Oodles!

Hidden Valley Community Concert Association Concert

The fourth concert of the 20222023 HVCCA 76th season will be Sunday at 3 pm in the Ritz Theater at the Grand 301 East Grand Avenue, Escondido.

Highland Way, a 6-member Celtic Band will be performing.

Tickets are available at www. theGrandescondido.org or calling (760) 309-7609.

Adults are $30.00, Seniors, Veterans, and Military $20.00. Students thru college $10.00 Children 12 & under are free.

For more information visit www. hiddenvalleyCCAescondido.info.

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Artists Invited to Apply for Exhibition

The City of Encinitas Cultural Arts Division is seeking visual artists to feature in revolving, individual and group exhibitions of three-dimensional (3D) artworks to be displayed in the second half of 2023. Emerging and professional artists are invited to apply.

Artists who create three-dimensional artwork and live or work in San Diego County may apply.

There are no fees to apply. Exhibition applications must be received by Monday, April 3, 2023, 8:00am.

Exhibitions will be on view for approximately three months between July 2023 and January 2024 and include an artist reception with Art Night Encinitas.

Visit https://www.encinitasca.gov/ community/cultural-arts/artist-call for more information and to download an application.

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California Main Street Conference

February 21-23

Commercial district revitalization professionals and community stakeholders from around the state have chosen Downtown Oceanside as the location for their first in-person California Main Street Conference since 2018. The threeday event, titled “A Vision For Success,” is planned for February 21- 23 at SpringHill Suites at 110 North Myers Street in downtown Oceanside.

The conference will feature educational sessions on the Main Street Approach–a time-tested framework for community-based revitalization efforts–as well as best practices, key trends, and economic development strategies that local leaders can use to help transform their Main Streets, historic downtowns, and neighborhood commercial districts. Amanda Elliott, Senior Program Officer and Director of California Main Street programs stated that “the California Main Street conference will be a rare opportunity for Main Street practitioners to network in person and share best practices and strategies to create more vibrant downtowns and commercial districts.”

Sessions will focus on some of the most pressing issues in Main Street revitalization including housing and real estate development, local tourism, entrepreneurship ecosystems, farmers’ market management and legislative advocacy. Presenters include Dionne Baux, Vice President of Urban Development at Main Street America; Rachael Snedecor, Founder of RootsUp Collective; Michelle Geller, Economic Development Manager for the CIty of Oceanside; Catt Fields White, Founder of Farmers Market Pros; and Andria K. Taylor, Chief Talent Officer, TalentXponential. A pre-conference workshop on disaster preparedness will also be presented by the National Park Service on February 21.

Attendees will also have many opportunities to explore their surroundings via a historic walking tour curated by the Oceanside His-

Man Arrested for Over $50K in Stolen Goods

In early November, Industrial Liquidation Plus was burglarized of approximately $60,000 in tools, including a concrete tamper. Escondido Police Detective Martinez was assigned the case and discovered a man was selling the stolen concrete tamper on OfferUp. Through further investigation, the same man was found to have sold hundreds of items; new, like new, or in the original packaging, using OfferUp and Facebook Marketplace. The items were mostly tools.

SANDAG Invites Input for North County Corridor

The North County Comprehensive Multimodal Corridor Plan (CMCP) will identify integrated transportation solutions that enhance the way people travel throughout North County. These solutions will be tailored to North County travel needs and connect the five vibrant cities and unique parts of unincorporated areas of North San Diego County. Adoption of the plan is expected early this year.

Escondido Detectives

Martinez and Dixon continued the investigation and worked with Organized Retail Crime investigators from Home Depot, Lowes, and the California High Patrol task force. Through this investigation, it was discovered that the same man had been selling other known stolen tools.

On February 2nd, 2023, detectives were able to contact the man via OfferUp and set up a time to meet him. He was arrested successfully when he arrived with the stolen concrete tamper from the Industrial Liquidation Plus burglary. A search warrant at two locations tied to the man were conducted with the joint teams from CHP, Lowes, Home Depot, and Escondido Police Department. The team located over 230 stolen items from Home Dept, totaling over $50,000 in merchandise.

The man was identified as David Martinez, a 38 year old Sand Diego resident. He was arrested for PC 496(a) Receiving Stolen Property and PC 182(a)(2) Conspiracy and booked in to Vista Detention Facility. If you have any information on this case, please contact Detective Mike Martinez at (760) 839-4739.

