RILEY has had trouble sleeping ever since he was left in this pen, its gate locked, its concrete floor hosed off every morning. He hates the constant barking either side of him, that deep ruff-ruff …

“Of all the dilapidated, miserable looking places I had ever seen, [San Diego] was the worst The buildings were nearly all adobe, one story in height, with no chimneys. Some of the roofs were covered with tiles and some with earth.”

Heymatt: Doesn't the U.S. government pay the airfare when they deport someone? Let's say a Chinese guy is here illegally, and then one day he decides he'd like to go home. Couldn't he just advise …

Hey, Matt: Why do we sigh? And on an unrelated note, do the toilet seat covers in public restrooms actually do anything? — Amy, sitting and sighing In with the good air; out with the …

Hey: On all my visits to Disneyland, I have never seen an airplane or helicopter fly over the Magic Kingdom. Was Disneyland able to get some kind of ordinance prohibiting aircraft from flying over? Does …

We’re getting ready to hit the road. This Thursday at 4:00 a.m., I plan to herd my five children into our loaded Ford E- 350 van and head north toward Seattle. We’re vacationing this year …

Leihua Smith figured that the man who volunteered to be a witness for her in court must have been an angel. "I gave him a kiss on the cheek after the hearing," she says, "but …

Sociologists lament San Diegans' lack of political participation and social cohesion. The overlords celebrate it -- secretly, of course. Four years ago, Robert D. Putnam, Harvard professor of public policy, authored a book, Bowling Alone, …

At least one rich local Democrat won't be climbing on John Kerry's bandwagon anytime soon. Developer, ex-state horseracing boardmember, and former port commissioner Harvey Furgatch, who lives in a house on the beach in Del …

No Southern California hiker's repertoire of experiences is complete without at least one ascent of Mount San Antonio, or "Old Baldy." At 10,064 feet, Baldy's summit looms large over the eastern Los Angeles Basin, the …

They went on their first date at Chili’s off Mission Gorge Road near SDSU. “I knew he liked me because he wanted to take me to the movies after dinner even though we hadn’t planned on that.”

“That’s how America has been built: you start your own business when you know your trade well enough. But you’ve also got to know how to sell.

Matt: On a recent road trip I was navigating while my friend drove. At one point, I turned the map upside down, since we were going south and I was having trouble remembering to switch …

Hi, Matt: As a punk rock kid, up to absolutely no good, I used to hang out in the parking lot of Presidio Park and drink cheap beer. Well, in the parking lot across from …

Heymatt: What's up with fingerprints? Why do we have them? Other than using them to catch crooks, what good are they? -- Knight Life, San Diego You should be grateful every time you pick up …

San Diego State University is known the world over as one of America's biggest party schools. The academic playland has made the list of Playboy's ten most sexually active campuses twice over the past decade. …

It's not a question of if there is a real estate bubble. It's a question of whether it bursts or slowly leaks air. It may expand for more than a year, if interest rates only …

Just beyond the placid north shore of North County's Batiquitos Lagoon, white flecks of shell glint in the sunlight where the land begins to rise. Prior to around two centuries ago, and back as far …

“He told me that he had a thing for Japanese girls. I grew up in Okinawa and moved here when I was 11. I told him, ‘I’m only half Japanese, so it wouldn’t work out.’”

Mr. Pleso told Ms. Lee to leave the room for a minute. When she came back, he was standing by the Christmas tree. He spoke to her in terms of endearment, asked her to marry him.

Looking down the row of colorful fan-filled T-shirts, holding my sign high for all to see, I experience a moment of concern at being among so many cultural castaways. And when I stand to take …

Dear Matthew Alice: When I had my tonsils taken out (a rite of passage in the 1930s), I was served a helping of Jell-O. With the birth of each of five children, the hospital tray …

Heymatt: Why are underwear and pants always referred to as a "pair"? Yes, there are two leg holes or pant legs, but a single shirt has two arm holes or sleeves but is never referred …

Matt: Settle an argument. My friend and I were walking across campus the other day, and I stopped to pick up a penny. My friend thought it was stupid for me to go to all …

A controversial member of the administration of ousted Democratic governor Gray Davis has turned up on the payroll of the San Diego State University Foundation. Rudy Murillo -- onetime aide to ex-congressman Lionel Van Deerlin, …

The online publication of "Son of Sam" killer David Berkowitz's journals has a San Diego man on the hot seat. "Wilson," not his real name, says he turned down interviews by Today's Katie Couric, the …

Great Expectations. Charles Dickens wrote the classic. San Diego, going to the dickens financially, could write a sequel, Inflated Expectations. The city got into its pension amess because, among many unwise things, it had the …

We don’t go out to the movies very often. After last Monday, I remember why. Jack and I have taken our kids to the movies in what Ben calls a “feeater” exactly twice. The first …

Tahquitz Peak celebrates a legendary demon who, in the oral tradition of the Cahuilla Indians, used to dine on maidens and create crackling bolts of lightning over the San Jacinto Mountains. At an elevation of …

The column tried to stay motionless to surprise Pico at Mule Hill. But Duvall, the Portsmouth's surgeon, found the camp “rather a bad place to escape observation, on the top of a high mountain destitute of trees.”

