Articles by The Grapevine

Justice for Rosie’s: Hit-run suspect arrested

Rene Solorio, 35, sits at the Vista Jail today, charged with the alleged December 2019 hit-and-run crash that seriously injured Kaitlyn Rose Pillsbury, proprietress of Rosie’s Cafe as featured on the Food Network’s “Restaurant Impossible” show hosted by Chef Robert Irvine. Solorio, a Vista resident, remained jailed in lieu of $200,000 bail Monday, a week after he was taken into custody on a Jan. 4…


Battered, California GOP struggles to survive

Consider the California Republican Party. Or, what’s left of it. Not long ago, California Republicans slugged it out with Democrats in competitive statewide campaigns and threw considerable weight into legislative policy debates. But today, after a quarter-century slide into irrelevancy and dogma, it’s reasonable to consider if the state party still has a pulse and if its future includes a revival. The California party faces…


Marie Waldron is days late and dollars short

I was outraged when I read a Thanksgiving column by my 2020 election opponent for California’s 75th Assembly District, Marie Waldron, titled “Does California Owe You Money.” It was another reminder for me why I decided to run to bring change to our district.   The article begins: ”The holiday season is fast approaching and many are suffering from severe economic distress resulting from the COVID 19…


In with the 3 new SD County Supervisors

Three new members of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors were sworn induring a virtual event on Monday Jan. 4. Supervisor Nora Vargas succeeded long-time District 1 Supervisor Greg Cox, who had served on the board since 1995. The district covers Coronado, Imperial Beach, Chula Vista, National City, some communities within the City of San Diego, and unincorporated areas including Bonita, Lincoln Acres and…


Encinitas cracks down on maskholes

(Editor’s note: This New Year’s Eve coronavirus update is provided by Encinitas Mayor Catherine Blakespear. She was elected to the Encinitas City Council in 2014 and won her mayoral election in 2018 with 83% of the vote. Blakespear holds a BA and MA injournalism from Northwestern University and JD from the Universty of Utah. As mayor and a representative of the City of Encinitas, she…


4 citrus disease pests found in Fallbrook

During routine pest trapping in Fallbrook this week, state agricultural inspectors detected bacteria on an insect that can cause a plant disease. It is not harmful to people or animals, but is deadly to citrus trees and is a dangerous agricultural threat, they said. California Department of Food & Agriculture (CDFA) inspectors on December 28 collected a group of four adult Asian citrus psyllids (ACP)…


Palomar Medical Center COVID wing opened

In the latest sign that COVID-19 has reached a critical stage in California, Gov. Gavin Newsom Wednesday activated the federal medical station at Palomar Medical Center. National Guard personnel descended on the regional hospital to take charge of activation of the 202-bed medical station installed on the 10th and 11th floors of the facility back in April. The federal medical station includes general use beds,…


KFMB back on DirecTV, strip clubs shut down

Two developments affecting entertainment options around San Diego went into effect this weekend. TEGNA, owner of KFMB, San Diego’s local CBS affiliate and its CW counterpart and DirecTV came to agreement about resuming service. And a state appels court reversed a San Diego Superior Curt Judge ruling that local restaurants and trip clubs did not have to comply with state and cunty coronavirus lockdown orders. Just…


Escondido, San Marcos news briefly speaking

Legendary North County Times photographer turns calendar pin-up Photographer Dan Rios was a mentor to many of North County’s fellow shooters for two decades. Now, he hits the calendar pin-up trade as featured in the Escondido History Center’s annual fund-raising calendar. Rios worked as a photojournalist from 1968 to 2001 for the former Escondido Times Advocate newspaper, which merged with the North County Blade-Citizen in…


No marriage among Hunter family thieves

Breaking up, in the end, doesn’t seem to have been that hard to do for the estranged campaign finance law violators and married couple, Duncan and Margaret Hunter. It was like “The War of the Roses” with Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner meets Shonda Rhimes “Scandal.” Margaret Hunter filed for divorce on Nov. 20 in San Diego Superior Court, according to online records. Hunter in…