Police/Fire

Justice for Rosie’s: Hit-run suspect arrested

Rene Solorio, 35, sits at the Vista Jail today, charged with the alleged December 2019 hit-and-run crash that seriously injured Kaitlyn Rose Pillsbury, proprietress of Rosie’s Cafe as featured on the Food Network’s “Restaurant Impossible” show hosted by Chef Robert Irvine. Solorio, a Vista resident, remained jailed in lieu of $200,000 bail Monday, a week after he was taken into custody on a Jan. 4…


ACLU investigating local jail COVID-19 surge

The ACLU Foundation of San Diego & Imperial Counties (ACLUF-SDIC) filed a California Public Records Act request Monday, Dec. 21 seeking information on the alarming surge of COVID-19 cases in San Diego County jails. According to the Sheriff’s Department website, as of Dec. 18, 637 people incarcerated in its jails have tested positive for the virus since the pandemic began. “The situation in county jails…


People Behaving Badly: Mid-COVID Madness

People Behaving Badly has seen more than its share of miscreants and foolish hooligans through the years. Now in its 10th edition at this quality online media outlet, this approach to crime, and sometimes punishment, focuses on the strange and unusual, gruesome and innocently hilarious, along with the usual share of death, destruction and eternal damnation. In the age of covid, a new category of…


Valley Fire victims suffering 3 months later

Nearly three months after San Diego County’s most destructive fire of 2020 burned down her Lawson Valley home, 78-year-old Eileen Menzies spends her days sifting through the rubble she has yet to completely clear from her property. A neighbor whose new hemp farm was nearly destroyed is meeting with lawmakers in hopes of improving agricultural insurance in fire-prone areas. And two miles across the hills…


Ask CSUSM: DACA and the Supreme Court

Last Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration cannot execute its plan to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which was instituted in 2012 to protect eligible undocumented people from deportation and grant work authorizations for two-year periods. As a result of the 5-4 decision, almost 700,000 young people, known as “Dreamers,” can remain in the United States and…


When are the Hunters going to jail already?

Who knew that the easy part of Duncan and Margaret Hunter taking the heat for their campaign finance fraud would be arranging plea agreements sending them to prison. The hard part, apparently, is for them actually to serve time in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to use over $250,000 in campaign funds for personal expenses. Last week, Margaret Hunter’s sentencing was moved to July…


We’re having a (minor) heat wave

A rare late spring windy Santa Ana heat blast from the east is expected to cause temperatures to rise as much as 20 degree over seasonal averages, meteorologists say. Hot temperatures are expected Tuesday throughout San Diego County amid a heat wave that will last through Thursday, according to the National Weather Service. KGTV-10 News Meteorologist Megan Parry says temperatures are expected to near record…


Escondido takes a knee for George Floyd

Escondido took a knee at high noon Wednesday, June 3, 2020. That’s when Mayor Paul “Mac” McNamara, Council member Mike Morasco, Escondido Police Chief Varso, Yusef Miller of Racial Justice Coalition San Diego, Rev. Meg Decker of Escondido Together and other leaders and community members held a peaceful vigil in honor of George Floyd at City Hall. An estimated 200 people attended. With the coronavirus devil…


Three-Dot Lounge Coronavirus Edition

We are going to consider a few outstanding three-dot items stripped from below, well below, today’s coronavirus headlines. But first, a reminder and salute about he who pioneered the three-dot way It’s been over 20 years since famed San Francisco journalist Herb Caen (1916-1997) died. For journalists and San Franciscans, Caen was a superstar. Known as “Mr. San Francisco,” his columns were a vital piece…


Police using rubber bullets on protesters that can kill, blind or maim for life

In cities across the country, police departments have attempted to quell unrest spurred by the death of George Floyd by firing rubber bullets into crowds, even though five decades of evidence shows such weapons can disable, disfigure and even kill. In addition to rubber bullets — which often have a metal core — police have used tear gas, flash-bang grenades, pepper spray gas and projectiles…