News

Pala Today News – 2/23/26

Written by John Fox on February 23, 2026

by John Fox – 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 and worldwide online … click here to listen live. Listen on a smart speaker by asking it to “play KPRI”. Some portions of today’s newscast are only available in the live broadcast and not included in this transcript which is also available an hour or two after broadcast at www.RezRadio.FM . 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

This morning’s commute on the 15 freeway south out of Temecula got off to a bad start. An accident near the Mission Road exit closed southbound lanes for nearly two hours beginning just after 4:30a. https://www.villagenews.com/story/2026/02/19/news/crash-shuts-down-southbound-interstate-15-near-fallbrook/81274.html

There was a fatal hit-and-run on North Pacific Street in San Marcos Saturday evening just after 8:30p. The unidentified male victim had been working on a vehicle and became pinned between vehicles. He died at the scene. Investigators say the suspect fled his 2022 Hyundai Venue SUV on foot and was last seen heading north towards Mission Avenue. The Sheriff’s Department is asking anyone with information to contact the San Marcos station at 760 510 5200. https://www.10news.com/news/local-news/man-killed-by-hit-and-run-vehicle-in-san-marcos

Six students at San Pasqual Union Elementary School were treated by paramedics Friday after consuming a candy bar which school officials say likely contained some form of THC and had been brought to school by a student. One of the sickened students was taken to a hospital. The others were released to families after treatment. https://www.10news.com/news/local-news/6-san-pasqual-union-elementary-students-treated-by-paramedics-after-eating-candy-bar

Groundbreaking ceremonies were held Friday for new sports fields behind the Boys’ & Girls’ Club of Vista. The project is being made possible by a $3.5m state grant. https://northcountydailystar.com/groundbreaking-of-the-future-sports-field-at-boys-and-girls-club-vista/

Southwest Riverside County’s first level II trauma center inside the new seven-story wing of Inland Valley Hospital in Wildomar is opening next month. Ribbon cutting ceremonies for the tower were held last Wednesday with an open house on Saturday. The 217k square foot addition includes 100 new beds – doubling the hospital’s capacity, a 28-bay emergency department, and advanced imaging. www.pe.com

Not quite a year into the program, the city of Oceanside is moving its safe parking for homeless lot from its original location on Apple Street to El Corazon Senior Center. City officials say the new location will have more room and better security. The Apple Street location maxed out at between 25-35 vehicles. The lot is open from 7p to 7a daily. https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2026/02/23/oceanside-moves-safe-parking-for-homeless-to-new-location/

Water began being released into the San Dieguito River from behind the 108-year old Lake Hodges dam last week when the lake reached the 280-foot level. The threshold is 35-feet below the spillway and was established to “protect downstream communities and ensure the safe operation of Hodges Dam,” according to a city statement. https://northcountydailystar.com/san-diego-releases-water-from-full-lake-hodges-dam/

Caltrans announced that Ortega Highway west of Lake Elsinore will undergo weeknight work for a lane widening safety project this week with one-lane flagged traffic and a full overnight closure from S. Main Divide to Grand Avenue. A 55-hour full closure is scheduled for the weekend of March 13 through 15^th. https://patch.com/california/lakeelsinore-wildomar/ortega-highway-planned-closures-road-work-drivers-be-advised

Pala will be mostly sunny with highs in the 80s for the rest of the month and more. The full forecast is coming up. (below)

SPORTS

At the Winter Olympics – Still bloody from losing some teeth, Jack Hughes scored the winning goal in overtime, while US goalie Connor Hellebuyck stopped 41 shots as the US beat Canada in men’s ice hockey 2-1 yesterday, taking the gold for the first time since 1980. Along the way, the US outlasted a 93-second 5 on 3 power play midway through the game. They were 18 for 18 in penalty kills for the tournament. https://www.espn.com/olympics/story/_/id/48005562/jack-hughes-connor-hellebuyck-lift-us-olympic-hockey-gold

Skier Lindsey Vonn says her crash in the women’s downhill event nearly cost her a leg. She posted today that her injuries went far beyond the simple tibia compound fracture she suffered, and if not for multiple surgeries by orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Tom Hackett, she would have lost her leg to compartment syndrome where excessive pressure builds up inside muscle from bleeding or swelling. He was only in Cortina because she was competing less than a week after tearing the ACL in her left knee. https://www.espn.com/olympics/story/_/id/48014452/vonn-says-surgery-saved-amputation-olympic-crash

