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Poway Stories

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SD Music TV suspects in the crosshairs

SD Music TV’s studios were burglarized on the last weekend of March. Unreplaceable recordings were stolen.

No age limit for rock

Jensen Rufe was a 1991 graduate of rock and roll high. “The guys in blink-182 were a little younger than us,” says Rufe about Poway High. “But we were pretty much the same age as ...

Casa Piena

If it looks like gold, it’s gold.

Cary Katz, CEO of College Loan Corp., looks to unload his 39-room house in Poway.

Iron Mountain's Ellie Lane Loop Trail

The alternate, less crowded trail up Iron Mountain.

Ner Tamid Synagogue

Nobody knows what the next plane of existence looks like.

Blue Sky Ecological Reserve

See several native San Diego habitat types on a leisurely stroll.

Grappling with Success

“You play basketball, you play football — it doesn’t work when you say you ‘play wrestling.’” So sayeth Wayne. Who’s Wayne? That would be Wayne Branstetter, the winningest coach in the history of California prep ...

Outside on the Night Shift

"Basically,” says Aaron Meleen, a deputy sheriff traffic investigator working the night shift in Poway, “we don’t have much going on right now.” It’s a Monday evening, the onset of his 12½-hour shift, and we’re ...

Dr. Dougherty Ends Decades-Long Fight with Drug Enforcement Agency

Almost two decades ago, Poway physician Robert Dougherty, Jr., then-president of the Palomar Community College District board of trustees, was hauled into court and charged with writing multiple prescriptions for painkillers and other drugs without ...

Temple Adat Shalom

Membership: 500 Rabbi: David Castiglione Born: Brooklyn, NY Formation: Hebrew Union College, Cincinnati, Ohio Ordained: 18 years San Diego Reader: How long do you spend writing your sermon? Rabbi David Castiglione: It all depends. It ...

Twin Peaks

Twin Peaks, a scruffy, boulder-studded promontory rising amid Poway’s suburban streets, is less known for its own existence than for the major street named after it: Twin Peaks Road. After a short but vigorous climb, ...

Home Improvement

The City of Poway is trading in the abandoned Poway Chrysler Jeep car lot on Poway Road for something a bit more dependable: a Toyota dealership and a Lowe's Home Improvement store. At their August ...

Let Them Eat Cake

Two banquet tables were set up on either side of the foyer leading into Poway's city council chambers. Coffee, bottled water, and finger foods filled one table, while a large American flag cake sat centered ...

It Started Small

“I called 911 at 3:07 p.m.,” said Skip, the manager of the Pomerado Gardens Apartments in Poway, checking his cell phone. On May 26, Skip was one of the first residents to alert emergency services ...

Lakeside-Poway Bike Ride

Two of inland San Diego ­County’s most important east-west highways, Scripps-Poway Parkway and the Tierrasanta-to-Santee stretch of the Highway 52 Freeway, have been designed to carry bicycle as well as auto traffic. They can be ...

Cross Church

It is not uncommon for critics of Christian moralism to note that the Bible is chock-full of deeply immoral behavior. And that was what made Sunday’s service at Cross Church so remarkable. There, in a ...

Cornerstone Church

“Relevant teachings by Pastor Ed Turley,” advertised the Cornerstone Church website. “If you can’t use it on Monday, he won’t say it on Sunday!” The banners hanging on the walls at the church on Sunday ...

Buck Howdy's on the Case

Steve Vaus has twice been nominated for Grammys for children’s records released in 2007 and 2008. He wrote the Jerome’s and Barona Casino TV jingles, and he’s done studio work for Willie Nelson, Kim Carnes, ...

An Execution in the Hills

MISSION HILLS An Execution in the HillsBy Scafidi, March 24 “Hello, Zack. What’s up?” “Uh, hi, uh, Fred? It’s me, Zack.” “Yup.” “My cat’s got a gopher cornered over here. Can you come quick? And ...

Mutiny in the County

Call it an insurrection, an uprising, a rebellion; what else could you call it when four out of a five-person city council demand the resignation of one of their own? That's what happened in Poway ...

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 ...

Fields of Turf

At its June 2 meeting, the Poway City Council approved $3.3 million in redevelopment funds to convert two grass fields at Meadowbrook Middle School and Valley Elementary School into three artificial turf fields. City staff ...

Same Old New Councilmember

Poway city councilmembers appointed a new — er, old councilmember on May 26 to fill the vacant seat left after the passing of former mayor Mickey Cafagna last month. After two special city council meetings, ...

Thin White Thief

On Friday, May 22, according to county sheriffs’ radio traffic at about 11:50 a.m., the sheriff’s department received a call on a bank robbery in progress at the Citibank located at 13408 Poway Road. The ...

SSSSnake Season

It’s rattlesnake season again. With the recent warmer temperatures and sunny afternoons, encounters between local hikers and snakes are becoming more common. Iron Mountain Trail, on the outskirts of Poway, has been host to a ...

Poway’s Final Four

Poway mayor Don Higginson promised May 19 would be an interesting night: the city’s four sitting councilmembers were scheduled to appoint a candidate to fill the vacant council seat left after mayor Mickey Cafagna lost ...

Abundance of Caution

A bomb scare caused the shutdown of the Poway Skate Park and library on Saturday, May 2. The county sheriff’s office forced dozens to evacuate the library and cordoned off the area just after 4 ...

Big Fly in the Sky

A low-flying helicopter hovered over Sabre Springs on the morning of April 29. Its mission was to kill mosquito larvae in three areas of standing water near the intersection of Poway Road and Sabre Springs ...

