News

Pala Today News – 2/19/26

Written by John Fox on February 19, 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.

LOCAL AND REGIONAL NEWS

San Diego Sheriff’s deputies shot and killed a man after he allegedly raised a gun during a traffic stop in San Marcos last night. The red Hyundai Sonata was stopped just after 9p in the 600 block of North Twin Oaks Valley Road. A 21-year-old woman was driving and a 33-year old man was in the passenger seat. A check of the car’s license plate and Vehicle ID turned up “inconsistencies”. There also appeared to be steering wheel damage, leading deputies to suspect the vehicle was stolen. With additional deputies arriving, the passenger rolled his window up and refused commands. The driver was removed from the car and when the passenger raised a firearm, five deputies and one Palomar College Police officer opened fire. The passenger died at the scene. Neither vehicle occupant has been identified and an investigation is underway. https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/1-injured-open-fire-san-marcos/3982658/?amp=1

Almost four years after the DUI crash that killed a Menifee woman and seriously injured another man, 27-year old Willie Eddie Salazar of Wildomar has been convicted of second-degree murder. It only took the jury part of the afternoon to reach its verdict Tuesday at the Southwest Justice Center. CHP reported Salazar’s Honda Civic was going the wrong way in eastbound lanes of Domenigoni Parkway on April 29, 2022 when he hit the victims’ Chevy Malibu head on. 32-year old Sahtarria Anderson died the next day. The man in the Malibu was seriously injured, but eventually recovered. Salazar was hospitalized for a week before being booked into jail. He had just started a 36-month probation for a previous DUI in February, requiring him to register in a sobriety program which made him eligible for murder charges if he drove under the influence again. He also had a misdemeanor conviction for domestic violence. Sentencing will be April 3. Salazar faces more than 20 years in prison. https://patch.com/california/murrieta/winchester-man-convicted-2nd-degree-murder-years-after-head-dui-crash

San Diego County has announced a new director of Emergency Services. Daryl Arbuthnott served the Los Angeles Fire Department for 36 years, rising to the rank of Fire Deputy Chief. He commanded several significant incidents including large-scale brush fires, high-rise, commercial buildings, swift water rescue emergencies, and special planned events. Most recently, he led the Emergency Management department at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Arbuthnott has a graduate degree in Risk Management, Business Continuity and Security from Boston University. He begins his new role with the San Diego Office of Emergency Services tomorrow. https://www.countynewscenter.com/county-names-experienced-public-safety-leader-to-head-office-of-emergency-services/

There’s been very little additional rain over the past 24 hours. At 5 hundredths of an inch, Pala had more than most places. It’ll be cold, windy and rainy today and tonight as a third and final storm passes through. The local snow level will drop to 3k feet. Drying out begins tomorrow with temperatures hitting 80 by Monday. The full forecast is coming up. (below)

SPORTS

At the Winter Olympics – The US and Canada squared off in the championship game for women’s hockey today. The game was a scoreless tie after the first period and still underway as of news time. The US men’s hockey team broke a scoreless tie to beat Sweden 2-1 in overtime, keeping hopes alive for a gold medal matchup against Canada in Sunday’s men’s championship game. The US faces Slovakia and Canada plays Finland in today’s semi-finals.

Switzerland’s Marianne Fatton and Oriol Cardona Coll of Spain won the first-ever women’s and men’s gold medals for mountaineering – a 3-minute sprint race including climbing a long hill on skis and on foot up steps, then a quick downhill ski. The event includes breaks to remove or don skis. The event, called “skimo” for short was voted into the Olympic program in 2021 and traces its roots to the 19^th century. This year’s final skimo event will be a mixed doubles team relay on Sunday. https://www.espn.com/olympics/story/_/id/47975403/fatton-cardona-coll-win-gold-olympic-ski-mountaineering

Norway still leads the medal count with 34 overall – 16 of them gold. Host country Italy is second with 26 – 9 of them gold. The US is third with 25 – including 7 gold. The US has the most silver medals of any nation with 12. France, the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland are all in the top ten with 6 golds apiece.

In the NBA – The regular season resumes tonight with ten games including the Clippers hosting Denver.

In the minors – The San Diego Clippers next game is Saturday.

In college basketball – Unranked Creighton upset #5 UConn 91-84. #10 Illinois routed unranked USC 101-65. #19 Vanderbilt was edged by unranked Missouri 81-80.

In women’s NCAA – with three games left in the regular season UConn women remain undefeated. They beat Villanova 83-69 last night. San Diego State beat UNLV 80-62.

In the NHL – The regular season is on hold until after the Winter Olympics. Games resume next Wednesday.

In the minors – The San Diego Gulls lost 4-3 in a shootout to San Jose last night at Pechanga Arena. Their next two games are Saturday and Sunday at Rockford.

In Major League Baseball – The first games of Spring Training are tomorrow.

