Articles by The Grapevine

Dr. Bronner’s psychedelic mushroom trip

Dr. Emanuel Bronner was born Feb. 1, 1908 and died March 7, 1997 at his Escondido home. His soap company moved to Vista in 2014 after 50 years in Escondido. Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps remain an iconic and distinctively American staple brand and curiosity, their wordy labels ubiquitous from Northwestern co-operative farming communities to the upscale bodegas of gentrified North Brooklyn. The boldly colored packaging…


Veteran serves Escondido ag community

USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service is celebrating National Volunteer Week by thanking and honoring its Earth Team volunteers for their service to conservation. One of those so honored was Commander Theresa Everest, an Escondido resident who knew farming was her next step after service in the U.S. Navy, that included deployment to Kuwait and Afghanistan. Two traumatic brain injuries ended Everest’s career with the Navy and…


Heaven’s Gate coming to the big screen in blockbuster

Considering the spectacular nature of the nation’s largest mass suicide on March 26, 1997 when 21 men and 18 women wearing the same black Nike shoes, covered in purple blankets killed themselves at a rented Rancho Santa Fe estate, it seemed only a matter of time when the incident would go Hollywood.. That time has come, according to Britta DeVore of entertainment news site Collider. Vera…


What President Biden said at Rancho Santa Fe event

The White House Tuesday released a complete read-out of formal remarks made by President Biden from 6:47 p.m. to 7:25 p.m. Monday at the Rancho Santa Fe residence of tech entrepreneurs Allan and Megan Camaisa. He made those remarks during a fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee and Democratic Grassroots Fund in which he reportedly raised $1 million. This was Biden’s final stop after a…


President Biden fundraises at Rancho Santa Fe, visits San Diego region with British, Australian PMs

President Joe Biden went to an undisclosed Rancho Santa Fe location Monday evening where he met with Rep. Scott Peters and 40 guests for about 40 minutes in an effort to raise $1 million for the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Grassroots Victory Fund, sources said. This was his final stop after a daylong visit to the San Diego area Monday where he met with…


Most Escondido homelessness funds went to police, not homelessness programs, according to city staff report

Some $1.4 million of $2 million targeted to address homelessness in Escondido went to the city’s police department rather than homelessness services, according to a city staff report released last month. The money that specifically comes from the city’s general fund came under fire from some residents at a February 15, 2023 city council meeting, according to the Voice of San Diego. “We keep seeing…


Move over Octomom, Birch Aquarium welcomes 70 baby weedy seadragons carried to birth by proud papa

Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego is celebrating the arrival of more than 70 tiny newborn Weedy Seadragons, which are incredibly difficult to breed and rear in captivity.  Only a handful of facilities have successfully hatched and reared this unique species of fish that are related to seahorses and pipefish. “This is huge for us. We’ve been working on this…


Carlsbad’s iconic Flower Fields doing its colorful thing

It’s that time of the year again. Carlsbad’s iconic Flower Fields opens for the season Wednesday, March 1, 2023. That’s 55 acres of Giant Tecolote Ranunculus and a variety of new events through May 14. The attraction’s new theme, “Live Colorfully,” covers everything from the ranunculus, a flower known for its large, double-petaled blooms that sit atop tall, straight stems, to the seemingly endless rows of…


Hip hip hooray, it’s Mardi Gras, grab a king cake

It’s Mardi Gras Day, Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023. Time for king cake. Americans usher in the new year with diets and lifestyle resolutions galore, but many people across the globe — particularly those from predominantly Catholic countries — celebrate the calendar change with a sweet pastry known as king cake. It first appears in bakery cases at the beginning of each year and can be…


Meet the Cosmic Ray Deflection Society of North America (RIP Also Aswell)

 (RIP CHUCK ALSTON AKA ALSO ASWELL, GRAND FOUNDER AND POOBAH OF THE COSMIC RAY DEFLECTION SOCIETY AKA KRUDZNA INK. A native of Greensboro, North Carolina, Aswell worked for many years as a chef at New Orleans. Also, a prolific artist and thinker, Aswell led the way for numerous storied events and adventures. Following a long series of health battles, he died peacefully in his sleep…