Content for Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Blog Entries

News & Stories

Crime Spike in Kensington

According to reports and SDPD community relations officer Rene Murillo, Kensington has experienced an increase in crime from January through June, with most of the crime spiking in April and May. In this five-month span, ...

Dog Still Missing from 4th of July?

This black lab is one lucky dog. She was one of 20 dogs taken to the Humane Society’s facility in Oceanside in the two days after the Fourth of July weekend. Her relieved owners came ...

The Fleetwood's Gentleman Smash

According to the Fleetwood’s bar manager and head bartender Mike Garcia, the stirrers and shakers at the eatery have revamped the menu to accommodate good times and higher temperatures. Bartending for 12 years, Garcia says ...

Comic Concerts

Plenty of musical events are happening at and around Comic-Con next week. On Thursday, July 21, Japanese rocker Yoshiki (X Japan) will debut his Blood Red Dragon #0 comic, cocreated with former Marvel mainman Stan ...

R.I.P., Red Velvet

On June 4, I awoke to an otherwise awesome Saturday, fired up the ol’ email, and clicked open a message from one of San Diego’s finest local chefs. What I saw horrified me. One of ...

Slow Down at Caffe Vergnano 1882

"Everything here is imported,” Kaitlyn says. “Everything?” I ask. “Everything, except for Ferrila and me.” Ferrila, the other barista, gives a little wave from the strangest espresso machine you ever did see. It’s like a ...

Chase Catania Legends Before His Time

“My first race was at Orange Show Speedway in San Bernardino. I was 15 and it was Legends cars.” El Cajon’s Chase Catania, now 20 years old, is talking into a tinny cell phone from ...

Jeremy Messersmith, Gently

Jeremy Messersmith has a voice so gentle that it makes Elliott Smith sound like Tom Waits. It’s the kind of voice that’s made for lullabies, and I once saw Messersmith use it to charm a ...

Blue Hair, Dumpster Diving

Hey, Matthew: Why can’t we have blue or green hair? We can have blue or green eyes, and isn’t melanin responsible for coloring our hair and our eyes? So why no blue hair? — Anonymous, ...

So Long, Harry Potter

The great deed is done. Seven novels published, selling 450 million copies. Eight movies made for over $1 billion, their income over $6 billion and soon rising to over $7 billion as the last film ...

Bill Ray Drums

Drummer Bill Ray has played with dozens of local groups (Tubby, Playground Slap, the Wild Truth), though he’s probably best known from Ike Turner’s band, having appeared on the late rocker’s Grammy-winning 2006 album Risin’ ...

Where do they go when the races are over?

And where do they go — not after the gates spring open — but after the race is run, after all their races are run? After the society matrons’ $1000 hats are back in the ...

Seen on DVD: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Battle of Algiers, Freedom Riders

Ralph De Lauro Film program director, Central Library and Cinema Under the Stars Napoleon, by Abel Gance. All sparks and pinwheels. Gance’s silent thrill ride is long, sentimental, and simplistic, yet it’s bursting at the ...

Rosa/Luisa: The California Whirlwind, Part Two

“Strange things are happening to this land,” said Luisa Moreno in 1949. “Yes, tragically the unmistakable signs are before us…who really love America. And it is we who must sound the alarm, for the workers ...

The TJ Cliché

“We knew it from the get-go,” says Electric Healing Sound rhythm guitarist Ricky Soltero when I refer to the Velvet Underground. “We even cover ‘Waiting for My Man’ live. We don’t hide our influences.” Soltero ...

Continental: Lou Reed vs. Gram Parsons

Continental is Rick Barton’s newest band. They are presently on the road and would like to crash at your house. It says so on their Facebook page. “We have sleeping bags, will need floor space.” ...

Letters

Correction The story on the Reader website titled “Helix Water District’s Info Flow Questioned,” by Grant Madden, included many factual errors. We regret posting it with minimal fact-checking. Lucid Brews Ed Bedford’s “Beer Heaven” cover ...

