News

Pala Today News – 3/24/26

Written by John Fox on March 24, 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

Riverside County supervisors will decide today whether to terminate the contract with last year’s organizers of the iconic Temecula Valley Balloon & Wine Festival over an unpaid bill. If it does, it would prevent the festival from being held this year at Lake Skinner and raise questions about the festival’s future. Events.com announced its acquisition of the Balloon and Wine Festival as part of an expansion in the Southern California market early last year. They switched the 2025 festival to an all-country music lineup and delayed its start from the usual June opening until late summer. So far, there has been no mention of a date for 2026. According to the organizer’s website, the event infuses the local economy with over $1.5m annually. First held in 1983 near what is now Ronald Regan Sports Park, the festival has grown to an event that brings up to 30k people a year to Lake Skinner Recreation Area in Winchester. The Riverside County Parks Department says the event still owes almost $74k plus penalties for the use of the county-owned venue last year. A county vote could terminate the contract with Events.com as of April 30. https://patch.com/california/temecula/temecula-valley-balloon-wine-festival-contract-may-be-terminated-2026-what-know

A student at Liberty High School in Menifee was struck by a vehicle near the entrance to the school off Leon Road just before 9:45a this morning. The student was able to walk to the school office with an ambulance en route. No other details released. https://patch.com/california/murrieta/student-struck-near-rivco-high-school-ambulance-responding

The annual dredging of Oceanside Harbor by the Army Corps of Engineers is set to begin in April with equipment arriving on March 31. Sand removed from the entrance to the Harbor to allow greater clearance for deeper draft water craft will be distributed on city beaches to the south from April 6 through May 9, barring equipment or weather issues. How much sand and how far south it will be distributed depends on what can be accomplished in the allotted time. https://patch.com/california/oceanside-camppendleton/oceanside-beach-dredging-planned-what-know

High temperatures in Pala will remain above normal with a warmup from the mid-80s today to the mid-90s by Saturday. The full forecast is coming up. (below)

SPORTS

In the NBA – The Lakers lost at Detroit 113-110. The Clippers routed the visiting Bucks 129-96. Last night’s other winners were Indiana, Oklahoma City, San Antonio, Atlanta, Chicago, Toronto, Portland, and Golden State over Dallas 127-131 in overtime.

In the minors – The San Diego Clippers next game is Thursday hosting Stockton.

In college basketball so-called March Madness – No games yesterday. NIT quarterfinals are today and tomorrow. The NCAA Sweet 16 begins Thursday.

In women’s NCAA – #10 Virginia upset #2 seed Iowa 83-75 in double overtime. #6 Notre Dame beat #3 Ohio State, and #5 Kentucky edged #4 West Virginia 74-73. In the five other 2^nd round games, the top seeds won. Three NIT second round games today.

In the NHL – In yesterday’s only game, Ottawa edged the Rangers 2-1 in New York. 15 games today including Anaheim at Vancouver and Los Angeles at Calgary.

In the minors – The San Diego Gulls next game is Saturday at Abbotsford.

In Major League Baseball – The Padres played their final preseason game yesterday beating Seattle 10-3. The Angels got partial revenge for Sunday’s loss to the Dodgers, tying them at 7 in game 2 of the annual freeway series. The final game is today, along with final preseason games for 14 other teams. The regular season begins tomorrow with the Yankees at San Francisco at 5p on Netflix.

Tomorrow also marks the beginning of robot umpires in the Major Leagues. It’s called the Automated Ball Strike, or ABS Challenge System powered by a network of cameras tracing where a pitched ball crosses the plate. Teams begin each game with two challenges in which the robot umpire can be consulted if they think the human umpire’s call was incorrect. If a challenge is successful and ABS says the umpire was wrong, the team can use that challenge again. If the original call was right on two challenges, the team can’t challenge any additional ball-strike calls that game. Only pitchers, catchers and batters can challenge calls, and they have to do it almost immediately, without help from teammates or coaches. The signal is a tap on the head. A few seconds later, a graphic appears on the outfield screen showing whether the pitch was a ball or a strike. League officials say most fans really like it, or at least don’t object to it. Players are less enthusiastic, but willing to give it a try. The technology is the same as what is now being used in tennis. In that sport, cameras have almost completely replaced line judges at most major tournaments. Though MLB commissioner Rob Manfred says it’s a first-step toward eliminating human baseball umpires, the majority of minor-leaguers who’ve been using ABS for a year now are against that possibility. A survey by The Atlantic says big league players feel the same. They want the game to retain the human touch. Besides, who would managers have to yell at without human umpires to eject them from a game when they get in their face. It’s no fun yelling at a graphic display in the outfield. Note that at the recent World Baseball Classic, which does not use ABS, one of the semifinal games ended on a questionable called strike that could have been resolved with a challenge. www.NYTimes.com

In the NFL – Tampa Bay linebacker Lavonte David has announced his retirement after 14 seasons – all of them with the Buc’s. The 36-year old was a 12-time team captain and is one of just four players in league history to record at least 40 sacks, 30 forced fumbles and 10 interceptions. https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/48296137/buccaneers-lb-lavonte-david-12-captain-retires-nfl

In soccer – The San Diego Sockers’ next game is Friday at Kansas City.

