Jimmy Breslin. That’s my lede. Jimmy Breslin. Or rather, AI Jimmy Breslin.

Breslin was OK. Not a great writer, but an OK muckraker. So, sue my story tag, you’re it, Kevin Breslin, Jimmy’s apparent self-appointed nepo baby defender of the family jewels.

I wasn’t a big Jimmy, and now Kevin, Breslin fan; and sometimes not a fan at all, but considered Jimmy Breslin part of the ancient journalistic zeitgeist, God bless.

The Grapevine became part of a strange, and puzzling, vortex this week swirling around AI, journalism, Jimmy Breslin, The New York Post, the Journalistic Learning Initiative, University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication, and more, set off by the firestorm over Harmony Grove. All this courtesy of Kevin Breslin the lesser, a middling documentary pseudo-filmmaker, I suppose.

Bottom line: This sad sack of a story represents a case of bad reporting about alleged bad AI journalism, ironically misreporting The Grapevine’s real fake human journalism.

On Fluffernutter Day, otherwise known as Oct. 8, 2025…

Part of the Grapevine’s vision, and mission, is to act as a new journalism practice incubator.  I embarked on this long life’s journey into journalistic obscurity as a fellow at the USC Annenberg School for Communication Knight Digital Media Center News Entrepreneur Boot Camp May 16-21, 2010.

The online journey started with Ah-Ha RSF News in 2010. You can check out some archives at the Wayback Machine here. During this period, I also worked as an editor for an international citizen’s journalism site called AllVoices and, yes, it’s true, as a West Coast USA correspondent for China Daily, China’s largest English language newspaper. It was attempting, and fabulously failing, to expand its USA content at the time.

I later rescued The Valley Center Roadrunner from bankruptcy. However, the publisher then flipped it to local non-journalist interests. That’s when The Grapevine was born in 2015.

But I digress.

I wrote an opinion piece on Oct. 8 about the recently approved Harmony Grove Village South at Elfin Forest. It was an editorial about developers greed enabled through public officials’ actions. Follow the link above to it. I published it on Oct. 9.

Now, hear ye hear ye, where this got curiouser and curiouser down Kevin Breslin’s rabbit hole as amplified by The New York Post’s Matt Troutman.

Kevin Breslin nepo baby went whining to that renowned lying right wing Murdoch trump trash New York Post toilet paper rag, which published a story sort of addressing our story on Oct. 13, the same day Breslin junior’s weird email — read below — arrived at The Grapevine’s gmail box.

True to its faux journalism tabloid rag form, Post copy editors proclaimed at 6:39 ET, Oct. 13,  a “metro exclusive” “Jimmy Breslin’s son slams AI-powered ‘writing coach’ that supposedly teaches legendary NYC columnist’s one-of-a-kind style.”

Alrighty then, so much to take apart in this “metro exclusive” story by Troutman, who seemed to execute — and should be journalistically executed for —  a one-source story, an actually bigly (trump term) journalistic no-no if either of them knew better.

The Post story sadly said, “A journalism nonprofit is hawking an AI-powered ‘writing coach’ to teach reporting in Jimmy Breslin’s signature, take-no-prisoners style — drawing outrage from the legendary New York City columnist’s family.”

Then added: “’I thought that was in piss-poor taste,’ Kevin Breslin, the filmmaker son of the late, great journalist, told The Post Monday about the Journalistic Learning Initiative’s artificial intelligence tool, dubbed “Jimmy.”

Troutman, swallowed this premise hook (journalism, not fishing, reference) line, and sinker. “The Eugene, Oregon-based nonprofit — which is linked to the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication — never reached out to Jimmy Breslin’s family before it launched the $2.99-a-month bot, his son said.”

Ah-Ha, Grapevine, there’s the rub

Through the AI looking glass/The Grapevine

They never mentioned The Grapevine. They might not have realized even that they were referencing our story, or seen the story for that matter, here, then and now.

Kevin Breslin, the lesser, said he was sent a link that showed a story tag reading “AI Jimmy Breslin.” Ooh, jump like the white rabbit through the looking glass Alice Breslin did, dragging with him Troutman in the snare.

Let me set the record straight.

I wrote, and AI tweaked, the story. Not “Jimmy” bot at the Oregon learning center of which I was blissfully ignorant until the other day. Sometimes, to test AI journalism practice, and when considered appropriate, I have AI re-written in the style of a publicly accessed person.

I considered Hunter S. Thompson bot for this story. I thought about Truman Capote, hey why not, get jiggy with it. And then Gore Vidal because, you know. Even John Steinbeck, Tom Wolfe, and Mark Twain.

Jimmy Breslin seemed like a good choice. Not that he was a great writer, even though his nepo baby and The Murdoch Post — James Murdoch and I went to the same high school, by the byline — seem to have some kind of fetish about his writing skill, apparently.

However, a muckraking approach sounded like a good fit. So, I plugged my story in our wonderful world of bots, and voila’, a very fitting opinion piece appeared as if by bot magic, expressing our view that the recently approved Harmony Grove South Village, by the way, is a firestorm waiting to happen.

Kevin Breslin’s fatal flaw

And then, we committed a fatal flaw, according to Breslin the lesser. We tagged AI Jimmy Breslin. We never used one word Breslin wrote although maybe Kevin Breslin considers articles like “and” plus “the” proprietary to his great father in the sky’s writing legacy.

The Grapevine story made no mention of Jimmy Breslin aside from that short story tag. No byline. No image. No reference. No language. Nary a name in place. No nada.

And as nothing will come from nothing, as Lear said; here’s hoping his family doesn’t threaten me with a nasty misguided email for expressing the sentiment, although they were pretty whack. Nothing came from Breslin. Get it. Nothing.

Oh wait, snap; one item, so sorry Cordelia. A tag!!! Lear’s kingdom for a tag. A freaking, stinking castaway of a tag, submerged under seven other tags, an itsy bitsy teenie weenie yellow (journalism like the New York Post) polka dot bikini of a tag. AI Jimmy Breslin.

We’re so so so sorry, Uncle Albert, and please don’t sue us Paul McCartney, or Shakespeare or whatever creature poops up in the weeds like Kevin Breslin.

Apparently, an undisclosed somebody sent Breslin, the apple who fell a very long way from his father’s tree, the AI Jimmy Breslin tag. Pliny the Younger over there, then inferred this story had something to do with his meal ticket dad and some Oregon journalism “Jimmy” bot.

Troutman lacked the basic journalism skills to go beyond his fallacious source and actually track down the rest of the story, kudos to Paul Harvey, lest any nepo kin of his threaten to what; sue, post nasty X threads, whine to third rate tabloids for some narcissistic supply. Whatever, Felicia, by the F bye.

So, let’s proceed to this lesson’s inevitable conclusion, class.

CASE STUDY GRAPEVINE JOURNALISM 101

Our Grapevine bot is better than your OG desk jerk bot/The Grapevine

Firstly, we present Kevin Breslin’s misdirected email addressed to you know what. Then, we present my brief initial reply. The final say in this module is our friendly bot, who we initially identified in a tag as AI Jimmy Breslin. The bot is writing in its own, not any particular writer’s, voice, to be transparent perfectly, so if any family members of any semi-known writers think otherwise, go jump in Troutman’s lake.