In the NFL – Indiana legislators unanimously passed a bill to clear the path for the Chicago Bears to build a new domed stadium in the northwest portion of that state. SB 27 creates the Northwest Indiana Stadium Authority with the power to issue bonds, acquire land and finance stadium construction. The site being targeted is the area of Wolf Lake on the Illinois-Indiana border about 25 minutes from Chicago’s Soldier Field – the current home of De Behrs. https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/47977218/indiana-unanimously-passes-bill-lure-bears-away-chicago

In soccer – The San Diego Sockers next game is this Saturday at Tacoma.

In lacrosse – The San Diego Seals next game is Saturday hosting Halifax.

In golf – The Genesis Invitational teed off this morning at Pacific Palisades. Ludvig Aberg is the defending champion. https://www.espn.com/golf/leaderboard

Local High School Sports –

Bonsall – girls’ basketball play their final game of the season at Calipatria tonight at 7p. Boys have already played their final game. Baseball and softball start next Wednesday.

Great Oak – softball at a tournament in Norco at 3p; boys’ tennis at Martin Luther King at 3p; boys’ volleyball at Woodcrest Christian at 6:30p

Fallbrook – no scheduled published

Valley Center – no scheduled games today

BUSINE$$

As of midday trading on Wall Street, stocks were down. The Dow fell 8 tenths of a percent. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq were each off by 6 tenths of a percent. Gold fell $3.50 to $5,005.60 an ounce on the Comex. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures were up another $1.50 to $66.69 a barrel – the highest that benchmark has been since last summer.

Walmart today reported holiday quarter sales up 6% with its earnings and revenue surpassing Wall Street expectations. But it told investors not to expect earnings for the current year to meet those same analysts’ expectations, based on declining numbers in January and increased competition from Amazon. CFO John David Rainey said speedy deliveries from stores are attracting new customers, especially those with higher incomes. Shares in Walmart were up slightly today. They’re up 22% over the past year and 14% so far this year, even though Amazon has overtaken Walmart as the nation’s largest retailer based on annual revenue. Amazon posted $716.9b in sales for the most recent fiscal year. That’s about 3 ½ billion more than Walmart. But Amazon’s numbers include cloud computing and other tech services. https://www.cnbc.com/2026/02/19/walmart-wmt-q4-2026-earnings.html

Wall Street is quickly moving towards full-time, 24/7, 365 day a year stock trading. Both the Nasdaq and New York Stock Exchange plan to extend trading to at least 22 hours a day, five days a week in the next few months, pending Securities and Exchange Commission approval. Many online brokerages already offer 24-hour trading on select stocks. Proponents say global demand requires 24/7 access for international time zones. As of 2024, about 18% of US shares belonged to non-US stockholders. 24/7 trading wouldn’t have been possible in the days when agents were physically present on the trading floor, waving slips of paper and yelling trades at each other. Digital orders have replaced that. Critics say the change could “gamify” stocks, creating a casino atmosphere like a betting app. If 24/7 trading happens, the traditional iconic opening and closing bell would become as antiquated as phone booths and shopping malls. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/wall-street-intends-stay-open-052803759.html

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg took the stand yesterday in the landmark social media addiction trial. When shown a 2015 email in which he said boosting users’ time spent by 12% was a goal for 2016, Zuck claimed he no longer gives teams goals for time spent online anymore. Plaintiff’s lawyers then produced evidence that Adam Mosseri, the head of Meta platform, Instagram considered boosting time spent a goal for 2026. Zuckerberg also said that while children under 13 aren’t allowed, some of them lie, and that they are removed when identified. An internal Meta memo showed that an estimated 4m kids under the age of 13 used Instagram. Interesting tech note – with no recording being allowed in this trial, the judge threatened to hold in contempt anyone wearing smart glasses in court after members of Zuckerberg’s team entered the building wearing Meta Ray-Bans. www.morningbrew.com

Raising Cane’s is taking over the vacant Mimi’s Café in Oceanside at 2177 Vista Way and plans a high-capacity drive-through for its fast food chicken and sides. The chain has been aggressively expanding into Southern California for several years. This will be the fourth Raising Cane’s along the 78 freeway corridor. https://newsflashmedia.substack.com/p/raising-canes-chicken-fingers-restaurant

LIFESTYLE / GREEN LIVING

Lake Elsinore’s second In-n-Out Burger opened today. It’s on Dexter Avenue just off the 15 freeway at Central, next to Walmart. It is the 433^rd store in the family-owned chain begun in Baldwin Park in 1948. The older store at Railroad Canyon is #54 and has been there since 1989. https://www.pressenterprise.com/2026/02/18/in-n-out-burger-opens-a-second-lake-elsinore-drive-thru-on-thursday-feb-19/

The grandson of the inventor of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups is accusing The Hershey Company of hurting the brand by switching to cheaper ingredients. The high price of cocoa has led Hershey and other chocolate manufacturers to experiment with using less chocolate in their products. 70-year old Brad Reese wrote in a letter to corporate that the company replaced milk chocolate with compound coatings and peanut butter with peanut crème. The letter, which was also posted on LinkedIn accuses Hershey’s of undermining the Reese’s flagship brand by replacing the very ingredients that earned Reese’s its favored status with consumers in the first place. Though Hershey insists Reese’s cups are still chocolate and peanut butter, tough USDA ingredient and labeling standards have forced new Reese’s products like its Valentine’s hearts to be labeled as being made from “chocolate candy and peanut butter crème”, not milk chocolate and peanut butter as they used to be. Brad’s grandfather, H.B. Reese spend two years working at Hershey before forming his own company in 1919, inventing the Peanut Butter Cup in 1928. His six sons, including Brad’s father sold the company to Hershey in 1963. https://apnews.com/article/reeses-peanut-butter-cups-hershey-chocolate-1a66ec75247fd146888b7a747a740cd3

