Pala Today News – 9/16/26

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

Los Angeles Channel 4’s news helicopter crashed, sending up a fireball between two commercial buildings last night around 7p after having covered a deadly SUV and bus crash in nearby Chatsworth two hours earlier.  Reporter Eliana Moreno, the pilot and a person on the ground were killed with two others on the ground injured.  Both incidents are under investigation. https://patch.com/california/northridge/reporter-pilot-news-chopper-crash-mourned-cockpit-alarm-heard-seconds-crash

How hot was it last week?  Hot enough for SDG&E to set a record for electricity demand.  The peak was exactly one week ago on September 9 with a net system load of 5,209 megawatts, blowing away the old record of 4,890 set in September of 2014.  Last Wednesday was the day it was 95 degrees when the first pitch was thrown at the Padres 1p game against the Nationals at Petco Park.  There were no widespread blackouts in the SDG&E grid that day, although about 15k customers were affected by small unplanned outages.  No Flex alerts were issued thanks to the state’s power system having added about 31k megawatts of capacity over the past six years.  More than half of that additional capacity is from new battery energy storage systems in the state.  About 2,500 megawatts of that new capacity is in San Diego County.  https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2026/09/15/yes-it-really-was-that-hot-last-week-sdge-sets-a-record-for-electricity-demand/

Coming up on the November ballot, Measure B is an open-ended half-cent sales tax increase for all of San Diego County.  It’s backed by a coalition of health care organizations and labor unions.  A majority vote would result in an extra $400m to $450m per year designated to fund local health care coverage, Tijuana River pollution control, and emergency personnel and fire protection programs.  Local political leaders are divided on the measure with those against saying this is the wrong time to burden consumers already suffering from high prices. Those in favor point to many state and local programs that will face funding shortfalls as a result of President Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill”.  They say firefighting and public safety services alone could be impacted by as much as $300m per year by the bill.  The increase would push the county sales tax rate to 8%.  The total tax rate in some cities including Escondido would increase to 9%.  In Vista and Oceanside, it would increase to 8 ½%.  https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2026/09/15/fight-to-pass-measure-b-the-countywide-sales-tax-increase-heats-up/

The city of Oceanside is laying plans for what weather forecasters say is now a 90% chance of a very strong El Niño this fall and winter which could cause widespread flooding and other weather emergencies.  City crews are already clearing storm drains and channels.  Patrols are planned to look for flooding during storms with equipment and barricades on standby.  Planning is also underway for water rescues.  The San Luis Rey River is of particular concern.  Normally almost dry, it crested at a record 21.7 feet at the Oceanside gauge in 1993.  Back in 1916, an even stronger storm cycle destroyed rail and highway bridges and reshaped the coastline at the river’s mouth.  The city is encouraging residents to review flood risks and prepare well in advance with sand and sandbags.  Ten free sandbags per residence are available at Moody’s El Corazon Recycling on Oceanside Boulevard. https://www.northcoastcurrent.com/weather/el-nino/2026/09/oceanside-steps-up-storm-preparations-ahead-of-el-nino/

Pala weather will be comfortably in the low 80s for a couple of days, warming to the upper 80s this weekend.  The full forecast is coming up. (below)

 

SPORTS

In Major League Baseball – The Padres fell to the last-place Rockies 9-3 last night in Denver.  The Dodgers shut out the Reds in Cincinnati 4-0.  Miami beat Arizona 4-2 in eleven innings.  And the Angels edged the visiting Mariners 2-1.  San Diego still has a 2 ½ game lead over Arizona in the race for the final NL Wild Card.  The Brewers clinched their fourth straight NL Central title last night with a 5-1 win over the Pirates in Pittsburgh.  All those series continue today.

In the Minors – Last night in Santa Clara, Lake Elsinore lost to San Jose 9-1.  That ties the California League championship series at a game apiece.  This year’s title will be decided in Game 3 tonight at 6:30p in Santa Clara.

In the NFL – Indianapolis wide receiver Keenan Allen was formally charged this week for his drunk driving arrest last month.  The 34-year old Allen tested high enough to trigger a more serious Class A misdemeanor charge under Indiana law than simple DUI.  His blood alcohol level was .224.   Allen is not likely to miss any playing time until his case proceeds through courts.  NFL substance abuse policy provides for a three-game suspension in a situation like Allen’s and the league usually waits until after the court case is finished. https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/49956982/colts-keenan-allen-formally-charged-faces-two-misdemeanors

Week 2 games begin tomorrow night with Detroit at Buffalo.

In college football – LSU star defensive end Pricewill Umanmielen was served with papers yesterday related to the lawsuit filed against him by Ole Miss.  The Rebels are seeking a half million dollars in penalties each from Umanmeilen and teammate Devin Harper for breach of contract.  They allege that the tow players signed revenue sharing contracts to return to the Rebels, then entered the transfer portal and signed with LSU one to three weeks later. The two teams play each other this Saturday. https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/49956474/lsu-umanmielen-served-court-papers-ole-miss-lawsuit

In Major League Soccer – This Saturday, LAFC is at San Jose and Minnesota United hosts the Galaxy.  San Diego FC is at Inter Miami on Sunday.