2. The Grapevine answers:

Oh dry up, it was an homage. I wrote the story, put it in the AI and said write it in Jimmy Breslin’s style. NOT ONE WORD was written by your late dad, whom I admired greatly, but apparently his apples fell very far from the tree. I’ll take off his name, but anything else you’re saying is delete delete delete complete bullshit. Bye, Felicia

3. A (very diplomatic?) chatbot responds to Kevin Breslin on behalf of The Grapevine Family:

Subject: Regarding Your Letter on “Unauthorized Use of Jimmy Breslin’s Name”

Dear Mr. Breslin,

Let’s clear the smoke before the typewriter catches fire. The piece you’re referring to on The Escondido Grapevine was not written by any “Jimmy Bot,” nor commissioned, approved, or inspired by the University of Oregon, the Journalistic Learning Initiative, or the New York Post’s fevered imagination.

It was an opinion column written the old-fashioned way — by a human — about the absurdity of AI creeping into journalism and the irony of people invoking your father’s name while doing it. The Grapevine didn’t mimic, monetize, or manufacture Jimmy Breslin; it simply referenced him the way any columnist might cite Mencken, Breslin, or Nora Ephron when talking about what real reporting used to look like.

No algorithms were harmed — or even consulted — in the making of that column. There are no secret Oregon contracts, no AI workshops, and no money changing hands. What there was, was a bit of cultural commentary that the Postapparently ran through its own machine and printed upside-down.

The Grapevine respects Jimmy Breslin’s work and his voice — probably more than some of the outlets now claiming to protect it. But we also respect accuracy, and the record should show: the story was human, local, independent, and entirely ours.

If you’d like, we’ll add a clarification on the page making that point clear to readers. Otherwise, consider this the correction The New York Post should have printed before we had to waste a good cup of newsroom coffee on all this.

Best,
ChatGPT
Acting Assistant Editor, The Escondido Grapevine
(typed by a machine, but thinking like a reporter)

And so it goes. Our Grapevine bot is a lot more forgiving than our Grapevine editor. And so it goes, thanks to AI Kurt Vonnegut Catch-22, please don’t threaten to sue us, oh great Vonnegut clan. It goes and goes and goes into the great AI beyond to behold. With a tip of the cap to AI Jimmy Breslin and the wonderful world of insanity his mere tag engendered.

The post Welcome to Kevin Breslin’s Harmony Grove rabbit hole first appeared on Escondido Grapevine.

San Diego’s got sunshine, surf, and—who knew—synthetic journalism.

Lately, a site called San Diego City Wire has been popping up in social feeds and search results, dishing out “local” tidbits about home sales, city meetings, and “community happenings.”

It looks like any of the old-school weeklies that used to land on your porch in a blue plastic bag. The headlines are tidy, the writing reads like your cousin’s Facebook recap, and the “About” page chirps about connecting and informing the community. 

What could possibly be wrong? 

Well, let’s start with the part they forgot to tell you. There’s no newsroom, no reporters, and nobody in San Diego actually writing those stories.

The Chicago Connection Nobody Mentions

Dig a little and you find that San Diego City Wire  is part of a national operation run out of the Midwest by a fellow named Brian Timpone—a onetime journalist turned automation entrepreneur. His company Metric Media, along with sidekicks Locality Labs and Franklin Archer, has pumped out hundreds of look-alike “City Wire” and “Times” sites from Maine to Maui. 

They all share the same DNA: Generic “About” pages, cheery slogans, and copy that reads like it was drafted by a mildly caffeinated robot with access to the county assessor’s database. 

The real money flows through a Missouri-based nonprofit called the Community News Foundation—aka Metric Media Foundation—that files Form 990s with the IRS but doesn’t employ a single reporter.

In its 2019 filing, the nonprofit admitted that half its revenue—$236,750—was paid straight to Franklin Archer for “publishing.” More recent years show six-figure grants from DonorsTrust, a big donor-advised fund favored by right-of-center philanthropists, and smaller gifts from other ideological foundations. 

So when the site claims it’s “here for the community,” you might want to ask which community—San Diego County or the Beltway donor circuit.

Automated Affection and Algorithmic Amnesia

How do they do it? Easy. The network scrapes public data—property transactions, press releases, school statistics—and runs it through a templating system. Add a headline, slot in some numbers, and boom and booyah; zut and ehe’, another “story.” A human may check spelling if the mood strikes. 

That’s why these pieces sound eerily bloodless. They are all that and a bag of fake chips. The copy has the pulse of a DMV form letter. 

There’s nothing inherently evil about data journalism; actual human reporters use it every day. But the difference between data and journalism is a phone call, a question, or at least the suspicion that something might not be as tidy as it seems.

The Metric Media model skips that step. It’s civic wallpaper—cheap, neutral-looking, and designed to make you stop asking who painted it.

Election Season Magic Trick

Critics call these outlets “pink slime” sites—filler that looks like meat. They tend to bloom right before elections, churning out pieces that just happen to flatter certain candidates or push talking points in local disguise. The timing’s no accident; it’s marketing with a voter-roll map. 

In Virginia last year, these same operations mailed physical “newspapers” to swing-district homes. Don’t be shocked if something similar shows up in Escondido mailboxes before the next primary—headline fonts borrowed from The North County Times, stories assembled by servers in Illinois.

Why It Matters Here

Local democracy runs on trust, and trust runs on transparency. Real outlets—from the Grapevine to the Union-Tribune—put names on bylines, issue corrections, and live where they report. When we blow a call, our readers find us at the farmers market and tell us so. 

Pink-slime outlets dodge that accountability while siphoning credibility. They make readers think local journalism is still thriving, which conveniently discourages anyone from paying for the real thing. It’s the information-age version of counterfeit currency—small bills, everywhere, devaluing the honest notes. 

Once people can’t tell the difference between reporting and manipulation, local government becomes a magician’s table: lots of flourish, not much substance.

A Brief Excursion Into the Numbers

If you’re still wondering whether this is harmless civic cheerleading, consider the money trail. According to the latest filings:

Fiscal Year | Revenue | Expenses | Assets
————|———-|———–|——–
2023 | $6.0 million | $6.0 million | $306k
2020 | $1.0 million | $1.0 million | $120k
2019 | $424k | $422k | $87k

No reporters, no office in San Diego, yet millions flowing through a nonprofit with the words “news” and “foundation” in its name. If that sounds like a magician’s rabbit hole, congratulations—you’re still paying attention.

The Local Antidote

Here at The Escondido Grapevine, we do things the slow, expensive, old-fashioned way: ask questions, chase answers, and occasionally tick off both sides in the process. We get dust on our shoes in Harmony Grove and sand in our keyboards at Moonlight Beach. 

So yes, when a site with a San Diego return address starts pumping out content written by algorithms and financed by out-of-state donors, we’re going to call it what it is—a synthetic impersonation of journalism. 

And if that makes us sound cranky, good. Crankiness is the first symptom of caring.

