Fallbrook Observer Vol. 5.12
Fallbrook business people busted. Open seat on Health Board.
What’s the oldest continuing business in Fallbrook?
(Answer at the end.)
Fallbrook Servpro co-owner ran magic mushroom shop out of Ash Street location
According to Patch and many other sources, including a DOJ (Department of Justice) press release, 9 and 11 year old were made to help family members grow and harvest mushrooms at 2 locations in Fallbrook and Bonsall according to authorities. 42 year old Randal Vance of Fallbrook and his wife Rebecca face drug trafficking charges along with Keir Ceballos-Rivera of Oceanside. Prosecutors also accused the 3 of deleting texts and taking down websites they used to sell the psilocybin mushrooms.
The three were arrested by Federal authorities on Wednesday. Their relationship to the children is unknown.
Vance allegedly told one of the children, “Make sure your friend’s parents don’t find out or you and I are in big trouble,” after the child told him he’d sold a psilocybin mushroom capsule to his friend for $3. The boy was attending Lincoln Middle School in Oceanside.
The Vances were held without bond on Thursday and Ceballos-Rivera is scheduled for a detention hearing next week on the 25th.
Your friendly Servpro team
Randy Vance co-owns the Servpro franchise in Fallbrook, according to their website. Keir (spelled Kier on his Linkedin page) was the vice president of operations until October, 2024. They worked out of 215 West Ash Street.
According to the DOJ press release, law enforcement executed search warrants at the Ash Street and Lilac Road locations on October 4, 2024. They seized “approximately 204 pounds of fresh psilocybin mushrooms, 53 pounds of dried psilocybin mushrooms, 35 pounds of psilocybin chocolate bars, 18 pounds of inoculated substrate to grow psilocybin mushrooms, and equipment used to grow, harvest, and process psilocybin mushrooms.”
In January, 2025 the Servpro Fallbrook Facebook page was updated with a picture that said Team Araya and now their webpage shows a picture of owners Jose and Juan Araya although Vance and Kier are still shown.
Vance and Ceballos are charged with conspiring to use and employ minors to produce a controlled substance.
All three are charged with conspiring to distribute a controlled substance and conspiring to obstruct justice by destroying evidence; and Randal Vance is charged with distributing a controlled substance to minors and possessing firearms in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime.
The children were 9 and 11 when the conspiracy to harvest the psilocybin at the Ash Street location and another Lilac Road location in Bonsall began, according to prosecutors. Psilocybin mushrooms are hallucinogenic drugs.
Judge Valerie E. Torres granted the government’s request that Randal and Rebecca Vance be held without bond because they are a flight risk.
Vance bragged about giving the kids microdoses of the drug.
Randal Vance is also charged with illegally possessing a Glock 34 pistol, a Walther P22 pistol, a Henry Survival AR7 rifle, a Smith and Wesson revolver, an H&R Model 900 revolver, and a Browning 30-06 rifle in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense.
U.S. Attorney’s Office District of Southern California
Opening on Health District Board - Apply by Friday
Musk cuts food bank program from USDA
The Emergency Food Assistance Program (EFAP) is a program of the USDA (US Department of Agriculture). It’s a federal food program that sends food to county food banks like the San Diego Food Bank, which then distributes the food to their partner agencies like the Fallbrook Food Pantry. They distribute food locally through the Neighborhood Distribution Program, such as to the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Fallbrook.
According to an NPR story yesterday, these funds are now threatened by Elon Musk’s Government “Efficiency” program.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has halted deliveries to food banks in several states. Those truckloads of food were paid for with $500 million that had been set aside through an emergency assistance program for fiscal year 2025. This comes after the Agriculture Department cut a billion dollars from a program that helps schools and food banks purchase food from local farms. These cuts come at a tough time for social service organizations across the country, many of which are dealing with state funding cuts and, of course, higher food prices.
Carl DeMaio introduced anti-labor bill
from Contra Costa News
Assemblyman of District 75, Carl Demaio, introduced AB 522 which he calls “The Freedom to Work Act”. It would repeal AB 5. AB 5 was passed in 2019.
The bill would allow the use of independent contractors without classifying them as employees. It would also prohibit union members from performing union work during working hours.
Last year, Kate Sanchez, another Republican Assembly member tried to repeal AB 5.
When Governor Newsom signed Lorena Gonzalez’s AB 5 bill in 2019, the plan was to restore employment status to millions of workers who had been misclassified as independent contractors. Gonzalez said at the time, “The state’s Division of Labor estimates that the misclassification of workers results in an estimated annual payroll tax revenue loss of $7 billion per year. By applying a strict test to determine who is an independent contractor and making employment status a default under the law, working Californians who have been kept off payroll as employees will gain access to basic labor rights for the first time, including rights to minimum wage, overtime, unemployment insurance, workers’ compensation, paid sick days, paid family leave, workplace protections against harassment and retaliation, and the right to form or join a union. Some of the many workers who will benefit include janitorial workers, construction workers, port truck drivers, home health aides, hotel and hospitality workers, delivery and ride-hail drivers.”
AB 5 codified and clarified the Dynamex decision by the California Supreme Court in 2018.
On the other hand, it could be ambiguous to use the ABC test it called for to distinguish between an employee or contractor. It caused disruption in the “gig” economy where the independent contractor model was prevalent. It caused some prices to go up due to increased business costs for employee benefits and regulations.
