Vista Stories

Man whose home is metal box in Vista park admits drug sales

Sixty-five-year-old man began career at 20

A man living in a metal shipping container in a Vista park was arrested this month after he sold drugs to undercover officers. James William Harris, 65, was reportedly living in the graffiti-decorated container located ...

Latitude 33 distributed to 38 states

Beer-of-the-month subscriber service sends Vista brew far and wide

A new, national beer-of-the-month service launched this summer, featuring a San Diego brewery in its inaugural shipments. Two beers from Vista's Latitude 33 Brewing were offered for the June delivery of CraftX, a Los Angeles–based ...

Vista sisters fighting ends in arrest

One spit at officer who responded with mace

“Christine said, ‘I’m going to stab your pretty little face,’” according to a deputy who testified in San Diego Superior Court yesterday, June 26. Sheriff’s deputy Adrian Moses arrived at a home in the 1600 ...

Henebery brings production home

Legacy whiskey brand opens tasting room and distillery in Vista

Producing whiskey requires fermented grain, a still, a barrel, and patience. Henebery Spirits has shown plenty of the latter. Jesse Fanning launched Henebery in 2013 with his wife Natalie and her family, including parents Annette ...

Tased again and again in Vista parking lot

County pays $3 million for deputy's aggressiveness

The County of San Diego has agreed to pay $3 million in damages to a man who suffered a severe brain injury and multiple amputations after a Sheriff's deputy repeatedly fired his taser at him ...

Vista makes new wireless tower rules

First choice is city land, then business and industrial property. Schools — up to them.

Vista planners wants to make it easier, or in some cases harder, to operate cell towers and antennas. On March 21, the planning commission held a public hearing to discuss two proposed zoning ordinances (see ...

Belching Beaver’s change of art

Brewer renews logo, makes case for old one’s non-sexist origin

With a March 12 party at its Vista brewpub, Belching Beaver Brewery celebrated a brand refresh that includes a cleaner redesign of its can and bottle labels; also the punny new slogan, "Dam Good Times." ...

Wizards, warriors, and the magic of beer

Homebrewing educators add to Vista's brewery ranks

The brewery in Vista continues to rise. Battlemage Brewing Company enjoyed its first brew day on March 8th, making it the 16th beer company in the city of 100,000. There will be more opening this ...

The whopping return of Indian Joe

After two years dormant, the Vista brand comes back big time

In most cases, shutting down a business for two years would probably not be good for its growth. But don't tell Max Moran and Geri Lawson. When their Vista nanobrewery, Indian Joe Brewing, reached the ...

North County has less heroin today

Forty-six gang members rounded up

Federal indictments unsealed yesterday (March 1) charge 55 drug dealers and gang members with crimes including money-laundering, robberies, vehicle thefts, burglaries, assaults, and trafficking in heroin, methamphetamine, and firearms. The gang members operated in North ...

Marine intelligence yields better brews

A tributary place to drink craft beer

As any recruiter will tell you, military service provides on-the-job training and work experience that may be applied to future careers. While those recruiters likely don't have brewing in mind, David Casperson makes a convincing ...

Immigration info session scrapped in Vista school district

"If it was their children or their neighbors' children they would understand."

A Vista school meeting with an immigration attorney — set up to help parents prepare to protect their families should they be suddenly deported — was abruptly canceled Thursday (February 23), hours before it was ...

Congressman Issa missed at town-hall meeting

Facing repeal of Affordable Care Act, protesters ask, "Where is Darrell?"

Hundreds of North County residents packed Jim Porter Recreation Center in Vista on Tuesday night (February 21), while a thousand or more were left to gather outside for a town-hall event missing only its guest ...

Virtually electrocuted at the shopping center

Now–brain damaged amputee sues sheriff's dept. for tasing

A 30-year-old North County man who suffered a brain injury and multiple amputations after being repeatedly tased by a sheriff's deputy has agreed to settle his lawsuit. According to court documents obtained by the Reader, ...