Closing ceremonies were held last night with Italy passing off the Olympic torch to France, who in 2030 will also have events in far-flung locations including the Alps, Nice, on the Mediterranean Sea with some speedskating events in either Italy or the Netherlands. A total of 116 medal events were held over 17 days. This year’s host country, Italy won its most medals ever – 30 total including 10 gold. Their previous record was 20 in 1994. Norway won the most medals – 41, including 18 gold. The US won 33, including 12 gold. Fourth through tenth places went to Germany, Japan, France, Switzerland, Canada, Netherlands and Sweden. https://www.espn.com/olympics/winter/2026/medals

In the NBA – The Lakers won Friday’s crosstown matchup with the Clippers 125-122. Luka Doncic scored 38 points. Both teams lost yesterday – the Lakers by 22 points to the visiting Celtics; the Clippers in a much closer game hosting Orlando 111-109. Kawhi Leonard was high scorer in the losing effort. Yesterday’s other winners were Oklahoma City, Atlanta, Toronto, Golden State, Dallas, Charlotte, Philadelphia, New York and Portland.

Four-time Olympic gold medalist and the US men’s all-time leading scorer in Olympic competition, Kevin Durant says he plans to play in the Los Angeles Summer Olympics. Being nearly 40 when that happens, he added that he will need to still be an effective player before he’ll return to Team USA. It seems unlikely that Steph Curry will be playing in the 2028 Olympics and LeBron James has already said he won’t. https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/48014969/kevin-durant-says-plans-play-2028-olympics-los-angeles

Dillon Brooks from the Phoenix Suns will be out for four to six weeks after suffering a broken hand in Saturday’s win against Orlando. He’s been averaging 20.9 points and 3.7 rebounds per game as the Suns remain close to a playoff spot and lead the Western Conference play-in teams. https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/48014905/sources-suns-dillon-brooks-4-6-weeks

In the minors – The San Diego Clippers split a pair of games with Austin heading into the weekend at Frontgate Arena in Oceanside, losing 116-115 on Thursday, then winning 135-132 Friday. Their next game is tomorrow in Edinburg, Texas against the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.

In college basketball – It was a weekend of upsets in the AP Top 25. #3 Duke knocked off #1 Michigan Saturday 68-63. #4 Arizona upset #2 Houston 73-66. #23 BYU surprised #6 Iowa State 79-69. Unranked Cincinnati blew away #8 Kansas 84-68. Unranked UCLA edged #10 Illinois 95-94 in overtime. UCSD topped UC Irvine 71-69. USD fell to Loyola Marymount 77-65. San Diego State lost to Colorado State 83-74.

In women’s NCAA – The top five women’s teams all won yesterday. #13 Iowa routed #6 Michigan 62-44. Unranked Virginia edged #8 Louisville 74-72.

In the NHL – Regular season games resume Wednesday.

In the minors – The San Diego Gulls played a pair of games at Rockford over the weekend. They beat the Icehogs 5-4 Saturday and lost 2-1 yesterday. Their next game is Wednesday hosting Tucson.

In Major League Baseball – It was the first weekend of exhibition games. The Padres began with a loss to training site partners, the Seattle Mariners. They bounced back Saturday with a 10-3 win over Seattle, then lost yesterday 5-1 to the Dodgers. Today, they play Milwaukee. The Dodgers play Seattle. The Angels play Texas.

A newly discovered 1909 Honus Wagner trading card that had been kept in the same family since new sold at auction for $5.1m. It’s the third most-expensive T206 Wagner and the poorest condition of the three – Grade 1. A Grade 2 card sold for $6.6m in 2021 and a Grade 3 sold for $7.25m in 2022. Tobacco trading cards for the Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop are valued for their scarcity. Wagner asked the American Tobacco Company to pull it from production in 1909 – the only year printed. Theories range from a printing plate mishap to rumors that Wagner didn’t like trading cards promoting tobacco to children, to Wagner objecting to his likeness being used without compensation. https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/48007225/newly-discovered-t206-honus-wagner-card-auctioned-5m

In soccer – The San Diego Sockers won 5-2 Saturday at Tacoma. Their next game is Friday hosting Tacoma.

In lacrosse – The San Diego Seals edged Halifax 9-8 Saturday at Pechanga Arena. Their next game is Friday at Denver.

In golf – At the Genesis Invitational at Pacific Palisades, Jacob Bridgeman was the winner by one stroke over Kurt Kitayama and Rory McIlroy after blowing a huge third-round lead and shooting one over-par 72 yesterday. https://www.espn.com/golf/leaderboard?tournamentId=401811933

In racing – At Atlanta yesterday, Tyler Reddick was the winner, giving both him and team co-owner Michael Jordan their second NASCAR win in as many weeks.