In the NBA – Free agent John Konchar has agreed to a deal with the New York Knicks.  The 30-year old forward is entering his eighth NBA season.  He was with Utah for six seasons and was traded to Memphis the middle of last season.  His average with Utah last season was 5.9 points, 3 assists and 5.7 rebounds in 26 games. https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/49953279/knicks-add-free-agent-john-konchar-one-year-deal

In the WNBA – Games resume tomorrow.

In the NHL – Commissioner Gary Bettman says the league has entered into an agreement with the Friedkin family to locate a new team in either Austin or Houston within the next six months.  The family has agreed to invest $3.5b for the expansion fee and building an arena.  Houston is the largest city without an NHL team.  Austin has been one of the country’s fastest-growing cities for the past 15 years.  The last time the NHL expanded was the Seattle Kraken in 2021 and the Vegas Golden Knights in 2017. https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/49950236/nhl-expansion-team-texas-austin-houston-updates-news-draft-divisions 

In tennis – The WTA’s year-end championships are moving to Charlotte, North Carolina beginning next year with the tour’s headquarters also moving there from St. Petersburg, Florida.  https://www.espn.com/tennis/story/_/id/49955949/wta-finals-head-charlotte-2027-start-3-year-run

Local high school sports –

Bonsall – flag football at Calvin Christian at 5p

Great Oak – girls’ volleyball hosting Chaparral at 5p

Fallbrook – no schedule available

Valley Center – girls’ golf hosting Vista at Native Oaks at 3:30p; flag football at El Cajon Valley at 5:30p

 

BUSINE$$

As of midday trading on Wall Street, stocks were mixed.  The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell a small fraction.  The S&P 500 was up a third of a percent.  And the Nasdaq gained 7 tenths.  Comex gold was up $58.70 to $4,391.50 an ounce.  The U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures fell $3.62 to $102.21 a barrel.  LATE EXTRA:  As expected, the Federal Reserve did raise interest rates today by a quarter percent – the first rate hike in three years.  With the labor market relatively under control, the Fed is hoping to beat down inflation with the first rate increase in three years.  The news caused all three major U.S. stock indexes to decline.

The Commerce Department today reported retail sales up a surprising 1.2% last month after dipping a half percent in July.  Today’s figure is a half percent better than economists were expecting.  Even without fuel sales at drastically higher prices, retail sales were up 1.1% led by discretionary sectors including food services, electronics, and sports and recreation.  According Global Port Tracker, September is expected to be the busiest month of the year at the nation’s major container ports.  https://apnews.com/article/retail-inflation-consumer-sentiment-economy-474ed13de492362589405a47ec044d29

Now that Canada’s relations with the U.S. are fraying, the European Union has suggested our neighbor to the north should become the EU’s first “associate member”.

Trucking company, J.B. Hunt stock plunged 10% after the company warned that third-quarter earnings will fall.  The company’s CFO noted “some of the most radical and abnormal swings” it had ever experienced in fuel prices over recent months.  Hunt is working on repairing its margins.  Its stock had been up almost 100% over the past year. https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/16/jb-hunt-stock-jbht-earnings.html

Tropical Smoothie Café has unveiled new branding under the ownership of private equity firm, Blackstone, who purchased the chain two years ago for $8b.  By the end of the year, it’ll have an improved version of its mobile app and website, all with a new unified look.  The color palette reflects the ingredients you’ll find in Tropical Smoothie’s products – bright and dominated by orange and green.  It also includes a palm frond-shaped icon to represent the brand in “shorthand” on digital platforms.  This is the first makeover for the chain’s branding in ten years.  Company CEO, Max Wetzel, former CEO of Carl’s Jr. and COO of Papa John’s says it was the perfect time to get a new look before a planned expansion to 3k locations. https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/16/tropical-smoothie-cafe-announces-new-branding-plans-for-new-locations.html

 

LIFESTYLE / GREEN LIVING

According to J.D. Powers annual North America Airport Satisfaction Study, overall satisfaction with air travel increased significantly this year.  Higher ratings came in part from newer gates and terminals many airports have opened in the last couple of years.  At the top of the list, scored on a 1k-point scale was Minneapolis-St. Paul International with 684 points.  Phoenix Sky Harbor was third.  San Francisco International was 6^th.  At 607, Los Angeles International was below average among the list of the 20 largest U.S. airports.  Chicago’s O’Hare International and Newark Liberty International tied for last place at 585.  You need at least 33m passengers per year to be considered a mega airport.  San Diego International served 25.3m last year and continues to grow.  That makes it a large-sized airport.  Tampa International topped that list with 715 points – the most of any airport in this year’s survey.  San Diego just beat the average at 659.  On the list of airports with 1m to 10m passengers per year, Charleston International came in at #1 with 712 points.  Ontario was second with 705.    https://www.jdpower.com/business/press-releases/2026-north-america-airport-satisfaction-study/

