Featured

Kids are the grownups in climate crisis room

The next U.S. presidential election is being transformed because children everywhere, watching in disbelief as grownups fail to address the climate crisis, are launching their own climate movements. In contrast to the 2016 election – where exactly zero questions about global warming were posed during the general election debates – the lineup of presidential candidates are already being pressured to do something about the climate…


Escondido mosque arson investigation yields more questions than answers and a reward

Authorities said this week they had not ruled out anything when it comes to who started a small fire at Escondido’s Dar-ul-Arqam Mosque at 318 W. Sixth Ave. around 3:15 a.m. Sunday, March 24. Believed to be arson, a suspect reportedly left a note referring to the shootings Friday, March  15 that killed 50 people at mosques in the city of Christchurch, New Zealand. The fire…


Hold on to your gas cap, fuel nearly $4/gallon

With oil companies blaming refinery issues, gasoline prices have risen in the last month to the highest prices in nearly four years, according to various sources. The average price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline in San Diego County rose this week to its highest amount since Aug. 5, 2015, increasing 3.6 cents to $3.868. The average price has risen 22 consecutive days and…



A little action on a new Escondido action plan

(Margaret McCown Liles started blogging about the Escondido City Council following the demise of the North County Times as a public resource. Please visit her blog at http://ablueviewescondido.com.) “There’s definitely a new atmosphere in the city hall now. It is much more of the people, by the people and for the people.” — Margaret McCown Liles I arrived, promptly, at 11:50 am, last Wednesday, March…


North County Congressional Town Hall sham

Those skeptical about a much-ballyhooed All North North County Congressional Town Hall ever happening have been vindicated. Turns out the entire event was a scam from the word go. The North County Economic Development Council supposedly was going to hold a town hall featuring Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-50th Congressional District) and Mike Levin (D-49th Congressional District) from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, March 19, 2019. Additional…


Meet the new San Diego border barrier, just behind the old San Diego border barrier

It’s kind of like a bait-and-switch along 14 miles of San Diego border barrier, or maybe similar to the new and improved status sometimes awarded to reconstituted cereal brands. Or call it peaches, as President Trump said for all he cared in early January. You know how some people double wrap leftover food. Using previously allocated border funds, the Trump Administration was double-wrapping the border…


Meet the new mayor, same as the old mayor

Escondido Mayor Paul McNamara had his office this week announce a monthly meet-and-greet event called “Meet the Mayor.” Just don’t ask McNamara about whether it’s appropriate for Escondido Assistant Manager Jay Petrek also to hold a second job as a San Marcos city councilman. Apparently, that’s where McNamara draws the line. Just as former Mayor Sam Abed was renowned for not answering legitimate questions and shunning public…


No committee, no problem for Duncan Hunter

Turns out when you’re indicted for massive campaign finance fraud, it ain’t so bad. Having been prohibited by House Republican leadership from ever having another committee assignment — committee work is a major facet of congressional time and power — U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Vape Hut) has a lot more time to do what he loves most, promote vaporizing, hang out with the Bro Caucus…


Wall, stinking ridiculous wall: Fun Facts Sheet

Wall, stinking ridiculous wall. Thanks to Donald Trump’s government shutdown and faux emergency order centered around his infantile obsession with “The Wall,” we’ve been media- and Republican-bombarded with wall talk. As the case with any hot journalism story, it’s the pleasure of The Grapevine to join the fray. This is possible due to the great reporting from inewsource, the non-profit public investigations news site based…