Escondido Stories
After a trial that lasted one month, a jury declared both Jeffrey McCreary and Destin Lee Withers guilty of first-degree murder in the shooting death of Mayorama Denise Rodriguez, 20, more than two years ago. …
Following the alleged horrific stabbing of a Wisconsin girl by two 12-year-old classmates who were seeking to prove their dedication to the fictional character of Slender Man, and following the horrific Isla Vista shooting spree …
“After he killed her, I drove away with the body,” said Jeffrey McCreary while in the witness box this week. “That made me an accessory, afterward.” But McCreary said it was his codefendant who pulled …
Regular readers of my column are familiar with Premier Stainless Systems. The Escondido-based business has been wildly successful over the past several years, establishing itself as, well, the “premier” manufacturer of brewing systems locally and …
Two men stabbed a third man, either in a fit of jealous rage or to show some gang muscle or both, a prosecutor alleged in court on May 28. At the end of the hearing, …
I got a sneak peek of the new Tiger Trail at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, and it is indeed epic. Its official name is Tull Family Tiger Trail, after Thomas and Alba Tull, …
At around 3:30 p.m. on May 21, a gray-haired man in a white T-shirt stopped his pickup truck on the northbound on ramp of I-15 at Gopher Canyon Road. The man said to witnesses he …
5/14/14, 8 p.m. We decamped to our parents' house in Escondido partly because we were done watching San Marcos burn and partly to be with our parents in case things get scary here. So now …
A jury began hearing evidence in the trial of two men accused of killing a woman to end her loud “drama,” in San Diego’s North County courthouse today, May 12. The 20-year-old woman who was …
Two men who are accused of killing a young woman to end her loud “drama” two years ago, will go on trial this week in San Diego’s North County Superior courthouse. Jury selection is scheduled …
Escondido police say they arrested a man in the parking lot of the donut shop down the street from headquarters, his pocket allegedly bulging with drugs. José Luis Fonseca, 23, pleaded not guilty to possession …
I’ll admit it. When I first heard Stone Brewing Co. was conducting a collaboration brew with a member of jam band The String Cheese Incident and a journeyman guitarist who’d shredded with the likes of …
Could a political contribution by any other name smell sweeter to San Diego Republicans? That seems to be one of two persistent questions for Los Angeles developer Michael Schlesinger, who has been battling nearby residents …
A man on probation is accused of causing $5000 damage to a truck sitting on an Escondido car lot two months ago. At a court hearing on April 7, defendant David Gordon Huntley heard evidence …
The state’s Fair Political Practices Commission has handed a warning letter — but no fine — to a five-figure financial backer of the GOP Lincoln Club’s war of hit pieces against Nathan Fletcher last year. …
Marco Antonio Carapia, 34, pleaded not guilty today, March 17, to felony stalking of the mother of his two children. “In his mind, I was screwing everybody,” a woman identified as Ashley told a judge. …
Edward Charles Peek admitted grand theft and was immediately sentenced to 16 months’ custody on Wednesday, March 12. He could have received as much as three years in prison for stealing what investigators described as …
On February 19, Rene Sanchez was brought into a San Diego courtroom, where he denied killing a man during a Halloween party at an Escondido home in 2007. Sanchez pleaded not guilty to one count …
Kumeyaays’ “valley of the eagles” still worthy of the name.
“When I moved onto the farm, it was me and my wife Jessica trying to find a change of life,” says David Solomon, manager of Stone Farms in Escondido. “I was in advertising. She was …
The history of Belching Beaver Brewery (980 Park Center Drive, Vista) is short, but with a number of projects near completion, its future’s looking bright. A recent conversation with owner Tom Vogel turned up plans …
A criminal defense attorney on February 10 suggested that the tattoo “ESCO VIEJO” on his client merely expresses fondness for his hometown and is not connected to a violent street gang. “Esco viejo” translates as …
California Highway Patrol officer Adam DeGraffenreid said the license plate on the red Honda Accord came back registered to a Toyota on the afternoon of October 19, 2013. The driver said his name was Christian …
Last August, news of a fatal accident at Stone Brewing Co. made its way across the Internet, radio, and airwaves. Many reports listed the victim as merely a “worker,” “employee,” or “brewer.” Eventually, the media …
Investigators claim they were able to connect a repeat felon to a string of burglaries in San Diego County through fingerprints and DNA he left behind. Thirty-one-year-old Roberto Lazaro Dimas pleads not guilty to eight …
Officer Robert Craig said at a court hearing on January 21 that he was called to speak with a distraught woman on the evening of November 3 of last year. Twenty-seven-year-old Catalina Botello said she …
Somebody should write a musical: The Last of the Tap Dancers. There’s only one left and the uniquely American art may vanish. When the Tap Dancer learns he/she’s the end of the line, he/she goes …
Fitch Ratings has affirmed the BB+ rating on Palomar Health's outstanding debt and revised the rating outlook to negative from stable. Only two years ago the healthcare operator, formerly known as Palomar Pomerado Health System, …
Pesticides kill bugs — how can they not be killing people? San Diego — indeed, California — is a leader in the production of organic vegetables and fruit.
