News

Pala Today News – 1/12/26

Written by John Fox on January 12, 2026

The following items are part of the award-winning “Pala Today” newscast heard this day at noon on PALA REZ RADIO™ 91.3 FM in Pala.

In any emergency, knowledge is power. Use our resources to leverage your family’s safety. Email 91.3@palatribe.com to subscribe to our daily M-F e-newsletter. Follow us at www.facebook.com/rezradio and www.twitter.com/rezradioFM. Additional resources at Palatribe.com

LOCAL AND REGIONAL NEWS

An accident on Highway 76 at Lilac Extension in front of Pala Fire station this morning at about 7:15a caused the full closure of 76 for over four hours. It involved a tractor trailer rig and a smaller vehicle, which caught fire after the impact. Ambulances were dispatched. No official word on injuries. Traffic was diverted onto Pala Mission Road beginning around 7:45a. Pala residents living south of the river had to use Lilac Road for access. The road closure on 76 was lifted shortly before noon.

There was a two-vehicle crash on South Stagecoach at Brooke Road in Fallbrook this morning just after 8a. Both vehicles were disabled. No word on injuries. https://www.villagenews.com/story/2026/01/08/news/span-classbrnwsbreaking-news-spantwo-vehicle-crash-reported-injuries-unknown/80912.html

There will be three more days of overnight closures of the southbound I-15 onramp from Rancho California Road as part of the ongoing auxiliary lane addition project in Temecula. The closures, which began last week will end at 4a Thursday. https://patch.com/california/temecula/i-15-through-temecula-closures-coming-what-freeway-drivers-must-know

Following a countywide crackdown by law enforcement including the Escondido Police Department, a San Diego grand jury has indicted 21 people and 16 high performance cars have been seized in connection with a freeway racing conspiracy. Prosecutors say races on local freeways hit speeds of up to 150 miles an hour. https://patch.com/california/escondido/patch-am-how-escondido-police-helped-crack-dangerous-freeway-rac-nodx-20260112

The U.S. House of Representatives has approved a spending package that includes $26m for work on flood control in the San Luis Rey river in Oceanside. Work will include repairing a levee system and removing sediment that has accumulated in the river bed. Any beach-quality sand will be moved to city’s beaches south of the pier. The funding package now heads to the Senate where it is expected to pass. It will then need to be signed by the President. https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/realestate/house-approves-26-million-for-san-luis-rey-river-project-in-oceanside/ar-AA1U3EXZ

The city of Oceanside is considering changing its annual dredging of the entrance to Oceanside Harbor from spring to fall. That would result in its being dredged twice in 2026. https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2026/01/12/oceanside-could-see-harbor-channel-dredged-twice-in-2026-to-reduce-risks/

A proposal to increase pay for Palomar Health’s CEO by 20% was removed from consideration Friday by the district’s board. https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/location/california/san-diego-county/north-county/

According to the California Drought Monitor, as of the end of 2025, the entire state was no longer in drought status for the first time in 25 years. It’s all thanks to a series of winter storms in December and consistent rain over past several years. Recently, California has received 200% of its normal rain and snowfall for this time of year, even though the entire months of October and November were bone dry. https://patch.com/california/across-ca/ca-dubbed-drought-free-amid-series-holiday-storms

The winds should die down tonight in Pala. It’ll be sunny and warmer than normal for at least the next week. The full forecast is coming up. (below)

Mass at Pala Mission Church is broadcast live on Rez Radio 91.3 and streamed live on the Rez Radio App every Sunday at 8a.

SPORTS

In the NFL – The Rams prevailed and the Chargers bombed out of Wild Card weekend. It began Saturday with the Rams twice taking the lead in the 4^th quarter and finishing 34-31 over Carolina. Later in the day, Chicago topped Green Bay 31-27. On Sunday, Buffalo edged the Jaguars in Jacksonville 27-24. The visiting 49ers topped Philadelphia 23-19, and the Patriots dominated the Chargers 16-3. The final Wild Card game is tonight with Pittsburgh hosting Houston at 5p on ABC. The divisional round begins Saturday with Buffalo at Denver and San Francisco at Seattle. On Sunday it’ll be the Rams at Chicago and New England hosting the winner of tonight’s game.