Rattlesnake Canyon

For the second year in a row, fire-following springtime wildflowers are popping up on the slopes of Poway’s Rattlesnake Canyon. A reconnaissance of the area in late March revealed a rainbow of color: California poppies, ...

Where's the Sushi Joint?

During recent rains, as our nation continued to struggle with signs of a falling economy, businesses at a Poway strip mall were faced with a falling sign. Kevin Yang, a sushi chef at a nearby ...

Oleanders are Dying in San Diego

A bacterium commonly identified with grape vines (Xylella fastidiosa) is the suspected cause of “oleander leaf scorch,” which is resulting in the slow deaths of thousands of oleanders in San Diego County. Likely vectored by ...

Nine Sinking Cities

This month and in early February, city managers and finance directors in cities across San Diego County are appearing before their respective city councils to report significant budget deficits. Of the county’s 18 municipalities, 14 ...

The Good Samaritan

What are you writing? “The book I’m currently writing is called The Good Samaritan.” Tell me about it. “His name is Sam Mollusk, and he’s a data entry/data processor-type of guy. Deliberately, he sees the ...

Major Duel Ahead?

Insiders say L.A.-based AEG -- the country's second-largest concert firm that opened an office here this summer -- will soon announce plans to build a 12,000-capacity outdoor venue. Now, AEG's venue options are extremely limited. ...

Cups and Cakes

I got two phone calls from two different people about Dana's 21st birthday party. The two callers assured me that it would be a swanky affair at a mansion in Poway. There was a tram ...

These Will Kill You

I was invited to several Super Bowl parties. I didn't plan on going to any this year -- I had money on the Colts and wanted to watch the game at home -- but I ...

Climb Poway's Woodson Mountain via pavement, and loop back via a primitive north-side route.

Indians called it "Mountain of Moonlit Rocks," an appropriate name for a landmark visible, even at night, over great distances. Early white settlers dubbed it "Cobbleback Peak," a name utterly descriptive of its rugged, boulder-strewn ...

St. John of Damascus, Orthodox Church

It took five years to hand-carve the screen that stretches across the front of St. John Damascus, and it shows. Besides its wrought wood, the screen displays a host of icons, their angular lines depicting ...

Poway Has Rep For Roots

'In Poway, it was either sports or bands, and I don't do sports," says Sean Barrett, guitar player for the Perils of Being. "Poway is just a small town, a city in the country. There ...

Suburban Grillmasters

"There's the sign," said my wife Grace. "No, Grace, that's the Colonel. No fried chicken tonight. Tonight is all about the grilling." "No, not that sign. The other one. Behind the Chevron." "Good gravy, you're ...

Best of 2003: Best Rock Quarry

KRC Rock 315 East Carmel, San Marcos 12249 Oak Knoll Road, Poway www.krcrock.com 800-572-7625 These guys have two dozen different kinds of flagstone, all in different colors and textures and thicknesses. They'll walk you through ...

Best of 2003: Best Rock Climbing

Mount Woodson Highway 67, 3 miles north of Poway Road Mount Woodson is a boulder-studded promontory rising between Poway and Ramona. Weathering and erosion have worked their will on the mountain's tough granodiorite bedrock, carving ...

Neighborhood: Small Towns of San Diego

FALLBROOK I often feel in downtown Fallbrook that I have walked through a door into the past, the door I have been looking for all my life. It happens at Jerry’s Barber Shop most often. ...

Ninth? Ninth what?

Heymatt: I'm a taxi cab driver, and I spend a lot of time driving around, thinking Why, oh why, oh why is there a Ninth Street in Poway -- but no First, Second, Third, etc? ...

Climb the conical summit of Iron Mountain, which rises over the mists of North San Diego County.

Poway's Iron Mountain thrusts its conical, chaparral-clad summit nearly 2700 feet above sea level, a height that is frequently well above the low-lying coastal haze. On many a crystalline winter day, the summit offers a ...

Catch a cool evening breeze while scouting the 2000-acre Sycamore Canyon Open Space Preserve near Poway.

Sycamore Canyon Open-Space Preserve sprawls across more than 2000 acres of granite-ribbed mountains southeast of Poway. About ten miles of old ranch roads, fire roads, and newer trails presently lace through the area. For a ...

Hog heaven -- in Poway?

Matt: Where did the term "hog heaven" come from? I have heard that it has to do with breeding pigs, that when the hog reaches sexual bliss, it lasts for several minutes. Can you clarify? ...

Circle Lake Poway on a 3-mile loop trail for hikers and bikers.

In the cool of a spring evening, as the sun arcs toward the western horizon at an ever-later hour (especially after daylight time kicks in on April 7), you can escape from the cares of ...

Best of 2001: Best High School Sports Program

Poway High School Wrestling In 2001, Poway High School's wrestling team, under the direction of coach Wayne Branstetter, won the California Interscholastic Federation San Diego Section Division I Championship with eight of its wrestlers taking ...

Best of 2000: Best Hike In The Sage

Lake Poway Coastal sage-scrub, perhaps the least impressive-looking natural vegetation type in the county in summer and fall, brightens up in vivid shades of green with every wet season, usually starting in November or December. ...

Fairy Shrimp, the City of San Diego, and the Mayor of Poway

Royce Riggan Jr., a biological consultant in San Diego for 25 years, was driving back to his office at RBRiggan and Associates one Sunday afternoon in January. His route, from the west end of Miramar ...

Take a leisurely trek through oak woodland in Poway's Blue Sky Ecological Reserve.

Blue Sky Ecological Reserve, 700 acres of oak woodland and sage-covered hillsides purchased by the state for open space some 12 years ago, has become a bright star in Poway's constellation of city parks and ...