California

Imperial County feels the COVID-19 pain

A surge in coronavirus cases has spread across most of California — and Imperial County, among the hardest hit early in the pandemic, is no exception. After seeing improvements over the late summer, the county’s positivity rate for COVID-19 cases has more than doubled in the past month, and its two hospitals are nearing caseloads not seen since July. “We were hit hard and late…


Sierra Club North County blasts Harvest Hills

The Sierra Club North County Group took to social media Monday, Nov. 23 with a video release lambasting the proposed  $58 million Harvest Hills development proposal at San Pasqual Valley near the San Diego Safari Park. “We are ready to re-ignite the fight to halt sprawl development in Escondido and to Stop Harvest Hills,” said Laura Hunter, Chair of the Conservation Committee of the Sierra…


Farmers, ranchers seek better wildfire policies

“Hours had passed and the fire’s coming down the hill; it had just taken us over, so we start packing what we could as we watched my son’s house burn and our whole hemp farm burn right in front of our own eyes. It was a devastating experience,”  — Jamul hemp farmer Eddie Campos described watching his crop and homes burn, saying his initial 911…


Pot wins big across county, state ballots

Election Day not only ushered in marijuana legalization wins in five states, it also brought more than two dozen victories at the city and county levels in California, opening the door to new local markets for cannabis businesses up and down the state. All told, there were at least 37 marijuana ballot questions in 35 cities and counties, according to tallies by California NORML and…


Marie Waldron flunks ‘Courage Report Card’

Got to give it to Marie Waldron, Valley Center’s ode to abuse of mileage reimbursements in the California Legislature — for more on that, visit this link — but YOUR Republican representative for California’s 75th Assembly District managed this week to score a solid “F” for her 2019 “Courage Score” from The People’s Report Card of California. In fact, Waldron couldn’t have fared worse to standing…



Lilac Hills — zombie project that just won’t die

Talk about zombie development issues, this ghost of a project, rejected several times by voters and local planning commission members, Lilac Hills is back on the San Diego County Board of Supervisors agenda again. A ballot measure seeking approval of the Lilac Hills project was soundly defeated by voters in 2016, but the proposal was different from what the San Diego County Planning Commission had…


Three-Dot Lounge visits Rancho Santa Fe

We are going to consider a few outstanding three-dot items stripped from below, well below, today’s coronavirus headlines. But first, a reminder and salute about he who pioneered the three-dot way It’s been over 20 years since famed San Francisco journalist Herb Caen (1916-1997) died. For journalists and San Franciscans, Caen was a superstar. Known as “Mr. San Francisco,” his columns were a vital piece…


2020 MLB Draft: Some locals get crunked

Several local players made the grade in the wild, and weird Major League Baseball (MLB) abbreviated five-round draft on Wednesday and Thursday while the San Diego Padres took six newbies with hopes to bring them into the Petco fold. The five-round 2020 MLB Draft is in the books now. A total of 160 selections were made over two nights in the abbreviated selection process. MLB…


Consider the underappreciated sea otter

Like Rodney Dangerfield, sea otters get no respect. Since their reintroduction to the Pacific coast in the 1970s, the sea otters’ rapid recovery and voracious appetite for tasty shellfish such as sea urchins, clams and crabs has brought them into conflict with coastal communities and fishers, who rely on the same valuable fisheries for food and income. But the long-term benefits of sea otter recovery—such…