In the College Football Playoffs – At the Peach Bowl Friday, top ranked Indiana dispatched #5 Oregon 56-22. They will meet Fiesta Bowl winner Miami one week from tonight, Monday, January 19 in the CFP National Championship game at Miami Gardens, FL at 4:30p on ESPN

In the NBA – The Clippers beat Brooklyn and the Lakers lost to the Bucks Friday. A tired Clippers team still mustered enough to beat first-place Detroit the following night 98-92. Yesterday’s winners were Orlando, Memphis, Toronto, New York, Minnesota, Oklahoma City, Denver, Phoenix, Atlanta and Sacramento. Six games tonight including the Lakers at Sacramento and the Clippers hosting Charlotte.

In the NHL – Yesterday’s winners were Winnipeg, Boston, Nashville, Vegas, and Columbus in overtime at Utah. A little over halfway through the regular season, Colorado leads the league by a lot – 73 points, twelve ahead of the Central division’s second place team, Dallas. Carolina leads the Metropolitan division with 59 points – four ahead of the New York Islanders. Detroit leads the Atlantic with 58 – one ahead of Tampa Bay. And Vegas leads the Pacific with 54 points – three ahead of Edmonton. The Kings are tied for fourth with 48 points. The Ducks are sixth with 45 points. https://www.espn.com/nhl/standings

In the minors – The San Diego Gulls were shut out by the Eagles in Colorado 6-0 on Saturday after winning 5-4 in a shootout the previous night. Their next game is Wednesday hosting Abbotsford.

In Major League Baseball – Third baseman Alex Bregman is joining the Cubs on a five-year, $175m deal. The 31-year old opted out of a $40m player option with Boston to test free agency again this year. https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/47576883/sources-alex-bregman-agrees-5-year-175m-deal-cubs

Free agent outfielder Max Kepler was suspended for 80 games Friday after failing a drug test. The 32-year old was a platoon outfielder for Philadelphia last season. Before that, he’d spent his entire career with Minnesota. He will receive credit against his 80-game penalty through games played by Philly if he hasn’t signed with a team before the season begins. https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/47562910/of-max-kepler-banned-80-games-violating-mlb-drug-program

In lacrosse – The San Diego Seals lost 12-7 to Toronto Friday at Pechanga Arena. Their next game is Friday at Vancouver.

Local High School Sports –

Bonsall – no scheduled games today

Great Oak – girls’ basketball hosting San Jacinto at 5:30p

Fallbrook – no published schedule

Valley Center – girls’ water polo at Canyon Hills at 5p; boys’ basketball against Del Lago Academy, JV away at 5:30p, varsity hosting at 7p

BUSINE$$

As of midday trading on Wall Street, stocks were up slightly. The Dow gained a small fraction. The S&P 500 was up a tenth of a percent. And the Nasdaq gained a third of a percent. Gold shot up $124.10 on the Comex to $4,625 an ounce. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures were flat at $59.12 a barrel.

Federal prosecutors are conducting a criminal investigation of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell focusing on the $2.5b renovation of the central bank’s headquarters in Washington D.C. and his recent testimony before Congress. The Fed was served with grand jury subpoenas on Friday. The renovations are running significantly over budget. The specific investigation is whether Power lied to Congress about the scope of the project. Powell says it’s really all about his resistance to demands from President Trump that interest rates be lowered. He warned that the outcome of the investigation will determine future decisions by the central bank by tying them to political whim. President Trump said yesterday he knows nothing about the criminal probe of Powell, whom he appointed to the Federal Reserve during his first administration. Yet on December 29, Trump said, “We’re thinking about brining a suit against Powell for incompetence.” “I would love to fire him.” https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/12/fed-jerome-powell-criminal-probe-nyt.html

Boeing airplane deliveries are at their highest rate in seven years and the company is ramping up for more. Details will be released later this month. The company had to scale back production in recent years due to fatal crashes of its popular 737 Max aircraft in 2028 and 2019, plus a midair blowout of a door plug the first week of 2024. Covid further complicated production with supply chain disruptions, which have also affected European rival Airbus’ ability to deliver aircraft on time. Commercial aircraft account for just under half of Boeing’s business. The rest comes from defense and services business. Boeing shares have gained 36% over the past 12 months. https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/11/boeing-plane-deliveries-production-pace.html

