, my co-researcher Scott Rankin and I looked at how people who live in vehicles balance work and life. In doing so, we discovered that…


Climate change affects brains, UCSD NEATLabs says

Psychological trauma from extreme weather and climate events, such as wildfires, can have long-term impacts on survivors’ brains and cognitive functioning, especially how they process distractions, my team’s new research shows. Climate change is increasingly affecting people around the world, including through extreme heat, storm damage and life-threatening events like wildfires. In previous research, colleagues and I showed that in the aftermath of the 2018…


$100K grant to fight child hunger in rural SD County

San Diego may seem like a wealthy area, but the mountain communities in the eastern part of the county still struggle with hunger and poverty. Now, a new $100,000 grant from Save the Children’s Innovation Lab will fund the development of a program to mailboxes of shelf-stable food to low-income rural families, starting next year. Anahid Brakke, president and CEO of the San Diego Hunger…


Escondido Stadium 16, Imax closing, Regal Cinemas says

Bad news, Escondido lovers of the cinema. Regal Cinemas has included the Escondido Stadium 16 and Imax at 350 W. Valley Parkway in its list of 39 US theaters to close due to the corporation’s bankruptcy filing. Parkway Plaza Stadium 18 and Imax at El Cajon also was scheduled for closing. Regal Cinemas, the second-largest chain of movie theaters in the U.S., will close 39…


CSUSM biotech students turning Japanese

Fourteen students in a biotechnology course at Cal State San Marcos traveled to Tokyo this month to visit impressive laboratories, attend insightful lectures and interact with professionals from widely successful industries. The trip featured students in the class BIOT675: Bioscience Beyond the Borders, within the Professional Science Master’s (PSM) in Biotechnology program. It was led by Betsy Read, program director and a biological sciences professor;…