Articles by dweisman

Healthy food choices come to town

Fresh & Delicious comes to downtown Fresh & Delicious Coffee-Salad -Juice Bar started with a soft opening, yet made healthy food news at 158 W Grand Ave. by Maple Street Plaza this week. The Escondido husband-and-wife team of Eloy and Blanca Flores spent 18 months lining up the proper permits to bring an eclectically healthy menu of tortas, sandwiches and wraps; blends, smoothies, homemade salads and…


Stone Brewing builds Berlin beer buzz

Nearly seven years in the making, American craft beer has made a milestone leap into Europe’s time-honored beer culture this week. Escondido-based Stone Brewing announced that its Berlin, Germany brewery now is fully operational and the company is distributing its brew to 17 countries throughout Europe. Stone is the first U.S. craft brewery to independently build, own and operate a brewery in Europe. For generations…


NCTD: Don’t tread on Sprinter tracks

The luckiest man in San Marcos spooked North County Transit District officials so much they tightened pedestrian trespassing enforcement this week. Meanwhile, the man who got struck by a Sprinter train traveling at 40 mph at the Palomar College Station is still at large after casually dusting himself off and walking eastbound on the NCTD tracks, presumably towards home.  “There’s an increasing problem we are…


Escondido Grapevine roars like a LION

After undergoing a rigorous application and review process, The Grapevine became part of something larger today. The prestigious 130-member LION, the Local Independent Online News Publishers organization, accepted The Grapevine into the fold as its newest member. Founded in 2011, LION Publishers is the leading national nonprofit educational group focused on local independent online news publishers, their editors, reporters and staffers. The Grapevine is the…


Fragozo pleads guilty to voter fraud count

Facing 13 counts of election and voting fraud, Escondido Union School District (EUSD) trustee Jose Fragozo Monday pleaded guilty to one of the lesser felony counts in a plea bargain agreement. The remaining 12 charges were dismissed. Fragozo entered his guilty plea mere hours after a 55-member jury pool was brought into court. They were being interviewed about participating in a trial expected to last…


Bad hair day at En Salon

This bit of Escondido-mania has blown up on social media since Wednesday. Desiree Bates of iHeartMedia sent me the “scoop” saying, “Thought I’d send this to you since it’s relevant to Escondido.” No sale. I wrote her back, saying, “Whoa, what is this thing? Don’t think our viewers are into it though.” Wow, was I wrong. This sucker has blown up all over the Internet….


People behaving badly, and strangely

Luckiest guy at San Marcos It’s one thing to get hit by a speeding commuter train. Safe to say, it’s a whole ‘nother thing to get hit by the train, get up, walk away and still be at large. Such was the case, and fate, of an unidentified man who was struck by a train Thursday night near Palomar College in San Marcos. Like the…


Group wants EUSD Board president recall

Recall Escondido Union School District Board president Joan Gardner? That’s the battle cry of a newly formed association of retired educators and Escondido progressives committed to education for English Learners calling itself “The Saturday Group.” The group launched its recall effort at the June 23 EUSD Board meeting in response to Vista Superior Court Judge Richard Whitney’s refusal to agree to a request for a…


Play Ball: MLB unveils new Escondido diamond; CSUSM names baseball coach

As you may have heard, the Major League Baseball All-Star game comes to Petco Park on Tuesday, July 12. However, MLB beats the all stars to the punch as it, along with the San Diego Padres Foundation, is scheduled to hold a dedication ceremony for a new baseball diamond at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater San Diego — Conrad Prebys Branch, 115 Woodward…


Perfect media storm: What if a fire broke out at an abandoned Escondido meat market and social media, TV news went wild?

Nothing like fire to spark interest in the “mainstream media” — it’s the easiest and most colorful spectacle to trot across local TV — and social media. Throw in spectacular smoke, large numbers of responders and close proximity to freeways and morning rush hour traffic and voila’, the perfect 2016 media storm. (Updated at 4:30 p.m.) It’s an easy story and no doubt interesting although…