Articles by dweisman

Ag Day brings students to the land of spuds, nuts and bees

They came. They saw. They trekked like soldiers going off to war, according to recently retired San Diego County entomologist David Kellum. And they learned. Welcome to Ag Day 2015 hosted at the Martin Gang Agricultural Learning Center on Cole Grade Road. Some 1,700 local kids from the entire Valley Center-Pauma Unified School District elementary school community, and fellow travelers, swarmed like bees across the…


Ray’s breakfast club percolates with the rising sun before landscaping local estates

On the surface, (the morning meeting) is about communication, but embedded within it are norms and values that are critical for organizations that must deal with difficult issues and adapt nimbly to new situations.” — Marty Linsky, professor, Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government With the sun a mere memory from yesterday’s news, Ray Casarrubias, and his crew, meet at 6 a.m. sharp…


Los Angeles Department of Children and Family Services under state investigation

The Los Angeles Department of Children and Family Services has been under fire in recent years with official commissions investigating high-profile deaths of children who had come in contact with the foster care system. It’s being investigated again by state regulators for possible baby-selling charges. Allegations are being investigated that Los Angeles DCFS personnel were involved with taking babies from the child welfare system and…


Taking agricultural education to a whole ‘nother level

  SAN PASQUAL VALLEY — Organic farming pioneer and consultant, resource conservation leader, and now agricultural educator, Scott Murray hoped his back-to-the-future efforts will keep farming viable in California and the nation.  Murray was doing it, in part, at a groundbreaking venue, the San Pasqual Academy. Located in the San Diego Agricultural Preserve about 35 miles northeast of downtown San Diego, it’s a first-in-the-nation residential education…


VCHS Class of 2015 says goodbye to all that

“It’s a Beautiful Day,” the song and the event, rang out across Jaguar Stadium Thursday, June 11 as the Valley Center High School Class of 2015 commenced its Commencement Exercises. Some 2,500 to 3,000 friends, families and supporters overflowed the stadium’s bleachers, lined the newly installed field turf in white chairs and otherwise took in the 15th Valley Center High School Commencement ceremonies. They would…


Doves of Love soar above San Diego

Larry Zetterquist and Kathy Duffany are Doves of Love San Diego. So are their white racing and homing pigeons. The Valley Center couple were prominently featured during Western Days events along with their progeny, in this case a flock of white racing pigeons that pass for doves. They transport the birds in small, airy cages draped with red-white-and-blue bunting suitable for release and return to…


Steve Becvar going to the Gulls

Times they are a’changing for Steve Becvar. He’s going from executive director of the  Greater San Diego Chapter of the ALS Association to its Board of Directors as he accepts a post as new vice president of sales for the equally new San Diego Gulls of the American Hockey League (AHL). First things first, “The San Diego Gulls are thrilled to announce the hiring of…


People behaving badly

I covered the Delta. That’s the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta for our purposes although I occasionally covered the Mississippi Delta for newspapers in Louisiana and Arkansas, which is a whole ‘nother story. This was the California Delta where I covered Elk Grove south and west through Hood, Locke, Walnut Grove, Isleton along with places like Lodi, Galt and heaven’s know where for the Sacramento Bee. They…