The unsmiling man in the Hawaiian shirt takes your money.

The City of San Diego’s foundering financial ship has struck another shoal in the form of a lawsuit filed in 2005 by officers of the San Diego Police Department’s canine unit. The dog cops maintained …

Insider Thanks I wanted to tell you what a terrific job Joe Deegan did on the Republican Party (“Troublemakers Unlisted,” “City Lights,” July 10). I am a member of the Central Committee, and everything that …

Patients experiencing interminable delays in scheduling appointments for care at the San Diego Veterans Administration hospital aren’t just imagining things. So concludes a health-care inspection report released last month by the VA’s inspector general. The …

A major figure in the dark saga of Andrew Cunanan, the gay serial killer from San Diego who made international headlines when he murdered fashion designer Gianni Versace in Miami in 1997, has turned up …

When Saint Louis–based brewing giant Anheuser-Busch, owner of SeaWorld, gets taken over by a Belgium-based beer maker, will state politicians be left out in the cold? The most recent lobbying disclosure form filed by Anheuser-Busch …

“We’re 52%!” the sign read. It was being held aloft by a very young man with unkempt hair grown past his ears and a sparse and nascent cinnamon beard. He wore a yellow T-shirt bearing …

When Earlimart started releasing records eight years ago, the Los Angeles band had quirky song structures and fuzzy guitars and garnered a lot of comparison to the Pixies. Later, the band’s songs slowed down, Aaron …

Good Charlotte came to be during a time when rock was in post-grunge misery and feeling about for new direction. Dozens of bands emerged thereafter in the ’90s — bands such as blink-182 and Lit …

A brief mention in the May issue of Spin provided San Diego band the Donkeys with some national exposure, but the A&R reps at the major labels have not come a-knockin’ just yet. The band …

“Before brewers became cognizant of microbiology and sanitation, I imagine there were a lot more sour beers,” says Mitch Steele, head brewer for Stone Brewing Co. “It’s not only bacteria but wild yeast as well …

If Tell No One does not give us what we expect and want from a French thriller, part of the reason must lie in its source, an American mystery novel by Harlan Coben. I read …

I went to a few different parties a while back that involved bands. One was an afternoon affair near Viejas off the I-8. When I pulled up and saw three drum sets, I thought it …

With few Christians in Japan, Sunday is not a day of worship. It is, however, the only day most people have with their family. Until a couple of years ago, students had school on Saturdays …

“When my husband was young and on a swim team, they didn’t have goggles,” recalled Regina Paradowski of Paradowski’s Swim & Sports in Kearny Mesa (858-569-6946; paradowskisswim.com). “They used to put milk in their eyes …

Toddlers sprawled quietly on the patch of thick carpet at the back of the dim auditorium, filling in their coloring books. Behind them stood a row of tables holding free Bibles, juice, sandwich bags filled …

The price of gas. I don’t know how many times I’ve been asked, “When are you going to write something about the price of gas?” To which I have been answering for months now, “I …

User, n. The word computer professionals use when they mean “idiot.” — Dave Barry The initial symptoms of a massive failure, such as a heart attack or stroke — a sore arm, a bit of …

Thirty Years AgoEleanor Widmer’s article about Michael Copley was the most compelling reading to be seen in the Reader in many long months. My congratulations to her for taking a surprising (and apparently long overdue) …

Its internal workings comprise several kludgy elements. Inside it are: the wiring of a movie time bomb that forces my coffeemaker to count down from ten seconds over the span of half an hour, a …

My slang word is “sexlexia,” which is pretty much a word for those people that claim that they’re all that in the sack but really don’t know what they’re doing. And “twanky” means that something …

‘You’re still boxing, right?” “Yeah,” K.J. Noons says. “I’ve got two contracts: Gary [Gary Shaw Productions], with his boxing, and then EliteXC [Elite Xtreme Combat], CBS, and all that stuff.” Noons is the EliteXC Lightweight …

Familiar to most people around Del Mar but unknown to many outsiders, the Torrey Pines State Reserve Extension conceals itself amid the coastal bluffs inland from Del Mar and just north of the main Torrey …

“Paper Box,” by Gayle Skidmore, was the most-downloaded MP3 during June. Each month we will highlight the most popular tune by featuring an interview with the songwriter. What’s your favorite part of “Paper Box”? Gayle …

The Old Globe Theatre’s staging three of Shakespeare’s plays about love: star-crossed Romeo and Juliet, gender-crossed All’s Well That Ends Well (in which the woman gets to choose her husband), and double-crossed Merry Wives of …

Hank should so be here. So many freebies, and all healthy. I’m lost in a swirl of customers, ranging up and down the lunchtime food counters, the sushi counter, the pizza counter, the salad counter, …

Founded in 1980 as an all-age vegetarian eatery and gathering place for those interested in radical politics, the Ché Café at UCSD quickly became a haven for San Diego’s underground music scene. Though touring bands …

Comedy Central debuts its new version of The Gong Show tonight with host Dave Attell. In 1980, local band Four Eyes appeared on the original show, which was mostly known for the participants’ lack of …

A recent issue of Vogue showcased a shot of Nicole Kidman in period costume, gazing aristocratically into the distance from atop a white dappled horse. The mare, ready for her close-up, looked right into the …

Several music-themed events will take place at downtown’s Comic-Con International, beginning July 24. Rapper Method Man will promote his upcoming eponymous comic book from the Hachette Book Group. The former Wu-Tang Clan member will do …

Sandollar, together for two years, is a five-piece “beach rock” band that plays original reggae/jam music. Drummer Henry Ortiz works by day at a Trader Joe’s and as a Spanish interpreter. At a house party …

Village People policeman Victor Willis underwent surgery at a local hospital on July 7, reportedly to remove nodules from his vocal cords. The former singer tried to launch a comeback last year with his first …

When folks run out of gas, they lose interest in sin. This does not apply just to the elderly. Ask Sin City — Las Vegas. High fuel prices are walloping incoming air and auto traffic. …

LA BEATA: THE SISTERS' SAD FATE (Part Four) By the time she was 45, Apolinaria Lorenzana had nursed numerous cases of syphilis at the San Diego Mission infirmary. She’d fought plagues of measles and smallpox. …