Articles by The Grapevine

North County Report: Roberts, Gaspar — Not Abed — advance to D3 runoff

The Gist: Darrell Issa might have a real race on his hands, North County voters less interested in local race than the presidential contest, New York Times drops in on Carlsbad and more in our weekly roundup of North County news. Perhaps the biggest news for North County in Tuesday’s primary election was the District 3 race for county supervisor. Encinitas Mayor Kristin Gaspar knocked…


Largest cupcake tower: Escondido breaks Guinness World Records record

A group of North County cancer survivors and caregivers took their battle against the disease to new heights last week by trying to break the Guinness World Record for the world’s largest cupcake tower; their sweet success — a 31.5 foot tower made out of 25,103 cupcakes – have crushed the previous record of 21 feet and 7,500 cupcakes, according to the World Record Academy. Thousands…


Connected for Life — Mariee Mena lives on

Curtis Kingfisher will always carry a piece of Escondido’s Mariee Mena with him. At 12 years old, Curtis received a kidney donation from Mariee, a former Escondido High School and University of Oklahoma softball player, which gave him a second chance at life. Since then, he and his family have been deeply connected with both the Menas and the OU family. When Curtis was born,…



Vending industry leader lobbies Sacramento

The people who provide vending machine treats — micro-markets in trade parlance — and coffee around California break rooms descended on Sacramento for some good old-fashioned marketing two weeks ago. One of their leaders was Jeff Leider, president of San Marcos-based Tri-R Coffee & Vending and first time legislative day participant. His dad, Norm Leider, founded the company in 1984, and created the intriguing Tri-R…


Free MusicFest set for Valley Center’s Maxine Theater

The Valley Center Pauma Music Boosters (VCPMB) 2016 MusicFest will be held Thursday, June 2 at the Maxine Theater. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. with dinner and drumlines and leading into the concert time of 6:30 p.m. The concert event is free for the community and will feature BBQ dinner and raffle item tickets for sale as part of the Valley Center Pauma Music Boosters…


SDG&E-funded 2016 San Diego Regional Quality of Life Dashboard released

Sempra Energy-funded Center for Sustainable Energy’s (CSE) Equinox Project has released its 2016 San Diego Regional Quality of Life Dashboard, which assesses the top economic and environmental indicators to gauge the region’s progress toward sustainability. The dashboard is a nonpartisan report card that tracks and grades quality of life indicators in 15 categories from data supplied by 28 sources to evaluate livability in the region….


May odds be in write-in candidate’s favor?

(Editor’s Note: Tired of the same old, same old officially registered candidates running for California’s 50th Congressional District? Say hello to El Cajon editor/writer Katie Memmel, a San Diego State graduate who works for SteelOrbis, a steel industry publication and marketplace with offices at Del Mar and Istanbul, Turkey. She is running as a write-in candidate. In this case of congressional district musical chairs, top…


Kickin’ it to fight breast cancer returns

Registration: Now open. Last day to register is Thurs., May 5.  Register and find out more about rules and schedules at www.kickinitchallenge.com. Date: Sat., June 18 through Sun., June 19  Time: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. (both days) Location:  Frances Ryan Park, 450 Hidden Trail Rd., Escondido, CA 92027 Registration continues through May 15 for The 5th Annual Kickin’ It Challenge soccer tournament. The tourney at Frances Ryan…


Palomar smoking policy flirts with fines

It’s no secret that Palomar College has a campus smoking issue despite the ‘smoke-free campus’ placards placed throughout the college. A new proposal seeks to increase the campus’s authority to further enforce the campus smoking policy, potentially levying fines against violators instead of verbal warnings. While some students say that Palomar should not include vaping in its policy — and others want to bring back…