Stories you should not have missed
Valedictorians after 20 years, Chicanas, revenge, how New Yorkers see us, an Elvis sighting in Escondido
Various Authors 8:30 a.m., April 21
Santee Stories
Springtime incivility
Is it something in the air?
On March 21 a man pounded on the door outside the military recruiting office next to the Santee trolley station. He yelled through the door as he pounded: “Open the f’n door! I want to ...
Council to convene in Santee
Brewery unveils plans for bigger production and new tasting room
Council Brewing Co. announced Tuesday that it had purchased the brewhouse and lease of Santee brewer Finest Made Ales, between Gillespie Field and Highway 52. Council will operate it as a second brewhouse and tasting ...
Santana High over-reacts to gun
CHP patrolman arrested for weapon in fanny pack
On January 15, 2015 retied California Highway Patrolman Robert Pitt dropped his girlfriend's daughter off at Santana High School in Santee. The gun he carried was in his fanny pack when he went into the ...
Santee getting a taste of Council Brewing
Council buys turnkey brewhouse of Finest Made Ales
Council Brewing Co. announced Tuesday that it had purchased the brewhouse and lease of Santee brewer Finest Made Ales, and will operate it as a second brewhouse and tasting room. In a blog posted to ...
Mixed feelings on campers at Shadow Hill Park
Sheriffs rip up $100 tent in Santee
“Just an FYI … there was a homeless camp in the drainage ditch (by the bridge) at Shadow Hill Park, they were evicted about a week ago,” posted a Santee resident on the Nextdoor app ...
San Diego County school boards — do they need training?
And should they defer to staff on matters of teaching?
The county’s grand jury put out two reports in May concerning school boards. One discusses elections and term limits while the other points to inconsistent training of both school board members and superintendents. California is ...
Santee Lakes catfish opener April 1 and 2
Take the carp — we don’t want them
The seven small lakes called Santee Lakes began as part of a recycling plant. In 1960, the district started recycling wastewater for irrigation and commercial uses. The seven lakes were at the end of that ...
Miramar Marines to reopen Stowe Trail for bikes
"Everybody has to go through the permit process. No exceptions.”
The old Stowe Trail that has connected Santee to Poway for more than 100 years is slated to open back up in mid-April. The trail travels along the eastern side of Marine Corps Air Station ...
A distillery in a barn in a brewery
Brewery & Distillery lives up to its name, gets into spirits
Making liquor, in addition to beer, has been a part of the business plan since the beginning for Santee's BNS Brewing & Distilling Co. — it's right there in the name. Despite an early change ...
Remember the name of Santee teen Julius Ballo
Southern California Silver Glove champ wins national boxing title
Thirteen-year-old Julius Ballo may be a normal teenager at his Tierra Del Sol middle school in Lakeside, but in the boxing ring, he’s a national champion. The Santee resident started boxing when he was three. ...
Groundswell Brewing rides a big wave into east county
Brewery moves from Grantville to Santee
Groundswell Brewing Co., formerly of Grantville, has officially made the move to Santee. In mid-February, the beer company hosted an opening event at the 12,000-square-foot, 30-barrel brewhouse and tasting room left behind by Twisted Manzanita ...
A pile of egged-up ingredients
Generous portions on the cheap in Santee
Obviously omelettes are front and center at The Omelette Factory, but when I rolled into the large restaurant late on a bustling Saturday morning I toyed with the idea of ordering one of the Southern ...
Church for those who got burnt out or burned
Riverview Community Church meets in an old bar
Riverview Community Church Membership: 600 Pastor: Todd Tolson Age: 40 Born: Waukegan, IL Formation: Christian Heritage College, Santee (previously San Diego Christian, El Cajon) Years Ordained: 16 San Diego Reader: How long do you spend ...
Navy vets dive into spirits biz
Copper collar workers start a distillery in Santee
"Our focus right now is to make great spirits," says Scott Nixon, general manager of Copper Collar Distillery, the craft spirit company he cofounded with head distiller Jason Pelle earlier this year. Pelle and Nixon ...
Numbers jump at Santee United Methodist Church
Pastor Christian DeMent opens the door to God's love
Santee United Methodist Church Membership: 200 Pastor: Christian DeMent Age: 43 Born: La Mesa Formation: San Diego State; Claremont School of Theology, Claremont Years Ordained: 10 San Diego Reader: Why did you become a minister? ...
Congressman stands up for vapers' rights
"For me, this is about freedom," says Duncan Hunter at Santee rally
A small crowd of e-cigarette enthusiasts gathered outside a Santee vape shop on Tuesday (October 4), rallying in support of access to the controversial products that some credit for breaking years-long addictions to cigarettes and ...
