Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego is celebrating the arrival of more than 70 tiny newborn Weedy Seadragons, which are incredibly difficult to breed and rear in captivity. Only a handful of facilities have successfully hatched and reared this unique species of fish that are related to seahorses and pipefish. “This is huge for us. We’ve been working on this…
In three years, James Woo racked up more than $200,000 in personal credit card debt while fronting the cost of flights, meals, hotels and trade show bookings for his employer, a CBD product company based in Escondido. Then in 2020 the company abruptly fired him without paying him back, according to court documents. Woo filed a wage theft claim with the state and sued the…
In honor of International Women’s Day, March 8, the California Avocado Commission, which represents growers farming on about 50,000 acres in the state, is sharing profiles of some female avocado farmers to showcase the role of women in the industry. As with all farming, women have long been active in growing California avocados. Many California avocado growers come from multigenerational farming families, and with generational…
(Editors Note: This is a cautionary tale especially relevant to several San Diego County pseudo-media outlets who will go unnamed that run and hide with one, or no, source stories while sucking up independent journalism oxygen giving local journalism a bad name.) Hoodwinked, fooled, deceived, misled, bamboozled: those are just a few words to describe what a teenager did to a community journalist who has…
With the County’s 3-year-long COVID-19 local emergency proclamation and local health emergency declarations, and weekly County News Center updates coming to an end, the County’s Public Health Officer reiterated a continuing message this week. The County response to the ongoing pandemic—testing, treating and vaccinating—will continue. The virus is still circulating. And people should continue to protect themselves by getting up to date with vaccinations, including…
Why bother stealing from an ATM machine when you can just steal the ATM machine. Who says ATM machine theft, like lightning, never strikes twice? Somebody, or somebodies, around Escondido’s Plaza Del Lago Center just east of newly renamed North County Mall has a recurring criminal fixation with this bit of advanced banditry. For yet another time, an in-store ATM at that small outdoor shopping…
Chad Lee Engel was sentenced in federal court on Thursday, Feb. 3, 2023 to 138 months in prison for blowing up ATM machines to steal the money contained inside, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of California. Engel, 50, of Chula Vista, pleaded guilty in July 2022, admitting that he participated in conduct outlined in the original indictment, including his part in causing…
The archive of the influential psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, who developed the theory of the five stages of grief, has been given to Stanford Libraries, Stanford University officials said this week. What does that have to do with Escondido? Plenty. Of special note in the archive are complete runs of newsletters from the Shanti Nilaya Healing Center, which Kübler-Ross founded in Escondido, as well as manuscript…
It’s that time of the year again. Carlsbad’s iconic Flower Fields opens for the season Wednesday, March 1, 2023. That’s 55 acres of Giant Tecolote Ranunculus and a variety of new events through May 14. The attraction’s new theme, “Live Colorfully,” covers everything from the ranunculus, a flower known for its large, double-petaled blooms that sit atop tall, straight stems, to the seemingly endless rows of…
The Breeders’ Cup has selected Del Mar to host the 41st world championships next year, marking the third time the picturesque Pacific track will stage the season-ending graded stakes races that feature the top thoroughbreds. Del Mar will present 14 Grade 1 races with purses worth more than $31 million on Nov. 1-2, 2024. The track last hosted in 2021 at 50% capacity because of…