Pala Today News – 9/15/25

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  or call 712 775 5748.  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

A cell tower at Valley Center High School football field caught fire Friday morning around 6:23a.  It was far enough away from the main campus that school sessions were held as normal with parking and student drop offs restricted to the upper lot.  www.valleycenter.com

The San Diego Department of Public Works plans to activate a pilot program at two traffic signal-controlled intersections in Valley Center tomorrow.  Called “Red Light Protect”, it enables signals to recognize when a motorist is likely to run a red light and keep it green long enough to let that driver through, preventing a possible collision.  The selected intersections are Valley Center Road at Woods Valley Road and at Ranch Ridge Road. https://www.valleycenter.com/articles/controlled-traffic-lights-to-be-turned-on-soon/

There was an accident between a Nissan Rogue and a Dodge Ram 1500 pickup on Highway 76 near Horse Ranch Creek Road Saturday afternoon around 2:30p.  Lanes were blocked for a time.  No information available on injuries. https://www.villagenews.com/story/2025/09/11/news/traffic-collision-reported-on-sr-76-near-horse-ranch-creek-road/79865.html

A fatal hit and run accident closed part of Carlsbad Boulevard for several hours Saturday morning.  Responding officers found a bicyclist dead on the roadway just after 4:30a.  License plate readers and a drone helped officers track down the suspect about a mile from the scene of the collision.  Police arrested 27-year old Alexander Gendron of Escondido, charging him with vehicular manslaughter, DUI, and leaving the scene of an accident.  The identity of the victim has been withheld. https://www.newsbreak.com/fox-5-san-diego-1589916/4233090363136-man-arrested-in-fatal-carlsbad-hit-and-run-involving-bicyclist

The city of Carlsbad is holding a special meeting tomorrow to gather community input on the idea of prohibiting the use of electric bikes by children under age 12.  Recently enacted AB 2234 gives cities the right to establish such local ordinances.  The new law applies only to Class 1 and Class 2 e-bikes.  State law already requires a minimum age of 16 to operate a Class 3 e-bike. https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2025/09/15/carlsbad-to-consider-prohibiting-e-bike-use-by-kids-under-12/

There was a 2.8 magnitude earthquake in the mountains about 7 miles north of Anza at 8:52a this morning.  Few people reported felt it. https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/ci41291600/executive

Warmer temperatures for Pala with good chance of small amounts of rain beginning Wednesday, lasting for up to four days.  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.  Mass will not be broadcast on 9/21 due to staffing limitations.

 

SPORTS

In Major League Baseball – The Padres took two out of three from the visiting Rockies.  The Dodgers lost their first game at San Francisco in extra innings Friday when Patrick Baily hit a walk-off grand slam homer for the Giants.  LA roared back with two straight routs of the Giants Saturday and yesterday.  Seattle swept the visiting Angels.  The Padres and Angels have today off.  The Dodgers host Philadelphia.  The Giants are at Arizona.

In the NFL – The Rams thumped Tennessee 33-19.  Yesterday’s other winners were Cincinnati, Dallas, Detroit, New England, San Francisco, Buffalo, Seattle, Baltimore, Indiana, Arizona, Philadelphia and Atlanta.  Tonight, Tampa Bay is at Houston on ABC and the Chargers are at Las Vegas on ESON>

In college football – The top seven AP Top 25 teams all won their games Saturday.  #8 Notre Dame got edged by #16 Texas A&M 41-40.  Unranked Vanderbilt routed #11 South Carolina 31-7.  Unranked Georgia Tech upset #12 Clemson 24-21.  USC beat Purdue 33-17. 

UCLA has fired coach DeShaun Foster after beginning the season with a 43-10 home loss to Utah followed by back-to-back losses to Mountain West teams.  Including his portion of last season, his record with the Bruins was 5 and 10.  https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/46257776/sources-ucla-fires-deshaun-foster-bruins-start-0-3

In the WNBA – Yesterday’s postseason playoff winners were Minnesota, Atlanta, New York and Las Vegas.  First round continues tomorrow with Atlanta at Indiana and Las Vegas at Seattle.

In hockey – The NHL preseason begins Saturday.

In Major League Soccer – On Saturday, San Diego FC lost to Minnesota at Snapdragon Stadium.  LAFC beat San Jose 4-2.  The Galaxy and Seattle Sounders tied at 2.  

In golf – At the Procore Championship in Napa, Scottie Scheffler was the winner, finishing at 19-under par 269. https://www.espn.com/golf/leaderboard

In racing – Yesterday at Bristol Motor Speedway, Christopher Bell won the NASCAR Cup playoff race

In local high school sports: 

Bonsall – no scheduled games today

Great Oak – girls’ golf at San Clemente all day

Fallbrook – girls’ tennis against San Marcos at 3:30, varsity hosting, JV away; field hockey at San Pasqual at4p

Valley Center – girls’ varsity tennis at Orange Glen at 3:15p; flag football against Escondido at Rancho Buena Vista at 5:30p

 

BUSINE$$

As of midday trading on Wall Street, stocks were up.  The Dow gained a small fraction.  The S&P 500 was up almost a half percent.  And the Nasdaq gained almost 9 tenths of a percent.  Gold shot up $34.60 on the Comex, trading at $3,721 an ounce.  West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures rose 63 cents to $63.32 a barrel.