Viking feasting hall opens in Vista

Drink mead and cider from a horn

Vince Obarski recalls first hearing about mead as a kid, referenced in fantasy games such as Dungeons & Dragons. He associated it with beer, and medieval times, but didn't grasp how far back it actually ...

Barrel Harbor brewery branches out into gaming center

Unique business models in Miramar

Three-year-old Vista brewery Barrel Harbor has been getting active of late. It began releasing cans of Fenris IPA earlier this year and aims to begin canning South Island pilsner by the end of the month. ...

North County wealth study

Poverty lower, incomes higher than countywide

North County is better off economically than the rest of San Diego County, according to a study released yesterday (December 7) by the Center on Policy Initiatives. It used data from the Census Bureau's 2015 ...

San Diego beer, brewing in Idaho

Mother Earth built a large, robust, fully functional brewery

Earlier this month, Mother Earth Brewing Co. opened a tasting room in the town of Nampa, Idaho, about 20 miles west of Boise. That's because in August the brewery fired up a 40,000-square-foot production facility ...

A food truck saves the day at a brewery, again

Fried, not braised, but still good

Leave it to me to order fried chicken from a food truck with the word braise in its name. I promise there was beer involved. Toolbox Brewing was pouring a few rare beers for its ...

God seen in both gutters and high-rises

Pastor Derek DaPena of New Community Church of Vista

Membership: 250 Pastor: Derek DaPena Age: 35 Born: Bellflower Formation: Biola University, La Mirada; Azusa Pacific University Seminary, Azusa Years Ordained: 8 San Diego Reader: How long do you spend writing your sermon? Pastor Derek ...

The science of wild ales

Toolbox brewer Ehren Schmidt crafts beer in a lab

Vista barrel-aged and wild ale specialist Toolbox Brewing Company has enjoyed a year of recognition and growth since bringing on head brewer Ehren Schmidt last summer. The four barrel brewhouse expanded into an adjacent industrial ...

The only cemitas shop in San Diego

Cemitas Fandanguero takes on New York

While chatting with a friend in New York recently, he told me, “I know you don’t think we have good Mexican food in the city, but I just got the best cemita in Brooklyn.” “Yeah, ...

Belching Beaver getting big

Six-packs, sours, and a full restaurant in the works

Belching Beaver Brewing has been in serious expansion mode this spring. In March, the company more than quadrupled its capacity by moving in to a 30-barrel production brewery in Oceanside. Meanwhile, its original 15-barrel Vista ...

Pro skate park opens in Vista

Pro Neal Mims says, “It’s about the kids and the community."

In a nondescript warehouse in Vista’s Business Park district, pro-skater Neal Mims opened his new indoor skatepark. The March 30 reservation-only session was a preview to the park’s public opening on April 2. About 40 ...

San Diego breweries and bands pair up

Vista's rock scene goes with craft beer

Hangovers aside, the proliferation of craft beer in San Diego has made little impact on its local rock scene. But for some areas of the county, breweries hosting live shows have established music venues in ...

When Jesus was found in the Monkey Place

Interview with Pastor Rob Savlato

“Some will ask, ‘How can a loving God send people to hell?’”

Fill up on gas and ribs at Vista Chevron

When Pigs Fly brings barbecue to an unlikely location

When I moved to Vista in the 1980s, there was a barbecue place located in a run-down shack on S. Santa Fe Avenue which served great food, but the venue took some getting used to. ...

San Diego deputies "obviously intoxicated"

Undercover operation stings 4 out of 8 liquor stores visited

Undercover sheriff deputies in Vista found plenty of liquor-store clerks willing to sell booze to "obviously intoxicated" patrons, according to the results of a sting on Saturday afternoon (December 5). "An undercover deputy entered a ...

Beer and science collide in Vista

Wavelength tasting room hosts lecture series

Just before Thanksgiving, Vista Village's Wavelength Brewing issued its beer in bottles for the first time, offering three stash-in-the-fridge options: a vanilla bean variation of its Off Kilter Scottish heavy, its Ad Astra Belgian quadrupel ...

