Congressman Duncan Hunter was too — too delicate to walk by a painting made by a high school kid and go about his day. He had to take it down. He unscrewed the bolts and removed it. Hunter would say that he did this because of a moral imperative, because he feels that it’s wrong to dehumanize and demean law enforcement officers. Ironically, many progressive-…
The Tale of the Toppled Hurler: A Peter Hartwell Story by Bruce A. Kauffman c 2016 All Rights Reserved. Last we looked, Peter Hartwell had been hustled into a familiar-looking car at gunpoint in New York City by a man he knew as Russell. Along with…
(We pick up the action now as the town wails and mourns the death of hometown hero and star Red Sox pitcher Willie Gillante, whose untimely collapse cost the team a World Series bid…) The Tale of the Toppled Hurler by Bruce A. Kauffman …
(This is Part 2 of a 13-part serialization of the Peter Hartwell saga. Follow new chapters of the story each weekend at The Grapevine…) “They killed my father, and now they’re coming after me.” – Marty Nolan, on the pain of being a Red Sox fan, in David Halberstam’s “The Teammates.” I walked into the drab green waiting area of the emergency room at Columbia-Presbyterian…
On the far northern fringes of coastal North County, within a mile or two of each other along Interstate 5, are two shameful symbols of the failings of our government. One is the border checkpoint, some 60 miles north of the border. Immigration reform is badly needed, but nothing seems to ever get done. Meanwhile, our border is so porous that the federal government feels…
Willie Gillante took the mound to pitch the game that would decide if the dream gets dashed or faith is rewarded. If Willie and his precious Red Sox lost tonight, their exhausting season-long march to the world championship of baseball would be over, and the hope gone that the crown would finally come to Boston for the first time in a long eighty-six years. The…
Nothing like fire to spark interest in the “mainstream media” — it’s the easiest and most colorful spectacle to trot across local TV — and social media. Throw in spectacular smoke, large numbers of responders and close proximity to freeways and morning rush hour traffic and voila’, the perfect 2016 media storm. (Updated at 4:30 p.m.) It’s an easy story and no doubt interesting although…
LIVING WITH DOGS Yes, yes, I’ve moved again. The last place didn’t work out even though it was incredibly beautiful. The tribe that lived there was, well, not my cup of tea (to the say the least.) Well-meaning, maybe but from another universe I think. Anyway, I’ve relocated and am living with two, and sometimes more, of the cutest dogs, both personality-wise and physically, the…
Gregory Paul Welch and Ivan Rios couldn’t be more different. You may not know them, but you’ve seen them. As this holiday season winds down Grand Avenue to its inevitable conclusion, the poignant reflections of these two ghosts casts a spell along the city’s shadows. Walking the streets of Escondido today, delivering newspapers to stores incarnate, these men’s stories struck an odd note surrounded and…
Casey Anthony attorney, and Rancho Santa Fe resident, Todd Edward Macaluso, Sr., is going to prison, sentenced in federal court to five months for fraud. Guess who’s not going to sue me over this story. I’m not surprised Macaluso was sentenced for his role in defrauding clients by forging their signatures to obtain millions of dollars from investors. I’m just surprised it took this long…