Encinitas News

RSS New story alertsAlerts

Swami's Beach

Looking for a place to escape the summer heat? Look no farther than the scenic strand of beach stretching south from Swami’s Park in Encinitas. The walk on the sand isn’t difficult, and if you ...

No Frontier

While other cities struggle with lower revenues, Encinitas has not had to lay off workers, institute furlough days, or reduce services. The only sign of a recession is the vacant storefronts due to chain-store closures. ...

Self-Realization Fellowship, Encinitas Temple

Contact: 939 Second Street, Encinitas; 760-436-7220; encinitastemple.org Membership: 1000 individuals Leader: Brother Pranavananda Age: 59 Born: Alberta, Canada Formation: University of Alberta, Canada (degrees in physics and philosophy); monastic formation through Self-Realization Fellowship Years of ...

Gnarly Waves

Donna Westbrook, an Encinitas resident, appeared before the city council on June 9 to address a recent administrative approval for the installation of WiMAX antennas in the coastal zone of Encinitas. WiMAX antennas, according to ...

Today in the Backyard

Carrying my whitewater kayak down the stairs at Swami’s on a shoulder, wetsuit draped over the other, I survey the ocean on one of the most beautiful days yet this year. March 16 and 75 ...

Tapped Out

The San Diego County Sheriff's Department arrested three people in Encinitas, Del Mar, and Solana Beach for furnishing alcohol to persons under the age of 21 on March 26, according to the state department of ...

Southern Exposure

At around 2:00 p.m. on March 14, a man in a hospital gown was stopped by sheriff‘s deputies at the corner of Santa Fe Drive and San Elijo Avenue. Two deputies talked with the man ...

Too Intense

On the evening of March 8, a fire broke out in an older home in the 1000 block of Regal Road, behind the Carl’s Jr. off of I-5 at Santa Fe Drive. It quickly became ...

No Thanks, Big Box

Walmart is coming to Encinitas? The rumors have been floating around for over a year, since after the Home Depot Expo store closed at the corner of Leucadia Boulevard and El Camino Real. The rumor ...

Water War

Despite an effort by residents to protest a pending water-rate increase, the Encinitas City Council on Wednesday February 24 — acting as the board of the San Dieguito Water District — voted 4-1 to approve ...

"Ghetto" Vons?

Residents in the coastal areas of Cardiff and Encinitas know that a major remodel and expansion of the older Vons store on Santa Fe Drive (west of I-5) has been planned for over a year. ...

Lights Out

On Tuesday night, January 19, during a storm that pounded San Diego, traffic signals all over the City of Encinitas went out. Traffic engineers believe lightning stuck a main controller in the Mountain Vista area ...

Jellybean Pizza Butt

A rare Sparrow, one of 285 of the eye-popping electric cars ever made, was recently spotted in Encinitas. The owner wasn’t around to provide details, but an internet search revealed that the car was a ...

Crazy Louie’s Idea

Although Encinitas homeowner Donna Miano has never claimed to have a record-setting Christmas tree, no one else in San Diego claims a taller living Christmas tree. Perched on the ocean-view bluff overlooking Moonlight Beach, the ...

Dogfight in Encinitas

Encinitas resident Steve Meiche believes he's sniffed out corruption in city politics. On December 13, the father of two lodged a formal complaint against Encinitas city manager Phil Cotton and director of Parks and Recreation ...

Spudlicious

Encinitas. Hour to kill before the Coaster. Spotted these giant ficus trees. They’re the kind you see in National Geographic, strangling ancient cities. Then I noticed a little ol’ building huddled under them, and a ...

Sacred Surf

Since the mid 1950s, Swami's surf break in Encinitas has been at the center of Southern California surfing. The right point break, known for long rides and clean conditions, has carried some of the world's ...

Another Perfect Day

BALBOA PARK Another Perfect DayBy downtownphotoguy, June 26Today we were in Presidio Park in the morning and Balboa Park in the afternoon. We were shooting with a variety of lenses and techniques…. It seems everybody ...

San Diego Botanic Garden

Follow the butterflies and fragrance of orchids to a world-class botanic garden in Encinitas. San Diego Botanic Garden (formerly Quail Botanical) is 36 acres of urban oasis, where you can connect with nature on full ...

Dangerous Bird

I ran into Nick Simmons, the son of Kiss bassist Gene, at Comic-Con. I told him I caught the episode of his reality show on which he sang. I told him he had a good ...

Tacos for Life

“Juanita’s Carnitas of Encinitas! Juanita’s Carnitas Encinitas!” This is Ted’s kid, chanting. Best way to get the carnitas tacos he loves. “Juanita’s Carnitas of Encinitas…!” “Ah, you mean ‘Little Jane’s Little Meats of Little Oaks,’ ...

Something to Smile About

Mahsa graduated from La Costa Canyon this year, and her mom threw a party for her at a pizzeria in Encinitas. I showed up late and there was only one place to sit, next to ...

Garden of Dreams

The Encinitas City Council on April 15 unanimously endorsed the concept of a community garden organized by volunteers. Now, the Encinitas Community Garden organizing committee is looking for a parcel of land one to two ...

Drop Zone

According to San Diego County assessor/clerk/recorder David L. Butler, the assessed value of all taxable property in the county has dropped to a 25-year low -- an overall decrease of 2.3 percent from the previous ...

Riders of the Storm

On Tuesday, June 2, Craigslist’s North San Diego area listed four lost or found dogs. On Wednesday, June 3, after the unexpected lightning storm rolled through, 25 lost or found dogs were posted that afternoon ...

