Fogtober welcomed us into spooky season, and now it's time to find a pumpkin patch for your jack-o-lanterns and family photo opps.

The big picture: There are dozens of places around San Diego to enjoy fall festivities whether you're looking for decorative gourds and pumpkins, hayrides and corn mazes or spiced (and spiked) treats.

Zoom in: Pick your pumpkins at these local spots with other unique activities that are fun for kids and adults.

🐮 Oma's Family Farm in Lakeside offers the full family-friendly fall experience with quirky activities like sledding on cotton seeds, sliding down feed shoots, pumping water for rubber ducky races and feeding goats.

🍸 Carlsbad Strawberry Company's pumpkin patch features a haunted corn maze and another with a speakeasy hidden inside.

🤘Bates Nut Farm in Valley Center has a mechanical bull, pony rides, rock climbing, plus live music and rotating food vendors on weekends.

💐 The Goff Family Pumpkin Patch at Liberty Station is a cute and quaint setup that's pet-friendly and free. Host a private party, enjoy the bar and firetruck pizza or build your own bouquet at its flower stand.

🚘 1 for the road: Take a trip out east for Julian Farm and Orchard's Harvest Fest happening every weekend from 10am-4pm.

• It's worth the drive — there's rock climbing, face painting, flower picking, axe throwing, tractor hay rides, a hay bale maze, craft beer garden and some of the best pies around.

More options

FanDuel's $70 billion promise to investors relies on getting major states like California and Texas to legalize sports betting, though it's uncertain exactly when that will happen, FanDuel CEO Amy Howe tells Axios.

Why it matters: FanDuel is now the largest division within global betting giant Flutter, as evidenced by its recent stock listing move from London to New York.

State of play: Flutter told investors last month that it expects the sports betting market in the U.S. and Canada to reach $70 billion by 2030, including $63 billion in the U.S. alone.

• That prediction relies on getting "at least two of the three big states," Howe told Axios.
• Sports betting is now legal in 38 states and Washington, D.C., but California and Texas remain the two largest holdouts.

Zoom in: Sports betting legalization was resoundingly defeated by California voters in 2022, largely because commercial operators like FanDuel were at odds with the Native American tribes that control the gaming space in the state.

• The tribes backed a rival proposition in which sports betting would have been legalized only on tribal lands, in opposition to the commercial-supported one, which would have legalized online sports betting. Both were rejected by voters.
• "At the end of the day, the tribes will decide when it happens and how it happens," said Howe, who is now eyeing 2026 or 2028 for legalization.

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Land acknowledgements — the recognition that Indigenous people were the original inhabitants of American land — have become more common among academics, nonprofits, companies, celebrities and even in social media bios.

Why it matters: The well-meaning attempts to educate non-Indigenous people can fail to reach their desired impact if they aren't paired with more concrete action to support Indigenous communities.

• "It has to be this reminder of having ongoing action — of being a steward, continuing to do things, of making space, making [systemic] change," Lydia Jennings, a citizen of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe, told Axios.

Zoom in: In June, the San Diego City Council passed a symbolic resolution formally recognizing that the city sits on land never legally ceded by the Kumeyaay people.

• SDSU, UCSD and USD also acknowledge the land the universities reside on as Kumeyaay, and provide related resources.
• Jennings suggests statements like those should be paired with funding to help Indigenous students and hire Indigenous faculty.

By the numbers: Nearly 100,000 people in San Diego County — 3% of the population — identify as American Indian or Native Alaskan, per 2023 census data.

Go deeper

🚲 Downtown pedicabs can no longer blast music from speakers, and drivers need to clearly communicate a price before giving someone a ride, under new city council regulations approved Monday. (City News Service)

🐼 The San Diego Zoo unveiled its panda cam Tuesday, giving fans around-the-clock access to Yun Chuan and Xin Bao. (San Diego Zoo)

🦠 The share of San Diego Unified students meeting state standards in English and math each increased by less than a percentage point since last school year. (Voice of San Diego)

• Yes, but: Both are about four percentage points lower than they were prior to the pandemic.

San Diego brewers won 12 medals at this weekend's Great American Beer Festival in Colorado this weekend.

Why it matters: The annual event is among craft beer's most prestigious, and the medal count reflects the continued quality of San Diego beer even as industry hype has subsided in the last decade.

Driving the news: For the second straight year, five local breweries won gold — but none of this year's winners were repeats from 2023.

• Pizza Port (Imperial Beach), Craft Coast Beer & Tacos, Culture Brewing Co., Green Cheek Beer Co. and Puesto Cerveceria took home first place in their respective categories.
• Athletic Brewing Co. also earned multiple medals.

Zoom in on local winners