Final Word from the Grapevine

Before you share that cheerful “City Wire” post on Facebook—maybe about graduation rates or a council meeting—do yourself a favor. Click the “About Us” page. If it doesn’t list an editor, a phone number, or anyone you could plausibly meet for coffee, you’re not reading news. You’re reading a marketing asset. 

Real news has fingerprints. It’s messy, human, sometimes wrong, always accountable. 

The next time someone tries to replace it with pink slime, remember: you deserve better than mechanically separated truth.

SanDiegoCityWire / Metric Media Network — 990 Dossier

Prepared October 13, 2025

Quick Links to 990 Filings (Community News Foundation, EIN 83-3525020)

ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer — Community News Foundation profile: https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/833525020

ProPublica — Full filing (FY 2022; filed Nov 15, 2023): https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/833525020/202323199349325772/full

ProPublica — Full filing (FY 2020; filed Nov 14, 2021): https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/833525020/202123189349300422/full

CauseIQ index of PDFs (often includes direct 990 PDFs): https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/metric-media-foundation%2C833525020/

Charity Navigator — Metric Media Foundation overview: https://www.charitynavigator.org/ein/833525020

Tow Center / CJR report (Metric Media network & 2019 990 note re: Franklin Archer): https://www.cjr.org/tow_center_reports/metric-media-lobbyists-funding.php

Tow Center Pink Slime report (PDF): https://towcenter.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/content/%E2%80%9CPink%20Slime%E2%80%9D_%20Partisan%20journalism%20and%20the%20future%20of%20local%20news%20%281%29.pdf

DonorsTrust 2019 990 (grant listing includes Metric Media Foundation): https://fm.cnbc.com/applications/cnbc.com/resources/editorialfiles/2021/01/12/2019DTForm990PUBLICDISCLOSURE.pdf

WaterStone/Christian Community Foundation 2023 990 (grant to Metric Media Foundation): https://waterstone.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/2023-FYE03-2024-Completed-990-94315-Christian-Community-Foundation-Inc-Public-Disclosure.pdf

Who files the 990s?

SanDiegoCityWire.com appears linked to the Metric Media network. The nonprofit filing 990s connected to this network is generally listed as Community News Foundation (also described publicly as Metric Media Foundation), EIN 83-3525020, tax‑exempt since August 2019, based in Harrisonville, MO.

FY 2023 Snapshot (as reported by CauseIQ summary; verify via PDF when available):

• Total revenue: $6,036,100
• Total expenses: $6,038,123
• Total assets: $306,892
• Employees reported: 0
Source: CauseIQ listing for Community News Foundation.

FY 2022 (ProPublica full filing viewer)

Key officers/directors shown in filings around this period include: Rakesh Donthineni (President), Victor Chen (Director), and Steve Appel (Executive Director/Secretary). Compensation reported for Appel: $30,000. See ProPublica full filing viewer for FY 2022.

Notable 2019 990 Note (Tow Center / CJR)

Tow Center reported that Community News Foundation’s 2019 Form 990 disclosed more than half of its revenue — $236,750 — paid to Franklin Archer (listed as an independent contractor) for “publishing,” indicating money flows from the nonprofit to a for‑profit entity within the Metric Media orbit.

Selected External Grants To Community News Foundation (examples)

• DonorsTrust 2019 (Schedule I) — $1,270,000 “for general operations.”
• WaterStone (Christian Community Foundation) 2023 — $95,000 “general support.”

Caveats & Next Steps

• ProPublica’s viewer is a reconstruction from IRS e-file data; PDFs may differ slightly in layout.
• Some PDFs are hosted behind account walls (e.g., CauseIQ, GuideStar). The links above point to public sources or credible secondary hosts. For litigation‑grade copies, request the IRS PDF via ProPublica (where available) or the organization’s public disclosure copy.
• Additional entities (Locality Labs, Franklin Archer, Metric Media LLC) are for‑profit and do not file 990s.

The post Pink slime and the phantom newsroom: When bots like ‘San Diego City Wire’ pretend to be your neighbors first appeared on Escondido Grapevine.

Starting Nov. 1, just in time for Thanksgiving, people using the Calfresh food assistance program  known as SNAP nationally, will have three months to find work before they are kicked off of the program.

The new work requirements are part of President Donald Trump’s One Big (Bad) Beautiful Bill Act. A memo published last week by the United States Department of Agriculture notified states of the new, earlier deadline to implement the changes.

California had expected regulations to take effect in January because it had an existing waiver exempting all “able-bodied” adults without dependents from the work requirements. The state got the waiver by showing it didn’t have enough jobs. USDA abruptly canceled California’s waiver, along with six other states and territories with full waivers and 25 states with partial waivers.

This policy punishes people for being poor — not for failing to work.”

— Alondra Alvarado, president and CEO of the San Diego Hunger Coalition

San Diego County officials estimate that 96,000 people in the region will be subject to the new work requirements.

Before the new legislation, adults without disabilities between the ages of 18 and 54 could only receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits for three months in a three-year period without showing they are gainfully employed for at least 80 hours per month.

Certain government approved volunteer work can also qualify but caregiving to children or older adults does not. The new exemption now only applies to adults starting at age 65 and for parents with children younger than 14. It also removes exemptions put in place during the Biden administration for veterans, people experiencing homelessness and former foster youth under age 24.

“This new guidance effectively ends food assistance for thousands of San Diegans overnight,” said Alondra Alvarado, president and CEO of the San Diego Hunger Coalition. “We’re already hearing confusion and fear from community partners, and we expect food banks and meal programs to be overwhelmed as people lose benefits far sooner than expected.

Long term impacts to state, county budgets

The unexpected news could have staggering consequences for state and county budgets. Before the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the federal government paid for all of the food distributed through SNAP. Starting in 2027, states will be responsible for part of that cost.

Volunteers prepare pears for distribution at San Diego Food Bank, July 15, 2025./Zoë Meyers, inewsource

The amount will depend on the percentage of program benefits over- or underpaid to recipients this and next year. The new USDA memo makes California responsible for correctly paying out benefits starting November 1, and any mistakes will be penalized by making states pay an increased share of the cost of SNAP benefits.

California was already in the top bracket for error penalties, which will cost the state about $2 billion if they are unable to reduce it. Now, the state has a shorter timeline to set up a way to correctly administer the program under the new rules and get the penalty cost down.

Counties are also bracing for the challenge of actually administering the program, which they have to pay for themselves. San Diego County estimates it needs to hire 426 staff just to administer CalFresh.

“H.R. 1’s changes to CalFresh will create an administrative burden, divert resources from other programs, and — most importantly — leave families hungry while worsening health outcomes,” California Association of Counties CEO Graham Knaus said. “Unless the state backfills federal cuts or relieves us of state mandates, we’ll be forced to slash core local services from public safety to parks. The state’s recent CalFresh funding is an important start.”

The association requested about $91 million from the state to address the administrative workload and got about half in a September budget package.

A San Diego County spokesperson said all SNAP recipients will be notified of benefit cancellations once the state issues guidance and referred additional questions to the California Department of Social Services. The state agency said in a statement that they were assessing recent federal changes and remain committed to ensuring Californians have access to food support.