Convenience stores are stealing away the breakfast business that fast food chains have carefully cultivated over the past several decades.  Morning meal traffic at fast food chains grew 1% in the past three months, while breakfast visits to convenience stores increased 9% during the same period.  It’s a lifeline for convenience stores where demand for gasoline, tobacco and lottery tickets have fallen lately.  87% of what consumer eat and drink in the morning comes from their own refrigerators and kitchens.  The rest is divvied up between restaurants, fast food and, since the pandemic, food-forward convenience stores, who’ve copied many of the strategies and tech used by fast food chains.  7-Eleven is planning even more expansion for its prepared foods business.  Convenience store chain RaceTrac last week announced it is buying the Potbelly sandwich chain, but hasn’t said what its plans are for the addition.  Meanwhile, morning traffic to fast food chains has fallen every quarter for the past three years.  McDonald’s notes that breakfast is its most economically sensitive daypart, because it’s the easiest for a stressed consumer to either skip or choose to eat at home.  Fully one third of McDonald’s business in the first half of 2019 was breakfast.  That’s now less than 30%.  Another factor that can affect where people eat breakfast is EVs.  The time it takes to charge an EV allows for a meal out.  And the store connected with the charging station is going to get that business – whether it’s fast food, a convenience store or whatever. https://www.cnbc.com/2025/09/13/convenience-stores-are-eating-fast-food-chains-breakfast.html

 

LIFESTYLE / GREEN LIVING

Over the weekend at the movie box office, “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Infinity Crisis” not only wins longest title of the year, it won this weekend’s box office, debuting with $70m in ticket sales.  Last week’s #1, “The Conjuring: Last Rites” dropped to second with $26.1m – just a third of what it earned last week.  “Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale” opened in third place with $18.1m.  “The Long Walk” debuted in fourth with $11.5m on 1k fewer screens than the others.  The re-release of the original “Toy Story” opened in 5^th place with $3.5m – not bad for a movie that just about everybody already has on DVD.  The weekend overall was the best since mid-summer and double that of the Labor Day weekend. https://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/2025W37/

At last night’s Emmy Awards, “The Studio” became the most-awarded comedy series ever with lead actor Seth Rogan tying for most individual wins in one night.  “The Pitt” won for best drama with Noah Wyle winning best dramatic lead in The Pitt.  Britt Lower won for lead actress in a dramatic series.  Jean Smart won for her lead in the comedy series “Hacks.  “Adolescence” won best limited series with Stephen Graham winning for lead actor in it.  “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” won for talk series.  https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Culture/emmys-2025-full-winners-list/story?id=125403616

Last Wednesday’s murder of Charlie Kirk has sparked debate about political violence in the U.S. and it’s getting people fired or suspended.  A number of businesses and other organizations have let people go because of their public comments about Kirk.  Some are saying the firings are a coordinated effort and violate freedom of speech.  They include a Secret Service agent who allegedly expressed negative opinions about Kirk, an employee of X, MSNBC analyst Matthew Dowd, a Washington Post columnist and an employee at Middle Tennessee State who posted what the university said were “inappropriate and callous comments on social media” about the murder.  Eight states including California have laws that protect employees from being fired for their speech or conduct off the job, including political speech.  The other 42 do not.  Businesses and organizations there justify the firings, saying the behavior runs afoul of policy because it reflects badly upon or otherwise harms the organization.  https://www.cbsnews.com/news/charlie-kirk-shooting-employees-fired/

While Cracker Barrel wins the award for 2025, they’re not the only company who ever had a disastrous marketing makeover.  In 2009, Tropicana replaced the classic orange on its juice cartons with a picture of a full glass of juice.  Its sales promptly fell 20%.  They brought back the orange within a year.  JCPenny simplified its name to JCP in 2012 under a new CEO and went from bad to worse, losing nearly $1b that year amid a complete rebrand.  The CEO was fired and the name went back to JCPenney.  And who can forget “New Coke”?  www.morningbrew.com

The trend towards touch screens is making new vehicles less safe than their predecessors … just as safety experts predicted would happen.  97% of new models introduced since 2023 have at least one touch screen even though 89% of drivers surveyed by “What Car?” magazine say they prefer physical buttons.  According to S&P Global Mobility, vehicle manufacturers are switching to touch screens because they’re cheaper to install, they can use the same tech across multiple models, and they’re nearly essential for pushing software updates.  But, according to independent consultancy group, TRL, using a touch screen while driving is much more dangerous than a physical control.  It slows reaction times worse than, texting, marijuana, or the legal limit for alcohol.  Some automakers, including Volkswagen, Subaru and Hyundai have gotten the message and are bringing back more buttons and knobs in some of their models.  A European vehicle safety ratings group will now consider touch screens when issuing its model safety ratings.  www.morningbrew.com

