Papa Del Mar
Matt Potter 8:03 a.m., June 19
Stories for July 1999
Thursday, July 29
Climb to the boulder-studded summit of Twin Peaks in Poway.
Twin Peaks, a scruffy, boulder-studded promontory rising amid Poway's suburban streets, is less known for its own existence than for the street named after it: Twin Peaks Road. At the close of a warm summer ...
Up the Creek
About a dozen federally protected endangered species, including the southwestern willow flycatcher and the Laguna Mountains skipper butterfly, live in the Cleveland National Forest, the 424,000-acre woodland preserve that stretches across the rugged backcountry of ...
Kill the Messengers
In the wake of the Grand Jury vs. Susan Golding dust-up, some local politicos are going after the Grand Jury in a big way. Steve Peace, a Democratic state senator from Chula Vista, is promising ...
What is brominated vegetable oil and why do soda companies put it in their drink?
Mr. Matthew: Here is a query that has been torturing the curiosity lobe of my poor little brain for months. What, exactly, is brominated vegetable oil, and why do soda companies put it in their ...
What does (sic) mean?
Hi, Mattster: (Qic) question for ya...What does it mean when they put one of these (sic) in a story? I'm sure I could probably look it up in my local dictionary, but it's more fun ...
Thursday, July 22
All in the Family
Today is the 15th anniversary of the wedding of Susan Golding and Richard Silberman. The ultimate San Diego power couple, Silberman the Democrat, then 55, wed Republican Golding, then 38, at a ceremony in Uptown's ...
Spy distant mountains and look down on the desert floor from Foster Point in the Laguna Mountains.
Hike out to Foster Point in the Laguna Mountains for a great view of the desert floor from a mile-high elevation, and also for a chance to enjoy peace and solitude. Until fairly recently (due ...
Maximum Impact
Louise Torio doesn't expect to see the glare of stadium spotlights, hear the collective roar of thousands of baseball fans, or sit immobile in downtown traffic for almost three years. Yet she is already worried ...
Into the Lions' Cage
Is José Santiago Healy Loera cut from the same cloth as his grandfather? In 1916, José Santiago Healy, son of Irish immigrants to Mexico, risked his life to truly report the Mexican Revolution. He survived ...
Delayed Disclosure
She's not exactly a household name, but she's a plaintiff's lawyer with a good if low-profile pedigree. Constance H. Shaner practices law out of the offices of Ravreby, Shaner & Gibson in Carlsbad. Records show ...
Why are there people checking claim tickets when picking up your luggage at the airport?
Dear Matt: Last night I flew back to Lindbergh Field, claimed my bulky luggage, and was stopped on exit by the luggage-claim checker -- officious personnel who insist on seeing your luggage-claim check before they ...
What is the longest pier in California?
Mr. Alice: What is the longest pier in California? I've heard that it is the O.B. municipal fishing pier. -- Orville, Ocean Beach Have some bait stuck in your ear at the time, Orville? Anyway, ...
Why doesn't Canada require an international code when calling someone?
Dear Matthew Alice: Today my boss asked me to fax something to Canada. I didn't have to dial the international code. Why is Canada so special? -- Jamie Reeves, downtown Hey, Matt: This bugs me. ...
Thursday, July 15
Fly a kite in the summer breeze at Harry Griffin Park
Sparsely visited Harry Griffin Park, tucked away in Grossmont Summit where La Mesa and El Cajon adjoin, has for years remained one of East County's well-kept secrets. As the largest park within La Mesa's city ...
Slow Death in Slag Valley
Have two of San Diego's most prominent environmentalists sold out to NAFTA? Lori Saldaña, ex-chair of the San Diego/Imperial Sierra Club, and Diane Takvorian, Environmental Health Coalition executive director, have both accepted White House appointments ...
Frisbee Studliness
Sometime during the first day of the first official Goaltimate tourney in the history of the world, I found myself eaves-dropping on a conversation between Jim Herrick, one of the founders of the sport, and ...
Is there an underwater tunnel from the ocean side of Pt. Loma to the bay side?
St. Matthew: Gospel truth, please, to settle once and for all, is there an underwater tunnel from the ocean side of Pt. Loma into the bay? Apocryphal tales say yeah, cuz kids dumped dye on ...
Do French maids really dress like French maids?
Dear Matthew: Do French maids really dress like French maids? -- Tony Falde, San Diego Well, yeah, Tony. They tried dressing like deep-sea divers, but it was tough doing floors and windows. In fact, that's ...
Why does a hand in warm water while asleep cause bed wetting?
To: Matthew Alice: I've never been much of a camper, but I've heard that as a trick, the person that falls asleep first has his hand placed in a bucket of warm water, which causes ...
Thursday, July 8
Ride virgin pavement on this bicycle loop incorporating Highway 52 and the new Scripps Poway Parkway.
During the past five years, two new east-west highways have opened up for traffic in the Poway and Santee areas: the Tierrasanta-to-Santee leg of Highway 52 and Scripps Poway Parkway. Both roadways were designed to ...
Shaking the Trees in Tijuana
There's a new paper coming to town. Not to San Diego, Tijuana. And Tijuana already has four regular dailies. Four times what its rich sister-city to the north can boast. As newspaper editors south of ...
This Is the Way It Happened
It was calm because it was Sunday morning. My son and daughter, 19 and 20, were upstairs in their beds. My husband and I were drinking coffee and reading. He was reading the San Diego ...
This Is the Way It Happened
San Diego — It was calm because it was Sunday morning. My son and daughter, 19 and 20, were upstairs in their beds. My husband and I were drinking coffee and reading. He was reading ...
Who owns the mailbox, and is it illegal to put things in other people's mailboxes?
Matthew Alice: Pizza and beer riding on this one. Is a mailbox the property of Uncle Sam, or does it just have to conform to certain standards? Also, is it illegal to put notes, samples, ...
Why are there lights facing the wrong way on Ash Street?
Dear Matthew Alice: I walk to work via Ash Street, downtown and recently I noticed that there are single red lights pointing the opposite direction to the flow of traffic. They are mounted on the ...
Why do car alarms go off on Mt. Soledad?
To: Matmail: I enjoy cruising up to Mt. Soledad to watch the tourists freak out when their car alarms sound after they've enjoyed the view and come back to their vehicles. I know to disengage ...
Thursday, July 1
Explore serene Dos Picos County Park, between Ramona and Poway.
Serene Dos Picos County Park, outside Ramona, nestles into East County's sweet-smelling chaparral hillsides like a dewdrop caught in the hollow of a leaf. On a recent weekday visit there, I spotted only a few ...
Raising a Bar
Years ago, when a high school friend talked about wanting to become a lawyer, Susan Brandt-Hawley, an aspiring writer, thought, "How dull." Yet, after graduating Phi Beta Kappa from San Diego State University in 1974, ...
Checkpoint Otay
At the east end of Otay Mesa, where the business parks and trucking yards give way to open grassland, stands the California Highway Patrol's Otay Mesa Truck Inspection Facility. It's a sort of nouveau-industrial building ...
Close to Home
There doesn't seem to be any doubt about where Union-Tribune owner Helen Copley stands on the county grand jury's investigation into Mayor Susan Golding and the money-trading scandal surrounding last year's campaign to build a ...
Has the red in traffic signals changed?
Matmail: I've noticed lately that something is different with the red lights used in our street signals. Instead of a nice uniform glow (like the yellow and green), the red seems to emit its light ...