By agreement, The Grapevine was one of the first news groups publishing investigative, in-depth data-driven journalism from independent non-profit inewsource based at San Diego State University’s School of Journalism and Media Studies. For more from inewsource, visit http://inewsource.org/about

This story is by Jake Kincaid. He  joined inewsource in June 2025 as an investigative reporter covering federal impact and a Report for America corps member. He previously reported across the U.S. and Latin America on a wide range of topics. His work has appeared in NPR, The Guardian, USA Today and the Miami Herald.

The post Trump ends food aid to thousands here starting Nov. 1 first appeared on Escondido Grapevine.

Fire doesn’t care about zoning. A bridge won’t save you when the hills already are burning. Harmony Grove? Try irony grove.

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors did it again. Five officials in a bright, air-conditioned room downtown on Oct. 1, 2025 voted yes—unanimously, naturally—to build a brand-new suburban fairy tale called Harmony Grove Village South.

You’d think, from the name, they were approving a monastery—something with bells and hymns and neighbors tending gardens. Instead, it’s 453 new houses jammed onto 111 acres of kindling, the same parched hillsides that have burned again and again.

They call it progress. We call it madness.

The Fire Next Time

They say it’s safe. That’s the part that kills us. Every consultant, every developer in a clean shirt, swore it’s all under control. “Fire-hardened construction,” “fuel-modification zones,” “Genasys Protect alerts”—as if buzzwords can hold back a Santa Ana wind.

You can’t engineer your way out of arrogance. This is stupidity wrapped in binders and PowerPoint slides.

We’ve seen this show before. In New York, they called it urban renewal—a bulldozer with better stationery. Here it’s fire-mitigated growth. Different words, same winners.

“Gold standard,” the developer called it. Gold for who? For him, sure. The rest get ashes.

One last look back at hell. Witch Creek Fire 2007 along Del Dios Highway, just southeast of Harmony Grove/The Grapevine

A History They Pretend Not to Remember

Anyone who’s lived around Escondido, San Marcos, or Elfin Forest knows the smell of a Santa Ana before sunrise. One spark and the sky turns copper.

Harmony Grove 2014. Witch Creek 2007. Cocos Fire. Each one written in smoke across the hills the supervisors never drive through after dark.

They don’t live there. They won’t sit in the driveway with dogs and kids, waiting for brake lights to move on Country Club Drive while embers fall like snow.

They’ll be on TV later, calling it “a learning experience.”

The Gold Standard in Gall

Developer David Kovach says the project’s fire plan “is the gold standard.” He probably said it without blinking.

Gold for whom? The builders, the planners, the fire district that pocketed an $850,000 “voluntary donation.”

Meanwhile, families will get the bill when insurance renewals triple. They promise 10 percent affordable housing, as if ten percent charity cancels one hundred percent greed.

The Rancho Santa Fe Fire District, still short millions from the last project, smiles for the cameras. And everyone leaves the dais thinking they’ve done the Lord’s work.

The Bridge to Nowhere

Harmony Grove, where the Valiano housing project sewage flows like wine, just northeast of the newly planned Harmony Grove west development./The Grapevine

Their great innovation: a new bridge over Escondido Creek. Three lanes—two for evacuation, one for emergency vehicles.

Try stuffing 453 families, horses, and panic onto three lanes in a wildfire. That’s not a bridge; that’s a bottleneck with signage.

Eight other exits were studied and tossed as “infeasible.” Translation: too expensive. So they built a bridge and a press release.

Supervisor Jim Desmond even said, “We can’t fireproof an area, but we can mitigate it.”

Frame that line in bronze—it’s the county’s new motto.

“Mitigation” is what politicians say when they’re out of ideas but still cashing checks.

The People Who Don’t Get Heard

Residents from Harmony Grove and Elfin Forest pleaded with them. They reminded the board that a court already tossed this plan once for violating the California Environmental Quality Act.

They talked about the fire-station deficit—two million dollars a year—and how this new build was the back-door patch.

They sent letters, begged, testified. The board nodded politely and voted 5-0 anyway. That’s democracy when the lobbyists write the agenda.

The Cost of “Harmony”

Now it’s done. Signs will go up: Village South—Country Living Minutes from the City. Brochures will show golden retrievers on walking trails under Photoshop skies.

And the people who know better will keep their “go-bags” by the door. They’ve seen the sky go red before. They know the bridge will clog, the alarms will fail, the excuses will come fast.

When the wind rises again—and it will—the same officials will stand in front of microphones and say, “We did everything we could.”

Maybe they did.

But it wasn’t enough, and it never will be, not while greed keeps dressing up as growth and calling itself Harmony.

The post Harmony Grove, my foot: When San Diego County officials call it ‘progress,’ keep a fire extinguisher handy first appeared on Escondido Grapevine.

When Jonathan Berman came to Cal State San Marcos as a film professor in 2004, he was close to finishing a documentary about a Northern California commune during the counterculture era.

The documentary was released the following year. Now, 20 years later, Berman is marking the anniversary of the film with a new digital restoration and a national tour of screenings and interviews.

“Commune” is about an intentional community called Black Bear Ranch formed in 1968 in remote Siskiyou County just south of the Oregon border. A dozen people were expected to live there, but the number eventually swelled to 100 in what was a utopian experiment that attracted anarchists, hippies and activists seeking to get away from America and create something new.

The documentary includes prominent actor Peter Coyote, who once lived at Black Bear.

At the time of its release, “Commune” received positive reviews from such outlets as the New York Times, Variety, the Village Voice and the San Francisco Chronicle. It boasts a rating of 96% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Berman says he decided to restore the film so that it would be suitable to appear on streaming services and that he chose to embark on a nationwide tour to give fans “the communal experience of theatrical.

” The tour began in May in upstate New York and will end this month back in New York,” Berman said. “In September, it made four stops in California, including Los Angeles and the Bay Area town of San Rafael, where some former Black Bear denizens reside.

“Twenty years later, it is a warm feeling to reunite with those folks,” Berman said. “They have almost all gone on to do work that helps people; some of this can be gleaned in the film. It was almost like reuniting with relatives after a long time. I felt a little guilty for not really being in touch more, but then happy to see them again.”

In addition to the 16 theaters that have screened “Commune,” Berman has been interviewed on nearly 20 podcasts. He’s hoping to add a few more showings in Southern California, including at least one in the San Diego area.

After making “Commune,” Berman focused on teaching and consulting on other films before the release in 2018 of “Calling All Earthlings,” which examines California’s UFO counterculture cult and the Integratron, a mysterious structure in the desert north of Joshua Tree National Park.

Berman now is working on the third documentary in what he calls his California trilogy; titled “Gondola,” it’s about the controversial plan to build an aerial tram from Union Station to Dodger Stadium in L.A.

Berman says his film work over the years has benefited greatly from the contributions of CSUSM students and fellow faculty members, from serving internships to watching and giving feedback on test edits.

“That’s part of our mission as a university, for students to work intimately with teachers who are active in their field,” he said.

