The air in Escondido carries a strange weight today, an odd mix of nostalgia and finality. Chief Ed Varso—yes, the Ed Varso, the man who climbed the law enforcement ladder like a dog on a scent trail—has announced his retirement. December 5 marks the end of an era, or maybe just the curtain call for a long-running, bureaucratic drama that somehow stayed gripping. Varso’s journey…
You wouldn’t believe the hullabaloo some people make about a slab of concrete, but here goes. Cushman & Wakefield, those bigwig real estate folks, couldn’t wait to puff out their chests and tell the world they helped broker the forward sale of an industrial building in Escondido, California. Fancy name, right? Forward sale. It’s just code for “selling something that’s not even finished yet,” which…
Dat A. Nguyen will be installed this week as the new Postmaster of the Escondido Post Office. In that position, Nguyen manages 175 employees and oversees retail services at the Escondido Post Officeand the daily distribution of mail to more than 5,700 PO Boxes and on 90 delivery routes in Escondido and Orange Glen. He replaces former Escondido Postmaster Todd McArthur, who moved on to…
Go down to Hernandez Hideaway at rural Lake Drive in Del Dios and people will swear up and down the long wooden bar that Hodgee, the friendly Lake Hodges monster, really truly — well, almost definitely exists. “The Lake Hodges Hodgee monster is kind of like the Loch Ness monster,” said Stan Smith, a long-time Del Dios resident. Smith, a cowboy poet and man about…
Used by permission, this rather comprehensive look at Lake Hodges, Del Dios Highway and sites far and wide, first appeared at Postcards and Passports, San Diego resident Tami Zehrung Wilcox’s extensive travel blog. Only a few weeks ago, I took a day to discover Lake Hodges and the area surrounding it. I was astounded at all that it has to offer — especially its peaceful…
‘ALL-ONE’ soap aside, and sudsy philosophy notwithstanding, Dr. Emmanuel Bronner has emerged from beyond the grave with an appropriately nostalgic series of ruminations released on a vinyl LP. Or as the publicity department said: “‘Sisters & Brothers’ is a long-play record that features original recordings of Dr. Emanuel Bronner—visionary, soapmaker, grandfather and founder of Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps. Recorded between 1970 and 1995, on a variety of…
We are certainly NOT in Kansas anymore, Toto! I really wasn’t talking with that Wizard of Oz character recently, but rather my bride, Debbie, while we were stopped in bumper-to-bumper traffic on I-15, northbound in our rental car. We were once again visiting huge San Diego County, near Escondido, California, a city we have regularly enjoyed since we permanently relocated from San Diego to Our…
Always a bit of an oddity, and itself a colorful exhibition of an Escondido antique dealer’s lifelong hobby, the Roynon Museum celebrating all things dinosaur, went the way of the creatures celebrated within, that is to say, extinct, on June 30, 2019. Applying the lofty title of Roynon Museum of Earth Sciences and Paleontology to its decidedly idiosyncratic exhibit and purpose, museum officials this week…
Immediately after the Escondido City Council meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 15, District 4 Councilmember Mike Morasco approached Escondido City Youth Council (ECYC) founding members. Why? Morasco, a Republican in his 13th year on the council, questioned youth council members about their citizenship status because they quietly opted out of reciting the Pledge of Allegiance at the start of the meeting. “It’s incredibly disappointing to have…
Crab Fever Express, so-called, rolled without fanfare into downtown Escondido on Monday, July 10, with nary a whisper into the historic building home for decades to Champion’s Restaurant followed by a spectacular if ill-fated run as Rosie’s Diner. Unsullied by the vagaries of customers during Wednesday lunchtime, the sixth restaurant trying to find the charm at the 117 W. Grand Ave. building that began serving…