With election day less than five weeks away, campaign cash to both sides in the battle for San Diego mayor is gushing through a sometimes confusing and byzantine network of corporations, unions, and political committees. …
Police found evidence connecting two men with at least four armed robberies that occurred recently in Escondido. One of them was due to be arraigned in San Diego’s North County Superior Courthouse for felony robbery …
Ensconced in the eastern edge of Escondido between the Humane Society and Dog Park, the Charros Arena and its surroundings serve as a staging ground for hikers, bikers, and horse riders. The south end of …
One of the biggest parts of my job as a beer journalist is keeping up on work-in-progress brewing companies looking to come online throughout the county. The current number of upcoming breweries I’m monitoring is …
The number of brewing companies opening around the county in 2013 was unmatched, and so too was the number of new facilities opened by existing brewing companies. The following is a list of the most …
As I did last year, I’m calling out the best new brewing operations to debut in 2013 or so late last year that they didn’t qualify for the 2012 rookie of the year race. Last …
About 40 men and women held a silent rally at Westfield North County Mall in Escondido on Saturday, December 14, the first anniversary of the Sandy Hook mass murder of 26 people at a Connecticut …
The Highland Valley Trail is part of the San Dieguito River Park trail system. Eventually it will extend 55 miles from Volcan Mountain near Julian to the Pacific Ocean at Del Mar. The Highland Valley …
On December 5, Antonio Gabriel Amador, 18, and Brandon Douglas Martinez, 20, were both sentenced to seven years in state prison for burglary and robbery. In their plea deals, four other felonies were dismissed for …
“This 35-year-old defendant stabbed her 54-year-old stepmother over 15 times with two separate knives,” a prosecutor said as Asiatae Robinette Bell glared at the deputy district attorney from a holding cell. Last week, on November …
Interview with pastor April Leona Cunningham of Escondido’s Harmony Grove Spiritualist Association. She says she predicted the death of Robert and John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr.
12 Brewers, 12 Casks, 12 Mallets: Drop in on a simultaneous tapping of a dozen specialty casks of familiar Stone Brewing Co. beers augmented by myriad ingredients including blueberries, heather, elderflowers, Thai chilies, milk sugar, …
“They’re like the Led Zeppelin of mantra music, an extraordinary group of musicians who have accepted me into their musical world, despite all evidence being against it,” says Lake Hodges guitarist Greg Douglass of his …
San Diego’s top-ten breweries, according to Brandon Hernández, who was here when it all began.
Chargers vs. Redskins Sour Brunch: The Chargers appear to be on the right track. Catch this case of lightning in a bottle along with glass after glass of tart, tasty sour beer from a board …
Since the Escondido City Council passed the citizen-generated initiative on August 14, 2013, preventing development of the former Escondido Country Club property, the land-use battle moved into the court system for final resolution. But in …
Three Escondido residents were arrested yesterday (October 9) in connection with a string of “smash-and-grab” robberies taking place at the trailhead of the Monserate Mountain Preserve in Fallbrook between September 19 and October 4. Bryan …
Can’t tell the young guys from Stone Brewing, Saint Archer Brewing, or Rowlberto Productions a thing about entrepreneurialism. All have employed innovative ways of reaching their business goals.
These days, it seems like a new brewery is opening every week. Well, that’s just not true. Case in point—last week, when two new brewing companies entered their soft open stage. For the most part, …
Eva Knott’s findings from the court files of 21-year-old Wyatt Taylor Johnson, who burglarized a handful of his grandmother’s neighbors and pawned their stolen possessions. He admitted to four counts of first-degree felony burglary and expects to get four years prison when he is sentenced on November 18.
Earlier this year, I shared the local brewing projects I was most highly anticipating. Most of them (Pizza Port Bressi Ranch, Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens – Liberty Station, Benchmark Brewing Company, Hess Brewing …
Escondido first hosted the finish of the Amgen Tour of California in 2009. The world’s best cyclists competed over local terrain, finishing with a sharp left turn from Escondido Boulevard onto Grand Avenue and ending …
After a presentation by Escondido city staff last Wednesday, city council voted to let the city’s contract with Redflex expire in December 2013 and terminate police enforcement of photo-recorded red light violations. In 2003, the …