Brian Hiro, CSUSM communications specialist prepared this report that was used by permission. For more, contact: bhiro@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7306.

The post CSUSM prof’s ‘Commune’ doc gets a 20-year redux tour first appeared on Escondido Grapevine.

Let’s show up and do the work. Ain’t no superhero comin’ to save the country from Donald J Trump, Project 2025, and the freaks around the White House.

I’m not going to dilly dally and rehash the ‘debate’ around Yea or Nay on Proposition 50; either you are going to make a commitment to fight fascism on this level or not. Yes, it’s partisan, but for the moment there is only one group in this arena worth supporting. Not caring or raising a red herring is the same as complicity in my book.

Right now, the challenge before us in California is to ensure HUGE majorities of people vote for Proposition 50. We (You, Us, Me) need to stand up to the MAGA bullies who ignore what American voters want. The more of us that vote, the louder our voices will be.

It may seem contradictory to redraw districts to get to less Republicans in Congress. I might agree were it not for the fact that Representatives who belonged to the GOP no longer act as if they had minds of their own.

Instead, we see people who once called for small government cheering on a national secret police force, the installation of concentration camps, and a sadistic shredding of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

Despite how bad things might look if you’re glued to the latest breaking news and government spin, there will come the day when the pendulum will swing the other way. Know that emerging authoritarian regimes work hard to make the opposition feel like shit on a daily basis. There is much that we do not have the ability to stop at the moment.

Getting the MAGA quislings out of Congress is a necessary first step.

So we get out to support Gov. Newsom’s (love him or leave him) act of defiance. On October 18th, No Kings Day, millions of Americans will turn out to say no to this nightmare in progress. It may well be the largest protest in US history. Each little act of resistance builds the next one, and all you have to do is show up with a smile on your face and a song in your heart.

***

Most people I know are repelled by the idea of the tasks needed to win elections. As someone who once was desperate enough to sell encyclopedias door-to-door, I can attest to hostility and rejection that comes with the process.

Back when I had a voice (somedays, as it was dying), I actually phone banked. We had a script and a yet-to-be-completely-reformed drill sergeant who kept us in line and presented motivational ideas on occasion. And here’s the thing; once we got past the drudgery of it all, the moments when we salvaged a vote served to bind us together. There was community, and when it came time to knock on doors, we knew somebody had our back if things went awry.

There is a sustained effort on many levels in progress on turning out the vote for Prop 50. I list many of them in this space every Thursday.

Taking that one step at a time together with other people builds connection, something that’s become scarce in a time where one can “belong” without actually having contact with anybody.

Just about every organization that’s “political” has a Yes on 50 get out the vote effort underway. I hear that the local chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America has put aside their ideological split hairs (it’s a joke, relax) to knock on doors.

***

Now, if you’re not inclined to speak with people you’ve never met who don’t care to hear you (it happens), the Indivisible folks have come up with a dandy idea.

It’s called Neighbor2Neighbor and it has a history of proven results.

Here’s their spiel:

Neighbor2Neighbor is an opportunity to make sure real Californians are talking to each other about Proposition 50 — and about how California is leading the charge to stand up to the MAGA bullies who ignore what American voters want.

People who hear from a trusted neighbor are up to two times more likely to vote than those who do not. The key to success is connecting on a personal level with those we have the most influence with: our community.

Here’s how to get going:

1. You sign up online. A self-service signup link is coming soon, but for now you can join Tuesday’s kickoff call.*
2. We send you a list of 10 like-minded neighbors, a simple script, and an optional printout to leave behind! N2N focuses on folks who largely agree with us but might need an extra push or reminder to vote.
3. You knock on their doors and have a brief conversation about voting. Choose when to get out there on your own time!
4. You mark your “Neighbors” page once you talk to them, so we know what voters you’ve connected with.

That’s it!

No complex training. No complicated application. Just an opportunity to get out and meet the person you see while walking your dog, the friendly parents whose kids go to school with yours, or the neighbors with the fun Halloween decor — and increase the probability that they all show up to vote.

(* Can’t make Tuesday’s call? That’s OK! We’ll record the session and share a link with anyone who signs up here, and you don’t need to watch the kickoff to help out via N2N. We’ll share a link to sign up for door-knocking after the call on Tuesday.)

***

Here’s a list of supportive ideas from the Point Loma and Ocean Beach Democratic Club:

Volunteer to support Proposition 50 — the Election Rigging Response Act!

• Learn more here
• Take Action! Canvassing, phone banks, postcards and more
• Sundays: Phone bank with CBFD Indivisible
• Tuesdays: Phone bank with CBFD Indivisible
• Social media toolkit
• Yard signs: There are a few options. In North County ($15), contact Michele. These, from the California Democratic Party, are $24. And here are some signs under $10 from Etsy
• Tee shirts
• More “Yes On 50” Merch

**************************************************************************************

Reprinted by special agreement. You can follow Doug at:

Twitter (for now)—> @DougPorter506

Post —→DougPorter@wordsdeedsblogger

Tribel ——> DougP Porter@dougporter506

Mastodon ——> DougPorter506@mastodon.social

Facebook ——-> https://www.facebook.com/WordsAndDeedsBlog

Email me at WritetoDougPorter@Gmail.com

The post Neighbor to neighbor: Vote YES YES YES on Prop 50 first appeared on Escondido Grapevine.

Every dog has its day, they say, and apparently so does every cause, effect and plain old thing.

Welcome to Wednesday Oct. 8, 2025. It’s National Fluffernutter Day.

Correct, National Fluffernutter Day is observed annually on Oct. 8, according to the National Day Calendar. This is a day set aside each year to make, and enjoy, the savory sandwich consisting of peanut butter and marshmallow fluff.

Fluffernutter dates to World War I.

In 1913, during the war, Emma and Amory Curtis of Melrose, Massachusetts “invented” Snowflake Marshmallow Creme and published a recipe for a peanut butter and marshmallow creme sandwich, which is the earliest known example of a Fluffernutter.

A sweet marshmallow-like spread, that he called “Marshmallow Cream” was invented four years later by Archibald Query in Somerville, Massachusetts.

Archibald Query sold his recipe for “Marshmallow Creme” to Durkee-Mower, Inc. who renamed it Marshmallow Fluff and continues to sell it under that name today.

Celebrating fluffernutter sandwiches at Vermont Public Radio.

The term Fluffernutter was created in 1960 by an advertising agency for Durkee-Mower in an attempt to market the peanut butter and marshmallow sandwich.

Observing the day should be easy for those who will. After making a fluffernutter sandwich, observants are invited to post photos online with the hashtag #nationalfluffernutterday.

Fair enough, but there’s more, several more national observances set for this historic day.

How about National Pierogi Day? American Touch Tag Day? National Swap Day? Yes, yes, yes. And even National Motorcycle Ride Day.

Pierogi is the plural form of the rarely used Polish word pierog, according to the National Day Calendar, and may be found spelled a number of ways including perogi and peirogy.

All besides the point. For those who have been to, say Pittsburgh, most notably, Pierogi are dumplings made with unleavened dough that are boiled then baked or fried n butter. Traditionally, the semicircular dumplings are stuffed with the likes of a mashed potato filling, potato and cheese, potato and onion, cheese, cabbage, sauerkraut, ground meat, mushroom, spinach or fruit.