Indycar season begins next Sunday in the streets of St. Petersburg.

Local High School Sports –

Bonsall – no scheduled games today

Great Oak – boys’ golf at a tournament at Western Hills at 9a

Fallbrook – no scheduled published

Valley Center – varsity softball hosting Orange Glen at 3:30p

BUSINE$$

As of midday trading on Wall Street, stocks plunged today on President Trump’s reaction to Friday’s Supreme Court ruling. The Dow fell 1 ½%. The S&P 500 was down 1%. And the Nasdaq was off by 1.1%. Gold shot up with safe haven buying on the Comex, rising $145.40 an ounce to $5,226.30. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil was down 27 cents to $66.21 a barrel.

Unwilling to take a “no” from the Supreme Court for an answer, President Trump over the weekend announced a 10% tariff under a different provision to replace those struck down by SCOTUS last week. He then lashed out at the high court justices and raised that new tariff to 15% – the maximum allowed under the Trade Act of 1974 – effective tomorrow. The ruling only applied to tariffs Trump invoked under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act. The new 15% tariffs can only last 150 days unless extended by Congress. As for the previous illegal tariffs that must now legally be refunded, the Trump administration is expected to argue that companies lack standing to claim a refund if they passed on their costs to consumers by raising prices. The Supreme Court did not say how refunds of the estimated $133b of illegal tariffs should be handled, leaving the problem to lower courts to solve. Thousands of companies have already filed lawsuits to claim tariff refunds. Those cases are likely to be in court for years. www.nytimes.com

The European Union today halted the ratification process of a sweeping trade deal with the US over the current tariff chaos in the US. The deal reached with the EU in July would have eliminated what the White House called “trade barriers”. It would have capped tariffs on imports from the EU at 15% and cut them entirely on aircraft, generic drugs, semiconductor equipment, some farm products and some crucial raw materials. The scuffle over Greenland’s future and new uncertainty over tariffs have put any deal with the European Union on indefinite hold. https://www.nbcnews.com/business/economy/europe-halts-trade-deal-trump-tariffs-rcna260231

This year’s State of the Union Address is tomorrow. It’ll be President Trump’s opportunity to explain the latest end-run to maintain tariffs and his increasing threats of war against Iran, for which he has yet to seek required Congressional approval. Also, Trump claims that the US has undergone an economic turnaround since he regained office. Yet the data on jobs and inflation trends hasn’t changed much in the past year. www.NYTimes.com

Airline stocks were mostly down as weather-related flight cancellations from this week’s blizzard over the eastern half of the nation force the cancellation of more than 5k flights. www.marketwatch.com

Americans are being warned not to travel in Mexico following Sunday’s death of that nation’s most-wanted cartel boss, Nemesio Osegura Cervantes, known as “El Mencho”. He was injured in a government capture in which nine other cartel members died. He died during transport to Mexico City for medical attention. Since then, cartel operatives have set fires in 13 Mexican states and blocked major roads as close to the US as Tijuana. Guadalajara has been hit extremely hard with 20 branches of the state-run bank damaged or set on fire. Most businesses there are closed. Public transit was halted, events cancelled and flights into Guadalajara International Airport diverted. Flights into Puerta Vallarta have also been halted. The Mexican government has warned citizens in five states to “shelter in place until further notice.” https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/22/world/americas/jalisco-new-generation-cartel-leader-killed.html

The nearly five-week strike by 31k nurses and other workers at Kaiser Permanente is over. There is still no new contract. But union officials say progress is being made and have directed members to return to work tomorrow. About 40% of union workers crossed picket lines and returned to work last week. https://www.pressenterprise.com/2026/02/23/kaiser-strike-ends-with-31000-workers-returning-to-work-tuesday/

LIFESTYLE / GREEN LIVING

Over the weekend at the movie box office, this week’s new releases failed to impress, as last week’s #2 film, “GOAT” moves up from second to first place with $17m in ticket sales. It traded places with last week’s #1, “Wuthering Heights”, whose audience dropped off by more than 56% in its second week of release. “I Can Only Imagine 2” opened in third place with $8m. “How to Make a Killing” opened in 6^th place on half as many screens as the other, selling $3.5m worth of tickets. “Elvis Presley in Concert” debuted in 7^th place on just 325 screens, earning $3.2m for the highest per-screen average of the weekend – more than twice that of GOAT. Movie attendance this weekend was down sharply from the President’s Day weekend and below average for the year so far. https://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/2026W08/