A Chihuahua Named Wanda

Nothing better than an afternoon party on a sunny day with barbecue and a live band. At this house in Kensington, they were cooking up chicken, burgers, and bacon-wrapped asparagus and artichoke hearts. I walked ...

Grass Be Gone!

Pampas grass, a native of the Andes, is invasive plant number one in Encinitas. It has been planted by some people for its large, showy plumes; however, those plumes produce millions of seeds that are ...

The Urge Remains

For over a year, rumors have flown around Encinitas that an In-N-Out Burger would move onto a site formerly occupied by Burger King and a 76 gas station on Santa Fe Drive. The end of ...

The Fight Over Foliage

Residents of Encinitas love their trees so much, they will fight to keep all the foliage they can. During the past few years, community residents have protested cutting down any of their trees. There was ...

Eyes on the Freeway

Two months ago, Caltrans began erecting 20-foot-tall aluminum poles on the 5 freeway between Carmel Valley and Oceanside. In the past few weeks, each pole (located at most every on- or off-ramp) began to be ...

Bethlehem Lutheran Church

“Last Sunday, we worshipped in an ordinary, Lutheran way,” said pastor Laura Ziehl at the beginning of the service. “This Sunday we are blessed: Teen Rock is here. Today we will know a kind of ...

On the Road

At a December 17 Oceanside City Council meeting, councilmembers Jerry Kern, Rocky Chavez, and Jack Feller voted in favor of awarding La Mesa's Helix Environmental Planning, Inc. an extra $247,000 for an environmental impact report ...

Rumor, Innuendo, and Dumpster Diving

During the December 17 Encinitas City Council meeting, the city’s state lobbyist, Jonathan Clay from the Carpi and Clay government relations firm, gave a year-end legislative summary to the council. “The governor, because of the ...

Diagnosing the Expansion of Scripps Memorial Hospital

December 8th is the last day the public can comment on the impacts the expansion of Scripps Memorial Hospital in Encinitas will have on the community. The project consists of seven phases, over a 13-year ...

Leadbelly Municipal Park

The City of Encinitas has been toying around with Hall Park -- a proposal for a 44-acre park with five lit soccer fields, two baseball fields, a dog park, and walking trails -- for over ...

Sand Never Sleeps

On June 3, Election Day, Steve Aceti’s cell phone wouldn’t stop ringing. Calls came flooding in about Proposition G, a measure to help fund sand replenishment on Encinitas beaches by charging an extra 2 percent ...

Financial Waterboarding

James Bond, councilmember for the City of Encinitas, serves as chairman of the budget-and-finance committee for the Metropolitan Water District &mdash the multi-member agency responsible for supplying water to nearly 16 million residents throughout Southern ...

Local Films, Local Responsibility

“Cottonwood Creek is the watershed in Encinitas that flows out into Moonlight Beach,” says Carris Rhodes, program assistant for the Cottonwood Creek Environmental Film Festival. “It used to be really smelly and dirty. Then [approximately ...

Livable Landscapes

“This neighborhood [Olivenhain] is what we call an ‘urban-wildland interface,’” says Nan Sterman, author of California Gardener’s Guide. “You have to be careful that what you do in your garden does not have a negative ...

Encinitas Neighborhood Video

Music lovers, surfers, "eco-freaks" and mythical masked robbers: Beth VanBoxtel gives the scoop on her home town. Interviewed at Lou's Records on Highway 101.

Encinitas Interview

Music lovers, surfers, "eco-freaks" and fabled masked robbers: An interview with Beth VanBoxtel about her home town.

Gypsies, Tramps, and Skis

On Saturday, October 27, there were several more Halloween parties to crash. I planned to hit two or three... The first one I got wind of was in Encinitas. It started early, and as I ...

All That's Left

Israel and Lebanon were at war. England and Argentina were at war. In Hollywood, the Red Hot Chili Peppers were formed. Navy beat Army 24-7, the Chargers beat the Dolphins 41-38 to make it to ...

Intuition Led Her to Encinitas

The 100-degree days and the half-hour minimum commute to anywhere was beginning to suck the life out of me. I’ve always said, “Life’s too short to be unhappy,” and although I’d never considered selling my ...

Self-Realization Fellowship, Encinitas

On September 16, the Self-Realization Fellowship in Encinitas opened its doors to the public for an Open House and free concert. Just inside the entrance to the Fellowship grounds, a china setting was laid out ...

St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church, Encinitas

A cascading wave of honeyed wood and gray-white marble poured its way across the front wall of St. John's; the wood matched that used for the highly stylized crucifix suspended just in front of the ...

St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, Encinitas

It's easy to be suspicious of good taste in matters of religion, to fear that a refined aesthetic sense, so concerned with making the atmosphere harmonious and pleasing to the senses in an unobtrusive way, ...

Putt Putt Party

I can't say I have women figured out, but one aspect of them I understand. I got invited to a party to which I had the perfect outfit to wear. I ran to my closet ...

Already Gone

"They want to tear it down and build 22 condos," says Danny Salzhand of the 101 Artists' Colony studio near Moonlight Beach in Encinitas. The venue, which hosts one or two all-age shows a month, ...

Flame On

I arrived at Firefly three months too early but soon enough to learn about the auspicious changes yet to come. I'd waited the prudent three-plus months after the restaurant's debut to let the kitchen get ...

No Intimidation

'The one thing that's crucial in this business, is not to pretend you're something you're not.

Purple Teeth

'I can get a full-bodied Cab for 30 bucks? Right on!'