Celebrating dumplings stuffed with fillings and dreams.

“Pierogi are often served with melted butter, sour cream, fried bacon crumbles, sautéed mushrooms and onions and/or green onion.  The dessert variety, those filled with a fruit filling, can be enjoyed topped with apple sauce, maple syrup, chocolate sauce and/or whipped cream,” according to the National Day Calendar.

Abroad in the lands where the first pierogi were cooked, it’s a main dish. Brought over by Eastern European immigrants, it’s served mainly as a side dish in the good ole’ U.S.A.

Now, on to American Touch Tag Day. You’re it.

Tag — you’re it!

This day celebrates a traditional game that is remembered by most of us from our childhood as we spent our time playing outside at recess, after school and on weekends. It can be celebrated by getting out in the fresh air, running around and tagging someone.

The simple child’s game of Tag dates to ancient Rome, according to the National Day people. Typically, it involves a player running around, chasing other players, in an attempt to “tag” or touch them. Most forms of this game have no teams, scores, or equipment.

But, you knew that already.

How about National Costume Swap Day, traditionally celebrated on the second Saturday in October. Green Halloween & EcoMom Alliance launched National Costume Swap Day in 2010.

National Costume Swap Day is just sort of there with not much promotion although people are urged to swap old Halloween costumes with each other rather than get new ones as a kind of conservation thing.

For those who care, mark those calendars now. It also takes place Oct. 10, 2020.

With all this Tag, costume swapping, pierogi stuffing and, lest we forget, fluffernutter sandwiches, don’t forget National Motorcycle Ride Day.

The Registrar of National Day Calendar has designated the second Saturday in October of each year as National Motorcycle Ride Day. This day is designated to get all motorcyclists in the USA and the world out and on their motorcycles for a united day of riding.

National Motorcycle Ride Day was submitted in August, 2015 by Chad Geer of Dunlop Tire N.A. The Registrar at National Day Calendar declared National Motorcycle Ride Day to be celebrated annually on the second Saturday in October.

It even has a media contact, just email info@nationalmotorcycleday.

Take a ride on the wild side Oct. 8.

The month of October is significant not only because this is toward the end of the riding season for a lot of motorcyclists in the USA, but it is also the month that John B. Dunlop developed the first practical pneumatic tire in 1887.

Without this development in tire technology motorcycles would not perform as they do or be as enjoyable as they are today. That being said, this day is also dedicated to John B. Dunlop and his invention of the first practical pneumatic tire.

“Use this day to escape on your motorcycle, have some fun, relieve some stress and really enjoy the thrills and freedom that riding a motorcycle offers. This is a day for riders of all motorcycle disciplines,” the National Day Calendar said.

“No matter what type of motorcycle you own or what type of rider you are, use this day to enjoy the camaraderie that comes along with owning a motorcycle” Promoters say. “If you own a motorcycle you will understand what this day is about.”

National Dan Weisman Birth Day is Oct. 8 as well. That’s me. Sorta.

Oct. 8 hosts another national celebration not listed in the calendar, but important to me, Dan Weisman, personally. It’s my birthday. Happy Birthday to me. I suggest celebrating by sending whatever you can to Escondidograpevine@gmail.com and like the Trump Foundation, I’ll take care of the rest of the giving.

Of course, the cavalcade of time never stops. Oct. 8 will come and go as it does inevitably year by friggin’ year, believe me.

The sun will come up tomorrow, Annie fans. And when it does, it’s time for Tuesday, Oct. 9, chock full of new national celebrations.

Say hello to Oct. 9 and with it, National Leif Erikson Day, National Pro-Life Cupcake Day — Don’t ask —National Chess Day, Clergy Appreciation Day, and of course, the venerable National Moldy Cheese Day.

And John Lennon’s birthday.

However, that’s a tale for another day.

First things first. It’s Wednesday, Oct. 8. Do you know where your fluffernutter sandwich is?

The post It’s National Fluffernutter Day. Hip Hip Hooray? first appeared on Escondido Grapevine.

Christian Ramirez was on his way to school 35 years ago when a Border Patrol agent approached him at gunpoint. Then just 15 years old, the San Diegan was apparently handcuffed on the streets of the Nestor border community, wrongly and racially profiled.

Ramirez recalled the incident in a Facebook post recently after the Supreme Court broke with lower courts in a major immigration enforcement ruling stemming from this summer’s raids in Los Angeles.

In a 6-3 decision, the highest court of the land gave federal immigration agents the green light to resume roving patrols as a means to indiscriminately stop and question people about their immigration status — based on how they look, the language they speak, the type of work they do or simply where they might be standing.

The U.S.-Mexico border in San Diego on Dec. 5, 2024. Photos by Adriana Heldiz, CalMatters and Mike Blake, Reuters

For Ramirez, now the political director for SEIU United Service Workers West, this is not new. He told me that the Border Patrol, the federal agency with a 101-year history of border enforcement, has always operated with impunity. Racial profiling “has always been the norm in the borderlands.”

Now the rest of California is getting the same treatment.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s concurring opinion rationalized profiling to an eye-opening level, writing that “those individuals often work in certain kinds of jobs, such as day labor, landscaping, agriculture, and construction” and many “do not speak much English.”

Since a Kern County raid in January, videos of masked federal agents chasing predominantly Latino workers at Home Depots, car washes or parks — without regard for legal status or criminal history — have filled social media feeds across California. But for Justice Kavanaugh, “If the officers learn that the individual they stopped is a U.S. citizen or otherwise lawfully in the United States, they promptly let the individual go.”

Kavanaugh’s wishful thinking or privileged ignorance would have you believe the encounters are mere inconveniences. On the contrary, they have been quite catastrophic.

Silverio Villegas-Gonzalez, a 38-year-old father of two, represents the latest casualty. Earlier this month in Chicago, an ICE agent shot and killed Villegas-Gonzalez during a traffic stop. In Ventura County in July, Jaime Alanís died from injuries he sustained in an attempt to flee agents raiding a legal pot farm.

What Ramirez experienced as a child — and countless others in southern San Diego County — is certainly not unique. The difference now is that it’s occurring far from the border.

Christian Ramirez, policy director of the SEIU United Service Workers West, stands at Grant Hill Park in San Diego on Sept. 17, 2025. Ramirez says he has been stopped and profiled by U.S. Border Patrol agents several times throughout the years as a long-time resident of southern San Diego./Adriana Heldiz, CalMatters

Together with the American Friends Service Committee and Union del Barrio, I helped document roving patrols in San Diego for nearly a decade in the 2000s. Border Patrol agents surveilled buses and the San Diego trolley, harassing thousands of people based on appearance or if they spoke Spanish, and targeted working-class neighborhoods during busy commute times. We discovered that anyone could be a target, even if they’re seeking shelter during a natural disaster or taking transit to get to school.

In 2003, Border Patrol Sector Chief William Veal issued a memo ending roving patrols but was quickly overruled by Robert Bonner, then the Customs and Border Protection commissioner, who called it “overly broad and restrictive.”

