Appellate court turns back Hosking's fake cattle ranch
Blue brothers wanted to subdivide Julian land
Dryw Keltz 4:20 p.m., Aug. 20
Valley Center Stories
Someone else's trash in Escondido is not your treasure
Favorite spot: where the 15 freeway passes over North Nutmeg
On August 6, RE/MAX realtor Carmen Cifuentes posted Facebook photos of trash and debris she just discovered. “It was a huge dump on a property that we are selling,” she told me on August 16. ...
I-15 and CA-76 work-arounds don't always work
Lilac Road turns into a dirt road at the Indian reservation
On June 17, Leslie G. saw photos of a stranded semi truck and trailer on the opposite side of the road by her Valley Center home. “The truck got stuck near Pala Loma Drive and ...
Peacock danger on Cool Valley Road
Driver stops, offers help to Valley Center bird owner
On June 20, at around 3:15 pm, Shirley saw white feathers scattered by the mailbox outside of her Valley Center farm. “Oh no!” she said herself, “one of my peacocks has been hit." She then ...
Valley Center gopher snake lover gets a reaction
They flatten their heads and hiss like rattlesnakes
On April 30, Jessica Y. found a snake by her Valley Center house, picked it up, then snapped a selfie. Jessica, posted the photo on Facebook and captioned it: “Instead of killing gopher snakes: pick ...
Ranch Guejito opens doors to San Diego mountain bikers
Dirt roads were used by the original ranch hands circa 1845.
On Saturday, March 16th, the San Diego Mountain Bike Association’s Ride the Rancho event gave cyclists a rare opportunity to explore a property where visitors are seldom permitted, Rancho Guejito. The ranch is an enormous ...
Oranges split in Valley Center, Fallbrook, Escondido
Farmers market vendors blame rain
Orange tree owners from Valley Center and Escondido took to social media to vent about their fruit splitting. “What caused the spitting this year?” questioned one woman from Escondido on February 11. “My other citrus ...
Double rainbows over downtown San Diego
Alexander's band helps
In the last couple of weeks, the elusive “double rainbows” have been spotted throughout San Diego County. “It was surreal,” said Chris Mannerino, “On February 5, I saw it out of my new office and ...
Nine miles from nearest bus stop
Twelve Tribes branch in Valley Center
“Could you let me off at Lilac Road?” That’s me, asking the driver of the 388 as we climb through the hills and orange orchards of Valley Center Road, northeast of Escondido. “Just in time,” ...
Jury selection begins for David Leroy Lucero Jr
Sparks will fly when his father is in the witness box
Jury selection continues Monday, March 19 in the much-delayed trial of David Leroy Lucero Jr., now 33, who is accused of murdering his mother eight years ago, in the home they shared in Valley Center. ...
Tow-truck carjacker failure
Alleged erratic behavior and circumstances suggest crime of opportunity
A tow-truck driver and a pair of motorists getting help after experiencing a breakdown were able to thwart a carjacking attempt Thursday night (September 29) near Valley Center. According to sheriff's deputy Shawn Silva, two ...
Valley Center pursuit ended with car in flames on freeway
Career criminal admits two more felonies
Three weeks ago a pursuit began when Sheriff deputies spotted a black 2006 Audi A3 that had been reported stolen in Valley Center. Driver Brian Kleinfeldt, a career criminal, took off and started a 37-minute ...
Two Door Cinema Club's last hurrah at Harrah's
Irish indie-pop act bids farewell to 2016
A final hurrah was given for Irish indie-pop band Two Door Cinema Club, as they performed their last concert of 2016, stopping at Harrah’s Resort SoCal in San Diego for a set of mild madness ...
Rincon Band launches SR76 Beerworks at its casino
The house beer always wins
The Rincon Band of Luiseño Indians has added a brewery component to its gambling interests. The sovereign tribe owns the Harrah's casino on its reservation near Valley Center, and on November 5th it opened a ...
