Two months ago, Caltrans began erecting 20-foot-tall aluminum poles on the 5 freeway between Carmel Valley and Oceanside. In the past few weeks, each pole (located at most every on- or off-ramp) began to be …

Many are the tales locals tell of dodge-and-deny tactics the City of San Diego uses to avoid enforcing its own laws. The most common excuses, especially in this time of budgetary woes, are that it …

LETTERS El Cajon Smack Talk I grew up here in El Cajon my whole life, and upon reading the March 12 edition of your paper, “El Cajon: We’re No More Redneck than Chula Vista, Oceanside, …

In the 2001 film Rock Star, former rapper and underwear model Mark “Marky Mark” Wahlberg fronts a tribute band that pays sonic homage to his favorite hard rockers, Steel Dragon. He takes the gig so …

A local member of the feared Mongols Motorcycle Club, a Latino gang with upwards of 600 members in seven states and four countries, wants his colors back. Last October, following an 86-count indictment of 79 …

Assemblywoman Lori Saldaña, who has filed campaign financial forms indicating she intends to run for either the State Board of Equalization or the 39th state senate seat now held by fellow Democrat Christine Kehoe, accepted …

The Wounded Marine Careers Foundation, currently being sued by ex-Marines, some of whom allege they ended up paying $88,000 worth of their veteran’s benefits for ten weeks of film school, is the beneficiary of a …

Zac Pennington, leader of Parenthetical Girls, is as skinny, pouty-lipped, and androgynous as a young Mick Jagger. His stage moves are so fey and effeminate that, in comparison, Morrissey looks like Johnny Cash. And his …

The Kinks did it once, that I know of — played the first few minutes of their show in pitch dark. This served to ramp the house up into a loud frenzy. By the time …

Singer-songwriter Marie Haddad was five when she started playing piano, but she drifted into other endeavors a few years later. At one point she had to sell her piano in order to stay in college. …

Thirty Years AgoSOLITARY WOMAN: I hear you. Please come see me, high noon, the Saturday following this edition, foot of SIO pier. La Jolla. Red Ker Chief. ROCKY HORROR!! I’ve discovered it and I love …

It’s tough for all media outlets that have to sell ads to exist, but it’s even worse for XETV/Channel 6 since the local station lost its Fox affiliation last summer. Channel 6 manager Richard Doutre …

While dance-punk duo Crocodiles were planning a cross-country tour to promote their upcoming debut full-length Summer of Hate, which is set to be released April 28 on Fat Possum Records, they received an unexpected offer …

San Diego County citizens disgusted with massive potholes, deficient sewer and water systems, library closings, ad nauseam should scoff at politicians’ promises that things will get better. They won’t. Already-ruinous pension payments will eat up …

Folding Mr. Lincoln’s release party for their debut album Within My Reach happens March 21 at Rebecca’s coffeehouse in South Park, and the band will play two shows at next month’s Adams Avenue folk and …

Artist: EndoxiSong: “I’m Bipolar” (from the CD New Blood, Old Soul)Heard By: Taylor Nelson, Chula Vista Basically, the high point to me was the fact that they used real instruments — real drums, real bass, …

The Santa Rosa Plateau’s Sylvan Meadows Multi-Use Area is open to all non-motorized means of travel — hiking, jogging, biking, and horseback riding — with the stipulation that all users stay on the designated roads …

There are times when the music at the opening of a service feels a little like a warm-up — something to get the blood flowing, or something to clear the cobwebs on a Sunday morning …

The Brecht police will probably snipe at the San Diego Rep’s Threepenny Opera: how it fails to achieve this or that aspect of his “Epic Theater.” And the production is open to potshots. But the …

“Camel meat,” sighs Mukhtar. “That’s what I miss most. It’s the meat treat in Somalia. Here, I think it’s not even legal.” He grabs a piece of banana. Of course, if there’s one thing apart …

Take my word, the cuisine of the Horn of Africa is fabulous — but to know that, you have to taste it; and in San Diego, relatively few people have enjoyed the pleasure. With Muzita, …

Hey, Matt: Is it true that there used to be half pennies? If so, who was the president on that coin? — Jay, via email Yeah, I guess a half penny seems sorta useless in …

On a Saturday night a few weeks ago, I went to a Saturday Night Live theme party at the Tivoli Bar in the East Village. I went as one of the gold-chain-and-polyester-wearing Czech brothers played …

I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in. — John Muir In the Kerala state of southwest India blooms …

Name: Steve Scatolini (aka Scat Daddy Surf) Age: 32 Years surfing: “too many” Favorite spot: Jocko’s Pre-surf music: “Jimi Hendrix, my own” Post-surf food: Poma’s Deli (in O.B.) Scatolini’s song (below) was inspired, he says, …

Recipe from Sahar Nashashibi, chef, Fairouz (story told by daughter Haya). My mom has always had a feel for cooking, even when she was young. Her mom — my grandmother — was a great cook …

“We left the country in 1979, when I was four years old,” says Iranian-born violinist Bahman Sarram. “My family became exiles overnight, due to the political and social climate at the time, as revolutionaries enslaved …