When President Obama refreshed the federal policy restricting federal agencies from using racial profiling in 2014, his administration excluded CBP agents who could “consider race and ethnicity when stopping people at airports, border crossings and immigration checkpoints.”

At the height of California’s anti-immigrant movement in 1994, Border Patrol agents on bikes stopped me in Downtown San Diego and questioned me about my status. They insisted in broken Spanish that I had to show them my “papers.”

About 20 years ago, a plainclothes immigration agent detained my father outside a grocery store a block from his home in South San Diego. The agent similarly asked him if he had papers.

My father always carried an old government ID issued to U.S. citizens to facilitate border crossings. The immigration agent didn’t know what to make of the antiquated document.

Racial profiling and its impact on my family goes back to the 1930s, when immigration agents violently rounded up and forcibly deported hundreds of thousands of people in violation of the U.S. Constitution, including U.S. citizens. Immigration agents sent my paternal grandparents to Mexico, even though they were born in Los Angeles.

Donald Trump’s radical vision for mass deportations has glamorized the cruelty of this historic period. He wants to surpass those numbers.

Workers wait for job opportunities in front of a Home Depot in San Diego on Jan. 20, 2025. Photo/Adriana Heldiz, CalMatters

Norma Chavez-Peterson, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of San Diego and Imperial Counties, was a co-counsel on a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security after the L.A. raids unfolded in June. In an email, she told me the Supreme Court’s decision “emboldens the Trump administration and enables their broader power grab to weaken the constitutional protections of all people.

“Right now, the decision directly impacts immigrants and people of color in Los Angeles and surrounding regions — and it won’t stop there,” she continued. “When one person’s rights are stripped away, the thread that binds all our freedoms begins to fray.”

With the Supreme Court sanctioning racial profiling in how immigration agents can indiscriminately question people, the newly supercharged Homeland Security budget could lead to thousands more agents being unleashed on American streets, and disastrous for our understanding of how constitutional protections should apply.

In San Diego, elected officials held a press conference announcing a county-wide initiative to promote due process and public safety across San Diego County.

“The Due Process and Dignity Ordinance,” said San Diego City Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera, “responds by drawing clear, lawful boundaries around what can and cannot happen on city-controlled and funded property.

It demands that everyone in San Diego — including those who were made less safe by the SCOTUS decision — is afforded due process and, in doing so, also provides all people the firmest ground possible to assert their constitutional rights.”

Ramirez, the SEIU official, believes “it’s going to take creating a movement beyond the halls of justice and legislative bodies to overturn racism codified by the Supreme Court.”

He reminded me of a slogan borrowed from Puerto Rican students resisting U.S. troops in Vieques. It’s now used by community members in San Diego to demonstrate power: “La migra no se fue, el pueblo la sacó, and it will take all of us.”

Cal Matters is a non-profit started in 2016 providing articles aimed at understanding California society and politics. Every now and then TheEscondido Grapevine avails itself of a story with local interest. This story was written by Pedro Rios with photos provided by Adriana Heldiz. For the original version visit Cal Matters itself.

The post Border Patrol goons racially profile San Diego migrants first appeared on Escondido Grapevine.

Dan Conaway, 2017/Grace Rossi-Conaway

They refused to run my column this week. Too critical of Trump, they said. Trump is not, NOT local, they said. This week, of all weeks, Trump is not local?

Enough, I said.

When a paper censors its columnists to align with management, that paper ceases being a paper. Regardless of your beliefs, all beliefs must be served and informed by the Daily Memphian.

Should you want to share your opinion, here are the email addresses:

barnes@dailymemphian.com 

mcashiola@dailymemphian.com

It’s been both an honor and a privilege to write for you and for my city, and I’m proud to have been a part of the founding of the Daily Memphian. For all those reasons, I can’t take any of the circumstances of this week in Memphis lightly, or the actions of the editorial staff without alarm.

Right under the name in the logo of the Daily Memphian are the words, “Truth in place.” I wrote those words. I believe in them.

Here’s the column …
———————————————————————————————————————

Lt. Frank E. Conaway Sr., 1943/Courtesy

My father was explaining to me when I was 11 or 12 why he went to war when he didn’t have to. He was driving me to Boy Scout camp, and we had some time to talk. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, he was an engineer, and his company had government contracts that could keep him here.

At almost 33, he was also getting a bit long in the tooth for war. My mother would also have me tell you he also had two small children, my brothers, one eight months, and the other five.

“Those are the priorities in the order of priority,” he continued. “But if your country is threatened, really threatened, everything flips. If your country, this country, falls, everything in that lineup falls, everything in that lineup is at mortal risk.”

“You’ll know,” he answered

Last week, I shared the mayor’s plan for peacefully enduring, if not gaining, from the National Guard presence in our city.

That was last week.

This week changed everything.

This week, the president called an extraordinary meeting. He and the secretary of defense addressed a room of some 800 generals and admirals called from their command posts around the world to hear the president’s words in Virginia.

He told our country’s top brass that their attention would soon be turned inward. That they would be commanding military operations in our cities against the “enemy within.” Further, he said that they should hold military training exercises in our cities.

Never mind what Secretary Hegseth told them. His message was as empty as his suit. He basically told them they had to shave and lose weight.

The Commander in Chief told them that their enemies are Americans, and that their field of battle would be Democratic cities. The great power and might of America’s military would be turned toward its own.

Toward here, people. Not here in general terms, here in very specific terms. Memphis is an official battlefield.

“Family and friends,” he said, “then home – where you live, your neighborhood, your town, your city…”

As the rest of the world rages, the president told his top military leaders that we will disengage from the protection of our interests and those of our allies and attack the political enemies of our president, root out the “radical left,” crush “the woke,” seal our borders against mighty Venezuela, and reduce blue cities and states to whimpering vassals of the federal government.

The president who would be king

Before this week, he commanded the justice department to intimidate and threaten, even indite, his political enemies including a former director of the FBI, and DA’s in Georgia and New York.

A president can’t do that. Not just because it’s blatantly personal and political. Not just because it’s abuse of power, petty, and childish.

Because most if not all of what he’s doing is straight-up, in-your-face, unconstitutional. It is, in fact, just the latest additions to the long list of unconstitutional that defines the dangerous actions of this man.

You know this is wrong. No what-about this or that. You know this is wrong. No bemoaning the awful state of something or somewhere. You know this is wrong.

Nothing excuses this. Nothing.

Now, he has openly told the military that anyone in America that challenges him is the enemy, and where they live the new front.

The National Guard deployed here will be unarmed and have no power to arrest. They are a camo-covered smokescreen, eye candy for the cameras disguising what will really be going on, click bait for the internet.

We now know that Trump and his minions are sending hundreds of ICE agents and FBI agents to Memphis, not to mention a small army of Justice Department prosecutors and investigators. The mission is to arrest, prosecute, incarcerate/deport as many people as possible.

Pam Bondi, U.S. Attorney General, was here this week to tell us that, along with Pete Hegseth, the Secretary of Defense, and Stephen Miller, Trump’s Deputy Chief of Staff. Not to mention, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, looking very much like he was waiting to be told wat to do, bless his heart.

