When Charles Manson died in November 2017, his name carried weight even among those who weren’t alive when he committed his crimes. For decades, Manson was the symbol of evil, a real-life boogeyman who loomed as the American conception of wickedness incarnate. His death ended 48 years of imprisonment for a series of murders in August 1969, some of which he committed, most of which…
As a Cal State San Marcos professor of history, of course, Jill Watts is also a student of history. Watts knew that many U.S. history textbooks, in the all-important pages about the hugely consequential Franklin Delano Roosevelt presidency, make passing references to what the black press of the day coined the “Black Cabinet,” an unofficial group of African-American advisers to FDR as he navigated the politics of the Great Depression and the New…
It’s difficult for Kasandra Balsis to count the ways that Cal State San Marcos history professor Alyssa Goldstein Sepinwall has helped her in her academic journey. When Balsis entered CSUSM’s history master’s program in the fall of 2020, the virtual format made it challenging for her to find her way, but Sepinwall aided the transition by using Zoom breakout rooms to facilitate deeper discussion and…
Last week marked a time steeped in manifest destiny. Manifest Destiny. Not a term one hears much today, and a concept liberals and conservatives might debate from both sides of the ideological divide, but an organizing principle from 19th Century America with massive implications for modern day America. This, then, is a pretty good week to consider President James K. Polk. Nov. 2 marks Polk’s…
Fifteen years ago this week the Witch Creek Fire devastated Escondido, Rancho Santa Fe and North County San Diego. This is part of my first-hand coverage done as editor of the Rancho Santa Fe Record. I won the California Newspaper Publishers Association’s first place prize for local news coverage for this, and the other 26 stories, numerous photos, and overall coverage I produced during, and…
Despite the intense heat in Southern California the last few weeks, and the sudden hurricane and rain just one day before, The Grape Day Festival held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 10 was a complete success. We had perfect weather, comparatively, as the community of Escondido, California came together with our San Diego friends and Southern California visitors. Dating back to the…
One eyewitness said the blast “looked like an asteroid attack out of Star Wars.” The witness was referring to rocks from a regular quarry blast above Cal State San Marcos (CSUSM) raining down on campus about 3:15 p.m. Monday, July 30, 2001, damaging cars and buildings, but causing no injuries. For Robert Stakes, who had just begun his tenure as dean of extended studies, the rocks…
Save Our Heritage Organisation (SOHO), San Diego’s only countywide historic preservation advocacy group wraps up this year with its 22nd annual Most Endangered List of 12 historic buildings, sites, and landscapes. The pandemic’s stressors of uncertainty, inequity, and loss underscore the unifying power of our shared multicultural heritage and venerated historic places. The pandemic also threatens historic buildings and places that are not now regularly…
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…
Marge Quackenbush, died December 7 at Palomar Medical Center in Escondido, three days after she turned 101 years. Along with husband Derek “Van” Quackenbush, who died in February 2015, Marge Quackenbush came to Valley Center and started The Valley Center Roadrunner in March 1974 with Van as publisher and editor and Marge in charge of the business and advertising. Marge Quackenbush attended Grandview Church, Valley Center…