News

Pala Today News – 12/15/25

Written by John Fox on December 15, 2025

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

The Valley Center High Jaguars are the state football champions of their division. In one of the most exciting events in the community in years, busloads of rooters departed through crowds of well-wishers along Valley Center Road midday Friday for that evening’s game at Cal State Fullerton. The game against the Northern California champions couldn’t have been much more exciting with the lead changing hands nine times. Final score 36-35.

A pedestrian was struck and killed in San Marcos Saturday night. The driver behind the wheel of the pickup truck involved, who remained at the scene was arrested on suspicion of DUI. It happened about 11:40p in the 900 block of West San Marcos Boulevard. https://patch.com/california/carlsbad/suspected-dui-driver-arrested-after-pedestrian-fatally-struck-north-county-crash

More sunny weather with highs in the 80s for Pala this week. Cooling a little this weekend. 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.

SPORTS

In the NFL – It was a weekend of exciting comebacks, but also of devastating injuries. Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes and Green Bay linebacker Micah Parsons both left their games with ACL injuries. Parsons’ was non-contact. Mahomes happened on an awkward foot plant followed by a defensive line tackle in the final drive of the Chiefs’ 16-13 loss to the Chargers. Elsewhere, the Rams improved their record to 11 and 3 with a 41-34 win over the visiting Lions. They’d been down 24-14 just before halftime. Other winners were Chicago, Baltimore, Buffalo, Washington, Philadelphia in 31-0 shutout of the visiting Raiders, Jacksonville, Houston, Denver, New Orleans, San Francisco, Seattle and Minnesota. Tonight’s game is Miami at Pittsburgh on ESPN.

College Football – 2025 Bowl Game schedule – (partial)

Sat 12/13 – Bucked Up LA Bowl at SoFi Stadium – Boise State 10, Washington 38

Tue 12/16 – Salute to Veterans Bowl in Montgomery, AL – Troy v. Jacksonville State – 9p on ESPN

Wed 12/17 – StaffDNA Cure Bowl in Orlando – Old Dominion v. S. Florida – 5p on ESPN

Wed 12/17 – 68 Ventures Bowl in Mobile – Louisiana v. Delaware at 8:30p on ESPN

Thu 12/18 – Xbox Bowl in Frisco, TX – Missouri State v. Arkansas State at 6p on ESPN2

Fri 12/19 – Myrtle Beach Bowl in Conway, SC – Kennesaw State v. Western Michigan at 8a ton ESPN

Fri 12/19 – Gasparilla Bowl in Tampa, FL – Memphis v. NC State at 11:30a on ESPN

Mon 12/22 – Famous Idaho Potato Bowl in Boise, ID – Washington State v. Utah State at 11a on ESPN

Tue 12/23 – Bush’s Bowl of Beans in Boca Raton, FL – Toledo v. Louisville at 11a on ESPN

Tue 12/23 – New Orleans Bowl in New Orleans – Western Kentucky v. Southern Miss at 2:30p on ESPN

Tue 12/23 – Frisco Bowl in Frisco, TX – UNVL v. Ohio at 6p on ESPN

Wed 12/24 – Hawai’i Bowl in Honolulu, HI – Cal v. Hawai’i at 5p on ESPN

Fri 12/26 – GameAbove Sports Bowl in Detroit – Central Michigan v. Northwestern at 10a on ESPN

Fri 12/26 – Rate Bowl in Phoenix – New Mexico v. Minnesota at 1:30p on ESPN

Fri 12/26 – First Responders Bowl in Dallas – Florida International v. UTSA at 5p on ESPN

In the NBA – Golden State’s Steph Curry had quite a weekend, scoring 39 points Friday against Minnesota and 48 points last night at Portland. Yet it wasn’t enough, as the Warriors lost both games. Yesterday’s other winners were Washington, Charlotte, Atlanta, Brooklyn, Minnesota, New Orleans, and the Lakers over the Suns in Phoenix 116-114. In that game, the Suns’ Dylan Brooks spearheaded a 20-point rally in the 4^th quarter, hitting the go-ahead 3-pointer with 12.2 seconds left in the game. But then he rough with his nemesis, LeBron James and got called for a technical foul. James went two for four from the line, drew a foul from Devon Booker, hit two more with three seconds left and blocked final Phoenix shot for the win. Five games tonight including the Clippers hosting Memphis. https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/47311603/lakers-lebron-james-seals-win-vs-suns-dillon-brooks-ejected

In college basketball – Top-ranked teams down to #11 all won Saturday. USD beat Northern Arizona 78-69. UCSD stomped Tulane 93-67. USC beat Washington State 68-61 yesterday.

In hockey – Yesterday’s winners were Vancouver, Utah, Carolina, Minnesota, Montreal, and Buffalo. Five games tonight including the Ducks at the New York Rangers and the Kings at Dallas.