The Tempest at Old Globe; Poster Boys at Diversionary

Since The Tempest opened in 1611, people have wondered where Shakespeare located its strange, enchanted isle. Prospero’s enemies are returning to Naples from a wedding at Tunis. A storm blasts them onto the rocks of ...

Brawley's Ex-Mayor Is New Warden at Donovan

The ex-mayor of Brawley, Daniel Paramo, has been appointed acting warden at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in Otay Mesa. A San Diego State University graduate and a former Brawley city councilman, Paramo has ...

Battle for Lindbergh Field Concessions Is Gold Rush for Lobbyists

The San Diego County Regional Airport Authority’s master concession agreement with HMSHost is expiring next year, and the battle over a replacement has turned into a gold rush for local lobbyists. With the competition reportedly ...

Carlsbad Jewelry Thief Does His Homework

Gaylene Taylor and Mary Hyde opened the jewelry store as usual at 9:00 a.m. on an overcast Wednesday in October. Taylor, 52, and her coworker Hyde, 55, were longtime, trusted employees at Mulloys jewelers, which ...

What? No War?

Once again, Americans are beginning to talk about guns versus butter. Do we want to remain a military superpower, or do we want our social safety net and our corporate welfare programs? In San Diego, ...

Fishermen Cited at Agua Hedionda Lagoon

Three fishermen at the Agua Hedionda Lagoon were nabbed by the Department of Fish and Game for fishing violations on July 12. Acting on a tip, wardens confronted the suspects on the banks of a ...

NUG: Homegrown Radio

“We’re not just a weed station that talks about weed all day.” Michael “Ras Mike” Callahan is co-owner of Nug Radio (NugRadio.com), an offshoot of marijuana advocacy publication NUG Magazine. Call­ahan’s broadcast partners include NUG ...

El Cajon Boulevard Church of Christ

Contact: 2528 El Cajon Blvd., San Diego; 619-299-6812; ecbchurchofchrist.org Membership: 130 Pastor: John Manor Age: 43 Born: Monterey Formation: San Diego State University Years Ordained: 3 San Diego Reader: How long do you spend writing ...

Larry Keough's Mime Music

“I don’t know of any other mimes that have written songs, unless you consider Charlie Chaplin, who did write and record music for his movies,” says singer/songwriter Larry Keough. Having spent over a decade as ...

Jane Kenyon

“Mosaic of the Nativity: Serbia, Winter 1993” On the domed ceiling God is thinking: I made them my joy, and everything else I created I made to bless them. But see what they do! I ...

Lawn Mower Repair in S.D.

“According to Tim Allen, the only reason men are alive is for lawn care and vehicle maintenance,” smiled my friend Kate, gazing at our overgrown backyard. “And grilling and serenading wives,” I added, winking at ...

Archie Bunker Would Have Thrived in Lakeside

Thirty-Five Years Ago Jerry Ford and Ronald Reagan use them. So does the Chicano Federation. As a matter of fact, almost no political happening would be official without them. Security guards are the new symbols ...

July 7 Brainstorm Contenders

Joseph Ciprian, Little Italy, 14. * Martha Awdziewicz, Clairemont, 13. Did you know that the lowest zip code is 00501? It's Holtsville, New York. Susan Morfey, Little Italy, 13. Ed Barno, San Diego, 12. Michael ...

July 7 Crossword Contenders

Flo Abena, Rancho Penasquitos, 14. Mary Arana, Encinitas, 14. L. Barling, El Cajon, 14. Bob Carlson, Serra Mesa, 14. Leslie Chase, Campo, 14. * Joseph Ciprian, Little Italy, 14. Gene Simmons taught me humility and ...

July 7 Sudoku Contenders

Evil Bliss Beedle, Encinitas, 15. Loren Boyer, El Cajon, 15. Felix E Charfaurs, San Diego , 15. Greg Chauncey, La Jolla, 15. Joseph Ciprian, Little Italy, 15. Patrick Driscoll, Santee, 15. Michelle Dutra, Serra Mesa, ...