When did he dine and whom did he dine with? That variation on the famous query from Senator Howard Baker about the culpability of Richard Nixon can today be asked — and now answered — …

Kelly came outside, firing. “As the revolver had only three loads, I concluded the best plan would be to run; and so I did.” He crawled under the store and stood in Campo Creek, which ran in a manmade culvert, for almost an hour.

La Jollan Alfred Louis "Bobby" Vassallo claims that he knows President Bush well, mowed Ross Perot's lawn as a lad, and was personally feted at the Monaco Grand Prix by none other than Prince Albert. …

Like a subterranean knife-wound, the Elsinore Fault slices across the heart of San Diego County's backcountry, promising an earth-shaking jolt or two during the next few centuries. Sputtering movements over geologic time along its opposing …

Hey Matty: Why does my dog lick my face? It is because she loves me, or does she just love the salt and oil on my face? Does she do it because she just licked …

Red means stop. Green means go. Why? Why? Why? -- L., Leucadia You'd prefer maybe a nice Navajo white and, say, maybe a deep mauve? Spare us designer traffic lights, please. If you want the …

My man, Matt: Is there a phobia named for fear of going to the bathroom in public? -- Mr. Zip-it, the net Jeez, not even the French pee in public anymore, Zip. Pissoir phobia's what …

Dear Matthew: I recently saw a documentary about kangaroos. When they're first born, they're very tiny and they crawl into the mother's pouch to drink milk and grow. They said the baby spends about six …

Heymatt: Do you know about funny noises? Whenever I get on the I-8 in Mission Valley, my car is much quieter. Why is that? -- Robert Frantz, the net Perhaps your car is tiptoeing through …

Dear Matthew: Could you please tell us if the huge, thick, gray, billowing clouds of smoke that seem to be two to three miles from Interstate 8, between Seeley and El Centro, are set on …

Until 1940, Campo was the center for Customs and Border Patrol. To avoid U.S. “line-riders,” smugglers came to the store in darkness. They traded “gold, silver, whiskey, you name it” for manufactured goods.

Love of music creates communities — usually short-lived communities, called “scenes” — that can change lives and, if the circumstances are right, change the world and the course of history. When I moved to Encinitas …

A wealthy San Diego developer wants to construct what appears to be a first in American history: a private family cemetery on a public golf course, specifically designed as the final resting place for a …

Topanga -- "The place where the mountains meet the sea." That simple and descriptive Gabrielino Indian name aptly applies to both the famous canyon near Los Angeles and to the big state park sprawling along …

Hey Matt: Where did the giant turd go? I used to enjoy including Scripps Clinic on local sightseeing tours. What work of public "art" can possibly take the place of this goofy installation? -- Bob …

“I had the idea of an average San Diego guy, with a baseball cap, you know, and flannel shirt and Levi’s and burritos. He watches the Padres, and he’s a bouncer at a topless bar.” …

In what became the “battle of the telegrams,” E.H. Harriman, president of Southern Pacific Railroad and funder of earlier efforts, and President Theodore Roosevelt haggled about who should finance the operation.

In late 1983, U.S. troops invaded and quickly routed the tiny Caribbean island of Grenada on fears that it would become another Cuba. Today, Grenada is known as home of the most malodorous offshore banks …

The wife of embattled San Diego data-processing chief Roger Talamantez, under an ethics cloud for his campaign- fundraising work on behalf of city councilman Jim Madaffer, who has in turn tended Talamantez's job-related interests, is …

Summer is settling in at last upon the hills and dales of Julian, bringing with it the toasty smell of sun-dried grass and the cool, vanilla-like fragrance of Jeffrey pines. Bicycling is a good way …

Matt: Where did the term "hog heaven" come from? I have heard that it has to do with breeding pigs, that when the hog reaches sexual bliss, it lasts for several minutes. Can you clarify? …

Dear Ma: I recently took an online traffic school course. Is it true that newer vehicles must have their lights on in the daytime? And our local recycling guy objects to my bare feet. He …

Matt: Some ladies I work with have been discussing which bra straps give the best support. Some say regular, some say racerback. Can you help? I know which I prefer… -- A Guy in the …

During mid-April of last year, a large group of cowboys came into the Branded Oak restaurant on Maine Street in Lakeside. They had come from the rodeo grounds several blocks down the street, where tryouts …

Nature had dug two deep, 40-mile-long ditches for the Imperial Valley. They carried to the Salton Sea four times the sediment excavated for the Panama Canal. And the Colorado River flowed unchecked.

The city and the Chargers are in secret kiss-and-tell negotiations. True to historical precedent, the city is kissing the Chargers' rear hip pads and not telling anybody. The Chargers, meanwhile, are openly telling people their …

Though he kept a low profile, the late Barry Eugene White, that purring bass-baritone king of disco who died in Los Angeles last week at the age of 58 of complications from high blood pressure, …

When a stranger showed up with his surfboard at the Windansea surf break last December, the locals knew he was a troublemaker. “He was a biker-surfer type,” said Mark Dephilippis, a 43-year-old Windansea local who …

The "top of the world" views from Twin Peaks ridge are among the best in the San Gabriel Mountains. Sometimes in summer (and often in winter) you can look south over a low-lying blanket of …

Matt: Lizards aren't bodybuilders. Why do they do so many pushups? -- Greg G, San Diego They're yelling, "Hey, look at me! I'm big and tough and if you don't get out of my territory, …

Matt: I know this is going to be a little gross, so let me apologize in advance. Is the human body simply incapable of breaking down corn kernels? I can't even seem to chew corn …

M. Alice: While hefting candidate watermelons at the market, my wife said that the way to pick a good watermelon is to look for bee stings on them. "Bees don't sting watermelons." "Yes, they do. …

Some women have always surfed. Three hundred years ago, Hawaiians of both sexes rode the waves, and when the sport moved beyond the islands, when the Hawaiian Duke Kahanamoku in 1915 traveled to Australia to …

Bouquets to Ronald Duane Brouillette Jr.: He could spend more time in the pokey than his nationally notorious mentor, Harold Bailey (B.J.) Gallison. The latter is scheduled to be sentenced early this month, and the …

A couple of weeks ago Jay Leno did a gag about how the Japanese had offered to send troops to help out in Iraq. "Great timing," he said, the message being that the Japanese had …

This week's big story about the Barona Indians attempting to buy water influence in Sacramento came in for distinctly different treatments by the Union-Tribune and San Francisco Chronicle. The U-T began by saying, "The Barona …

The banks of the cut began to cave in. On August 9,the entire Colorado made a right turn at the Mexican cut, powered through the breach, gushed down the Alamo canal into the valley, and created the Salton Sea.

Hey Matthew: A friend of mine just lost eight teeth in a golfing accident with a buddy, which makes me wonder, why do people use the word "Fore!" when stroking the ball as a warning …

Hi, Matt: Do dogs ever get tired of barking? Is there a record for the longest consecutive bark? My neighbor's dog must hold that record. I'm sure a normal person couldn't talk that long. Even …

Dear Matthew Alice: My co-worker and I are having a friendly discussion. It's my understanding that after a person dies, their hair and nails continue to grow, at least for a short time. My co-worker …

Matt: Why does my cat bug the heck out of me when I'm on the phone-- rubbing against me, purring… -- Beth, San Diego Outside chance she'd like her own phone. But more likely she …

Dear Matthew: At what age does one qualify to be called a geezer? Most dictionaries just say "an old man." I was wondering if you could define the chronological age at which the term geezer …