Opinion

OK, now this is getting serious. I’m talking about the impacts from the COVID-19 virus. Last week I was due for a haircut only to find out that the shop owned by the woman who has been cutting my hair for 25 years will “due to the COVID-19 we will be closed until further notice.” All of a sudden I […]

“For it is the doom of men that they forget.” The character Merlin from the film “Excalibur.” We’ve been this way before. Although it may strike many people that the coronavirus is a unique event in the history of the United States or of the world, it is not. It isn’t even uniquely trying. But we tend to forget the […]

By PAUL “MAC” MCNAMARA Mayor of Escondido The Editor of The Times-Advocate has graciously offered me the opportunity to write a column regarding the current crisis we are facing, namely, the Covid 19 virus.   So I would like to share a few thoughts on what we are doing and how we might proceed.    First, I want to say […]

It seems to me that the pandemic identified as the COVID19 or Coronavirus has an upside along with many downsides. I’m sure most of us have heard the expression from people involved in financing and investing, “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” Diversification is the optimum word here. So how does this play into our current worldwide situation? […]

  As Minority Leader, I have been working with the Governor to coordinate the state’s response to the Coronavirus pandemic. A number of important steps are underway.   Last week we passed bipartisan legislation to provide $500 million in initial emergency funding expandable to $1 billion, to activate closed hospitals, increase equipment capacity for existing hospitals, provide hotel beds for […]

As a child of the ‘60s and growing up during the rapid expansion of worldwide television news coverage, I have always relied on broadcast news to keep me informed. I religiously watched the NBC Evening News with Tom Brokaw or Peter Jennings at ABC or whomever was the Big Anchor at the time. I tuned into Sixty Minutes on Sunday […]

Last week I wrote about Escondido Pride and all that we can show our civic pride and bragging rights. What I forgot to mention is that Escondido has two of the three top tourist attractions in North County. The Safari Park, formerly known as the Wild Animal Park, and Stone Brewing and Bistro are second and third behind Legoland. Cruisin’ […]

It’s a new day, and the primary election is behind us. Many of us went to bed Tuesday night, not knowing what this morning would bring in terms of actual real results, and now we have them, for the most part.  The short list of definitives is we know who will be cajoling us for our vote for the 50th […]

The last Tuesday in February is World Spay Day, an international effort originally started by the Doris Day Animal League in 1995. To mark the day, I joined some legislative colleagues on the Capitol lawn, with representatives from animal rescue groups and shelters throughout California, including Dr. Gary Weitzman of the San Diego Humane Society, to help increase public awareness […]

Last week I attended the State of The City Address at our refurbished conference center at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido. Media picked up on the Mayor’s comment of “find your passion,” however I was struck also by the Escondido Pride graphic in the video presentation which was expertly produced by the city audio/visual department. Great job Jorge! […]