This latest series of storms could be just the boost needed for a big Spring wildflower bloom this year. Walker Canyon, north of Lake Elsinore had about 2 inches and Borrego Springs had over a half inch. Follow wildflower updates on the Theodore Payne Foundation Wild Flower Hotline (213 373 3561) or at the California State Parks Anza-Borrego website. Or just watch for traffic to jam up on the 15 freeway north of Lake Elsinore.

On this day in music history – February 19,

1964, a British novelty company shipped a half ton of Beatle wigs to America. A reporter asked John Lennon how he felt about teenagers imitating the group by wearing Beatle wigs. The sardonic Lennon replied, “They’re not imitating us. We don’t wear Beatle wigs.”
In 1965, The Beatles recorded a new John Lennon song, “You’re Going To Lose That Girl” for their “Help!” album in just two takes.
In 1972, Harry Nilsson began the first of four weeks at #1 with his version of a song written by Pete Ham and Tom Evans of Badfinger, “Without You”. Nilsson recorded the vocal in a single take. It earned him his second Grammy and is considered to have been the first so-called power ballad.
In 1977, Manfred Mann’s Earth Band was at #1 with their version of the Bruce Springsteen song, “Blinded By the Light”. The lyrics were changed in several places from The Boss’s original 1973 recording on his debut album, “Greetings from Asbury Park N.J.” – most notably, “cut loose like a deuce” was changed to the now-familiar “revved up like a deuce” – both referring to the mid-century hot rod known as a deuce coupe.
In 1982, Ozzy Osbourne was arrested in San Antonio for peeing on the Alamo – a revered Texas landmark. He was wearing a dress at the time because his wife had hidden his clothes to prevent him from going outside. Ozzy was banned from ever playing in San Antonio again – a ban which was lifted in 1992. When interviewed at the time, he said his next goal was to urinate on the White House lawn.
In 1994, exactly 22 years after Nilsson took it to #1, Mariah Carey’s version of “Without You” hit #1 in England. Her version had been released three weeks earlier, just one week after Harry Nilsson died of a heart attack. Its authors, Peter Ham and Tom Evans from the group, Badfinger had battled over royalties from the song. Both died from suicide – Ham in 1975 and Evans in 1983.
In 1995, Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee married Baywatch actress Pam Anderson on a Cancun beach. The bride wore a white bikini. They’d only met four days earlier and Lee had taped their sexual activities – a tape that was later stolen and published on the internet. After suing the parties responsible, the Lees settled confidentially and divorced three years later.
In 2004, Johnny Cash’s family successfully blocked an attempt by advertisers to use his hit song, “Ring of Fire” for a hemorrhoid commercial.

Born on this day …

In 1924, actor Lee Marvin, who as a singer had a #1 hit in England with “Wand’rin Star” from the movie musical “Paint Your Wagon”.
In 1940, two members of The Miracles, Bobby Rogers and William “Smokey” Robinson. During his more than 50-year career in music, Robinson has accumulated more than 4k song writing credits.
In 1943, Lou Christie who had a #1 hit with “Lightin’ Strikes” on his birthday in 1966.
In 1946, Pierre Van Den Linden, drummer for the Dutch group, Focus, the one-hit-wonder who had a Top Ten hit in 1973, with “Hocus Pocus” … (by Focus).
In 1948, Toni Iommi, guitarist with Black Sabbath, and Mark Andes from Spirit and Jo Jo Gunne.
In 1950, Andy Powell, guitarist with Wishbone Ash.
In 1957, Dave Wakeling from The English Beat and General Public, and Hans Holzl – better known as Falco, who had a #1 hit in 1986 with “Rock Me Amadeus”.

https://www.thisdayinmusic.com/search/?keyword=&date=19&month=2

Other celebrity anniversaries today …

Actor Jeff Daniels is 71
Actress Justine Bateman is 60
Actor Benicio Del Toro is 59

http://www.davesfunstuff.com/a-mb/2080-date0219.htm

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Pala seniors’ lunch menu for tomorrow (2/20) – rotini primavera, garlic bread, green beans and dessert

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WEATHER

Pala Weather – up to a half inch of rain likely today and tonight with winds gusting up to 30 miles an hour, the afternoon high temperature will be 56 and the snow level will be 3k feet tonight … mostly sunny and 58 tomorrow … 71 Saturday … 76 Sunday … 80 Monday … 79 Tuesday … overnight lows, 36 tonight and tomorrow night … 42 Saturday night … 45 Sunday night … about 50 Monday and Tuesday night

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