2023

Health, Health & Fitness, Lifestyle, San Diego February 27, 2023

Guess COVID is sorta over per SD County proclamation

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…

Police, Police/Fire February 27, 2023

Lightning in the form of an ATM machine stolen by truck strikes twice at same Del Lago shopping center

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…

Courts/Law, Police, Police/Fire February 27, 2023

Blowing up ATM machines crime does not pay, DOJ says

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…

Education, Escondido, History, Surprising and Strange, The World February 27, 2023

Death and dying with Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

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…

Del Mar/Solana Beach/Encinitas/Carlsbad, Tourism February 26, 2023

Carlsbad’s iconic Flower Fields doing its colorful thing

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…

Del Mar/Solana Beach/Encinitas/Carlsbad, Horse racing, Sports February 25, 2023

And they’re off…Del Mar awarded 2024 Breeder’s Cup

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…

Agriculture, Business, Community February 21, 2023

Earth Day and the treasure of Terra Madre

Earth Day, appropriately enough, was celebrated in the Earth Day way at Escondido’s Terra Madre Gardens. “This is the first time we’re doing it,” said Jessica Sanchez, who co-owns the farm with her spouse David Solomon. “The farm has a lot to offer and wants the community to be involved.” That meant following up its composting workshop at 9928 Protea Gardens Road by Old Highway…

Books, Community, Education, Health, Health & Fitness February 21, 2023

Six local libraries join to fight health misinformation

Six local libraries work collaboratively to create a toolkit that addresses the public health crises caused during the pandemic – and in general – by health misinformation A new effort to counteract the spread of health misinformation has taken flight. The San Diego Circuit libraries (Circuit), a consortium of six prominent academic and public libraries, has announced the availability of a campaign website designed to…

Arts, Education, Entertainment/Arts, San Marcos February 21, 2023

CSUSM art exhibit showcases creativity through April

Call it From the Mountain,” an art exhibition by Cal State San Marcos students, faculty and community, is currently on display and runs through April 6 in the School of Arts gallery. The exhibition, which showcases sculpture from students’ creative activities and research along with data visualizations by students developed in collaboration with service-learning partners in conservation research, features work that extends from CSUSM’s pollinator…

Food, Lifestyle, Lifestyle/Society, Restaurants, Travel February 20, 2023

Hip hip hooray, it’s Mardi Gras, grab a king cake

It’s Mardi Gras Day, Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023. Time for king cake. Americans usher in the new year with diets and lifestyle resolutions galore, but many people across the globe — particularly those from predominantly Catholic countries — celebrate the calendar change with a sweet pastry known as king cake. It first appears in bakery cases at the beginning of each year and can be…