Fallbrook Planning Group Met
Fallbrook Community Planning Group held its regular monthly meeting on Monday March 17.
Permit for Manufacturing facility at 540 W. Clemmens Lane: Most of the meeting was spent discussing a proposed manufacturing facility to go into the large vacant lot at the SW corner of Clemmens Lane and Alturas Road.
The County informed nearby residents on Clemmens and Alturas of MWS Solutions’ request for a permit to construct a 52,000 square foot facility manufacturing metallic fencing. MWS anticipates increased sales because new California fire rules will be requiring fire proof fences.
MWS owners testified that the high-tech facility is to receive truck deliveries of galvanized steel that will be cut during around the clock operations. The sound from these cutting machines are supposedly only 55 decibels and the noise won’t be noticeable outside the building. Cut pieces will then be shipped by truck to the MWS Oceanside facility for welding and anodizing.
Neighbors are worried about all the truck traffic, and disputed that the zoning allows this facility.
The Planning Group explained that MWS Solutions still has a long way to go to get their permit approved by the County. The Planning Group passed a resolution asking the county to clarify the zoning situation, plus answer the neighbors questions regarding environmental factors and traffic concerns.
At the Monday night meeting, the Planning Group approved the building design only. The building will be below street level and hidden by a screen of trees that MWS Solutions will plant along Alturas Road.
Trump’s trans troops ban update
Tuesday a federal judge ruled that Trump’s trans troops ban is likely unconstitutional and “soaked in animus” and could not move forward. On Friday the government responded with a filing requesting the court to “dissolve the injunction” before it goes in effect. Defense Secretary Hegseth posted on x that they will appeal the decision.
Trans people make up less than 1% of the population but Trump made them a cornerstone of his campaign last year, barraging the airwaves in the last days of his campaign in swing states with ads paid for by Elon Musk. Musk has a personal grudge against trans people because his own daughter, Vivian (who he claims doesn’t exist) is a trans woman.
And at the weekly Wednesday protest in Fallbrook
How much has Trump cost you so far?
Year to date the European Stock Index has risen 14% and the Standard and Poor has gone down 3%. Last week Trump said a recession might be worth it, but economists disagree. Inflation has been stubborn and elieve tariffs will make it worse.
Measures of consumer and business confidence have plummeted and stock prices have tumbled, attributable in large part to Mr. Trump’s policies and the uncertainty they have caused.
according to The New York Times.
Save Your Scraps
from Everything Fallbrook
Free ZOOM meeting on Tuesday, March 25 at 6:30 pm
Sponsored by Fallbrook Climate Action Team on the subject of food waste and organic recycling. From FCAT:
Maren Kavanagh is a Community Education Coordinator for I Love A Clean San Diego (ILACSD) an environmental nonprofit. She will discuss dos and don’ts of green bin organic waste recycling, low waste cooking methods, and proper food storage.
Measles cases spread to more states
from Guardian
Ohio, Alabama and Maryland are monitoring new measles cases. So far, 378 cases have been reported this year compared to 285 in the U.S. all of last year. Besides these 3 states, other cases have occurred in Alaska, California, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont,Kansas and Washington. 309 of this year’s cases are in Texas, with one death, a child who’s parents said their other 4 children didn’t get that sick so they don’t advise getting the MMR vaccine. 42 cases are in New Mexico with one death of an unvaccinated adult. Kansas has 8 cases.
The Child Care Crisis
North County Informador, a Fallbrook based bilingual magazine, featured an article about the child care crisis in their latest edition. 70% of children under 6 have parents who are working or going to school. “In 2023, 2.2 million parents of young children had to quit their jobs or turn down work because they couldn’t afford childcare.”
Connecting…
RedWine and Blue
Many local women are connecting with a national group fighting extremism called RedWine and Blue.
They are a national group of over half a million diverse, suburban women who organize their friends, one at a time, to combat extremism and have fun along the way. Their online California group is called SWEEP (Suburban Women-Engaged, Empowered, and Pissed!!)
5 Government offices targeted by Musk in San Diego
5 leases for office space in San Diego County have been terminated or not renewed for the federal government. The San Marcos IRS office is closing. The lease for the Carlsbad Social Security office is not being renewed. The local lease terminations were listed by Musk on his team’s website. Other offices include an FDA (Food and Drug Administration) office in University City, an International Trade Administration office in Kearney Mesa, and a Department of Labor office downtown. The San Marcos office is the largest of the 5, providing in person tax help on weekdays.
Employees will vacate the Palomar Airport Road office in Carlsbad on June 4.
Darrell Issa cosponsored HR2006, the Musk enabler bill
from Congress.gov
Darrell Issa is one of only 7 Congressional Reps to cosponsor HR2006, officially called “To codify Executive Order 14210 relating to implementing the President's Department of Government Efficiency workforce optimization initiative”. It would make into law everything that Musk is doing and more. So all the court cases overturning what he’s doing would be negated.
It was referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on March 10. The text is not available. It would need to pass both houses before it’s signed into law.
This Week
Answer: Barry Bell & Howell Mortuary - Thanks to Fallbrook Historical Society
FALLBROOK CLIMATE ACTION TEAM | TUESDAY, 03/25/2025 - 6:30 PM | Click here to register for the free talk | I Love a Clean San Diego