Valley Center Stories

Valley Center Stories

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8 days. 750 miles.

Professional cycling’s uphill climb

Rundown of bicyclists who’ve been caught doping and the Tour of California bike race.

Who Buys and Who Sells at San Diego Farmers' Markets

Farmers regulate the markets in San Bernardino. In San Diego it's a free-for-all.

Hellhole Canyon Open Space Preserve

A bubbling creek, shade, history, and changing ecology beckon

Hellhole Canyon Open Space Preserve east of Valley Center is a valuable resource for wildlife, hikers, and equestrians, with running water, a scenic canyon, and spring wildflowers. It is a place to learn about the ...

Doing the Deed on a Pig Farm

A few weeks ago, Hank, a businessman in his 50s, invited about 30 people out to his rural estate in Valley Center to take part in the slaughtering of two large pigs. “My conclusion from ...

Ridgeview Church

Membership: 600 Denomination: Independent Christian Pastor: Bill Trok Age: 49 Born: Chicago Formation: Talbot School of Theology-Biola University, La Mirada Years Ordained: 20 San Diego Reader: How long do you spend writing your sermon? Pastor ...

Valley Center Teacher Who Allegedly Hosted Drunken Teen Party May Not Appear in Court

A 56-year-old schoolteacher accused of hosting a drunken teen party this month may not have to appear in court. Although Nancy Hildebrand was arrested just past midnight on June 12 on suspicion of supplying alcohol ...

Hot Guacamole: Avocado Theft in North County

Almost as surely as avocados grow, thieves steal them and turn the fruit into quick and untraceable cash. Over the past decade, San Diego County law enforcement agencies have stepped up patrols, pursuits, and prosecution ...

Valley Center Up in Arms: "Take Road 3A Off the Map"

Minutes after County Supervisor Bill Horn was sworn in as chairperson during the January 4 board of supervisors meeting, he opened the podium to the public. Two residents of Valley Center, located in Horn's district, ...

Home Invaders in Search of Past Tenant

On August 31, residents at a Valley Center home were accosted by two armed men who claimed to be law-enforcement agents. The victims, all of whom are in their 20s, complied with the perpetrators, who ...

Nightmare Over?

When Craig Johnson moved to Valley Center in 1978, he could see only seven lights from the ridge on Chaparral Terrace. "Now there are hundreds," he said. On March 5, he and about 100 other ...

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 ...

Bye-Bye, Luck

In the Vista court on Friday, October 2, a Los Angeles man pled not guilty to multiple counts of identity theft and grand theft stemming from his arrest at the Valley View Casino. Judge Hockett ...

Troubled Bridge

The County of San Diego's Department of Public Works has started work on Valley Center Road’s bridge over the San Luis Rey River, just west of Harrah's Rincon Casino. This year, the Federal Highway Administration ...

Valley Center Bike Ride

Resting high above the city of Escondido, Valley Center is well on its way to becoming a rural suburb. As houses and country estates pop up on spacious lots, the area is bit by bit ...

Deion Disses L.T.

When I learned Harrah’s Rincon was opening up a sports bar called the Sports Pit in late September, I decided to hit it. They offered lots of free food and drinks and two former NFL ...

The Guacamole Crisis

Throughout last winter and spring, one could put one’s ear to the wind almost anywhere in North County and hear the buzz of chainsaws as avocado farmers cut down their trees. While this tropical fruit ...

Coolio, Cool J, and Dee Ray

I saw an ad for a CD-release party for LL Cool J. It’s funny because when bands invite me to CD-release parties, they aren’t really parties. It’s usually the band playing a small venue for ...

Valley Center Name-Dropping

Eleanor Roosevelt. Betty Crocker. Wyatt Earp. Those are some of the famous names associated with my neighborhood. And then there are the celebrities: Fred Astaire, Gary Cooper, June Allyson, Dick Powell, and John Wayne come ...

Reveling at Reveles

After a couple of days at Harrah's in Valley Center, my partner and I grew bored with casino clamor and casino fare. At Fiore's, the hotel's top restaurant, our food-savvy waitress was a Valley Center ...

Gambling Gourmand 2: Go Back, Jack

When the Santa Anas sent the downtown air pollution score to a choking 106, my partner and I drove an hour north for a few days of good country air and culinary research at Harrah's ...

Gambling Gourmands, Part I

Eight restaurants under one roof! That's what Harrah's Rincon promises not only to gamblers, but to residents of the restaurant-starved area around Valley Center, five miles northeast of Escondido. What drew me northward was the ...

At Home in San Diego

LA COSTA When I think of La Costa, I remember the wildlife -- the skunk that lived under our house, for instance, a beautiful creature whose size would double when it puffed up its fur ...

Hive Mentality

I love honey. I love honey! Like the bears. All day long my coffee has honey instead of sugar. My cereal has honey. My toast, honey on it. Always honey." David Rojas of San Marcos ...

Best of 2003: Best Little Day Trip To A Farm

Bell Gardens Farm 30841 Cole Grade Road, Valley Center www.bellgardensfarm.com 760-749-6297 In 1993, Glen "Taco Titan" Bell cashed out his Taco Bell stock and bought 115 acres in Valley Center. He transformed much of the ...

Best of 2003: Best Stained & Leaded Glass

Noel Laue, Elemental Glassworks 16261 Woods Valley Road, Valley Center 760-749-7590 For over 20 years, artist Noel Laue has been working with stained, painted, and leaded glass -- specializing in windows, doors, and entry halls. ...

Local Growers Leery of Year-Round Fruit

In late June, officials from the United States Department of Agriculture lifted a ban on picking Hass avocados that had been imposed on growers in Valley Center since Mexican fruit flies were found in the ...

They're Killing My Bird Right Now

Donna Heilman, manager of Birdland in North Park, takes no chances when it comes to protecting her store full of birds, from $5 finches to $10,000 macaws, which can live over 70 years. "We have ...

Dear God, What Do You Want Us to Do?

Valley Center growers are feeling the financial squeeze caused by the Mexican fruit fly infestation discovered in November 2002. Lisa Schostag, a third-generation farmer and a native Californian, farms land within the quarantine area. "The ...

Descend into Hell Creek and rise beyond in Valley Center's Hellhole Canyon Open Space Preserve

Eleven miles of hiking trail lace through the 1700-acre Hellhole Canyon Open-Space Preserve, east of Valley Center. The San Diego County parks department acquired this former parcel of surplus public-domain land, one of several such ...

Best of 2000: Best Pumpkin Picking

Bates Nut Farm 15954 Woods Valley Road, Valley Center (760) 749-3333 Around Halloween, Bates Nut Farm is the ultimate pumpkin-picking experience. After the $1 hayride, the busloads of kids who visit can tumble over piles ...

Loop through Woods Valley and Valley Center on this bicycle tour out of Escondido.

Resting high above the city of Escondido, Valley Center is well on its way to becoming a rural suburb. As more and more country estates pop up on big lots, the area is gradually losing ...

The Worms Turn

You've seen it on Hard Copy, read about it in the paper. Now, how about the truth on the millionairess, the parasite, and the million-dollar horse she claims was murdered, South Pacific? Start with the ...

Valley Center Will Never Be the Same

A few years back, from the tops of several hills in Valley Center, one could see the Pacific Ocean some 20 miles away in the west. If it were clear, Mt. Palomar would be visible ...