In the minors – The San Diego Gulls topped Henderson Friday at Pechanga Arena 4-1, then lost 2-1 to the Silver Knights in a shootout Saturday. Their next game is tomorrow at Henderson.

In Major League Baseball – With the signing of Edwin Diaz, the Dodgers are now on the hook for over $1b in deferred payments to nine players between now and 2047. https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/47315355/dodgers-deferred-payment-obligations-surpass-1-billion

In lacrosse – The San Diego Seals lost their home openers to Rochester yesterday 15-7 at Pechanga Arena. Their next game is January 3 hosting Calgary.

In golf – At the PGA Tour Q-School in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, Canada’s A.J. Ewart was the winner at 14 under par 266. https://www.espn.com/golf/leaderboard

Bonsall – basketball at Guajome Park Academy at 5p

Great Oak – boys’ soccer at Linfield Christian at 3:30p; boys’ basketball hosting Elsinore at 4p; boys’ soccer at Linfield Christian at 5p

Fallbrook – girls’ basketball against Scripps Ranch at Christian at 6p

Valley Center – girls’ soccer hosting Sage Creek at 4p; boys’ basketball at Granite Hills at 5:30p

BUSINE$$

As of midday trading on Wall Street, stocks were down to start the first full week of trading this year. The Dow and S&P 500 each fell three tenths of a percent. The Nasdaq was off by 6 tenths. Gold gained $5.80 on the Comex, trading at $4,334.10 an ounce. The benchmark West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures were down 93 cents to $56.51 a barrel.

According to Salesforce, AI could drive $263b in global spending this holiday season. That’s 21% of all holiday spending. Consumers are mixed on the technology. One shopper surveyed said AI made holiday shopping fun. Another said it was like talking to a “demented grandmother.” The industry is interpreting that as “it’s a good idea, but it still needs work.” According to Adobe, AI traffic to U.S. retail sites shot up by 760% between November 1 and December 1 of this year. Visa, Zeta Global and others say between 40% and 83% of consumers had planned to use AI this holiday shopping season. Adobe also found that shoppers arriving at retail websites from generative AI Platforms are 30% more likely to buy something and 14% more engaged than those coming from non-AI sources. Those visits generate 8% more retailer revenue per session. Major online retailers including Walmart and Target are closely examining overhauls of AI to ensure customers stay longer and buy more because AI platforms such as ChatGPT make it more fun to shop. https://www.cnbc.com/2025/12/12/ai-chatgpt-holiday-shopping-sales-walmart-target.html

Under the weight of debt and tariffs, as well as competition from foreign competitors, iRobot, the maker of Roomba has filed for bankruptcy. Most Roombas were manufactured in Vietnam, so the company got hit with major import fees as part of Trump’s tariff war. The company failed to merge with Amazon two years ago and has been losing money ever since tariffs began. iRobot will be taken over by its main manufacturer in China to ensure continuation of the Roomba line. https://www.npr.org/2025/12/15/nx-s1-5644772/tariffs-roomba-irobot-bankruptcy

LIFESTYLE / GREEN LIVING

The investigation continues into the shocking murders of actor/director Rob Reiner and his wife Michelle Singer yesterday afternoon at their home in Brentwood. Their 32-year old son, Nick Reiner has been arrested and is being held in lieu of $4m bail. He has a history of drug problems and periods of homelessness. Rob Reiner first became widely known as the son-in-law of Archie Bunker on TV’s “All in the Family” – a role for which he won two Emmys. Before that and straight out of UCLA film school, he’d partnered with another young comic, Steve Martin as a writing team on “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour” on CBS. He made his directorial debut with “This is Spinal Tap” in 1984. Then came one of the best-ever coming of age movies, “Stand By Me” based on a novella by Stephen King. Reiner’s next benchmark was directing the hit romantic comedy “When Harry Met Sally” in which his mother utters the famous line “I’ll have what she’s having.” It was loosely based on his and screenwriter Nora Ephron’s lives. He co-founded Castle Rock Entertainment, the production company behind “City Slickers”, “The Shawshank Redemption”, “Miss Congeniality” and one of the most lucrative television properties of all time, “Seinfeld”. Rob Reiner was 78. His wife was 68. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/rob-reiner-dead-harry-met-sally-princess-bride-all-in-family-1236450387/

Over the weekend at the movie box office, “Zootopia 2” regained the #1 spot, selling $26.3m worth of tickets for a three-week domestic total of $258m and a worldwide total of over $1b. Last week’s favorite film “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2” fell 70%, earning $19.5m. “Wicked: For Good” remained third with $8.5m additional tickets sold in its 4^th week in theaters. “Ella McCay” debuted in 7^th place with a low $2.5m on 1k fewer screens than the others. The re-release of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” was 8^th with $1.8m on 2,250 screens. The re-release of “The Shining” was 10^th, selling $1.8m in tickets on just 400 screens for the third-best per-screen average of the weekend. The total take for the weekend’s Top Ten films was less than half of last weekend’s and well-below average for 2025. https://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/2025W50/

