Grant Hill: I’ll take my burgers stuffed
Ed Bedford 11:44 p.m., June 19
Stories for July 1998
Thursday, July 30
Porn King of La Costa
The mob that built La Costa scattered long ago. Moe Dalitz, the fixer out of Cleveland via Las Vegas who tapped Jimmy Hoffa's Teamsters Central States Pension Fund for $57 million to build the place, ...
Walk the curvy hillside streets of La Jolla and emerge atop Soledad Mountain.
For a unique look at La Jolla -- bottom to top -- climaxed by the conventionally famous yet still fabulous view of the city from Soledad Park, try this unconventional six-mile (round trip) walking or ...
New Kid on Vice
Take it from Jim Duncan: this is how it is between midnight and 3:00 a.m. around El Cajon Boulevard. "You pull up, roll your window down, 'You need a ride?' 'Going to a party?' She'll ...
Breaking Story
'I have known persecution and oppression all my life," Neuman Britton says and clasps his callused hands above his coffee cup in an Escondido Denny's. "Oppression and prejudice. We were more discriminated against than any ...
America's finest felons
A twice-convicted Omaha drug dealer who bailed out of jail, moved to San Diego five years ago, and got a degree from California Western law school may soon be heading home to do some hard ...
Thursday, July 23
The 6-mile "waterfall" trail through Los Penasquitos Canyon serves hikers and bikers.
Crickets sing, cicadas buzz, and bullfrogs groan. A sparrow hawk alights upon a sycamore limb, then launches with outstretched wings to catch a puff of sea breeze moving up the canyon. A cottontail rabbit bounds ...
In gospel music, how are the "Five Blind Boys" related?
Matthew: I've been listening to a lot of gospel music lately, and I'm confused about how many Blind Boys groups there are. There's the Five Blind Boys from Alabama. Are they related to the Five ...
Why are runners running in the car lanes, and why are they running against traffic?
Dear Matt: With no disrespect to runners -- why the hell do I see so many of them now not only running in my car lane, but also against traffic? Is it legal or just ...
Why do masses of men lead lives of quiet desperation?
Dear Matthew: Why do the so-called masses of men lead lives of quiet desperation? What led Thoreau to make such an observation? -- D, Kensington Pick one: (A) Because from his porch at Walden Pond, ...
Why is the center of the Earth still hot?
Hi, Matt: I was wondering why the interior of the earth is still red hot. It would seem that after four billion years, it would have cooled off by now. -- CH, San Diego Pick ...
Why don't newer office buildings have windows that open?
For Matthew Alice: Why don't newer office buildings have windows that open? Is it for security reasons? To keep computer and office equipment at a certain temperature? -- Tim Carlson, Just Want to Smell the ...
Why do critics of fakery always single out pro wrestling?
Question: Ever wonder why critics of fakery always single out pro wrestling? Charles Bronson movies are fake. Stallone's not really Rambo. Broadway plays, cartoons, operas -- where are the critics there? If they're gonna bemoan ...
Low End of the Dope Chain
Low End of the Dope Chain By Bob Owens The chiefs of Mexican narcotics cartels get the headlines, but they couldn't make a nickel without burros or mulas -- donkeys or mules -- who smuggle ...
Wild Dogs of Hillcrest
Last time Kevin Crooks crawled through a culvert under Genesee, he was thrilled to find tracks other than his own. "The culvert links Tecolote Canyon with a smaller canyon. I could see their tracks right ...
Larry's revenge
The U.S. State Department stands accused of stonewalling a request filed by a Washington lawyer for files involving the late Coronado hotelier and ambassador M. Larry Lawrence and his young blonde widow Shelia. The inquiry ...
Thursday, July 16
If you cannot sneak up on a wild animal, why are you able to hit one with a car?
What's with road kill? You couldn't sneak up on a squirrel in the woods, but you can come barreling at him with your car and hit him. Why is he smart enough to hide in ...
A Thousand Questions
As City Hall wrestled over how much money is needed to build a ballpark to keep the Padres in town, a new player emerged to add his two cents to the deal. After Mayor Susan ...
Butterflies with Attitude
I am standing on Otay Mountain looking west. It is a warm day in early March, with a slight breeze off the ocean to break the morning stillness. Downtown San Diego is in the distance ...
Crime City, U.S.A.
Despite a recent spate of high-profile drug busts here, methamphetamine usage is still soaring in San Diego County. Latest indicator: nearly 60 percent of white arrestees are testing positive for the drug, according to a ...
Thursday, July 9
Will a car run on Jack Daniel's?
Dear Matt Alice: I don't know how we got on the topic, but my boyfriend thinks that if you pour a bottle of Jack Daniel's into your gas tank, your car will run. I told ...
How many fights have there been on the floor of Congress?
Hey, Matt: From time to time we see on TV some pretty good fights in foreign legislatures. I started to wonder about our own distinguished lawmakers. They never seem to punch one another. How do ...
And Our Next Pretty Lady Is...
'There are so many beautiful people in San Diego. People just do not realize it. It's totally untapped." -- Staci Bynum, model agency director Fashion magazines portray a fullness of being, a perfection that exceeds ...
Queen of Surrogates
Will Halm spreads his hand over the bulging sphere of Elizabeth's stomach. His eyes search the ceiling as he feels for movement. "He turned right around yesterday," says Elizabeth (last name omitted for privacy). "That ...
Grand Old Padres?
Hottest rumor to hit the Padres ballpark beat: a well-known, very wealthy, highly influential Republican "Mr. X" has quietly told certain members of the San Diego City Council to torpedo any deal with Padres owner ...
Thursday, July 2
Trek to the remote Three Sisters waterfalls southwest of Julian.
Normally by the time early summer arrives, water flowing down the larger canyons of San Diego's backcountry slows to a trickle. This post-El Niño summer season is proving to be the 10- or 20-year exception. ...
Escondido's Dixon Lake Recreation Area offers shoreline trails.
Normally by the time early summer arrives, water flowing down the larger canyons of San Diego's backcountry slows to a trickle. This post-El Niño summer season is proving to be the 10- or 20-year exception. ...
What is the hierarchy of ratings by the ADA, and do the toothpaste manufacturers buy these approvals?
Matthew: I notice that on tooth-care products, the ADA has given ratings such as "Approved," "Professionally Recommended," etc. What is the hierarchy of these, and do the toothpaste manufacturers buy these approvals? Some have no ...
Do any of the shadow towns in the Soviet Union still exist?
Dear Matthew: Tell me about the replicas of American towns constructed in the Soviet Union as training grounds for KGB/GRU/NKVD agents during the '50s and '60s. Do any of these shadow towns or their ruins ...
Bard Mitzvah
On a well-to-do street in Edinburgh, Scotland, on Thursday, June 18, a 60-year-old gentleman named Robin Spark received an anonymous package from San Diego, California, and promptly called the police. In a very short time, ...
Prisoners of Truth
A few weeks ago, some folks in California, Oregon, Washington, and Idaho got calls from Calgary Herald reporters informing them that Axciom DataQuick, a San Diego-based company, had given 200 convicts in several Canadian prisons ...
He bought the ranch
The name of a familiar San Diego politico has surfaced in connection with a controversial Arizona ranch for wayward boys and girls. George Gorton, once Governor Pete Wilson's top political handler and ex-boyfriend and advisor ...