Discount supermarket chain Aldi says it will open more than 180 new stores in the U.S. this year. Though their market share is tiny compared with Walmart, Kroger and Costco, Aldi is making significant inroads with shoppers seeking greater value in the face of inflation. It is now the nation’s third largest chain by store count, trailing only Walmart and Kroger. Aldi had 2,614 U.S. stores as of December 31. Those stores are smaller with a narrower selection of merchandise and heavy emphasis on its own brands than its competitors, who rely on more expensive name brands like Heinz and General Mills. Aldi executives say that difference leads to a “treasure hunt” experience for shoppers. The downside is, limited selection may mean less one-stop shopping. According to data from Placer.ai, Aldi store traffic rose by more than 50% from 2019 to 2024. That’s better than its competitors. And prices are the main draw. https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/12/aldi-open-180-us-stores-2026.html

Paramount has filed a lawsuit in its pursuit of Warner Bros. Discovery and is threatening a proxy fight. Warner Bros. directors still prefer to sell to Netflix. www.CNN.com

LIFESTYLE / GREEN LIVING

Over the weekend at the movies, though not setting any records so far, “Avatar: Fire and Ash” continues to be the #1 film in its 4^th week of release. It’s the least critically acclaimed of the three Avatar films, according to Rotten Tomatoes. It sold another $21m worth of tickets over the weekend, eclipsing both new releases. “Primate” opened in second place with $11.3m. “Greenland 2: Migration” opened in 5^th with $8.5m. Both are on about 1k fewer screens than Avatar. The total for all top ten movies was a third less than last weekend. https://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/2026W02/

The 83rd Golden Globe Awards ceremonies were held yesterday. “The Pitt” won for best TV drama and its star, Noah Wylie won for best actor in a drama. “The Studio” won best comedy and its star, Seth Rogan for best comedy actor. Jean Smart won her second consecutive best comedy actress award for “Hacks”. For movies, “KPop Demon Hunters” won best animated feature, “One Battle After Another” won best comedy or musical and its star Timothee Chalamet won for best actor. “Hamnet” won for best drama. www.morningbrew.com

Singer, songwriter, guitarist and co-founder of The Grateful Dead Bob Weir died Saturday at the age of 78. He was being treated for cancer. His death is listed as related to underlying lung issues. After experimenting with trumpet and piano, Weir took up the guitar at age 13. He studied under Jorma Kaukonen, who later found fame with Jefferson Airplane. Though not as iconic as Dead lead guitarist Jerry Garcia, Weir was a frequent spokesman for the group and wrote many of its most well-known songs including “Truckin’” and “Sugar Magnolia”. Blending rock, blues, country and folk music, the group formed in 1965 in San Francisco as The Warlocks, quickly changing their name to The Grateful Dead that same year and would become an important part of that city’s Summer of Love and the Haight-Ashbury scene two years later, fueled by the mind-expanding drug LSD, which was legal at the time. The Grateful Dead’s egalitarian philosophy encouraged fans to record their live shows. Their improvisational style led to songs stretching to 45 minutes and never being performed the same way twice, further encouraging bootleg recordings. Battalions of loyal “Deadhead” fans would follow the group everywhere they played to catch as many unique performances as possible. Those sanctioned recordings are the basis for the syndicated show, “Dead Air” heard Fridays at 11p on Rez Radio, following “The Vinyl Resting Place” with Jim McInnes. Bob Weir had several projects outside of the Grateful Dead including the groups, Kingfish, the Bob Weir Band, Bobby and the Midnites, RatDog and Wolf Bros. More recently, Weir had teamed with the Dead’s Phil Lesh and Mickey Hart, along with John Mayer for a residence at Sphere in Las Vegas in 2024 and 25, and celebrated the Dead’s 60^th anniversary with shows at Golden Gate Park in 2025. https://www.theguardian.com/music/2026/jan/11/bob-weir-obituary