 

On this day in music history – September 15,

• 1956, Elvis Presley began the first of five weeks at #1 with “Don’t Be Cruel”, which ended up being the biggest-selling single of his career, helped along by the B-side being “Hound Dog”.
• In 1961, The Pendletones had their first professional recording session at Hite Morgan’s studio in LA.  They recorded a song called “Surfin’” and in keeping with the theme, changed their name to The Beach Boys.
• In 1962, The Four Seasons were at #1 for the first of five weeks with “Sherry”.
• In 1965, still unknown outside R&B circles, Otis Redding released his third studio album, “Otis Blue”.  It was mostly cover songs by more popular R&B and Soul artists.
• On the same day, the Ford Motor Company became the first carmaker to offer an 8-track tape player as an option across its entire line of vehicles.  The tapes were initially only available at auto parts stores.
• In 1967, filming continues on The Beatles’ “Magical Mystery Tour” with impromptu lunch at a Taunton, Somerset fish & chips shop being filmed and later included in the movie.
• In 1968, The Doors had to perform as a trio at a concert in Amsterdam after Jim Morrison collapsed while dancing during Jefferson Airplane’s lead-in performance.
• In 1970, U.S. Vice President Spiro Agnew said that the youth of America were being “brainwashed into a drug culture” by rock music, movies, books and underground newspapers.
• In 1975, Pink Floyd released their 9^th album, “Wish You Were Here” exploring the themes of absence, the music business and the mental decline of former band-mate Syd Barrett.  It went to #1 and spent a total of 84 weeks on the chart
• In 1979, Led Zeppelin began the first of 7 weeks at #1 with their final album of new material, “In Through the Out Door”.
• In 1990, Steve Miller’s “The Joker” hit #1 in the UK 16 years after its original release when it went to #1 in the U.S.  It holds the record for longest gap between transatlantic chart toppings.  Its late success in Britain was due to its use in a Levi’s ad.
• On the same day in the U.S., Wilson Phillips had their second #1 single with “Release Me”.
• In 1997, a 34-year old man was awarded about $35k from a French court after losing his hearing from standing too close to loudspeakers at a U2 concert four years earlier.
• In 2004, Ramones guitarist Johnny Ramone (real name John Cummings) died after a five-year battle with prostate cancer.
• In 2008, Pink Floyd keyboardist and founding member Richard Wright died of cancer at age 65. Wright, Syd Barrett, Roger Waters and Nick Mason were the lineup on the group’s first album “Piper at the Gates of Dawn” in 1968.  David Gilmour joined the band just after its recording and ended up replacing the unstable Barrett.
• In 2019, Ric Ocasek, former lead singer with The Cars was found dead in his apartment at the age of 75.  Ocasek went solo in the late 80s and produced albums for others including Weezer and No Doubt.

Born on this day …

• In 1941, Signe Anderson, original lead singer for Jefferson Airplane.  She was replaced by Grace Slick before the group’s second album.
• In 1946, Ola Brunkert, drummer for ABBA.
• In 1960, Michel Dorge, drummer for Crash Test Dummies.

https://www.thisdayinmusic.com/search/?keyword=&date=15&month=9

 

Other celebrity anniversaries today …

• Actor Tommy Lee Jones is 78
• Among those who’ve passed, humorist, writer, actor and member of the Algonquin Round Table, Robert Benchley was born this day in 1889
• Country singer Roy Acuff was born in 1903
• Actress Penny Singleton who played the title role in the “Blondie” movie series and was the voice of cartoon character Jane Jetson was born in 1908
• Actor, director Jackie Cooper was born in 1922
• Comedian Norm Crosby, famous for his mangling of the English language was born in 1927
• character actress Wendie Jo Sperber from TV’s “Bosom Buddies”, and movies including “Private Benjamin” and “1941” was born in 1958

http://www.davesfunstuff.com/a-dd/2080-date0915.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 (9/16) – Taco Tuesday with Spanish rice, vegetables 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.

Go to Facebook.com/RezRadio for community events and news affecting, or of interest to Pala and inland North County.

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A transcript of this newscast will be available at our website, Rez Radio dot FM and on the Rez Radio App an hour or two after broadcast.

 

WEATHER

Pala Weather – sunny with a high of 91.3 degrees this afternoon … 95 tomorrow … partly sunny and 90 with a 20% chance of rain and thunderstorms Wednesday … partly sunny and 90 with a 30% chance of rain Thursday … mostly sunny and 89 with a slight chance of rain Friday … mostly sunny and 88 Saturday … patchy morning low clouds and fog, clearing to mostly sunny and 87 Sunday … overnight lows, 63 tonight through Friday night … 61 Saturday night

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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.

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SHOWS

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

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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.