Pauma Valley farmers rule
Votes still being counted, but water district board is changed already
Of San Diego's 153 county, city, school, and special district races on the November 8 ballot, Pauma Valley’s Yuima Municipal Water’s 2nd district seat had one of the highest voter turnouts in the county — ...
$1 million check cut in big-money sprawl war
Lilac Hills backers vow to crush enviros; Cushman kicks in $5000 against Chargers
Urban sprawl means big money these days in San Diego's North County, the once bucolic setting of pastoral ranches and organic food farms now set for uber-urbanization if voters approve proposition B on November's countywide ...
Is the farm-to-table movement over?
Unimpressive results with San Diego Grown 365 label
Of all the labels people look for when it comes to food, locally grown is number one, surveys find. But more than a decade after the county launched the San Diego Grown 365 label, few ...
Three-guitar Heart attack
The Wilson sisters cash in at Harrah's with a brief but rocking set
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2013 inductees Heart performed about a dozen of their own songs over an hour-long show, including hits such as "Kick It Out," "Heartless," "Straight on," "These Dreams," "Crazy on ...
Another mental competency hearing for David Lucero
Did he kill his mom? Is he crazy?
A young man arrested on suspicion of killing his mother more than five years ago and who has not yet heard any evidence presented against him is due in court on November 30. David Leroy ...
Mr. or Dr. Young?
Valley Center health practitioner administered IV bags of baking soda
“The defendant has gotten away with his phony persona for years,” a prosecutor told the jury yesterday, November 18, in her opening statements in the trial of Robert Oldham Young, who is accused of taking ...
Bill Horn and the life east of the 15
County supervisor advised to recuse himself from development vote
An environmental nonprofit has put San Diego County supervisor Bill Horn and his colleagues on the board on notice: follow the advice of the Fair Political Practices Commission and don't permit Horn's vote to weigh ...
Woody Guthrie called it music about folks
...and Valley Center's Joel Rafael agrees, finally plays a hometown show
In 1972, folkie Joel Rafael planted roots in Valley Center, where he built a home studio, Lilac Sound. In 2000, he signed to Jackson Browne’s Inside Recordings label, which in April of this year released ...
One San Diego bad boy sentenced, one released
Bobby Vassallo gets a year, B.J. Gallison freed on $1.8 million bond
Alfred Louis "Bobby" Vassallo, perpetrator of telecom scams, was sentenced to a year and a day in prison in federal court in the Central District of California on August 24. The onetime La Jollan had ...
Farm to table? How about farm to barrel?
So gosh darn cornpone beautiful
The scene at Nopalito Farm & Hopyard’s mid-June grand-opening party in Valley Center was something straight out of a Geico ad-exec’s wildest dreams. Cute-couple band the Dawsons played on a stage hosted by Grampadrew’s Flim ...
No guns — anger management for you
Valley Center man avoided jail time in bomb-threat case
A 76-year-old Valley Center man pleaded guilty to making a false bomb report and was sentenced earlier this month, on June 2. Frits Versteegh received probation, according to prosecutor Cal Logan, who said it was ...
Is there a naturopathic practitioner in the house?
And is Dr. Robert Oldham Young a doctor or not?
An attorney for the Valley Center man who is accused of practicing medicine without a license and defrauding cancer sufferers of thousands of dollars for fake cures asked a judge to suppress certain evidence at ...
Sneak peek for the Week
So Cal creators share their spring/summer designs in advance of fall venue change
Fashion Week San Diego hosted its spring showcase at Harrah’s Casino on Saturday, March 14. Attendees were given a sneak peek of styles from 25 different designers whose designs will walk the runway next fall ...
Valley Center man pleads not guilty to making false bomb report
Frits Versteegh made first court appearance
An elderly Valley Center man accused of threatening to bomb SDG&E trucks was briefly in court this morning, December 12. Frits Versteegh, 75, pleaded not guilty to making a false bomb report, charged as a ...
Disgruntled and cooperative
Elderly Valley Center man allegedly threatened to bomb SDG&E
Deputies say they arrested 75-year-old Frits Versteegh late on December 4, after he reportedly sent a bomb threat by email to a news station’s website. In a press release, a San Diego County sheriff’s spokesman ...
