Solana Beach Presbyterian Church members felt hurt and betrayed and outraged and surprised when they learned that for more than ten years their former pastor, a trim and handsome married man, had been sexually intimate …

Father Mercado would answer that the immigration would be dangerous; that they would pour in by the thousands and overrun the country; Protestants would swarm here, and the Catholic religion would be endangered...

Hey Matt! Just who started the wave, and why won't it end? -- Rico, the net People are actually fighting to claim the title of Father of the Wave. More amazing, one of the candidates …

Heymatt: What's up with collecting aluminum pop-tops for kidney dialysis? Someone at work asked me to start saving the pop-tops from aluminum cans because each little teeny piece of aluminum was supposedly worth one hour …

Howdy. How and when did the practice of holding up lighters during rock concerts come about? I have a friend who insists that this practice began in 1972 at a Neil Diamond concert during his …

Cowles Mountain, whose 1591-foot summit is noted as the highest elevation in the city of San Diego, is served by more hiking routes than most people are aware of. If you tire of the popular …

It’s karaoke night at Hennessey’s Tavern in Pacific Beach, and Erin Grimmer is feeding ice cubes to her pet plant. The plant is named Phyl, short for prophylactic, since they found him next to the …

In mid-July, Tijuana's newest newspaper, Frontera, a daily with a circulation of 18,000, was involved in an incident that in many ways symbolizes the three-year-old paper's standing in Tijuana. "We had some problems with distributors …

Since September 11, the most frequently seen bumper sticker in San Diego is the American flag, often shown with slogans such as "United We Stand" and "God Bless America." Other popular stickers include sports stickers, …

Dear Mr. Matt: Is there really a black hole that rebellious socks escape to when you're not looking? Is there someplace in this world where an enormous pile of lost $20 bills collects to discuss …

It's about the ants, Matt: They're everywhere inside my house. Looking for water, I hear. I understood when they hung out in the kitchen. I bought one of those ultrasonic pest repellers and that seemed …

Dear Mr. Alice: Everyone is familiar with the knocking pattern that's often associated with "shave and a haircut, two bits." I was recently in Europe and noticed that it is also used there. Can you …

The barren 11.5K-foot summit of San Gorgonio Mountain, the highest elevation in Southern California, is a classic destination for San Diego hikers. The century-old Vivian Creek Trail route to the top from the south is …

Sometimes I wish I could slice open the skin that covers my knees so I could poke around inside a bit. Without pain, of course. Without spilling any blood or other vital juices. And only …

To San Diego County residents who drive Interstate 15, Lake Hodges has been their drought meter. Since the rainy El Niño year of 1998, they've watched the lake's edge slowly recede from a mile east …

Dear Mr. Alice: I have dimples and I want to know what they are. Where do they come from? -- Christopher, age 8, San Diego Tired of all those adults pinching your cheeks and cooing …

Dear M.A.: I brought up the "fact" that there is some sort of chemical or substance that is found in turkey which, when consumed, makes one sleepy. My cohorts either think I'm making this up …

Dear Matthew Alice: A number of years ago I read about a woman who had written a book of recipes she had developed that supposedly replicated the taste of the items of a number of …

A decade's worth of improvements totaling millions of dollars have smoothed the way for pedestrians, cyclists, and skaters traveling along the curving shoreline of west Mission Bay and its upper extremity, Sail Bay. Generously wide …

“My daughter wanted Danielle to spend the night that night. I said no because I just wasn’t feeling right. Then Danielle wanted her to spend the night, and I said no again. I don’t know, I just….”

Diego turned the convent into a hospital. During the plague, he was”caught kissing the sores of those affected with a contagious disease, he replied that it was the best way to treat this kind of illness.”

Melanie was 43 years old and determined. A 104-degree temperature did not keep her from going to her editing job at Blue Cross, but the mass on her left upper arm kept getting bigger and …

We left San Marcos in the middle of the night. Well, not exactly the middle of the night. We left San Marcos at 4:45 on a still-dark summer morning. It just felt like the middle …

Matthew: Who makes those funky looking Terminator-style shades that kind of make everybody look like Ah-nold Schwarzenegger, and is it a conspiracy or odd coincidence that only senior citizens seem to be wearing them? Do …

Hey: Does size really matter? I think it does. The long ones always flop over unless you hold them up just right. I prefer the shorter ones because you can hold them up straight easily …

Dear Matt: Where did the term Continental breakfast come from? It sure sounds big for something so small. -- Keith, the Net The name comes from the us-and-them distinction that Brits love make. There's Us …

How long is forever? As it turns out, forever is about two years, or so people in Chula Vista were recently surprised to discover. In March 1996, the County of San Diego and the City …

Pint-size Santiago Oaks Regional Park, in the city of Orange, was pieced together from two former ranch properties acquired by Orange County's parks department in the mid-1970s. A small Valencia orange grove and many acres …

“It has nothing to do with someone being a swinger. I’m a polygamist. Anyone’s beliefs have nothing to do with how well you protect your children or how well you protect your wife or husband."

Travelers from San Diego to Los Angeles had to drive west around Mt. Soledad, through Pacific Beach and La Jolla. On December 13, 1930, the Rose Canyon Highway opened: a five-mile shortcut on the east slope of Soledad.

On the Friday night when Brenda van Dam was here at Dad’s, what would it have been like for her? Maybe the bouncers knew her, maybe she didn’t have to pay three bucks to get in.

Heymatt: So all my friends were wondering, when a woman with breast implants dies, do they remove them or bury them with her? -- Ashley, the net The elves have had a great time speculating …

Dear M.A.: Why do staplers have two settings on the base plate for the direction in which the staple bends? Everyone (I know of) uses the settings that bends the staple inward. What is the …

So, Matt: Why is there stuff in the universe? Why is there anything instead of nothing? If there used to be nothing, it makes more sense that there would still be nothing. Can you help? …

Why do ventriloquists' dummies all look alike? And why do they look so goofy? -- No Dummy, North Park Ventriloquists' dummies look like Alfred E. Newman on day three of an amphetamine jag. Enormous heads; …

Father Paul Shanley, the Roman Catholic priest who lived in San Diego from 1997 until his arrest in May of this year at his Hillcrest apartment, is currently awaiting trial in a Boston jail on …

"The last time that much rain fell was the year of El Niño, July 1997 to June 1998, when 53.07 inches fell on the mountain town. The next three years were below average.

A bill by San Diego assemblywoman Christine Kehoe to allow the San Diego Unified School District and the city to tear down hundreds of houses in City Heights is facing tougher than expected sledding in …

Not all San Diegans flock to the beaches on sunny summer days. Some gravitate toward inland recreational spots like Lake Miramar, which offers a spacious venue for pursuits such as walking, jogging, biking, and in-line …