Anastasia Kirkeby sentenced to therapy

Drug house burned down in July, killing Shelby Ann Black

On the day set for her misdemeanor trial, Anastasia Kirkeby, 50, a woman plagued by multiple drug-related arrests at her home in Encinitas, made a plea deal and was ordered to get counseling. That hearing ...

This just in: Episcopal churches to be sold

“The fact that church attendance is dying in America isn’t news."

Two North County Episcopal churches, both over 60 years old, were told last week that due to declining attendance and compounding red ink, the Episcopal Diocese of San Diego has decided to fold them. The ...

Vista goes easy on the tat shops

"The whole reason we limited it to one is so we can have some control."

Vista is about to get its third tattoo establishment — after a careful vetting process by a panel of city-council members, economic development folks, and the chamber of commerce. With downtown redevelopment underway, the city ...

Yield vs. Stop sign debate in Vista

"What about speed-bumps?"

After years of watching cars speed through the intersection by her Vista home, Betty Haver got her traffic sign on Tuesday, October 13. After much discussion, the Vista City Council voted unanimously to place “Yield” ...

Vista’s beer buzz

Breweries propel North County city’s makeover

Some residents like that Vista is still sketchy in parts.

Bewitching trip though time and fantasy

Big Fish at Moonlight Stage is a magical winner

A new musical that has been compared to The Music Man and The Wizard of Oz — entitled simply, Big Fish — is currently bewitching audiences at the Moonlight Amphitheater. The story shifts between two ...

Pigs fly in Vista

Flying Pig Pub & Kitchen

Pork is highlighted at this new “pub & kitchen” in Vista’s Paseo Santa Fe district, but I decided to go with the tri-tip. A good decision. First I ordered a light fare of ham and ...

I can’t recommend this place for cheesesteaks

Hungry Bear’s signature sandwich disappoints

When I visit a restaurant for the first time without knowing much about it, my usual MO is to ask a server for recommendations. When I got to the Vista location of Hungry Bear Deli ...

Craft-beer clubhouse planned for Vista

Bear Roots Brewing soon to open supply shop and do-it-yourself facility

A new craft-beer concept plans to launch in Vista this month. Bear Roots Brewing Company will open in September as a home-brewing supply shop before adding a brew-on-premises workspace and brewery/tasting room later this fall. ...

The fight for freedom of street sleep

Vote this week to determine lawfulness of bans to shut-eye in vehicles

After dark, parking a home is a problem. That was clear in 2010, when advocates for the houseless opened the first overnight safe parking lot. And the need goes on. “The program was a direct ...

Gigantic proportions

Shrek: The Musical is noisy, bright, and beautiful

Shrek: The Musical is part romance, part twisted fairy and all irreverent fun, and the large cast is currently strutting their stuff at the Moonlight Amphitheater. Based on the Oscar-winning film from Dreamworks, the show ...

Puppy supply line threatened

Vista City Council delays vote that would spell out source requirements

Even though pet-store operator David Salinas's legal bills are mounting, cities are outlawing his puppy-supply pipeline, and animal-welfare activists continue to bite into him, he plans to continue selling puppies. "If you run a small ...

Blunderbuss (hopefully) heard 'round the county

Barrel Harbor tap handle bludgeons beer writer with charm

Keeping track of all the breweries in San Diego County is tough, whether you're a beer reporter or attentive enthusiast. When I think about it the other way around, I marvel at how many have ...

Moonlight's delight

Tradition cuts both ways for The Music Man in North County

There is something magical about the open-air setting of Moonlight Stage Productions’ The Music Man: a perfect spot for the classic American musical. Taking place in River City, Iowa, the story centers around the interactions ...

In fact, there's not a doctor in the house

Kaiser psychiatrist claims constructive termination

Laura Wakil, M.D., a psychiatrist, has sued Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and related Kaiser organizations for violation of the state health and safety code, retaliation, negligent supervision, and wrongful constructive termination. (Constructive termination is a ...

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