Walker Preserve segment opens on the San Diego River Trail
Santee preserve features a 1.3-mile trail along the San Diego River
This trail adds another segment to the San Diego River Trail, which will eventually stretch 52 miles from the river headwaters in the Cuyamaca Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. The property that makes up the ...
Finest Made arises from Butcher's ashes
Santee beer company rebrand adopts a foodie focus
Santee's Butcher's Brewing has ceased to be. Owner and brewer Rey Knight has decided to rebrand his beer company and start doing business as Finest Made Ales. The new entity will open its doors to ...
Industrial Grind Coffee, six years and four storefronts later
From retired, to coffee shop owner, to coffee bean roaster, to breadmaker
Hillcrest coffee roaster Industrial Grind Coffee opened its second Hillcrest shop at the beginning of July — its fourth overall. Long-time couple Kathy Hansen and Barbara Jeanine opened the first Industrial Grind on Park Avenue ...
Mary's Donuts closes...but reopened down the street
New landlord allegedly aims to open a "Maryz"
Terry Thompson remembers going to the dump with his father and brothers in the early 1970s. He fondly recalls what they did afterward. “The dump and donuts — it doesn't get much better than that ...
Burglary suspect's behavior "fishy"
Resident seemingly unspools plan, helps reel in man and van
On March 30, Abbey Knight (not her real name) saw two young men in a white Chrysler minivan circling her cul-de-sac at about 1:00 p.m. as she loaded her kids into her car. “They looked ...
Shot heard 'round San Diego
Revolver's win at beer festival prompts aim at bigger market
In summer 2015, BNS Brewing and Distilling Co. won a gold medal at the California State Fair for its Gatling Gun Imperial Stout. That regional win inspired the nanobrewery to submit its stout to a ...
East County ATMs under attack!
Two in-store machines hit, only one gives up cash
Sheriff's deputies are looking for suspects in a pair of attacks on East County drugstore ATMs early Monday morning (January 4). Shortly after 1 a.m., sheriff's deputies responded to a commercial burglary call at a ...
With dollar signs recorded in his eyes...
ATM skimmer showed little good sense — security cameras, bro!
Authorities in Santee are looking to the public for help in identifying a suspect accused of using a "skimmer" device to steal debit card information from patrons of a local bank. On the afternoon of ...
Unwritten Lager, anyone?
Thr3e Punk Ales bubbles onto the scene
For the moment at least, another brewery has joined the craft-beer ranks of Santee. Thr3e Punk Ales debuted December 12th at the New Kids fest, an event dedicated to San Diego's newest breweries. Thr3e Punk ...
Everything expired except the rider
Motorcyclist who crashed didn't have valid tags or license
A motorcyclist ended up hospitalized November 6 after a failed attempt to evade sheriff's deputies. According to Sgt. Daniel Morsch, deputies attempted to stop the rider of a Kawasaki Ninja for expired registration shortly before ...
Salsa fea saves the day
The “ugly sauce” brings burritos back to life at Ferny’s
When you’re hungry and in an unfamiliar part of San Diego, finding a local taco shop is usually an easy bet. Which isn’t to say you always win that bet. For all the great, jewel-in-the-rough ...
Morning mugging with an audience
"Hey, knock it off! What the hell's the matter with you?"
Shortly after 10 a.m. on Thursday, August 6, a man was attacked as he approached the main entrance to the Home Depot store located on Town Center Parkway in the Santee Plaza Shopping Center. According ...
Madman truck driver on the loose
Goateed gray-hair yanks phone from teen, throws it at her
Sheriff's deputies are looking for an unknown Santee man in connection with a recent sexual harassment, robbery, and assault case. Last Friday afternoon (July 11), the male suspect, believed to be 40 to 50 years ...
Thousands of thirsty customers in Santee
Pacific Islander Beer Company already running low on beer
Following a year of buildup and private tasting events, Pacific Islander Brewing Company (PIB) became the latest craft entity to open in Santee, opening the doors of its Polynesian-style tasting room and patio to the ...
How not to conduct your armed robbery
Santee man brandishes weapon, tosses it, and is caught with knife
A Santee man was apprehended Friday afternoon, May 15, after robbing a Target store and attempting to flee by bicycle, sheriff's deputies reported. According to a report from Sgt. Tim Chantler, a suspect identified as ...
Las Colinas is something to Yelp about
Definitely not coming back
“For the only jail I’ve been to, I guess it’s okay. I slept well and wasn’t disturbed. The holding cell I was confined to had a phone and I was able to make unlimited phone ...
Meet Thr3e Punk Ales
Future Santee brewery set to brew inside existing Santee brewery
John Marshall, Kevin Lewis, and Steve Garcia have lived and breathed brewing and punk rock for years. They look back to the emergence and rise of numerous local punk acts during the late nineties and ...