In an October 2002 interview he said he had run into the Dalai Lama in the Holy Land. "I went up to him," said LaHaye, "and asked if anyone had ever explained to him who Jesus Christ really is."

Hey Matt!! This has been bothering me for YEARS!! Every night the local news shows the stock market results...let's say on Monday the Dow goes UP 10 points; Tuesday DOWN 50; Wednesday DOWN 150; Thursday …

Dear Matthew Alice: I work in retail and occasionally a customer will give us an Eisenhower or Susan B. Anthony dollar. Other customers usually don't like them given back as change, so we put them …

As the race for San Diego city attorney heats up, termed-out incumbent Casey Gwinn has gone to bat for his protégé Leslie Devaney, who is running against civilian attorney Mike Aguirre. Gwinn has been bashing …

San Diego County used-car dealers, particularly in Oceanside, were already hurting, thanks to the deployment of local military personnel to Iraq, when more bad news arrived in the form of lawsuits. The suits, filed by …

San Diego's Titan Corp. -- left at the altar by giant Lockheed Martin -- must rebuild its management and reputation. In a conference call with the investment community today (July 8), it is spelling out …

What better way is there to pique a child's interest in nature than to introduce him or her to a shallow, lazily flowing river full of tadpoles and frogs? At Indian Flats Campground, you can …

Kearny looked at Beale’s head wound, bandaged with a torn army shirt, and said no. Too dangerous. Beale argued that Kit Carson could be his guide. Kearny vetoed Carson. Carson was far too important to let go.

“It was cold, so Bethany had on my jacket. I got down on one knee and reached into the pocket of the jacket she was wearing and pulled out the ring box.”

HEY, LADIES! Let's hear it for men! Give a shout-out now to the body masculine! Here's to five o'clock shadows, Adam's apples, square jaws, and rough skin. To testosterone, to the Y chromosome, to the …

This just in -- "Cottonwood Creek Park Opens (North County Times, 6/15/04) ENCINITAS-- Mayor Maggie Houlihan used giant, ceremonial scissors to cut the ribbon at Monday's ceremonies to open Cottonwood Creek Park.�" Giant ceremonial scissors? …

Hello Matt: My friend Mitchie and I have a disagreement about "vaudeville." Was there actually a town called Vaudeville or did someone just make it up for some illusionary special effect for their circus act? …

Heymatt: Who was the Roman god of cats? -- Maria Sanchez, Escondido Hmmm. Romans believed just about everything was invested with a spirit and therefore worthy of honoring for good luck, if for nothing else. …

Hi, Matt, from Russia! If all mammals' blood is red, at least us and cows, why is pork, veal, and poultry meat white? -- Scott, St. Petersburg, Russia Matt: Is pork really "the other white …

Dear MA: How is it that the abbr. for a pound of weight is lb? None of my English instructors could answer this but I'm confident you can. -- Dave-O, the net That's the attitude …

Some three decades in the making, the bicycle route encircling the south end of San Diego Bay is nearing completion. The past decade has seen the construction of new bicycle paths along the bay shore …

Scripps Research Institute's overhyped and overblown plans for a Florida biotech research facility could possibly go overboard, particularly since taxpayers suddenly realize they will be hit with more than $1 billion in costs, almost double …

All the recent commotion about U.S. atrocities at Abu Ghraib Prison and elsewhere got me thinking about Ka-Bar knives, which in turn got me thinking about former senator and now member of the 9/11 Commission …

President George W. Bush has his fat cat Texas "Rangers," who have corralled $250,000 or more each for the Bush cause. Now presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Senator John Kerry can claim 171 "Patriots," each of …

“Forty balls struck him, I was told,” says Griffin, “yet he did not fall.” Soldiers drove the mule up the hill and butchered it, along with two others killed in the rush. Three fat mules were a “godsend.”

“I wanted the cheapest service. Wayne kept trying to sell me other things, like, did I want the car vacuumed? He was wearing his blue mechanic’s uniform. He was a little dirty. He looked hot."

“You will recollect the life you wasted, and you will resent that poor kid every time you want to do something for yourself.”