Mesa Agricola, a farm to table taqueria in Escondido has been named to the New York Times’ 2026 list of “50 favorite restaurants in the United States”.  It’s one of three California restaurants to make the list.  Owners Juan Gonzalez and his wife, Megan Strom grow virtually all of the produce used at the restaurant on their farm in Valley Center.  They also mill all the corn used in their house-made tortillas.  Chef Juan specializes in tacos known as taqueria de guisados.  Guisado is a regional Mexican stew of which he continually rotates a variety of 10 or 12 each day.  Mesa Agricola also makes their own aguas frescas and Basque-style cheesecake.  The kind of publicity from landing on a list in the New York Times is likely to overwhelm the little 6-table storefront restaurant on South Escondido Avenue.  Strom and Gonzalez are talking about more pop-up dinners and hosting special events like the San Diego Tijuana International Jazz Festival at California Center for the Arts on October 3. https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2026/09/15/escondido-taqueria-named-one-of-new-york-times-50-best-restaurants-in-america/

On this day in music history – September 16,

• 1963, “She Loves You” by The Beatles was released in the U.S. on Swan Records.  Although at #1 in Britain, it was ignored here until the following year, several months after the group’s U.S. breakthrough with “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” in late December of ’63.
• In 1966, a Member of Parliament asked Britain’s House of Commons to officially “deplore” the action of a magistrate who’d earlier called The Rolling Stones “complete morons … who wear filthy clothes”.
• In 1967, Jimi Hendrix debut album, “Are You Experienced?” entered the Hot 200 album chart where it remained for 106 weeks including 77 weeks in the Top 40 of albums.  Rolling Stone magazine later named it #15 on their 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
• In 1970, Led Zeppelin dethroned The Beatles as “best group” in the Melody Makers readers’ poll.  The Beatles had won the previous eight annual polls but had officially split up six months before the poll.
• In 1970 Jimi Hendrix joined Eric Burdon on stage for what would become his last public appearance.
• In 1977, T Rex lead singer Marc Bolan was killed when a car driven by his girlfriend hit a tree in Barnes, London.
• In 1979, Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight” was released.  It is considered to be the song that first popularized hip hop style.
• In 1996, Pearl Jam played the first night of the “No Code” tour at Key Arena in Seattle.  Many venues on the tour were out of the way because of the band’s refusal to play arenas controlled by Ticketmaster.
• In 2006, Bob Dylan was at #2 on the album chart with “Modern Times”.  It was his first album since “Desire” 30 years earlier to enter the chart at #1. At age 65, he was also the oldest living musician to ever top the chart.  That record was broken in 2011 by 85-year old Tony Bennett.
• In 2008, Motown songwriter and producer Norman Whitfield died of complications from diabetes.  He’d collaborated with Barret Strong on songs including “I Heard It Through the Grapevine”, “(I Know) I’m Losing You”, “Cloud Nine”, “War”, and “Papa Was a Rolling Stone”.
• In 2009, Mary Travers from Peter, Paul and Mary passed away after battling leukemia for several years.
• In 2014, Ariana Grande was at #1 with her second studio album, “My Everything”.

Born on this day …

• In 1925, B.B. King
• In 1941, Joe Butler from The Lovin Spoonful
• In 1942, Hollies bass player Bernie Calvert
• In 1944, Betty Kelly from Martha and the Vandellas
• In 1948, Kenny Jones, drummer for Small Faces, the Faces, and later The Who.
• In 1952, Ron Blair from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
• In 1963, singer songwriter Richard Marx
• In 1964, Dave Sabo from Skid Row.
• In 1992, Nick Jonas from The Jonas Brothers

https://www.thisdayinmusic.com/search/?keyword=&date=16&month=9

 

Other celebrity anniversaries today …

• Actor Ed Begley Jr. is 77
• Actor Kurt Fuller is 73
• Actress Jennifer Tilly is 68
• Comedienne Molly Shannon from Saturday Night Live is 62
• Actress and comedienne Amy Poehler also an alumna from SNL is 55
• Among those who’ve passed, Candid Camera creator Allen Funt was born this day in 1914

http://www.davesfunstuff.com/a-dd/2080-date0916.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 (9/17) – chili mac and cheese, roll, vegetables and dessert

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WEATHER

Pala Weather – sunny with a high of 82 and winds gusting up to 20 miles an hour this afternoon … partly sunny in the morning, clearing with a high of 82 tomorrow afternoon … 84 Friday … 87 Saturday … 86 Sunday … 83 Monday … 87 Tuesday … overnight lows, about 54 tonight through Friday night … 56 Saturday night … 54 Sunday and Monday night

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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.

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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.