Appeal to "illegal tax" every year
Hope lives to overturn Cal Fire's semi-rural "Fire Prevention Fee"
This month, property owners in the county’s semi-rural areas are receiving their annual $150 bill for the state’s “Fire Prevention Fee.” Since the per-parcel fee was enacted in 2011, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayer Association has ...
No medical miracle in Valley Center
Robert Young, not a physician, accused of fake cancer cures
On November 5, Robert Oldham Young of Valley Center was ordered to face six felony charges, including practicing medicine without a license and grand theft by fraud at the end of a three-week preliminary hearing. ...
Abundant evidence of the Kumeyaay
Hike Kumeyaay Trail through oak woodlands and chaparral strewn with boulders and beautiful views of Lake Wohlford.
Justice for mom found dead in bed
Conservatorship required for young man accused of matricide
After a court hearing on September 19, it was concluded that 29-year-old David Leroy Lucero, arrested on suspicion of killing his mother more than four years ago, should be confined to a psychiatric hospital. “The ...
Pumpkin patch blooms at Bates
Free family fun in Valley Center
There are many bright blooms and small, pale pumpkins underneath the broad leaves of the pumpkin plants on the 100-acre Bates Nut Farm in August. On a recent weekend, a man who identified himself as ...
Harrah’s flush with craft beer
Velvety local imperial stout unearthed at Valley Center resort’s new bar
Anybody entering a casino is taking their chances to some extent. This luck-pressing should not extend to patrons looking for a quality beverage. Such is the thinking behind Corked, a new bar at the recently ...
Valley Center Brewery finds home at home
Homegrown craft beer springing up in North County Inland burg
Last September, I introduced readers to Valley Center’s first brewery, Valley Center Brewery. At the time, the family-run operation was in the midst of its very humble beginnings, but they’ve been busy in their northerly ...
Shots fired on the San Pasqual Reservation
Inlaws and outlaws
Michelle Ortega said Richard Murillo showed her the gun when he met her down by the front gate of her property on the San Pasqual Indian Reservation in Valley Center. It was after 11 o’clock ...
Meet Valley Center Brewery
Inland north county community poised to welcome its first brewery
Even locals with the slightest grasp of the craft beer movement can see how widespread it is within San Diego County. Breweries and brewpubs are opening up all over the place, pushing the geographic borders ...
Dharma Travel: California seeking
Third in a spiritual tourism series.
It doesn't take traveling to remote or exotic places to escape the distractions of the outside world, I've found. In California, regardless of denomination, dharma travel is big business. Whether 50-room or single-room hermitages, expansive ...
Palomar Mountain: Weir-French Valley Loop
This hike includes trails beneath an old oak canopy, morteros, open meadows, two creeks, and a small pond with a stone weir.
Pala tribe cuts dissident members off rolls, including former tribal chairman King Freeman.
Can you find the big secret in this casino?
Interviews with Pala tribe members who are at odds since Indian gaming was made legal in California.
8 days. 750 miles.
Professional cycling’s uphill climb
Rundown of bicyclists who’ve been caught doping and the Tour of California bike race.
Red Neck Gardening
Spring is the season that warms the heart of any gardener. You hold hope and a dream in your hand with each seed you plant. Hope for tomatoes, red and juicy, fresh vegetables, fine herbs, ...
San Diego Sheriff’s New Car Reads License Plates Fast
On June 4, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department unveiled a new “automatic license plate reader car” that will be based out of the department’s Valley Center substation. “This car has the ability to read ...
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 ...
Consider the Snake
If you listen, carefully, you can hear the rattles under the house, beneath the bathroom floor. You disturb that snake, every time you set foot in the bathroom. Unnerving, the babysitter called it. Rodent control ...
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 ...
Sidewalks and Barn Animals
I think delivery drivers cut their teeth in Valley Center. What better way to test a newbie driver’s mettle than to drop him, unceremoniously, in the outback of the county, in an area with a ...
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, ...
