Oceanside Stories
The California Coastal Commission is the state agency that is supposed to protect the coast and preserve public access to the beach. But what happens if one coastal city allows beachfront owners to dump tons …
For the first time in 15 years, Oceanside, a city of about 180,000, will have no wintertime overnight shelter. Bread of Life, run completely by some 50 non-paid volunteers, operated the shelter which was open …
The suspect said, “I’m a dumbass,” when the cop told him he was trying to sell things stolen in a burglary, according to testimony on November 25. Oceanside police officer Christopher James arranged to meet …
Has the threat of rising tides or the reality of denuded beaches triggered a rush to sell beachfront property in Oceanside? The Strand is Oceanside’s most traveled seaside roadway. Many of the scenes in TNT’s …
Platinum recording artist Jason Mraz has done well with his transition from singer/songwriter to Oceanside farmer. His Mraz Family Farms gained international publicity for growing and marketing homegrown avocados and coffee beans. City councilman Christopher …
Oscar-winning artist John Lamb is not happy how his “beach-billy” mural was painted over. “It looks like somebody scribbled over my art,” says Lamb about how a new mural replaced his hundred foot hand-painted art-piece …
Has an organized Democrat group become too petty for its own good? I was given a heads-up that the September 29 DEMCCO meeting (Democratic Club of Carlsbad Oceanside, self-billed as North County’s largest Dem group) …
After 20 years as Oceanside’s unofficial greeter, Hot Dog Marty is hanging up his wiener hat. Then again, maybe not. “When I say I plan something, God laughs,” says Marty Goren, who turns 86 November …
From the moment we spotted the billboard proudly shouting: “Oceanside, California’s Best Kept Secret,” as we wheeled in from L.A. on southbound Highway 101, my brother Dave and I were frothing. Crossing that imaginary line …
In late July, it was announced one of Oceanside’s elementary schools had to be shuttered because it was imploding. Two sinkholes at Garrison Elementary caused the Oceanside Unified School District to declare that the school …
As promised in March, premium San Diego-grown coffee beans were served for the first time by Bird Rock Coffee Roasters last weekend. The surprise is whose farm grew them: two-time Grammy-winning local musician Jason Mraz. …
San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station may be retired, but to many area residents, it's a sleeping giant. In July, it stirred. That's when its operator, Southern California Edison, was allowed to resume loading spent nuclear …
It seems President Trump was correct in his assumption that the Saudi Arabia oil field bombing would not send the world’s gas prices into a tizzy. The U.S. is now the world’s largest exporter of …
It’s Sunday morning. I’m in this mom and pop diner in downtown Oceanside. My friend Mary told me about it. Said it had won the prize — okay, in 2004 — for best cinnamon bun …
It probably won’t draw the same attention as Donald Trump’s “grab her by the p–” clip. But a prominent Oceanside city official, who is running to represent the 76th Assembly district, has been haunted by …
Founded in 1883, the congregation of the St. Anne’s Episcopal Church in Oceanside was torn apart ten years ago when the more liberal, establishment part of the church embraced female priests and gay bishops. The …
When the actors of Animal Kingdom talk about why they like to film in Oceanside, the word “grit” comes up a lot. The TNT drama steeped in drug use and debauchery just finished its fourth …
Mauricio has been fixing bikes for Oceanside locals for almost three decades. He started building his clientele in 1991 when he opened his booth inside the Oceanside Marketplace, often called the indoor swap meet. His …
Did NBC-7’s report about overtime paid by the city of Oceanside cause heads to roll? On July 3, Alex Presha reported that the Oceanside paid out $3.86 million in police overtime. Some officers made more …
There was at least one time when struggling addict Mario Duron says the system screwed him. “I had been through drug court. I had been sober for eight months. My probation officer visited my house …
Even though the election was a year and half out, former United States Marine Patty Siegmann thought her commander-in-chief deserved her support. In March, the Republican started a pro-Trump street rally. Every other Friday from …
For many longtime locals the Red & White Market is the last surviving holdout from when South Oceanside was Mayberry-by-the-Sea. “I remember when moms would wear pretty dresses just to go and shop in a …
During a recent, beachy afternoon out by the Oceanside Pier, I walked a short distance to the colorful new Kilowatt Brewing Oceanside Taproom. Parched from the sunshine, and in need of refreshment, I bellied up …
Being buried in Oceanside doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll always rest in peace. “Look at what they did when they built the Hungry Hunter and the next-door gas station” says Shelley Hayes Caron. “They were throwing …
According to a lawsuit filed last week, it can’t hurt to do business in Oceanside if you have ties to a well-connected local family. “There seems to be a strong nexus between local government and …
