ESCONDIDO, Calif. (KGTV) – Escondido’s oldest and most famous event will return this summer for the first time since 2018.Grape Day will return Sept. 10, from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm in Grape Day Park.The festival, which traces its roots to 1908, will feature activities and entertainment steeped in Escondido history and traditions: spinning and weaving, corn shelling and grinding, butter making, grape stomping, early-century vehicles and antique equipment, along with live swing jazz and bluegrass music.The free, family-friendly event is sponsored by the Escondido History Center. It will take place ..read more

ESCONDIDO, Calif. (KGTV) — Police arrested a suspect Sunday in the hit-and-run death of a 14-year-old boy who was struck in a crosswalk.Jon Edwin Kiesel, a 70-year-old Escondido resident, was taken into custody and jailed at 12:54 p.m. Sunday on suspicion of felony hit-and-run, said Escondido Police Department Lt. Scott Walters.The unidentified 14-year-old boy was fatally injured in the hit-and- run accident while walking in a crosswalk at 9:27 p.m. Saturday at the intersection of Bear Valley Parkway and Grand Avenue, Walters said.Officers arrived within minutes and discovered the boy lying in ..read more

ESCONDIDO (CNS) — Escondido Police Chief Ed Varso has accepted an offer to lead the police department in Menifee and will serve his last day later this month in the northern San Diego County city where he has worked as a law officer for more than two decades, officials announced Tuesday."While I am excited for the opportunity to lead the Menifee Police Department, it is sad to say goodbye to Escondido," said Varso, a 21-year member of the EPD who has served as its chief since 2020. "Day after day I witness a level of dedication and professionalism from all members of the Escondido Police Depar ..read more

ESCONDIDO, Calif. (KGTV) – Phase 1 of the Grand Avenue Vision project is officially underway.The project will first expand the sidewalk on the north portion of Grand Ave. between Maple and Broadway, allowing restaurants to have permanent outdoor dining areas.Some restaurant owners found more customers to enjoy outdoor dining during the pandemic when businesses temporarily moved their seating outdoors.“It was good; people liked it outside,” said Cecilia Estevez, the owner of Tamales Jovita on the corner of Grand and Maple. “I think with the new sidewalk, it’s going to be nicer. I’m very excited ..read more

ESCONDIDO, Calif. (KGTV) — In an era of steep rent increases, many residents of a 500-unit apartment complex in east Escondido are about to see their rents go down.And the same thing could happen at more complexes in the county. Like many San Diegans, Jacob Maslonka has seen his rent only go up.“My month-to-month agreed upon was $1,920, and then I received an update on my rent. It went to $2,020,” he said Tuesday,That's for a two-bedroom apartment inside Solana at Grande, a 519-unit complex east of downtown Escondido. But things here are about to go in reverse.HomeFed Corporation, in conjuncti ..read more

ESCONDIDO, Calif. (KGTV) – A funeral procession was held Tuesday to honor the life of former Marine and Escondido Police Department officer Brett Byler, who passed away from glioblastoma on November 14.Brett Byler served in the Marine Corps before becoming a police officer and serving with the Department of Defense, the San Diego Police Department and recently with EPD.On February 16, 2020, Byler was found to have a large brain tumor that had grown across the midline of his brain. He underwent surgery four days later to remove 80% of the tumor and went through chemo and radiation while spendin ..read more

ESCONDIDO, Calif. (KGTV) — An Escondido family is on a Thanksgiving week mission to thank the good Samaritans who saved the life of a 13-year-old girl, after she was struck by a car.“It’s the worst thing any mother can think of receiving,” said Isabel Torres.Torres received the news on May 23 that her 13-year-old daughter Lily Irigoyen had been in an accident, after a taking a bus to Westfield North County to shop.She and a friend were headed into the mall. At one entrance, as Lily stepped into the crosswalk to cross Beethoven Drive, she was struck by a car.The collision knocked her unconsciou ..read more

ESCONDIDO, Calif. (KGTV) — Multiple people were injured, including two young children, late Thursday after a vehicle reportedly involved in a carjacking crashed into a pickup truck and then into a nearby taco shop in Escondido.An SUV was reported stolen in Oceanside just before 10 p.m. The victim was at a parking garage trying to help jump another driver's car when two suspects approached them and took the SUV at knifepoint, Oceanside and Escondido Police confirmed.Just after 10 p.m., the SUV collided with a pickup truck at the intersection of North Fig Street and East Valley Parkway in Escond ..read more

ESCONDIDO, Calif. (KGTV) — Law enforcement released body camera footage Friday of the events leading up to a fatal officer-involved shooting in Escondido last month.The nearly 11-minute edited video, spliced together from cellphone and bodycam videos, includes the police narrative of the events on September 17, after a vehicle pursuit ended on Bear Valley Parkway and the suspect, identified as 38-year-old Jonathan Carroll, of Escondido, was shot.The video released Friday said the incident began when officers responded to a call about a vehicle-to-vehicle shooting that injured a 20-year-old mal ..read more

ESCONDIDO, Calif. (KGTV) - Escondido police have lifted the lockdown placed on L R Green Elementary Friday afternoon following “suspicious activity” reports.Dozens of officers were seen surrounding the school located on Las Palmas Avenue around 2:30 p.m.Authorities gave the all clear and lifted the located shortly after 3 p.m ..read more