Articles by dweisman

Escondido, Politics November 17, 2015

Big Escondido city manager salary reveal and more came Wednesday (spoiler alert)

Time for the big reveal on Wednesday, Nov. 18. That’s when the Escondido City Council members unanimously approved, with no practical discussion, the new $234,719 annual base salary with an additional, and lucrative, benefits package and contract for newly hired city manager Graham Mitchell who assumes office Dec. 18. It’s the same as outgoing city manager Clay Phillips got in his last three-year contract although Mitchell…

Food, Restaurants November 15, 2015

Thanksgiving Escondido is about to pop

  Thanksgiving in the U.S. brought together families from near and far to celebrate a day of turkey, football, parades and possibly, this year, shopping. It’s one of the major American holidays laden with traditions and sometimes misconceptions about its origins. The holiday is mythologized as beginning in 1621 when the Pilgrims invited the native Wampanoag Indians to their colony to celebrate the first harvest…

Sports November 15, 2015

Lake Wohlford where the catfish are biting

You know what they say, a bad day of fishing is better than a good day at work. And then some. That’s what brought three diverse generations of the Brinneman clan to the shore of Lake Wohlford last week where they found the catfish fishing and it was good. “We’ve got three catfish in there,” Roy Brinneman said, pointing to a cooler. “They just stocked…

Business November 12, 2015

Mall movies, Haggen, TOT, Hager Pacific, NAPP, Nordahl Marketplace, say what?

Movie madness at Westfield North County With cable, satellite, Netflix, Youtube and and Apple TV, among other outlets, who said going to the movies was out of style? Not Westfield North County. Even as the Westfield Corporation said it was selling fellow regional Westfield Carlsbad mall to Rouse Properties, it announce3d a new 10-screen theater headed to its Escondido mall. The theater will be built…

Music November 11, 2015

Melissa Etheridge provides fine time at California Center for the Arts, Escondido

For its 2014-15 season, the California Center for the Arts, Escondido featured 26 shows with 10 sellouts and a total of 285,000 visits to Escondido’s cultural hub. Revenue was up about $35,000 as a result. “We re-established our performing arts season,” — California Center for the Arts, Escondido executive director Jerry Van Leeuwen Melissa Etheridge came to town on Nov. 6, playing the only North County…

Blogs, Columns/Blogs November 4, 2015

Casey Anthony legal team member, and RSF resident, Todd Macaluso sentenced

Casey Anthony attorney, and Rancho Santa Fe resident, Todd Edward Macaluso, Sr., is going to prison, sentenced in federal court to five months for fraud. Guess who’s not going to sue me over this story. I’m not surprised Macaluso was sentenced for his role in defrauding clients by forging their signatures to obtain millions of dollars from investors. I’m just surprised it took this long…

Courts/Law, Escondido, Police November 3, 2015

Alice in Wonderland scenario continues for former Escondido Police Chief Jim Maher

Former Escondido Police Chief’s Jim Maher’s contentious employment end game finished in a swirl of controversy in 2012 that just got curiouser and curiouser on Monday. Maher had filed a breach-of-contract suit last year contending he was owed $75,000 of a negotiated $150,000 job buyout. On Monday, his attorney told a reporter that the suit had been dropped. Rick Pinckard, Maher’s current attorney — Robert…

Breaking News, Escondido, Politics October 28, 2015

There’s a new city manager in town (Breaking News)

As expected, Escondido assistant city manager Graham Mitchell was elevated in rank Wednesday,  following last week’s resignation of long-time city manager Clay Phillips. Phillips, 58, suddenly announced his retirement last week, effective Dec. 18. His $200,000-plus city pension begins at age 60. Mitchell, 46, was hired this summer as assistant city manager following the retirement of another longtime official, assistant city manager Charles Grimm. Mitchell…

North County, Valley Center October 27, 2015

Lilac Hills Ranch pulls out its big PR gun: Driverless technology run by an app

And now this for proposed Lilac Hills Ranch, scheduled to begin its final approval process before San Diego County Supervisors on Wednesday, Oct. 28: Autonomous, or driverless, vehicles that would provide services to establish a more pedestrian-oriented community and more interconnected neighborhoods, according to Accretive president Jon Rilling. With all the controversy over leap-frog development approvals by San Diego County planning staff and possible circumvention of…

Football, Sports October 26, 2015

New Spring Major League Football (MLFB) tryouts come to Escondido (Video)

The heck with the San Diego (or Los Angeles) Chargers and the NFL. There’s a new professional football league and it’s coming to Escondido on Sunday, Nov. 1. This is the newly formed Major League Football (MLFB) scheduled to kick off in Spring 2016 as a Spring/Summer league with eight teams who will play 10 games each. Top four teams make the playoffs. The league…