In lacrosse – The San Diego Seals are off until April 4.

Local High School Sports –

Bonsall – baseball and softball at Hamilton at 3:30p; boys’ volleyball hosting School for Entrepreneurship & Technology at 5:30p

Great Oak – boys’ tennis against Murrieta Mesa at 3:15p, varsity hosting, JV away; baseball against Vista Murrieta at 3:30p, JV & freshmen hosting, varsity away; softball against Murrieta Mesa at 3:30p, varsity hosting, JV away; swimming & diving hosting Chaparral at 4p; boys’ volleyball hosting Murrieta Mesa at 5p

Fallbrook – baseball against Rancho Buena Vista at 4p, varsity hosting, JV away; softball at Vista at 4p; boys’ volleyball hosting Bayfront Charter at 4p; boys’ lacrosse hosting Monte Vista at 6p

Valley Center – boys’ golf against Escondido, JV at Lawrence Welk at 3p, varsity at Twin Oaks at 3:30p; boys’ tennis at El Camino at 3:30p; baseball against Classical Academy at 4p, varsity hosting, JV at Del Dios Middle School; softball hosting Lincoln at 4p; boys’ volleyball hosting Mt. Carmel at 4:30p; girls’ lacrosse hosting Mission Vista at 6p.

BUSINE$$

As of midday trading on Wall Street, stocks were mixed. The Dow was up a tenth of a percent. The S&P 500 was down a tenth. The Nasdaq fell two thirds of a percent. Gold continued its decline, down $21.10 to $4,386.50 an ounce on the Comex. The U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures were up $4.68 to $92.81. a barrel.

The war in Iran isn’t the only thing that’s sending fuel prices higher. An explosion at a refinery in Texas yesterday is likely to have an impact on nationwide prices – maybe less so here in California where fuel is refined and blended locally to match separate California standards. www.marketwatch.com

A bipartisan bill introduced in the Senate yesterday would ban prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket from offering contracts on sports and casino games. If passed, it would be a victory for casinos. Sportsbooks are regulated by state legislatures. Prediction markets are monitored at the federal level by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Up until now, there’s been a loophole where transactions with prediction companies have been considered “swaps”, not “bets”. That has allowed prediction platforms to operate in all 50 states – even those where sports betting is illegal. Kalshi reports that 90% of its trading volume during football season was on sports. Sports was also the most traded category on Polymarket. The two have taken a combined total of almost $4b in sports trades during the first week of March Madness. Some states are suing to block them. Nevada won a temporary ban last week. The new bill would close the loophole and apply to all CFTC-regulated entities. Shares in traditional sportsbooks rose yesterday on the news. www.morningbrew.com

FedEx is partnering with last-mile delivery service OneRail to offer same-day delivery to all customers. OneRail provides retailers with a rate card. Actual pricing is determined by individual retailers at checkout. It was just last week that Amazon said it was launching ultrafast shipping of one to three hours. Walmart and Target have express options as well to keep up with the online retail giant. OneRail is a last-mile delivery software company that uses AI to optimize delivery, routing and tracking for retailers. The company says it covers 99% of the country and has a network of more than 1k carriers and 12m delivery drivers. The key here for FedEx is access to OneRail’s existing retail stores network. https://www.cnbc.com/2026/03/24/fedex-same-day-delivery-onerail.html

The Supreme Court’s conservative majority appeared ready this week to strike down a Mississippi law that allows ballots postmarked by election day, but received later, to be counted. At least 15 states, including California have similar laws which would be impacted by the decision, which is expected by June. It would therefore apply to the November midterm elections. www.morningbrew.com

LIFESTYLE / GREEN LIVING

Over the weekend at the movie box office, “Project Hail Mary” opened big, selling $80m worth of tickets on 4k screens. That’s more than the combined sales for the top ten movies most weeks so far this year. “Hoppers” dropped to 2^nd place with another $17.8m in sales. “Dhurandhar The Revenge” opened in third place with $10m on just 1k screens. “Ready or Not 2: Here I Come” opened in 4^th place with $9m. The total for the weekend’s top ten was almost double last weekend’s and the busiest weekend so far this year. Gotta love spring break. https://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/2026W12/

Tesla recently expanded its one-month pilot test of its first big rig semitruck it has named … “Semi”. Select truckers are being invited to try it out, and so far, Tesla says they love it. The company plans to begin shipping the mass-produced EV big rigs this summer, targeting 15k deliveries this year, then 50k per year after that. The timing couldn’t be better for commercial trucking. Big rig owner-operators are the first to feel the effects of skyrocketing oil prices. With the price of diesel spiking by about $1.50 a gallon at the pump since the Iran war started, some of the busiest long-haul truckers are spending an additional $3k or more per month on fuel just to keep them wheels a rollin’. The Tesla Semi is expected to be priced between $260k and $290k, which is about twice as much as a new diesel truck. Based on energy costs in California, Tesla estimates about a four-year payback on investing in a new EV Semi. But it’s important that routes that new Semi will run have dedicated Tesla Megacharger stations. Normal Superchargers or home charging would take a prohibitively long time, and would only accomplish a partial charge. 64 Megachargers just for Semis are initially planned for the I-5 and I-10 corridors in California, Nevada, Texas and the Southwest. A Megacharger can give a Tesla Semi a 400-mile charge in 30 minutes. According to a former GM official, it typically takes three to six months of persistently high gasoline prices before the average consumer starts considering more cost-effective alternatives. Time will tell if this is the perfect storm for the launch of Tesla’s Semi. www.morningbrew.com