Christmas music is more popular than ever. At least it is if it’s streamed. According to Spotify, on December 1, 2019, 14 holiday songs were in the Spotify Top 50. As of December 1, this year, there were 30 on that list. And the one non-novelty Christmas song that seems to get the most complaints about being played too often – “Last Christmas” by Wham is at #2 on the Spotify Global Top 50. www.WSJ.com

On this day in music history – December 15,

1943, American jazz pianist, composer and singer Fats Waller died of pneumonia on a train near Kansas City. He wrote “Ain’t Misbehavin’” and “Your Feet’s Too Big”. Waller was once kidnapped at gunpoint and taken to a Chicago nightclub owned by Al Capone. Once inside he was ordered to perform at a surprise birthday party for the gangster.
In 1944, big bandleader Glenn Miller was killed when his plane went down over the English Channel on his way to entertain U.S. troops in France during World War II. His band was the biggest seller for the years 1939 to 1943 with 23 #1 hits in just those four years. They included “In the Mood”, “Chattanooga Choo Choo”, “Moonlight Serenade”, and “Pennsylvania 6-5000”.
In 1969, John Lennon played what would be his final show ever in the UK with the Plastic Ono Band at a UNICEF “Peace for Christmas” benefit. George Harrison, Eric Clapton, Billy Preston and Keith Moon were also part of the show.
In 1973, Charlie Rich began the first of two weeks at #1 with “The Most Beautiful Girl” – his only #1 hit.
In 1979, Pink Floyd began the first of five weeks at #1 with “Another Brick in the Wall (part 2)”.
In 1984, “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” by the all-star group Band Aid entered the British singles chart at #1 and stayed there through the New Year. The fund raiser for Ethiopian famine relief became the biggest selling single ever in Britain at 3 ½ million copies.
In 1988, James Brown was sentenced to six years in prison on a variety of charges including weapons possession and resisting arrest.
In 1997, “Spice World The Movie” featuring The Spice Girls premiered in London. The following year it was nominated for “worst film” at the Golden Raspberry Awards.
In 1999, Boy George was knocked unconscious when a mirror ball fell on his head during a show.
In 2001, Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh was given an honorary Doctorate of Music from Kent State University
In 2001, funk and soul singer Rufus Thomas died of heart failure at age 84. His career included the vaudeville circuit and emcee in the 1930s. An early radio disc jockey in Memphis. And a recording artist beginning in the 1960s when he had Top 40 hits including “Walking the Dog” in 1963 and “Do the Funky Chicken” in 1970.
In 2008, Madonna paid former husband Guy Ritchie about $70m as part of their divorce settlement.
In 2014, Taylor Swift was at #1 with her fifth studio album, “1989”. It was the best-selling album of the year.

Born on this day …

In 1919, Max Yasgur, the owner of the farm that hosted Woodstock in August of 1969. Yasgur died four years later at age 53.
In 1921, Alan Freed, the radio disc jockey who coined the term “Rock ‘n’ Roll”.
In 1939, Cindy Birdsong who replaced Florence Ballard in The Supremes in 1968. She’d previously been a member of Patti LaBelle & The Bluebells
In 1942, musician, songwriter, producer and entrepreneur, Dave Clark from the English pop band The Dave Clark Five
In 1946, drummer Carmine Appice from Vanilla Fudge and Rod Stewart’s band
In 1949, actor Don Johnson who also had a #5 hit during his “Miami Vice” days in 1986 with the song “Heartbeat”.
In 1955, bass player for The Clash, Paul Simonon

https://www.thisdayinmusic.com/search/?keyword=&date=15&month=12

Other celebrity anniversaries today …

Comedienne Melanie Chartoff is 75
Actress Helen Slater is 62
Among those who’ve passed, Tim Conway from TV’s “McHale’s Navy” and “The Carol Burnett Show” was born in 1933

http://www.davesfunstuff.com/a-mb/2080-date1215.htm

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Pala seniors’ lunch menu for tomorrow (12/16) – tamales, Spanish rice, pinto beans and dessert

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WEATHER

Pala Weather – sunny with a high of 80 this afternoon … 82 tomorrow and Wednesday … 85 Thursday … 84 Friday … patchy morning low clouds and fog clearing to mostly sunny and 76 Saturday … 75 Sunday … overnight lows, 49 tonight … about 52 tomorrow and Wednesday night … 54 Thursday night … about 49 Friday and Saturday night

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