Must-see Mast Park
Enough open space in Santee to forget about busy city life.
Follow a San Diego River trail through sycamores, cottonwoods, and willows to bird-watch.
Coastal exposure
Santee’s Twisted Manzanita Ales opens PB tasting room
In going coastal, Twisted Manzanita Ales (4652 Mission Boulevard, Pacific Beach) has departed from the interior motif of the tasting room at its Santee headquarters. Ironically, this comes from the company desiring to provide a ...
A tree grows in PB
Twisted Manzanita Ales building tasting room in Pacific Beach
It used to be nearly every week I had a new brewery to write about. Nowadays, it’s like I have a new brewery tasting room to talk about. This week is no different. Joining the ...
California commits to women in prison
State to spend $2.4 million annually on “reentry” program
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation announced on Monday, August 4, that it will open a new facility providing female inmates approaching the end of their sentences with transitional services to assist with their ...
Twisted rusticity
Santee brewery’s red leans on chocolaty end of crimson spectrum
When most San Diegans sit down to a heady pint of a red ale, they expect a nose full of piney hoppiness followed by flavor that matches that olfactory promise. Living here, it’s no wonder. ...
Better joint for imprisoned women
Las Colinas facility is near completion
After years of critical reports by the San Diego County Grand Jury about the condition of the San Diego sheriff's Las Colinas Detention Facility, and following legal battles with the City of Santee about placing ...
Environmentalists win one
Pardee Homes agrees to redesign project in Santee
Environmental groups have claimed victory in a lawsuit against Pardee Homes to prevent what they feel would be irreparable harm to the San Diego River in Santee. John Buse, attorney for the Center for Biological ...
Islanders to brew inland
Pacific Islander Brewing Company coming to Santee
Santee is about to get an infusion of island style courtesy of Pacific Islander Brewing Company. Founded by a trio who’s two-thirds Hawaiian who are finalizing their lease, the business is set to be installed ...
The Summer Solstice Ale Trail
Passport-driven reward system encourages local beer touring
Without camaraderie, the San Diego craft beer scene would be much different—and much smaller. It’s the cooperation of local breweries through the San Diego Brewers Guild and on individual, inter-brewery levels that has allowed so ...
Manzanita Brewing’s new name
Santee brewery goes national, adopts new moniker
From day one, the first image visitors to the tasting room at Manzanita Brewing Company’s associated with the Santee operation was its namesake lumber. The twisted tree was painted on the walls, and front and ...
Fundamental(ist) Flaw
WATCHING THE SKY FOR BRIMSTONE, SANTEE — "It's not complicated," says Second Baptist Church of Santee Pastor T. Rebel Swiftsword, explaining his opposition to the Light & Life Foundation's decision to keep its Creation Museum ...
Patch news lets go of many reporter-editors
New ownership trims cost of running hyper-local operations nationwide
On Wednesday, January 29, the new majority-owner of hyper-local news site Patch.com laid off all but one of its San Diego County reporter-editors, remaining editor Michelle Mowad confirmed. The layoffs include journalist Khari Johnson, whose ...
San Diego's top spots for picnics
“The park offers a bird’s-eye view of downtown skyscrapers, planes lifting off from the airport, Mission Bay, the ocean...”
Nice cans…and bottles
Four local breweries start packaging their beers
In this age of nanos and neighborhood-geared breweries, many brewing companies’ beers will only ever be available at their tasting rooms or, at best, on draft. In the case of the latter, most of those ...
Walking San Diego
“It’s a bit of a mountain getaway feeling if you ignore the freeway noise.”
Walks around town, walks in the mountains, walks next to the freeway that make it easy to pretend you’ve gotten away from it all (if you ignore the sound of traffic).
Cheesy Express could make a lot of bread
Grilled cheese sandwiches Korean style?
Grilled cheese sandwiches are great, but most foodies won’t drive out of their way to eat one — especially not to Santee. But a Korean BBQ grilled cheese sandwich? Now that’s something special. And it’s ...
Beer of the Week: Play Date Stout
With the camaraderie between San Diego County breweries, collaboration beers are natural and frequent occurrences. For many brewers, the only inhibitor to embarking on a group project is the inability to fit a collaboration into ...
Beer of the Week: Manzanita Danger Ranger
A brew celebrating the act and adventure of self-distribution
There’s more for small brewing companies to focus on than simply brewing beer. Once fully fermented and kegged, that beer has to somehow be transported to market. With the exception of a few new brewing ...
Skateboarding is a crimestopper in Santee
Thief drops handbag, gets away
Bob Brown was speeding downhill east on Weld Boulevard toward the Gillespie Field Trolley Station on Friday, October 25, when he heard a woman shout in distress. “Stop, thief!” yelled Maria Sanchez as she pointed ...
