Escondido

Escondido gets serious about smoke-free

The Escondido City Council voted unanimously on March 5 to move forward with an ordinance prohibiting smoking and vaping in outdoor dining areas, public places including sidewalks, and public events such as parades. The smoke-free policy will come back for final approval on April 1 and, if approved, will become effective 30 days later. A new policy requiring all tobacco retailers to obtain a license…


Coronavirus Escondido, SD schools update

(Editor’s Note: We will be updating coronavirus information on a regular basis starting today, March 16, 2020. This is not intended as a comprehensive source, but aims to highlight resources and news of interest to the community.) San Diego County schools closed, student meals continue The kids, hopefully, will be — apologies to The Who — alright, but they’ll be doing it at home for…


Escondido Councilman John Masson dies

Escondido city officials announced Wednesday morning that longtime Escondido Councilman John Masson has died. Flags at all city facilities, including City Hall, offices and parks, were lowered shortly after 10 a.m. and will remain lowered until the day of Masson’s internment. Masson, who was 55 years old, died after a yearlong battle with cancer. Funeral services are pending. The city-issued statement said: “The Escondido City…


Three-dot lounge visits fowl, fish and features

There was a method to the madness of presenting San Francisco legend Herb Caen’s three-dot lounge history along with its various re-interpretations. That was to set up Escondido Grapevine’s own three-dot lounge approach to local news. For more about the concept, visit our story here. For more local three-dot news, keep on trucking below… Lake Hodges Wildlife gets down to business First came the mating of…


Ammar rocks 50th, March 3 election results

Ammar Campa-Najjar led the way in 50th Congressional District and top county results Democrat Ammar Campa-Najjar advanced to the run-off in the race to fill the vacancy left by disgraced former Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter in California’s 50th District. Campa-Najjar will likely face former Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), who’s attempting a congressional comeback, and beat out former San Diego City Councilman Carl DeMaio in the all-party primary held on…


Escondido Arch’s mystery $1 million donor?

A giant $1 million arch targeted to loom large over Grand Avenue just east of Centre City Parkway got a giant donation from a mystery donor. What gives? The heck with downtown homelessness, health care and community wellness projects.  The Escondido Community Foundation (ECF) under the auspices of the San Diego Foundation has been trying for several years for some reason to spend $1 million…


Kaitlyn Rose fundraiser odd mix of giving, TV

(Editor’s Note The block party-style event, hosted by stars of the restaurant makeover show, raised at least $119,000 for Kaitlyn Rose “Rosie” Pilsbury, 33, the owner of Rosie’s Cafe who was struck by a white Ford Explorer while she was riding her Harley Davidson motorcycle through Vista, according to KNSD 39/7 San Diego.) Got to give it to  to reality TV makeover chef Robert Irvine…


Sergio Gutierrez going out with a big bash

Turn out the lights, the party is over for Sergio Gutierrez, a San Diego local musician and acrylic artist. Gutierrez has been painting playing music in his studio on the grounds of Forgotten Barrel Winery at 1120 West 15th Ave Escondido, CA 92025 for over a year now. He intends to bring it all to an end with an art-and-music bash there from noon to 6 p.m….


Love it or leave it, Valentine’s Day on the way

Celebrating all things romantic, Valentine’s Day comes this way on Friday, Feb. 14 throughout Escondido, North County, San Diego and the world. What are you going to do about that, lovers of love. Let’s consider some options. Sure, flowers, candy or other sweet things, and the exchange of cards, called valentines, expressing love are going to be big everywhere. But some people are going the…


Scrabble-Thon for Escondido Library is back

It’s back. Scrabble-Thon, Escondido Public Library’s homage to many things spelled for points, returns for its 16th annual run for the “QUARTZY,” otherwise known as the highest-scoring word you can play, according to James Bartlett, scrabble maven. According to Bartlett, QUARTZY, will score 164 points if played across a red triple-word square with the Z on a light blue double-letter square. It will score 162 points if…