Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Bills and Boards

— What's up with those huge new Union-Tribune billboards on Qualcomm Stadium facing the interchange of I-15 and I-8? They popped up mysteriously several weeks ago and have stadium neighbors buzzing. City Manager Michael Uberuaga didn't return phone calls regarding the billboards, which would appear to violate the city's so-called "off-premise" sign ordinance. But a contract dated this February 7 and signed by Uberuaga and Padres L.P. chief operating officer Jack McGrory, Uberuaga's immediate predecessor as city manager, explains the deal: "Subject to compliance with City laws, for so long as the Padres use and occupy Qualcomm Stadium pursuant to this extension, advertising signs are permitted on the back of the Tri-visions at Qualcomm Stadium." The contract, which is silent on how much the Padres are charging the Union-Tribune for the signs, goes on to say that "the City shall pay to the Padres the City's share of the revenue derived from this advertising only." The contract makes clear that city fathers had a big incentive to go easy on enforcing the city's off-premise sign limits: "If such additional signage opportunities are not available pursuant to applicable City laws, the Padres shall reopen negotiations regarding this extension solely to consider the impact of the unavailability of the additional signage opportunities."

Sponsored
Sponsored

Tax Dollars at Work

At first glance, the glossy four-color brochure touting a "campaign finance and government reform town meeting" sent out by Republican congressman Brian Bilbray looks like a campaign piece. "Please join Congressman Brian Bilbray with special guest Senator John McCain to learn more about efforts to reform the campaign finance system," says a headline on the piece. Close examination of the mailer reveals that it was sent out at government expense and bears the label "Public Document, Official Business." ... A first officer for Alaska Airlines who lives in Mission Valley has been placed on administrative leave and may face suspension of his pilot's license for six months. The move follows an incident in which Vincent Emile Danet, 38, and the plane's pilot, Captain Michael Alan Reese, 56, of Long Beach, continued their flight even though the passenger's emergency oxygen system activated and became depleted on a trip from Portland to San Jose, according the Seattle Times. Oxygen masks deployed at 14,000 feet because Danet and Reese had apparently failed to pressurize the plane. When they realized their mistake, the pilots corrected it but, instead of returning to Portland to recharge the plane's emergency oxygen, they continued up to 41,000 feet, where another depressurization might have been fatal to passengers stranded without oxygen.

Reprobate

A San Diego scam artist who once allegedly conned Zsa Zsa Gabor out of $55,000 will have to surrender to federal officials and return to prison for two years after an Omaha judge ruled last week that she had violated the terms of her parole. The judge found that 59-year-old Suzanne Wonderly failed to come up with $275,000 in restitution for her victims in a 1994 case in which she and an Omaha man bilked investors in three states out of $320,000, according to the Omaha World-Herald. During her supervised release in San Diego, Wonderly also "engaged in speculative financial transactions, associated with an individual involved in criminal activity, and failed to inform employers of her criminal history," according to a probation report cited by the newspaper. She had served three years in federal prison on the original conviction before being paroled. In 1991, Gabor sued her accountant, alleging that in 1989 she had invested $55,000 with Wonderly, who promised a $200,000 return, according to the Los Angeles Times. Gabor never saw her original investment again, according to the Times ... San Diego city councilwoman Valerie Stallings, reported to be the subject of a joint investigation by the District Attorney and federal prosecutors, has released records of five more long-distance phone calls made on her city phones to numbers belonging to John Moores. Most of the calls, made in 1998 and 1999, were to numbers in Carmel, California, where Moores has a residence.

Contributor: Matt Potter

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Flowering pear trees in Kensington not that nice

Empty dirt plots in front of Ken Cinema
Next Article

Croome Brothers Trio, Jack Tempchin, Ricky, Swami & the Bed Of Nails, Kahlil Nash

Acoustic and electric in Del Mar, La Jolla, Little Italy, and City Heights

— What's up with those huge new Union-Tribune billboards on Qualcomm Stadium facing the interchange of I-15 and I-8? They popped up mysteriously several weeks ago and have stadium neighbors buzzing. City Manager Michael Uberuaga didn't return phone calls regarding the billboards, which would appear to violate the city's so-called "off-premise" sign ordinance. But a contract dated this February 7 and signed by Uberuaga and Padres L.P. chief operating officer Jack McGrory, Uberuaga's immediate predecessor as city manager, explains the deal: "Subject to compliance with City laws, for so long as the Padres use and occupy Qualcomm Stadium pursuant to this extension, advertising signs are permitted on the back of the Tri-visions at Qualcomm Stadium." The contract, which is silent on how much the Padres are charging the Union-Tribune for the signs, goes on to say that "the City shall pay to the Padres the City's share of the revenue derived from this advertising only." The contract makes clear that city fathers had a big incentive to go easy on enforcing the city's off-premise sign limits: "If such additional signage opportunities are not available pursuant to applicable City laws, the Padres shall reopen negotiations regarding this extension solely to consider the impact of the unavailability of the additional signage opportunities."

Sponsored
Sponsored

Tax Dollars at Work

At first glance, the glossy four-color brochure touting a "campaign finance and government reform town meeting" sent out by Republican congressman Brian Bilbray looks like a campaign piece. "Please join Congressman Brian Bilbray with special guest Senator John McCain to learn more about efforts to reform the campaign finance system," says a headline on the piece. Close examination of the mailer reveals that it was sent out at government expense and bears the label "Public Document, Official Business." ... A first officer for Alaska Airlines who lives in Mission Valley has been placed on administrative leave and may face suspension of his pilot's license for six months. The move follows an incident in which Vincent Emile Danet, 38, and the plane's pilot, Captain Michael Alan Reese, 56, of Long Beach, continued their flight even though the passenger's emergency oxygen system activated and became depleted on a trip from Portland to San Jose, according the Seattle Times. Oxygen masks deployed at 14,000 feet because Danet and Reese had apparently failed to pressurize the plane. When they realized their mistake, the pilots corrected it but, instead of returning to Portland to recharge the plane's emergency oxygen, they continued up to 41,000 feet, where another depressurization might have been fatal to passengers stranded without oxygen.

Reprobate

A San Diego scam artist who once allegedly conned Zsa Zsa Gabor out of $55,000 will have to surrender to federal officials and return to prison for two years after an Omaha judge ruled last week that she had violated the terms of her parole. The judge found that 59-year-old Suzanne Wonderly failed to come up with $275,000 in restitution for her victims in a 1994 case in which she and an Omaha man bilked investors in three states out of $320,000, according to the Omaha World-Herald. During her supervised release in San Diego, Wonderly also "engaged in speculative financial transactions, associated with an individual involved in criminal activity, and failed to inform employers of her criminal history," according to a probation report cited by the newspaper. She had served three years in federal prison on the original conviction before being paroled. In 1991, Gabor sued her accountant, alleging that in 1989 she had invested $55,000 with Wonderly, who promised a $200,000 return, according to the Los Angeles Times. Gabor never saw her original investment again, according to the Times ... San Diego city councilwoman Valerie Stallings, reported to be the subject of a joint investigation by the District Attorney and federal prosecutors, has released records of five more long-distance phone calls made on her city phones to numbers belonging to John Moores. Most of the calls, made in 1998 and 1999, were to numbers in Carmel, California, where Moores has a residence.

Contributor: Matt Potter

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

SDSU pres gets highest pay raise in state over last 15 years

Union-Tribune still stiffing downtown San Diego landlord?
Next Article

Summit Fellowship wants to be a home of belonging

Unitarian Universalism allows you to be exactly who you are in the moment
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.