Oceanside’s jamming tonight. Everybody’s out and about. This is Friday, around eight. “Jesus saves!” yells this kid. He’s not alone. A whole bunch of them are making a hullabaloo in the plaza outside the Regal …
I need your support,” Oceanside City Councilman Christopher Rodriguez said in a June 29 Facebook post. The first-year councilman was not after votes or promoting a favorite charity. He was trying to sell the controversial …
Gas prices in San Diego County were supposed to go up on 5.6 cents a gallon on July 1, due to a new gas tax. Some stations didn’t get the memo. As of midday July …
The decimation of Oceanside beaches was the whole point of forming a group called Save Our Sand [SOS] Oceanside. At its first meeting June 17, some 25 people shared their stories about what it means …
A musician plays acoustic guitar ballads on the patio, while servers shuttle drinks to a mixed crowd, ranging in age from their 20s to 50s. There are no seats left at the bar, where busy …
Is it a Neighborhood Watch-style Facebook page with members who share local crime alerts. Or is Take Back Oceanside a vigilante site that uses social media shaming to have fun at the expense of local …
Chon specialize in guitars that swirl and sway, spidering up and down scales over odd chord changes — an outgrowth of prog often called to as “math rock.” As Chon honcho Mario Camarena confesses, growing …
The 90-acre Oceanside Swap Meet site was once hyped as a perfect home for a new Chargers stadium. That ten-year-old rumor was just idle folklore. But get ready for an attraction that may be just …
Twenty homeowners met May 9 in a living room in the upscale Oceanside Fire Mountain neighborhood. They weren’t carrying pitchforks, but they were fuming, outraged that an aggressive entrepreneur with a dubious history was building …
Thanks to the proliferation of trend-spotting foodie blogs worldwide, it’s easy to trace the way new food fads spread from city to city. For example, a little googling tells us that fish-shaped ice cream cones …
Q: What do you do if you want to open an adult business where it’s not permitted? A: If you’re Larry Flynt’s attorney you simply proclaim you are not an adult business and hope no …
I happened to be at the May 16, 2018 Oceanside City Council meeting when David Newman gave an emotional rant during the “items not on the agenda” segment. He and his wife Amber had been …
Oceanside is on a spending binge. Thanks to an extra $11 million coming in this year from the Measure X sales tax increase approved in November, the city council voted to rebuild its downtown fire …
Just as reported in the Reader’s February 11 article, the expected raise in gas prices has found San Diego motorist’s paying an average of $4.04 a gallon (regular gas, cash price). That’s the highest price …
"There have times when my customers can’t leave because the Soapy Joe's line of cars has taken over the entire parking lot. Their customers waiting in line often won't let anyone out of their parking …
Could mobile homes be an answer to the affordable housing crisis? Recent developments in Oceanside suggest not. In fact, it’s only getting worse for those who invested their lifesavings on their prefab homes. The corporations …
“The Republican party asked me to run against [Congressman] Mike Levin in 2020,” says GOP-up-and-comer Christopher Rodriguez. The Hispanic father of six checks a lot of political boxes. He’s a Purple Heart-decorated, USMC Iraq War …
Bartender Steve Menzel easily sees between 75 and 300 customers daily during his eight-hour shifts at Larry’s Beach Club. Menzel has been a bartender at the restaurant/bar on Oceanside Boulevard west of Coast Highway for …
The harsh way Firewater Saloon in downtown Oceanside was closed September 25 is not how the state Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) usually deals with bar owners it doesn’t like. Firewater owners were given a ten-day …
City council candidate Michael Odegaard should be happy that local activist Nadine Scott sued a developer who wanted to build the “prison hotel” development in his neighborhood. Scott sued in June over plans to build …
Florida native Anthony White II taught marksmanship to new recruits in bootcamp. Like many Camp Pendleton Marines, White had a post-Corps life plan when his four years of service was over in 2015. “When I …
Joseph Patrick Zara, 62, was arrested after a traffic stop in Oceanside, because police noticed he had a “billy club” resting within reach, on the backseat of his car. However, his attorney protested that it …
Tim Broom was not happy that a small plane crashed about 700 yards from his home near Highway 76. But when his interview aired on News 8’s 11 pm Tuesday night newscast, he could not …
It’s been over half a century since comedian Jack Benny cut the ribbon signaling the opening of Emerald Isle Golf Course in southeast Oceanside. Since then the course has doubled its original hole count from …
Being tied to Oceanside Police can either be a blessing or the kiss of death if you want to become an Oceanside city councilman. It worked just fine for Jim Wood who was elected to …
A Carlsbad man and his three kids skateboarded from the Oceanside Pier to the Ocean Beach Pier on December 30, making it his fifth pier-to-pier skate and his youngest boy's first. “It was a solid …
“Bamboo Ben” Bassham has been involved in creating more than 20 tiki bars from San Francisco to Georgia. After he remade them in his version of Polynesian paradise, the bars and restaurants saw business pick …