San Marcos

CSUSM history professor makes past come alive

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…


New football, softball fields shape up at Palomar College

Palomar College broke ground Tuesday, Oct. 18 on a sports facility that will include new football and softball stadiums, in a ceremony attended by more than 100 people on the main campus. “This project is going to take our athletics here at the college to the next level,” said Dr. Star Rivera-Lacey, Superintendent/President of Palomar College. “I am excited for our students, our employees, and…


TERI and the Zables team up for SM arts complex

TERI (Training, Education, Resource Institute,) a non-profit organization serving children and adults with special needs, has successfully completed the $1 million challenge grant awarded earlier this year by the Warren J. and Betty C. Zable Foundation. Thanks to a philanthropic response by TERI families and supporters, funding is now secured for the construction of the Zable Performing and Fine Arts complex at the San Marcos,…


SANDAG Audit: Show us the contract money

The San Diego Association of Governments increased vendor contracts by tens of millions of dollars more than their original amounts, internal auditors revealed in a new report this week. As with the regional planning agency’s other spending, the Office of the Independent Performance Auditor found SANDAG’s contract process lacks adequate oversight, proper documentation and sufficient employee training. Auditors found the agency’s 10 vendors with the…


Short Stuff: Stinky flowers, chocolate master, El Super not so super, New Village Arts, SANDAG kids on the rails

Do NOT smell the flowers Morbid curiosity-seekers may be flocking to Encinitas soon, hoping to catch a whiff of a soon-to-bloom Amorphophallus titanum. The so-called “corpse flower,” named for the pungent stench emitted when it blooms, is expected to make an appearance later this month at the San Diego Botanic Garden (SDBG) in North County. This world-famous, ultra-rare specimen has not yet bloomed, but it is…


San Marcos leaders seek to stifle free speech

The San Marcos City Council got off to a bad start during its first in-person meeting in over a year on Tuesday, May 11, and what did they do? They made the first move to limit free speech in the Valley of Discovery. Mayor Rebecca Jones along with City Council members Randy Watson, Sharon Jenkins, and Ed Musgrove voted to limit the rights of residents to…



Blast from the past at Cal State San Marcos

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…


Rise for Easter at Rise Church San Marcos

Passionate Worship. In-depth Bible Teaching. Unleashing Compassion. Everyone’s Welcome. Nobody’s Perfect. Anything’s Possible Because Jesus is Alive. Rise Church, 1915 N. Twin Oaks Valley Road, San Marcos, is hosting a series of Easter weekend events starting 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Good Friday, April 2. The Gospel Exhibit features a walk-through timeline exhibit that begins with the fall of man and concludes with the second…


San Diego’s most endangered historic sites

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…