Nobody, especially Trump, knows it yet. His fate, his downfall, and his doom is, as we speak, being set in stone. And considering the roll he is on, few will believe what I am writing here. Just as well. Best not to believe or repeat what I’m telling you. Fortunately, Trump is so full of himself and too stupid to see what he is doing…
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…
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…
San Marcos residents wanted this week to bring call attention a troubling pattern of behavior involving San Marcos officials and longtime City Attorney Helen Holmes Peak and her Escondido-based law firm, Lounsbery Ferguson Altona & Peak, which has been handling municipal ordinance violations. This law firm has been taking excessively harsh legal action over minor infractions, such as failing to apply for permits—permits that city…
Editor’s Note: Michael Patrick Welch, renowned New Oreans writer, musician, teacher and friend of The Escondido Grapevine, conducted an interview with the provocateur known to Andy Kauffman and Bob Zmuda fans as Tony Clifton. While others have shunned this outstanding piece of informational journalism, we embrace it and re-print this as a public service. “After years of chasing Tony Clifton to get his thoughts on…
The battle for Lake Hodges raged not against water, but against bureaucratic chains that bound its potential like steel fetters. In the harsh, unforgiving landscape of North County, where nature’s fury could ignite with the slightest provocation, men and women stood resolute, challenging the cold calculus of state mandates. The lake, a titan of water constrained by governmental decree, trembled at 273 feet—the lowest mark…
For many a year, Karen Carlson, a steadfast farmer and rancher in the rolling hills of Ramona, has tilled the soil and tended her groves with an unyielding spirit. Now, she’s setting her sights on something larger than her own five-acre spread. With a heart as big as the valley itself, she’s rallying to breathe new life into the California State Grange and rekindle the…
Christmas and New Year’s are days of celebration in many parts of the world when people gather with family and friends. One thing many typically don’t celebrate on those days is a birthday. That’s because Dec. 25 is the least popular day in the U.S., Australia and New Zealand to give birth. In England, Wales and Ireland, it’s the second-least popular, behind Dec. 26, when…
The fog, thick and unrelenting, crept from the coast to the valleys early Saturday morning, clinging to the ground like a conspiracy no one could escape. Visibility dropped to a quarter mile or less, stranding thousands of would-be flyers at San Diego International Airport, their plans grounded by a phenomenon as indifferent as it was inevitable. The dense fog advisory was supposed to lift by…