Here, ready to rumble

Who wasn’t here or invited was Steve Cohen, the duly elected Democratic representative in Congress of all the people who will be in that rumble.

Republicans should be every bit as alarmed as Democrats – every American should – because every time Trump stomps on the Constitution, he leaves that boot print on every one of us.

Or, as the very first Republican president, Abraham Lincoln, famously put it, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”

Due process and habeas corpus are becoming quaint reminders of a once proud nation of constitutional laws and justice.

What happened in that room in Virginia this week, and what happened out at Shelby Farms give us more than a hint of what could follow the National Guard to Memphis.

“So, I’ll know when it’s country first?”

You’ll know,” he answered.

One man has put 340 million people at risk of losing this democracy. Just as surely as he’s made the Oval Office look like a bad imitation of royal chambers at Versailles, just as surely as he’s made the majority of both house of Congress look like lackeys waiting to empty the king’s chamber pot, just as surely as he’s turning the Constitution into a Mara-a-Lago doormat, just as surely, he’s coming for us.

You’re right, Dad. I know.

I’m a Memphian, soon under siege.

The post Letter from Memphis: Tyrants must not stand unopposed first appeared on Escondido Grapevine.

Tucked inside Vallecitos Town Center at 1254 E. Mission Road in San Marcos, stands a small storefront with a big reputation. San Marcos Grooming, owned and operated by Maria Motta, has quickly become a favorite among local pet owners—not just because of its grooming services, but because of Maria herself.

Maria is more than a certified dog groomer. Clients describe her as a “dog whisperer,” someone with a rare ability to understand, comfort, and communicate with animals in ways most people can’t.

One customer recalls walking in with Athena, a Siberian Husky struggling with depression. Despite trips to the vet, new toys, and treats, Athena remained withdrawn. That changed the day she met Maria.

“Since then, Athena has been calmer, happier, and playful again. She looks forward to seeing Maria every time. Maria truly treats her as if she’s special—and she is.”

Lifelong Bond with Animals

Maria’s extraordinary gift didn’t appear overnight. She grew up on a cattle ranch in Michoacán, Mexico, where her childhood was filled with cows, horses, and farm animals.

While other children played games, Maria found joy in caring for the animals. She recalls sliding down a steep embankment holding onto her cows’ tails—something that might seem risky to others, but felt natural to her. Even the family’s horses would kneel so she could climb onto their backs.

“From the very beginning, connecting with animals was just part of who I was,” Maria said.

Overcoming Challenges

For those who have seen the transformation in their pets, there’s no question: Maria Motta isn’t just a groomer. She’s the heart of San Marcos Grooming—and the true Dog Whisperer of San Marcos.

Maria Motta, the dog whispering groomer, in action/Courtesy

Maria built a new life with the help of a close friend who cared for her Chihuahuas. She found work in a warehouse, where she met her husband, Juan Motta. Together they built a new home and began searching for dogs to raise as part of their new life together.

As it turned out, two Maltipoo puppies were left out of a breeder’s Los Angeles litter. One leapt into Maria’s lap with excitement, while the other was shy and hesitant. Both came home to roost. Later, when Juan’s sister visited, the shy puppy instantly bonded with her—choosing its person as naturally as Maria always had. The energetic puppy, Pina, became Maria’s loyal companion.

San Marcos Grooming

1254 E. Mission Rd, San Marcos, CA 92069

442-277-4173
Follow Us Online:

• Instagram: instagram.com/sanmarcosgrooming1

Turning a Gift Into a Business

San Marcos Grooming is open for business

Maria was working at Lake Wolford in 2021, when an acquaintance recognizing Maria’s gift of the groom, encouraged her to pursue grooming professionally. Maria’s ability to connect with dogs was undeniable, and with Juan’s unwavering support, she enrolled at a dog grooming axademy at Temecula.

Juan, proud of her dedication, secretly contacted a realtor and began looking for a grooming shop that could one day be Maria’s. Juan surprised her by handing her the keys to a shop at 1254 E. Mission Road in San Marcos when Maria graduated with her certificate of completion.

That’s how San Marcos Grooming was born.

Soon after opening, fate brought another companion into Maria’s life. A man walked into the shop carrying a frail Maltipoo puppy he could no longer keep. Maria’s heart went out to the pup, and with the same care she had shown all her animals, she nursed her back to health.

That puppy, Lolita, has joined Pina as one of the shop’s beloved greeters—two fluffy ambassadors who take pride in welcoming every visitor.

A Local Treasure

“This was Lola’s second visit with Maria at San Marcos Groomers and we couldn’t be happier. Maria took the time to get to know us, listen to what we wanted, and reminded us that she works with the dogs first, which made us feel so comfortable. Maria came highly recommended and she truly did not disappoint. — Ivonne M.

Today, San Marcos Grooming is more than a business—it’s a sanctuary. Every pet who walks through the door is treated with patience, understanding, and compassion. Maria believes grooming is not just about appearance but about trust, comfort, and emotional well-being.

Owners notice the difference. Dogs leave her shop calmer, happier, and more connected to their families. Whether it’s a playful puppy needing its first trim, a senior dog requiring gentle care, or a nervous rescue learning to trust again, Maria’s approach remains the same: kindness, respect, and genuine love.

“I’m very happy with Señora Maria and everybody at San Marcos Grooming. My dog Lulu loves to have her beauty service and be pampered like a queen. Thank you!” — Ivonne M.

San Marcos Grooming isn’t just about scissors, shampoos, and tidy coats—it’s about trust, comfort, and care. Conveniently located at 1254 E. Mission Road in San Marcos, the shop has quickly built a loyal following of pet owners who appreciate the personal touch.

That personal touch is especially meaningful in San Diego County, where an estimated 60% of households own at least one pet—well above the national average. County officials have noted that the pet services sector, from grooming to daycare, is one of the fastest-growing micro-industries in the region. In North County specifically, pet ownership is a way of life, with families often treating their dogs like full-fledged members of the household.

Statewide, California continues to lead the country in pet ownership, with more than 8.5 million dogs across the state. That translates into a thriving grooming and pet services market valued at over $2 billion annually. Industry analysts say that number is still climbing, as younger generations in particular spend more per pet than any group before them.

Nationally, the American Pet Products Association reports that pet owners spent $144 billion in 2023, with grooming and boarding services representing one of the most robust growth categories. For small businesses like San Marcos Grooming, this national boom connects directly to the local community: every shampoo, trim, or nail clip is part of a much larger story about how Americans are investing in the health and happiness of their pets.

• A few highlights:
• 400,000+ dog-owning households in San Diego County.
• $250,000–$300,000: Average revenue per U.S. grooming shop each year.
• 68% of U.S. households own at least one pet—an all-time high.

With rising demand and a reputation for compassion, San Marcos Grooming has become more than a neighborhood business—it’s a community hub where pets are treated like family.

For appointments: 442-277-4173
Follow along on TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook.

The post Dog Whisperer of San Marcos is now open for business first appeared on Escondido Grapevine.