Articles by Special to The Grapevine

Trump targets Issa, the last Cal Republicans

It’s hard to know exactly what shape Republican “tax reform” will take. Many details are missing from the “framework” that the administration presented last month. (Describing actions, or promises of action, by the Donald Trump administration often necessitates the use of quotation marks.) But it must have seemed a good idea to someone to complement Trump’s culture war against liberals with a fiscal war. The…


Whacking Welk: Et tu theatre, time shares

The year of no Welk Resort Theatre For nearly four decades, Welk Resort Theatre has showcased all manner of live stage shows at a 309-seat showcase. That tradition comes to an end with the final performance of “A Christmas Carol” on Dec. 31. Following the Dickens of a show, the string of live dinner shows at the north Escondido resort dating to 1981 comes to an…


Local farms hurt by lack of workers

Across San Diego County and California, farmers and ranchers face chronic problems in finding and hiring qualified and willing people to work in agriculture, according to a survey conducted by the California Farm Bureau Federation. The informal survey of Farm Bureau members showed that more than half of responding farmers had experienced employee shortages during the past year. The figure was higher among farmers who…


Temecula Valley wine $78M annual industry

New 2016 Temecula Valley Wine Country Impact Report profiles vineyards and wineries as a pillar of the Temecula Valley tourism economy. The Temecula Valley American Viticultural Area (AVA) has an annual economic impact of $78 million to the regional economy, and supports 4,800 jobs, according to Visit Temecula Valley (VTV) The group this week released results of its 2016 Temecula Valley Southern California Wine Country economic impact…


How Palomar Medical Center would deal with a Las Vegas-type mass casualty event

The tragic mass casualty shooting event occurring in Las Vegas this week tested the limits of the area’s trauma and emergency response systems. It may have raised questions in your mind about humanity and, oh by the way, how San Diego County and Palomar Medical Center Escondido, North County’s only trauma center, would respond in a similar circumstance. Palomar Health Trauma Medical Director John Steele,…


Stick Faye’s Fork in it, Pegah’s done

Courtesy of Faye’s Fork food blog. For more, visit Faye’s Fork: http://www.fayesfork.com/about-me/ PEGAH’S KITCHEN 912 S Redwood St Escondido, CA 92025 (760) 739-9265 I was in Escondido to have my car serviced. It was an early morning and all I could think about was chicken fried steak. And country gravy. I discovered Pegah’s Kitchen on my Yelp app and decided to try the restaurant as they…


Cal ACLU blasts Trump DACA sham

Today, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced President Trump’s intent to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and in doing so, he has callously reneged on the government’s commitment to hundreds of thousands of American youth. The DACA program is a critical lifeline for nearly 800,000 young immigrants who came to this country as children. For most, the United States is the only…


Abed, Masson, Gallo: ‘Screw you, library’

Shocking. Deaf. Scandalous. Callous. Fascist. Fishy… In a shocking display of community and political deafness, Escondido’s Gang of Three right-wing Republicans on the 5-person City Council, so-called Mayor Sam Abed, and Councilmen John Masson, and Ed Gallo ignored overwhelming community opposition and voted for an ill-defined marketing sales pitch by the corporate interest, Library Systems and Services (LS&S) to take over Escondido library services. Speaker…


Back to school: Cal State San Marcos opens year with record enrollment

The fall semester at Cal State San Marcos kicked off Monday with nearly three dozen new faculty, several new programs and the highest enrollment in campus history. President Karen Haynes, the most senior president in the CSU system, opened the 2017-18 academic year with her 14th CSUSM Convocation address on Thursday, Aug. 24. Speaking to hundreds of CSUSM faculty and staff members, she highlighted recent…


Heat wave on the way week of Aug. 25-31

We’re having a heat wave. Record-breaking heat is expected to descend upon Southern California Monday, with temperatures ratcheting up over the next three days and remaining high but tapering off just a bit through the end of the week. Highs in El Cajon and Escondido are expected to reach 102, which would match the records in both cities for the date. The National Weather Service…