Ah, Rancho Bernardo Community Foundation—RBCF for the insiders, of course—rolling out the red carpet to pat itself on the back for a solid 36 years of do-goodery. A whopping $90,000 to 24 nonprofits, parceled out like breadcrumbs to keep Rancho Bernardo’s charming little bubble polished and gleaming. Cue the clinking glasses and golf-course applause. Picture it: over 250 attendees at the Annual Thanksgiving Luncheon, because…
Dear citizens and patrons of North County, consider this: what is the mark of a flourishing community but the free and unfettered exchange of truth, the illumination of events, and the celebration of voices too often left unheard? Since the year 2015, The Escondido Grapevine has embraced the noble calling to serve as this beacon of truth. We have labored to provide you with journalism…
The air in Escondido carries a strange weight today, an odd mix of nostalgia and finality. Chief Ed Varso—yes, the Ed Varso, the man who climbed the law enforcement ladder like a dog on a scent trail—has announced his retirement. December 5 marks the end of an era, or maybe just the curtain call for a long-running, bureaucratic drama that somehow stayed gripping. Varso’s journey…
The spiraling dreamscape of Wallace E. Cunningham—an acolyte of the great Frank Lloyd Wright—stands not merely as a home, but as a monument to the unchecked decadence of capital’s aesthetic whims. Perched precariously in the gilded hills of Rancho Santa Fe, this $10.5 million helix of steel, glass, and concrete screams both genius and excess, a Kandinsky nightmare born of privilege and artistic abandon. They…
You wouldn’t believe the hullabaloo some people make about a slab of concrete, but here goes. Cushman & Wakefield, those bigwig real estate folks, couldn’t wait to puff out their chests and tell the world they helped broker the forward sale of an industrial building in Escondido, California. Fancy name, right? Forward sale. It’s just code for “selling something that’s not even finished yet,” which…
Ah, Thanksgiving – the holiday that toasts America’s richness and bounty as no other. When we think of the loving labor that goes into preparing dinner for relatives and friends, it can anything but a holiday. The Thanksgiving table allows us to keep the day special, beautiful, and relaxing without being stuck in the kitchen. Whether you’re having a San Diego style get-together, celebrating somewhere…
(Editor’s Note: This was the state of the holiday just one year pre-COVID, for those with nostalgia for the way ot was before social distancing and over 770,000 Americans lost their lives…) California supplies the nation’s Thanksgiving tables California ranked #8 in turkey production in the United States (2016), and supplied most of the western states from our poultry farms located in several areas in the state….
Ah, San Marcos—where the drudgery of civic life is dressed in tinsel and pretense, as if the weight of bureaucracy could be concealed beneath the lure of food trucks and twinkling lights. Yes, the city will host a so-called “gourmet” food truck festival alongside Santa’s Magical Village, an event ostensibly designed to distract us from the existential void. From 3 to 8 p.m. on Saturday,…
The prospect of a second American Civil War has been a topic of concern among political analysts and citizens alike, particularly in the context of former President Donald Trump’s actions and rhetoric. While the likelihood of an actual civil war remains low, several factors associated with Trump’s behavior have raised alarms about potential civil unrest. Polarizing Rhetoric and Misinformation Trump’s tenure was marked by divisive…
Dat A. Nguyen will be installed this week as the new Postmaster of the Escondido Post Office. In that position, Nguyen manages 175 employees and oversees retail services at the Escondido Post Officeand the daily distribution of mail to more than 5,700 PO Boxes and on 90 delivery routes in Escondido and Orange Glen. He replaces former Escondido Postmaster Todd McArthur, who moved on to…