Cal State San Marcos’ American Indian Studies department is offering the first of what it hopes will be several courses at the Temecula campus of Mt. San Jacinto College on Motor Car Parkway, just off the west end of Overland Drive. AIS 410, “United States History Through Indigenous Lenses: Pre-Contact to the Present” is taught by Dr. Eric Tippeconnic Thursdays at 2:30p. To find out more, contact the Cal State San Marcos AIS department at 760 750 8092. (American Indian Review)

On this day in music history – February 23,

1940, Woody Guthrie wrote the lyrics to “This Land is Your Land” in his room at Hanover House Hotel in New York City.
In 1961, Petula Clark had her first #1 hit in Britain with “Sailor”. It wasn’t released in the U.S.
In 1965, filming began in the Bahamas on The Beatles follow up film to “A Hard Day’s Night”. The working title was “Eight Arms to Hold You”. It was eventually renamed “Help!”.
In 1972, after five years of marriage, Priscilla Presley moved out of her California home with Elvis and into a two-bedroom apartment near the beach. Their divorce would be finalized the following October.
In 1974, David Bowie’s “Rebel Rebel” entered the charts. It was his last glam rock-style song. Originally written for a never-produced Ziggy Stardust musical, it was his first hit since 1969 that didn’t feature Mark Ronson on guitar. Bowie himself played guitar on Rebel.
In 1978, winners at that year’s Grammys included Fleetwood Mac, Album of the Year for “Rumors”. The Eagles, Record of the Year for “Hotel California”. And the Bee Gees’ “How Deep is Your Love” for Best Pop Vocal Performance.
In 1985, Stevie Wonder was arrested during an antiapartheid demonstration outside the South African embassy in Washington. He was released after questioning by D.C. police.
In 1995, Melvin Franklin from The Temptations died of a brain seizure at age 52.
In 1998, all members of Oasis were banned for life from flying on Cathay Pacific Airlines after “abusive and disgusting behavior” during a flight from Hong Kong to Perth.
In 2003, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers bass player, Howie Epstein died of a suspected drug overdose in New Mexico.
On the same day, News of The World reported Michael Jackson had undergone scores of painful operations to strip his body of skin until he appeared white. Surgeons eventually refused any more treatment.
And still on this day in 2003, Norah Jones cleaned up at the 45^th Grammy Awards winning Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal for “Don’t Know Why”.
In 2010, London’s Abbey Road Studios were made a “listed building” – the equivalent of a historical building designation in this country, protecting it from any radical changes. The Beatles used it for 90% of their recordings. Originally named EMI Studios, the name was changed in 1970 because of The Beatles’ “Abbey Road” album.
In 2017, Jay Z was the first rapper inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
In 2019, Ariana Grande became the first solo artist to hold the Top three spots on the Hot 100 in the same week. Only The Beatles had ever done it before. Her songs were “7 Rings” at #1, “Break Up With Your Girlfriend” at #2, and “Thank U, Next” at #3.

Born on this day …

In 1944, songwriter and guitarist for Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, Mike Maxfield. He wrote their hit, “Little Children”.
Also in 1944, Johnny Winter. The singer and guitarist also produced three Grammy-winning albums for Muddy Waters.
In 1946, Rusty Young from Poco.
In 1948, Steve Priest, bass player for Sweet.
In 1952, Aerosmith guitarist Brad Whitford
In 1955, British musician, singer and songwriter Howard Jones. Recently, he’s been a member of Ringo Starr’s All-Star Band.
In 1962, Michael Wilton from Queensryche

https://www.thisdayinmusic.com/search/?keyword=&date=23&month=2

Other celebrity anniversaries today …

Patricia Richardson, best known as Jill Taylor on TV’s “Home Improvement” is 74
Michael Dell, who founded Dell computer company at age 19 is 60
Aziz Ansari from TV’s “Parks and Recreation” is 42
Among those who’ve passed, movie director Victor Fleming whose credits include “Gone With the Wind” and “The Wizard of Oz” – both of which were released in the same year was born in 1883
Majel Barrett who played nurse Chapel and the voice of the ship’s computer in the original Star Trek TV series was born in 1932. She was also the wife of the show’s creator, Gene Roddenberry.

http://www.davesfunstuff.com/a-mb/2080-date0223.htm

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Pala seniors’ lunch menu for tomorrow (2/24) – chicken fajitas, Spanish rice, pinto beans and dessert

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WEATHER

Pala Weather – sunny with a high of 83 this afternoon … 84 tomorrow … 83 Wednesday … 86 Thursday … 87 Friday … 86 Saturday … 83 Sunday … overnight lows, 50 tonight and tomorrow night … 53 Wednesday night … about 55 Thursday through Saturday night.

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COMMUNITY CALENDAR

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SHOWS

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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.