Follow the Escondido Police Department on social media @EscondidoPolice.

To report any suspicious activities in your neighborhood, you may contact the Police Department directly, or you may make an unidentified call on our “Anonymous Tip Line” at 760-743-TIPS (8477) or via our Web site at police.escondido.org a very hoity toity part of Omaha called Benson, a northwestern suburb. Benson also had a high school which some very creative person had named Benson High School. Being in the hoity toity part of Omaha it attracted a great many rich kids.

Man About Town

Growing Up . . .

I grew up in a place called Omaha, Nebraska. The city was named after a local Indian, Barney Omaha, in recognition of his many contributions to modern day society which included his building of, and dedication to the city, of both Fontanelle Hotel and Fontenelle Park, named after a distant cousin who had earned many merit badges for scalping.

But that was long before my time. I lived in Omaha long after the tents and wikiups and hogans of the Indian were gone. We lived in

My family and I were not rich, but middle class. My valet, for example, was not particularly well trained, not even knowing how to mix a decent martini (sniff). I only had one valet, most Benson High School students had at least two. Unlike many other of my fellow students, I did not have an entourage. Couldn’t afford it, being of modest means.

I recall many a morning when my baby blue T-Bird would face the daunting challenge of climbing the steep hill on Maple Street from about 69th to 63rd, before finally reaching that lovely level stretch of land through downtown Benson. I have to compliment my chauffeur, Nicky, for the always comfortable, sometimes very scenic drives. I always enjoyed viewing the colorful Benson Baptist Church (where I was later to marry a Countess

North County is the gateway between regional destinations in San Diego County and the communities to the north—especially communities in southern Riverside County. North County mobility, transportation, and quality of life will be affected by a series of unique observations: strained system, continued population growth, and need to adapt and be resilient. These factors make it necessary for SANDAG, Caltrans, local communities, and the people who regularly travel through the area to make progress towards the vision of a technologically- advanced, balanced, and integrated multimodal transportation system.

North County is home to 1 in 5 (20%) of the region’s residents and jobs and by 2050 is expected to grow by 13% in population and

Are you ready for this?

I got a notice from SDGE that our gas rates would be higher this year. I received my bill today. The gas rate in Feb of 2021 was 0.38 cents (my bill was $78 using 22 therms + electricity), then in 2022 the gas rate jumped to 0.86 (my bill was $139.70 using 30 therms + electricity), and now ... hold your breath ... the gas rate is $3.44. My Feb. bill for using 30 therms plus electricity would have been $178 ( gas $103 + elec $75).

Would have been $178 but I purposely endured indoor temps of 47 degrees just for kicks. My actual bill was $105 (gas $30, elec $75). So I saved $73. But I heard from a local gal who kept her temp at 71 from Scotland, the lovely Mary (sorry, don’t quite recall her last name. I’m bad on names). I also recall the excitement as I passed Kremer Funeral Home, the Benson Post Office, Steve’s Grill, Feierman Jewelers, and the Benson Theater (where we used to always scrape together $0.09 cents for every Saturday morning and see both cartoons as well as exciting adventure movies, including my favorite hero, Lash Larue). Those were wonderful times.

Arriving at Benson High School, I was met every morning by a smiling John “Pinky” Aronson, the Vice Principal, who would open the door to my T-Bird, shake my hand, wave at Nicky, and welcome me to the school. I remember one day I suggested to my fellow classmates that we all honor “Pinky” Aronson by dressing in completely pink clothing. I wore pink trousers, pink socks, a pink shirt, white belt and white shoes. I was a sight to behold. The entire school turned out in pink that day. Mr. Aronson, I’m sure, was amused.

As we walked together up the sidewalk leading to the building I was often approached by other students who did not have transportation and had to walk to school. They would compliment me on my T-Bird and mention how it would be nice if, maybe sometime, I could give them a ride, seeing as how I was going in the same direction. I always made it a point to shake their hand or give them a friendly wave, show a warm smile and say, “what a perfectly grand idea. Do let me give it some thought and get back to you!” (I have always found it to be a good idea to treat those of a different social class kindly. Even though a majority of us were middle class, some of these forsaken kids didn’t have so much as a valet to their name. I tried to brighten their lives by being kind to them and favoring them with, at the very least, my wonderfully contented smile).

I soon joined the rest of those from my social class and we would tell marvelously funny stories, describe our valet’s hilarMan About Town continued on page 10