Santee Stories
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 …
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 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 …
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 …
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 …
"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 …
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? …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
The bloodstains have long since faded, courtesy of Scram, sun, and time. More than a decade ago, in the parking lot of a Vons in Santee, Christopher St. Louis, 18, lost his life in the …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
“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 …
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 …
Follow a San Diego River trail through sycamores, cottonwoods, and willows to bird-watch.
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 …
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 …
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 …
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. …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
“The park offers a bird’s-eye view of downtown skyscrapers, planes lifting off from the airport, Mission Bay, the ocean...”
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 …
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).
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
At about 10:15 a.m. on Sunday, October 6, wisps of smoke were seen from the foothills just north of El Nopal Avenue on the border of Santee and Lakeside. Immediately, up to four S-2 CDF …
Thousands of applicants, a little over 100 seats to fill at High Tech International school.
They say passion is the secret ingredient in any good consumable. While genuine affinity doesn’t guarantee success in the fermentation arts, I have found that brewers without passion are at a severe disadvantage when attempting …
The Santee Sheriff’s Station has announced that deputies will be conducting “live shooter” training on the Grossmont College campus beginning this afternoon (July 16) at 2 p.m. and continuing until as late as 10:00 tonight. …
I was there when charcuterie ace-turned-brewmaster Rey Knight sold the first of his beers to the public at Ritual Tavern in 2011. I hardly knew what to expect. I knew the guy could fashion fantastic …
Last weekend, a new local brewery and a local distillery opened to the public…under the same roof. That double-pronged operation goes by the name of BNS Brewing & Distilling (10960 Wheatlands Avenue, Suite 101, Santee). …
The June 10 San Diego City Council 2014 budget deliberations will include requests from two new councilmembers for funds to reopen the Mission Trails Regional Park campground known as Kumeyaay Lake. Fifth District councilman Mark …