A Fabric of Struggle: Joann’s Store Closures and the Consequences of Corporate Failur Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores have been a staple for crafting enthusiasts in the San Diego area, with locations in San Marcos, Oceanside, and San Diego. However, as of February 2025, the company has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and announced the closure of approximately 500 stores nationwide, including several in San…
New name, new hands, a new era unfolding like the first blush of dawn. At Rancho Santa Fe’s La Valle Coastal Club, the past is giving way to something altogether more golden. Last year, the club saw one of its most remarkable surges in golf and racquet memberships—a feverish anticipation stirring around a reinvention that promises to touch every corner of its being. The course,…
On the evening of January the thirtieth, beneath the murmuring eucalyptus and the glow of a descending sun, the Rancho Santa Fe Association board convened in quiet determination and, at last, gave its blessing to a grand design—an $8 million renovation of the clubhouse restaurant, a place of hushed conversation and the clinking of crystal under chandeliers that had witnessed decades of whispered confidences. The…
Beneath the golden lamplight of an early February evening, The Country Friends gathered its patrons and beneficiaries in a moment of quiet triumph, bestowing more than $300,000 in grants upon 34 deserving charities. The scene unfolded at its storied Consignment Shop on El Tordo in Rancho Santa Fe—a place where whispered promises of philanthropy turned, at last, into tangible grace. There was a warmth to…
There’s nothing wrong with celebrating romantic love, but the focus on such celebrations drowns out the voices of those who are fine as they are – single and happily so. As I’ve argued in my research on the ethics and politics of the family, social practices that celebrate romance, while ignoring the joys of friendship and solitude, reflect widespread assumptions. One is that everyone is…
Many companies adopted DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) programs in response to pressure born from mass movements against police violence and for racial justice that spread through the U.S. in 2020. At Dr. Bronner’s we too were motivated to expand initiatives to foster a greater awareness of social and racial justice in our company, and to improve and take additional steps to reach more diverse communities in…
Well folks, grab your raincoats, your rubber duckies, and maybe a kayak if you’re feeling adventurous—because the wettest storm of the season is rolling in like a drunk uncle at Thanksgiving! That’s right, an atmospheric river—which, for those of you keeping score at home, is basically a sky river that forgot where it was supposed to go—is heading our way. Now, up in Northern California,…
The virus was moving faster than expected. Across the country, emergency rooms were filling up with feverish patients, their bodies wracked by chills and muscle pain. Some had difficulty breathing. The U.S. winter virus season had arrived in full force—and by at least one metric, it was the most intense in fifteen years. The data was unambiguous. One of the key indicators of flu activity—the…
A smattering of Ramona folks, hats in hand and grins wide, gave a hearty cheer on February 4th as they hitched themselves to the notion of reviving their long-dormant Ramona Grange. It was a sight fit for a painter—some twenty souls gathered in a meeting hall, bent on deciding the fate of a once-thriving society of farmers, ranchers, vineyard keepers, and assorted agricultural folk. At…
Elon Musk’s role as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency, also known as DOGE, is on the surface a dramatic effort to overhaul the inefficiencies of federal bureaucracy. But beneath the rhetoric of cost-cutting and regulatory streamlining lies a troubling scenario. Musk has been appointed what is called a “special government employee” in charge of the White House office formerly known as the…