“Of all the things we did for Normal Heights, the most important was down-zoning. When the community plan was finalized in 1985, no one could build any more of those big ugly apartment buildings.”

Despite the early hour, the group of seniors standing on the sidewalk in front of Ann Evans's home in Del Cerro joke, tease, and laugh with each other. It's 7:20 in the morning, and Natalie …

It's payback time for San Diego County district attorney elect Bonnie Dumanis, and almost everyone, it seems, likes a winner. Next Thursday, December 5, the county's new chief prosecutor is set to stage a "Retire …

Caspers Wilderness Park is the crown jewel of Orange County's regional park system. It is the county's largest park (7600 acres), the least altered by human activities, and the most remote from population centers. "Remote" …

Senor Mattolio: When a bullfighter has a particularly good fight, and the crowd awards him (or her) the ears and the tail of the bull, what does he do with them? I can't imagine! -- …

Matt and Alice: How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? -- Wondering, San Diego Lots. And so, Wondering, how much ground would a groundhog hog if a groundhog could …

Loaded La Jollans boost a downtown museum.

Hey, Mr. Alice: So I'm sitting at a stop light and I notice this disturbing trend of human billboards. You see them twirling those sale signs and doing a weird dance. My questions I have …

Even with a Republican majority in the U.S. Senate, tax legislation and judicial nominees could be blocked by a filibuster. How many votes are needed to overcome a filibuster? A. 51 B. 59 C. 60 …

"If we had more police we'd have more police in cars driving around or sitting at 7-Eleven. They don't patrol, they don't walk a beat. They gather together and wait for something to happen."

When University of California president and San Diego favorite son Richard C. Atkinson announced his planned retirement last week at the age of 73, saying he was returning to La Jolla, his hometown Union-Tribune provided …

If you have the fortitude to tackle some killer ups and downs, try the surprisingly challenging hiking route to El Cajon Mountain, a picturesque East County landmark. Your primary destination is the 3675-foot-high point along …

You know, MA, here's a pretty simple one that I just can't answer for myself. Just how far away is the horizon? Seems pretty simple, right? But all the science books give all the math …

“She told me stories that revolved around Point Loma Nazarene University. Eric’s mother’s mother first met Paramhansa Yogananda. Eric’s mom also met him, and she said he was the sexiest man who ever lived."

Dear Matthew Alice: Do you know of any movement afoot to get January 4, 2003 designated "National I Love You Day" (1/4/3 = 143 = "I love you"-- get it?) How would one go about …

Dear Matt I was staring out the window the other day at a bunch of birds. Most of the birds were walking around, but a couple of them were hopping. Does this mean something? -- …

Matt: Is there a socially correct or at least a medical term for, uhmm, nose goblins? Sinus boulders? You know. Boogers? We all know the correct terms for most of our body parts, pieces, and …

Hey Matt: I was just doing my own thing when my phone rang this morning. It's my sister with another stupid question. Why is there no canned broccoli? I searched your archives for this but …

Matthew Alice: This showed up in our company email. "A terrible diet and a room with no ventilation are blamed for the death of a man who was killed by his own gas.... His diet …

Hey, Matt: Why is it that when I'm just beginning to drift off at night and fall asleep, suddenly, BOOM, in my dream I trip or fall or get hit by a bus, causing my …

"Once someone wanted her dog green for St. Patrick’s Day, and I did it. We used to get a lot of people who asked for toenail painting, but lately the styles have changed away from that."

The day after the November 5 election finds some San Diegans sad, others elated, and many just indifferent. At the time these interviews took place, the race between Bonnie Dumanis and Paul Pfingst was still …

Once again, the first Tuesday of November turned out to be a dismal day for the Union-Tribune's high-profile editorial endorsements. The paper's choice for district attorney, Paul Pfingst, was beaten in an upset by Judge …

"My mother read to us every night of my childhood. My becoming a writer in part was because of that. You should have seen how my mother would become rapturous when she read a book she loved."

Death Valley's spaciousness is a big part of its appeal, but there's something here for claustrophobic individuals as well. In a few places, infrequent but powerful flash floods have carved narrow, sinuous channels into the …

The body lies in a position of repose, a 12-year-old girl in pajamas, on her bed, in Fallbrook, California. Her blue eyes, though open, see nothing, and for ten more minutes, no one sees her. …

The world's largest collection of saddles, a circus calliope, bridles, Native artifacts, branding irons, two Wells Fargo stage coaches, guns, Mexican swords, and a collection of bows and arrows that once belonged to Earle Stanley Gardner.

Matthew: My fiancée recently gave me some vintage Varga[cq] pinups, part of a series of drawings from a calendar, year unknown. For each month there is the expected hottie and a bit of rhyming verse …

Dear Matt: I really like spicy food, but I don't like re-experiencing the spiciness the next day "down there." Could eating spicy food have a lasting damaging effect at my other end? -- matt, Vienna …

Matthew Alice: Someone told me that the song "Don't Worry, Be Happy" actually was written by some Indian guru. Is this true? -- Rita, San Diego The mindless ditty, the musical equivalent of a happy-face …

On October 21, during the hysteria of the D.C. sniper attacks, the Washington Times reported that California Attorney General Bill Lockyer had hushed up a report by state ballistics experts that accurate ballistic fingerprinting is …

In 1996, the San Diego Union-Tribune started its "Street-Side Hawker Sales Program" in which over 40 mostly homeless people sold copies of the daily newspaper directly to motorists at busy intersections from Mira Mesa to …

A member of the Spanish Village art colony in Balboa Park is making New York tabloid headlines. Thirty-six-year-old ceramic artist Lisa Karmazin -- who produces "colorful and whimsical cups, saucers, trays, and wall sculptures," according …

With the opening of the ten-mile-long Mule Hill/San Pasqual Trail outside Escondido in June 2002, the projected Coast-to-Crest Trail leaped closer to reality. The coast-to-crest route, designed for hiking, biking, and equestrian travel, will eventually …

Hey, Matt: If I wanted to own the moon or Mars or Neptune or some comets or something, who would I have to see to take care of the paperwork? -- JG, San Diego I …