“I didn’t know if my boundaries were healthy,” says Sarah, defending her decision to leave teaching the first time. “I got quite attached to the kids, and leaving my class at the end of the year was devastating."

It's very easy to take water for granted. Even here, in arid San Diego, when you turn on the tap, water always issues. But the fact is, only about 5 percent of the water in …

McP's Pub in Coronado, a popular hangout for Navy SEALs, is packed with Marines. With only two women in a bar filled with nearly 70 men, they are having what bartender Tom Latona refers to …

Members of the San Diego Unified school board are looking forward to a big week of freebies. "Jack Webb at the Union-Tribune would like to invite you and a guest to the Maya Angelou performance …

Dear Matt: I'm hoping you can settle a bet between my boyfriend and I. I say my lips have gotten pale from the use of lipstick over the years. He says my lips are pale …

Matthew: What is the best question you have ever been asked? Also, how do you feel about parentheses? -- Jay, University City Mr. Alice: When I get to the end of this sentence, why will …

dear matt: How did a dozen red roses get to be "the one"? What's wrong with seven yellow dandelions? -- matt, the net Nothing. It's just that the rose industry had a better marketing team …

Dear MA and the elves: What causes the quavery "old" sound of some elderly people's voices? And is there anything I can do to prevent it in my voice as I age? -- Toni, the …

At an elevation of over 3000 feet, the rolling upland known as Mesa Grande is more reminiscent of Central California's coast ranges than San Diego County's typical rock-ribbed foothills. Through the heart of Mesa Grande …

Perched atop a flagpole at One Times Square sat the New Year’s Eve ball, ready for its traditional drop. For this drop, marking the end of the millennium, the famous orb had been sold to …

With a lower standard of living comes a lower cost on life's necessities. Hence, Tijuanenses pay less than San Diegans for housing, food, clothing, medical, and dental work. And savvy San Diegans sojourn south to …

That pricey new four-year contract awarded to San Diego Unified schools chief Alan Bersin last week turns out to be only the tip of the district's administrative-salary iceberg. At least 12 top-ranking bureaucrats at district …

Matt: My brother has this old autograph from Mick Jagger that his girlfriend gave him back in the 80s. He has it locked away and says it's valuable and will only get more valuable. I …

Heymatt: What exactly is El Centro the center of? Hmmmmm? -- N. Everyman, Ubiquity El Centro from the beginning was a city with a purpose. W.F. Holt and C.A. Barker bought the land for the …

Dear Matthew Alice: Why do people scratch their heads when they are trying to think of an answer? Does it work? M.S., San Diego The perfect M.A. question, of course. The elves apply digits to …

Strawberry Peak's 6164-foot summit claims the honor of being the highest elevation in the "Front Range" of the San Gabriel Mountains -- the range closest to the San Gabriel Valley and the Los Angeles Basin. …

In Bob Parks’s first (and only, as far as I know) brush with the law, he was presumed a corpse. He was about 11 years old. He’d been lying facedown, very still, for so long …

While the Catholic Church is waiting for the media's next horrific revelation of sexual abuse, many non-Catholics are also intrigued by the recent news. Locally, non-Catholics aren't especially surprised by recent revelations, as much of …

San Diego city councilman George Stevens says he knows the reason for his loss to Vince Hall in March's Democratic state-assembly primary: satan did it. "I don't recall ever going through a campaign where the …

Hey, Matt: How did fish get up into the mountains? Was there an earthquake and the mountains raised up and the fishies went with them in little pools of water? Or was it a water …

Dear Wise One: Can you tell me the history of the paper airplane? I know the first airplanes and gliders were glorified box kites. I also am aware that sheet paper has been around for …

Hey, Matt: Recently several news stories have mentioned that Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, is the second queen consort to lie in state. Who was the first? I say it was Jane Seymour, the consort …

If you've put off a visit to the local desert this season due to poor wildflower prospects, it's not too late, or too hot, for a rewarding visit to Whale Peak. This gently swelling summit, …

Around San Diego's city hall, it's hard to argue with an institution called the "Pro Kids Golf Academy and Learning Center." And it's even harder to argue with Ernie Wright, a former Charger who says …

To many, Tijuana's medical reputation is associated with alternative medicine. Cancer patients and others who are seriously ill, disillusioned by mainstream medicine's offers of little hope and harsh treatments, flock to the border city for …

Over 90 percent of the avocados grown in the United States are grown in California, and half of those are grown in San Diego County. The cultivation of avocados, particularly the durable and tasty Haas …

Union-Tribune publisher David Copley, 50, who is also president and chief executive officer of the paper's holding company, his mother's Copley Press, has been arrested for driving under the influence and is set for arraignment …

Another incomplete version of Roberts’s last moments emerged in a New York Times article on March 7 under the headline “Combat Mystery: Last Moments of Navy Man Still a Puzzle.”

Summit Valley, a.k.a. Edmund D. Edelman Park (named in honor of a Los Angeles County supervisor), is a recent addition to the public lands of the Santa Monica Mountains. The park spreads across both sides …

Dear Matthew Alice: Recently my partner found himself standing inside of a huge swarm of bees on Midway Drive, near the Sports Arena-West Point Loma Boulevard intersection. He described the swarm as about as tall …

Hello, Matt: With all these energy drinks out lately and my full agenda, I've found myself hooked (on Red Bull). I'm up to one or two a day. What I'm wondering is how safe are …