As I walked around Escondido on Saturday, I happened upon some beautiful public art near City Hall. My first photos show an installation called Circle of Music. The four sculptures, fitted with speakers that play soft music, are part of the larger Monuments to Time in the Corridor of Life, Art and Culture, a series of interactive pieces created in 1998 that extend from the…
Look around and feel the wind. It’s a blowing, and along with it, raising local fire risk to what are called “extreme” levels — a first — by state fire officials. Strong Santa Ana winds are expected again in San Diego County beginning late Tuesday night, raising the threat of wildfires through Thursday evening. The National Weather Service issued a red flag warning that will be…
Leave it to the poor suffering residents of the Duncan Hunter-Joel Anderson reign of Trumpist political terror, and corrupt behavior, to be saddled with their obvious successor at outrageous and dangerous political malpractice. Enter the gates of gun violence hell with state Sen. Brian Jones, (R-NRA), elected in California’s 38th Senate District, as the successor to ALEC’s favorite son, Anderson, who got term-limited out of…
Summer and its joys of passage are among us. People are frolicking. Pools are swimming. Snoballs and softballs are popping. Good stuff, but consider the fact that rust never sleeps. People are going to do what people are going to do. For your consideration then, the dark underbelly of the human condition. The Grapevine is, er, proud (?) to present the seasonal summer edition of…
Buzz about mosquitos Good news, bad news, as it pertains to the 2019 rainy season that seem to have concluded this week. Good news first. California’s drought is over with the caveat that San Diego is one of the few areas — Northeast California is the other — that is still a bit short when it comes to reservoir replenishment. Bad news: Mosquitos. Lots of…
Lessons from the Last Surviving San Diego Dairy “My family has always been in the dairy business. It’s a…different sort of business,” laughs Frank Konyn of Frank Konyn Dairy. Established in 1962 by his father, Konyn’s 250-acre dairy farm is nestled on the San Pasqual Valley floor 35 miles northeast of downtown San Diego. With over 800 cows, he estimates his monthly feed bill to…
It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s at Valley Center History Museum The January birthdate of famed actor-bodybuilder Steve Reeves is being remembered at the Valley Center History Museum which has a collection of the late star’s memorabilia. Known internationally as the winner of every major bodybuilding competition as as the star of “Hercules” and 17 other motion pictures, Reeves is little-known as a rancher…
Facing the heat of global warming, farmers in San Diego are trying to survive and build resilience through practice—and are pushing policymakers to keep up. At Pauma Valley, a flat stretch of crop- and rangelands at the base of the Palomar Mountains in North San Diego County, July is usually a month of hot weather and raucous growth—with lemons, avocados, blackberries, and peppers all flourishing….
HiCaliber Horse Rescue, which has faced animal cruelty and fraud allegations for months, is being evicted from its Valley Center ranch and sued for more than $4 million. Brenda Markstein filed the lawsuit in Vista Superior Court on Nov. 26, alleging damage to the property, breach of contract and negligence. The suit names HiCaliber and its founders, Michelle Knuttila and Romney Snyder. The Brenda Markstein…
Henry Avocado Corp. has moved its headquarters, packing and distribution center in Escondido, CA, to a new building in a nearby industrial center. The 50,000-square-foot two-story facility in Escondido is 20 percent larger than the previous site and features the latest processing, refrigeration and forced-air ripening elements in the industry. The new Henry operation consolidates under one roof the administrative and processing machinery and personnel…