On this day in music history – March 24,

1958, Elvis Presley reported to the Memphis draft board to begin his service in the Army, interrupting the peak of his early career in music.
In 1966, Britain’s favorite Simon & Garfunkel song entered the charts. Paul Simon said “Homeward Bound” was written at Farnworth Station in Widnes, England along the Mersey River where he’d been stranded overnight waiting for a train. A plaque at the station commemorating its part in the song has been stolen many times by memorabilia hunters.
In 1973, during a Lou Reed concert in Buffalo, a fan jumped on stage and bit Lou on the tuchas. That’s buttock for those who don’t speak Yiddish. Reed’s father’s real name was Rabinowitz.
On the same day, The O’Jays were at #1 with “Love Train”.
In 1977, Fleetwood Mac released the single “Dreams” from their 11^th album, “Rumors”. Stevie Nicks is said to have written it in ten minutes. It became their first and only #1 hit.
In 1985, former Earth, Wind & Fire singer Philip Baily and Phil Collins from Genesis were at #1 With “Easy Lover”.
In 1990, Sinead O’Connor was at #1 with “Nothing Compares to You”, written by Prince. It topped the charts in 14 countries including six weeks in the U.S.
In 1992, a Chicago court settled the Milli Vanilli class action suit by ordering up to $3 rebates for anyone who could prove they bought the group’s music before their lip-syncing scandal broke in 1990. The duo had won the Best New Artist Grammy the year before but were stripped of the award in 1990 when it was revealed that neither of them actually sang on their album.
In 1997, Philly soul singer Harold Melvin, front man for The Blue Notes died at the age of 57. Their biggest hit was “If You Don’t Know Me By Now” from 1972.
In 2001, a stretch of Highway 19 in Macon, Georgia was named Duane Allman Boulevard. It’s near where the Allman Brothers Band guitarist died in a motorcycle crash in 1971 at the age of 24.
In 2022, Spotify paid a total of $7b to the holders of music rights the previous year – almost a quarter of the music industry’s total revenue for 2021. Over 52k artists earned more than $10k from Spotify that year. 130 of them were paid over $5m. Though the streaming service didn’t say who earned what, its most streamed acts that year were Bad Bunny, Taylor Swift, BTS, Drake, and Justin Bieber.

Born on this day …

In 1935, session bass player Carol Kaye from LA’s Wrecking Crew, who played on an estimated 10k recordings in her 50-year career including many Phil Spector, Brian Wilson, Quincy Jones and Lalo Schifrin productions. She played on TV show themes including those for Mission Impossible, M.A.S.H., Kojak and Streets of San Francisco. She and double bass player Chuck Berghofer created the signature bass line for Nancy Sinatra’s “These Boots Are Made for Walking”.
In 1937, R&B singer Billy Stewart who had a top ten hit in 1966 with his version of George Gershwin’s “Summertime”. He died in a car crash in 1970.
In 1938, singer-songwriter Don Covay who wrote “Chain of Fools” – a Grammy winning hit for Aretha Franklin.
In 1946, harmonica player Lee Oskar from LA funk band War.

https://www.thisdayinmusic.com/search/?keyword=&date=24&month=3

Other celebrity anniversaries today …

Actress Donna Pescow, who played the title role in TV’s “Angie” and was in the movie, “Saturday Night Fever” is 72
Actress Lara Flynn Boyle from “Twin Peaks”, “Men in Black II” and “Wayne’s World” is 56
Actor Jim Parsons, best known as Sheldon on TV’s “Big Bang Theory” is 53
Actress Alyson Hanningan from the “American Pie” movies and TV’s “How I Met Your Mother” is 52
Actress Jessica Chastain from “The Martian” and “The Help” is 49
Among those who’ve passed, silent film comedian Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle was born in 1887
Animator Joseph Barbera from Hanna-Barbera was born in 1911.
Actor Normal Fell from numerous movies, and who played Mr. Roper in TV’s “Three’s Company” was born in 1924.

http://www.davesfunstuff.com/a-mb/2080-date0324.htm

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WEATHER

Pala Weather – sunny with a high of 86 this afternoon … 87 tomorrow … 90 Thursday … 93 Friday … 94 Saturday … 92 Sunday … mostly cloudy and 85 Monday … overnight lows, 50 tonight and tomorrow night … 52 Thursday night … about 54 Friday and Saturday night … 52 Sunday night

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