On this day in music history – January 12,

1969, Led Zeppelin’s debut album was released. It took just 36 hours of studio time to record at a cost of less than $3k. Most of the tracks were recorded live in studio with very few overdubs.
In 1974, “The Joker” became the first of three #1 singles for the Steve Miller Band.
In 1975, a concert tour billed as The Warner Brothers Music Show kicked off in England featuring Little Feat, Montrose, Tower of Power, The Doobie Brothers, and Graham Central Station.
In 1977, Rolling Stone Keith Richards was fined $1,275 for possession of cocaine found in his car after he’d been involved in a crash.
Also in 1977, The Police held their first rehearsal at drummer Stewart Copeland’s London apartment.
In 1992, Bob Geldof was arrested after a disturbance on a Boeing 727 that had been grounded for five hours at Stansted Airport
In 1993, Van Morrison became the first living inductee to not show up for his own Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction dinner.
In 2001, Oasis singer Liam Gallagher became the latest member of the rock stars behaving badly on planes club after grabbing a British Airways stewardess’ bottom, refusing to put out his cigarette, and throwing objects about the cabin on a flight from London to Rio De Janeiro.
In 2002, Aaliyah had a posthumous #1 hit in England with “More Than a Woman”. She’d died five months earlier in a plane crash that claimed the lives of all on board the Cessna aircraft as it left The Bahamas. She was 22.
In 2003, singer songwriter Maurice Gibb from The Bee Gees died of a heart attack during abdominal surgery. Gibb and his two brothers were made Commanders of the British Empire (CBE) a few years earlier. Maurice was married to Scottish singer Lulu from 1969 to 1973. He was 53.
In 2004, singer and songwriter Randy Vanwarmer died of leukemia at the age of 48. He had a #4 hit in 1979 with “Just When I Needed You Most” and wrote hits for others including The Oak Ridge Boys. Before his death, Vanwarmer had arranged for a space burial. His remains were rocketed into space in 2007.
In 2007, Toni Braxton filed a $10m lawsuit against her former manager alleging fraud, deception and double dealing.
In 2017, Richard Carpenter claimed Universal Music owed him back royalties for Carpenters songs downloaded from sites like iTunes and Amazon

Born on this day …

In 1926, country singer songwriter and guitarist Ray Price
In 1939, William Lee Gordon from the Oak Ridge Boys
In 1941, Long John Baldry
In 1946, Cynthia Robinson from Sly and the Family Stone
In 1946, musician composer and singer George Duke
In 1954, Felipe Rose from The Village People
In 1959, Per Gessle from Swedish pop group Roxette
In 1960, Charlie Gillingham, keyboardist for Counting Crows
In 1965 Greg Kriesel, bass player from punk rock band The Offspring
In 1968, rapper Raekwon from Wu-Tang Clan
In 1970, Zack de la Rocha from Rage Against the Machine
In 1974, Melanie Chisholm, better known as Sporty Spice from the Spice Girls.

https://www.thisdayinmusic.com/search/?keyword=&date=12&month=1

Other celebrity anniversaries today …

Actress Shirley Eaton, one of the Bond girls from the movie, “Goldfinger” is 89
Howard Stern in 72
Actor Oliver Platt is 66
Among those who’ve passed, comedian and actor Joe E. Lewis was born this day in 1902
Movie cowboy and father of actor John Ritter, Tex Ritter was born in 1905
Comedian Henny Youngman (“Take my wife, please!”) was born in 1906
Actress Kirstie Alley was born in 1951

http://www.davesfunstuff.com/a-mb/2320-date0112.htm

Programming on Rez Radio 91.3 is made possible in part by the Pala Band of Mission Indians and donations from listeners like you. Call 760 742 4200 or email 91.3@palatribe.com for details on contributing to community radio in Pala.

Call the Pala Fire Department at 760 742 1632 before starting any open fires to get the day’s Cal Fire and APCD recommendations. Fire Department permits are required for any burning on Pala tribal land.

Pala seniors’ lunch menu for tomorrow (1/13) – taco salad, tacos, pinto beans, rice and dessert

The Pala Band of Mission Indians has employment opportunities including full time and part time. For a list, go to the Palatribe dot com website.

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WEATHER

Pala Weather – sunny with a high of 78 this afternoon … winds up to 20 miles an hour calming down this evening … 81 tomorrow … about 84 or 85 Wednesday through Sunday … overnight lows, 46 tonight … 49 tomorrow night … about 51 the rest of the week

FIRE PERMITS

Call the Pala Fire Department at (760) 742-1632 before starting any open fires to get the day’s Cal Fire and APCD recommendations. Fire Department permits are required for any burning on Pala tribal land.

PALA

The Pala Band of Mission Indians has a number of part-time and full-time employment opportunities.

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COMMUNITY CALENDAR

The Community Events and Casino Corner portions of this newsletter can be heard three times daily Mon-Sun on Rez Radio, at 7:25a, 12:25p (in Pala Today M-F), and at 5:25p as the “Pala Community Calendar”. Submit items for the calendar to 91.3@palatribe.com at least a week before the event.

You can view the events on the Calendar page.

SHOWS

You can find a wide-range of Pala Rez Radio programming on our Shows page.

RESOURCES

The Pala Band of Mission Indians and Rez Radio gathered this list of resources as a courtesy and offers no guarantee of accuracy. Please contact us if you find an error or if any link needs to be updated.

Check out the list of information on our Resources page.