News 2004 May

Stories for May 2004

Thursday, May 27

Friends with Duncan Hunter

From January 2003, when he took control of the House Armed Services Committee, Duncan Hunter seemed like a man in the right place at the perfect time. "This century is going to be a very ...

Freeway freq-out

Heymatt: How come there is so much FM radio interference on the 94 freeway between Lemon Grove and the 805? It sounds like overlapping Mexican stations. -- Nameless, on the road Short answer? The terrain, ...

Nothing's been the same since the Great Vowel Shift

Dear Matt: Why is the English language so jacked up? Why do sometimes we pronounce "i" as "i" and other times as "e"? I'm thinking of starting a language where no "i" can be pronounced ...

Golfing for masochists

Matt: Have any Xtreme sports been invented in our own sunny San Diego? If not, a friend of mine has a suggestion for Xtreme Golf with 1000-yard holes. What do you think? -- Phil Mickelson ...

Will Bazaar del Mundo Become Squibob Square?

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. And if you yourself are broke, only fix things that are draining you financially -- not things that are filling your coffers. It seems basic. But the State ...

Find solitude atop conifer-dotted Buckhorn Peak on the crest of the San Gabriel Mountains.

In the high country of the San Gabriel Mountains, a lightly timbered promontory rises to a peak elevation of 7283 feet. Some call it "Buckhorn Peak," a name given to the mountain summit by a ...

Terrorized with A Tire Iron

If a San Diego County jury had not acquitted Beau John Maloney of terrorizing his father and younger half-brother in July 1998, a renowned Texas artist might still be alive today. Until her murder, Helen ...

Juicy Shamu

Critics of all that development activity over at SeaWorld, the burgeoning amusement park on Mission Bay, have long bemoaned the cozy financial connections between owner Anheuser-Busch and many of San Diego's elected officials. Last week, ...

Thursday, May 20

Caged

Finding yourself in jail or prison for the first time unlatches a simple conundrum: you can’t know what you’re about to face because, had you known, you might have avoided the crime, or at least ...

Old dogs, no tricks

MA: What's the longest recorded life span of a dog? -- Mr. B, the net The yap-yapping in the Guinness record book offices must be deafening. But they had to know, when they started keeping ...

Homegrown harvest

Matt:> I have tried, unsuccessfully, to get information on the roster of the Home Grown LPs that were issued by KGB. I'm POSITIVE that you and your elves remember these records, but just in case ...

Baseball for the Rich, Potholes for the Poor

It's a juggling act worthy of vaudeville. The city is perched near the bankruptcy abyss. But its proposed 2005 budget is up almost 10 percent. This fat budget carves the heart out of critical services ...

Bullets for the Bully

Later this year, Danny Palm, a 60-year-old retired Navy commander and a man described by friends, neighbors, and family as a gentle, honorable man, will return home to his Dictionary Hill neighborhood in Spring Valley ...

Wagering the future

News that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is trying to shoehorn legalized gambling into every corner of the state doesn't come as a surprise to ex-San Diego city councilman Bruce Henderson. For years he's been predicting to ...

The Climber's Loop and Kumeyaay Lake trails in Mission Trails Regional Park are a pleasant diversion on a spring or summer's eve.

Late-spring afternoons and early evenings in San Diego are often perfect for a bit of exercise after work or before an evening meal. The daylight period is now nearly as long as it gets, and ...

Thursday, May 13

The Secret Lives of News Anchors

Michael Tuck threads his bathroom tissue over the roll, “definitely over.” For Carol LeBeau’s last meal, she’d eat peanut butter and jelly on fluffy white bread. And Paul Bloom wouldn’t tell me how old he ...

Bowling off a bridge

MA of Reader: You know how they say that when someone jumps off a high bridge that when they hit the water it is the same as hitting the cement, I guess because of the ...

Bluebloods

Heymatt: What color is blood that is running through our veins? Why does it look blue under our skin? Why is it red when it comes out and not blue? Answer settles a respectable bet. ...

I'll take a quart, please

Heymatt: Could you briefly outline the human mother's milk manufacturing process? -- Jerry Dixon, Santee Before pregnancy, breasts are just muscle and fat pads, with the mammary glands (alveolar cells and ducts) just sitting there, ...

Is It 32 or 3 Cents A Share?

After two calamitous years, San Diego's Wireless Facilities boasted to its shareholders that it earned 32 cents a share in 2003. But look at the footnotes in the telecom company's annual report to the Securities ...

Rack 'Em, Dan-O

The pool-hall scene in San Diego is just beginning to materialize when I arrive at Society Billiards on Garnet in Pacific Beach. It's about 8:00 on a warm Friday night, early for pool. Two local ...

Stadium's roost

Despite the reputedly hot market in downtown condos, sales of those pricey units atop the Omni Hotel next to the new downtown baseball stadium are coming in at a trickle. As of early this week, ...

Hike to Mount Hollywood in Griffith Park for a comprehensive view of the L.A. metropolis.

L.A.'s quintessential urban trail -- the trail to Mount Hollywood -- takes you to the point of highest elevation in Griffith Park, the sprawling patch of open space on the easternmost end of the Hollywood ...

Thursday, May 6

The Natural Blonde Puts Lipstick On Her Forehead When She Wants to Make Up Her Mind

I’m allowed to write this article only because I’m a 7. I don’t mean that I’m a 7 the way Bo Derek was supposedly a 10. I mean that I’m a 7 on the Natural ...

Unethical, Immoral, And Unconscionable

'The hogs are at the trough." On February 17, 2000, David Farley, chief financial officer of Peregrine Systems, e-mailed those words to the company's attorney, Richard T. Nelson. Farley (now deceased) was perturbed that company ...

Troubled Teen Soaks Hospital

Two years ago Mary Schenk received notification that her daughter Donna was self-mutilating. (Family members' names have been changed to protect the child's privacy.) "The school nurse called," says Schenk, "and it was the day ...

Good gravy

With draconian staff cuts in the San Diego Unified School District, how much mad money could be floating around? Just two weeks ago, 616 jobs were axed and hours cut for another 2000 workers. Before ...

Biker noise

Hey Matt: How come motorcycles can be as loud as they want, rattling windows and setting off car alarms? If my car was that loud, I couldn't go a block. Is it because all of ...

Help is just a phone call away

Hey Matt!! At the top of the Coronado bridge are the (in)famous "Need Help?" signs with a phone number for counseling. Why aren't there any phones up there? These signs have been up way before ...

Seeing things in the bedroom

Hey Matt: My husband thinks I'm wacko for this. We recently had a ceiling fan installed in our bedroom. I've noticed that, as I lie in bed, staring at the blades spinning round and round ...

Rise through the morning mist to bag Sycuan Peak, near Alpine and Jamul.

Sycuan Peak, midway between the inland communities of Alpine and Jamul, rises 2801 feet above sea level and overlooks miles of thinly populated valleys and hills. As part of a countywide effort to preserve native ...