Escondido Ca

An undercover U.S. Border Patrol agent shot and killed a man Thursday morning after a fierce struggle in an Escondido parking lot that was being used in a suspected human smuggling operation, authorities said. The man was unarmed but reached for the agent's gun during a scuffle, said Sgt. Roy Frank of the San Diego County Sheriff's Department, which conducted a preliminary investigation. Neither the man who was killed nor the agent who shot him has been identified.

The San Diego County medical examiner released the name of a man fatally shot by a Border Patrol agent after the two allegedly scuffled over a gun. The victim, Benito A. Gonzalez, 40, was killed Thursday after the agent tried to handcuff him, said Paul Parker, an investigator with the medical examiner's office. A records search identified him as an illegal immigrant.

ESCONDIDO -- The howling Santa Ana winds may have saved Roger Bielasz's life even as they threatened to end it. Unable to sleep because of the wind's racket, Bielasz got out of bed around 1 a.m. Monday and went to his window just in time to see flames shooting up to his hilltop home. Within minutes, the fire had surrounded his house, along with four others overlooking the San Pasqual Valley.

In his medley of train songs, Fallbrook singer Ken Graydon hit upon one Friday with the refrain "there was always a train in my dreams." Graydon was the opening act for an afternoon of hoopla to hail the debut of the North County Transit District's latest public conveyance, German-made light-rail cars that will travel the 22 miles from Oceanside to Escondido on two sets of tracks, with 15 stops.

Police shot and killed a knife-wielding man who strapped his 4-month-old daughter to his chest and held officers at bay for six hours. Michael Wellman, 35, of Escondido was shot at close range and died Thursday at a hospital. His daughter was not harmed. Officers went to his home after employees at a 7-Eleven called police at 12:45 p.m. Thursday to report that a man who lived nearby had stolen cigarettes.

The City Council voted 3 to 2 Wednesday to adopt an ordinance meant to block landlords from renting to illegal immigrants. The ordinance would require landlords who cannot prove their tenants are legal residents to evict them or face the loss of their business licenses. The American Civil Liberties Union plans to file a lawsuit to block the ordinance from taking effect.

The Escondido City Council has reversed its approval of an ordinance meant to block landlords from renting to illegal immigrants. The council's action Wednesday came after a coalition of civil rights organizations filed a lawsuit to block enforcement of the ordinance, which was passed in October. The ordinance would have required landlords who could not prove their tenants were legal residents to evict them or face loss of their business licenses.

San Marcos has one. Vista does too. San Diego has several. Even Folsom in Northern California, a city best known for its state prison, just got one. But Escondido, which fancies itself the capital of affluent Northern San Diego County, has no In-N-Out restaurant. The city came close two decades ago, and therein lies a tale of lasting civic pain and unrequited love for the purveyor of hamburgers and fries.

The San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park may be the first thing that comes to mind when some people hear "Escondido." But there is far more to this northern San Diego County city: A newly vibrant downtown, upscale homes, horse properties, lake view estates and an arts center that draws big-name entertainers. Escondido went from mining gold to harvesting grapes and later growing citrus.

A dozen employees of an Escondido nursing home have been charged with felony elder abuse for allegedly neglecting a woman and falsifying her medical records. The employees at the 70-bed SunBridge Care and Rehabilitation for Escondido-East are scheduled to be arraigned in San Diego Superior Court next week. Evidence against the 12 was gathered through a video camera hidden in the woman's room after her family complained that she was receiving poor care, authorities said.