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Stories for June 2014

Monday, June 30

Supreme Court rules in favor of carriers

The California Supreme Court ruled today (June 30) that a worker is an employee if the employer has the right to control the worker's behavior. The matter at hand was whether carriers for Antelope Valley …

June 30, 2014
The line-up comes ashore for Fish 101

I'll make the effort for a good fish taco, even if it means hustling up to Leucadia from Golden Hill and standing in line out on the sidewalk along PCH. That's where you find Fish …

MTS chief Jablonski railroaded?

United States congressmen Duncan Hunter and Jeff Denham have put Metropolitan Transit System on notice: Explain the reason for delays and the transit authority's reasoning for granting a non-experienced, allegedly corrupt company a 99-year lease …

El sexo peligroso

Tijuana authorities recently detained around 30 prostitutes for failure to have current health cards in an ongoing citywide crackdown on violators of a variety of municipal laws. “We’ve had an intense operation dealing with sex …

June 30, 2014
Maybe Potrero citizens sensed something

In early 2007, citizens of tiny Potrero — 45 minutes from downtown San Diego and 8 minutes from Tecate — rebelled. A mercenary firm, Blackwater USA, wanted to build an 824-acre training facility three miles …

June 30, 2014
In Memphis, Faulconer hails GOP machine’s victory

He's no Johnny Cash, but San Diego mayor Kevin Faulconer was off to Memphis last month to reveal the strategy of his victory to a Republican Party establishment seeking votes from an increasingly fragmented and …

June 30, 2014
Red Door makes Dad-in-law happy

Around Father’s Day, I decided to take my father-in-law out for a meal. Just the two of us. He’s a great guy who does a lot of stuff for my kids so I wanted to …

Lost Abbey’s Cardiff Confessional

It’s only 1,202 square feet, but when all is said and done, the satellite tasting room Port Brewing Company and The Lost Abbey are inserting into Cardiff Towne Center Complex (2007 San Elijo Avenue, Cardiff) …

Sunday, June 29

Education, a dead-end business

Plans are in motion to replace the Sweetwater Union High School District office and corporate yard in western Chula Vista with 135 townhouse units called the Cove. The district has three pieces of property they …

Outasight, Daddy-o

A Toyota truck ended up on top of a classic maroon roadster Friday afternoon, June 27, in the parking lot of the AutoZone store at 1344 Palm Avenue. Shortly after 3:00 p.m., Imperial Beach sheriff’s …

Streetcorner to Spreckels and back

The first San Diego Fringe Festival was such a hit last summer, this year’s has doubled in size. It now runs eleven days, and offers over 80 entrants. Most will give five performances instead of …

We have no way to catch them

“We are desperate. The siege of these criminals is constant, and we have no way to catch them. We have to do something.” The voice is that of Guillermo Díaz Orozco, president of the Asociación …

June 29, 2014
SD's for-profit colleges devour GI Bill bucks

The Center for Investigative Reporting yesterday (June 28) came out with a study of GI Bill funds flowing to for-profit colleges that fail state aid standards. "California is the epicenter of this problem with nearly …

June 29, 2014

Saturday, June 28

Come jam with Ben Wanicur

Tuesday 1 It’s time for the monthly jam session hosted by the Benjamin Wanicur Trio with Joshua White on piano, Wanicur on bass, and Julien Cantelm on drums at 3rd Space (4610 Park Boulevard) which …

Chamber musicians light the path

The final Timken Museum Mainly Mozart concert was a rough one for me. There were two pieces of music on the program, Kodaly’s Serenade for Two Violins and Viola and Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 9. …

San Diego Recruits Bear Grylls as Water Conservation Spokesman

As part of its ongoing campaign to encourage water conservation, the San Diego Public Works Department has partnered with Man vs. Wild star Bear Grylls, who famously drank his own urine on an episode of …

Dangerous convict, gardener, or both?

Of the more than 20,000 people apprehended by the U.S. Border Patrol in San Diego in the first eight months of this fiscal year, 3321 of them had a total of 6329 criminal convictions for …

Top vittles from a top chef

Even before its opening, Juniper And Ivy was one of the biggest news stories in the San Diego food scene. Having a winner of Top Chef Masters like Richard Blais as your main chef will …

Oceanside won’t go to pot

With all due respect, your medicine is not right for this city, Oceanside leaders told medical marijuana supporters at a meeting on June 25. In a 5-0 vote, the city council rejected a proposal to …

Fredericksburg, VA: America's most historic city

The Interstate 95 (aka I-95) is the main highway on the East Coast, running parallel to the Atlantic Ocean seaboard on a north-south trajectory and serving as the principal artery for cities from Florida to …

Drinking pink at home and abroad

The San Diego craft beer community extends beyond brewers to brewery employees and those who aspire to get into the industry. Members of each of these factions recently collaborated on a special beer brewed to …

June 28, 2014

Friday, June 27

Chet Faker's Built on Glass

Since his cover of Blackstreet’s "No Diggity" on 2012's Thinking in Textures, Chet Faker has become an Australian poster boy for the foggy intersection of R&B and electronic soul, referred to some as “PBR&B.” Faker’s …

June 27, 2014
Gandara to go on 60-day lobster fast

The Sweetwater Union High School District corruption case crescendoed in the South Bay courthouse on June 27. Former Sweetwater superintendent Jesus Gandara was led out of the courtroom in handcuffs. He was sentenced to 220 …

Guided by Voices is back on beat

There is an old saying in the music biz that a band is only as good as its drummer. On this evening, Kevin March proved that theory. March recently replaced another Kevin (Fennell) on the …

June 27, 2014
Nasty super-rich battle looms in Peters-DeMaio race

Connoisseurs of San Diego politics who revel in high-dollar distortions, trumped-up attacks, misleading statistics, and all manner of election-time TV commercial casuistry will be enjoying a record season come this fall. Others will need to …

June 27, 2014
Hitting the Oregon trail

My last vacation occurred two weeks after 9/11, when I flew to Chicago to bury my mother. The time was right to spend a few days in another town kicking the crummy dust of San …

June 27, 2014
Remember California?

Royal Liquor, at 1496 North Coast Highway 101 in Leucadia, is the first site of a mural project by a new Encinitas area arts group named Paint Encinitas. Cardiff by the Sea artist Skye Walker …

June 27, 2014
Only the bold survive on Goldfinch

Goldfinch Street in Mission Hills has become quite the dining hub, with restaurants like Brooklyn Girl, Izakaya Masa and the newly opened Patio worth waiting in line for, and the reliably great Lefty's is a …

Jack sued by Michael Shames!

Michael Shames, deposed head of Utility Consumers' Action Network (UCAN), says that San Diego–based fast food chain Jack in the Box is ripping off its customers. Shames's lawsuit, filed June 18 in San Diego Superior …

June 27, 2014
Here comes the neighborhood

A residential loft project is planned for North Park, just east of Albertsons on University Avenue at Louisiana Street. The long-empty lot was originally listed last August at $895,000. Purchaser of the property was Morley, …

More punk than the punks

The intergalactic anomaly known as Devo is due to land at the Belly Up Tavern in Solana Beach on Monday, June 30. It won’t be the first time the band has stormed the shores of …

June 27, 2014
Last Call: El Henry, Milvotchkee, Visconsin, Miss Firecracker Contest, Spamalot!

El Henry, Herbert Siguenza, of Culture Clash fame, has written a rousing, funny, and eloquent script based on Shakespeare’s history play, Henry IV, Part one. We’re at Aztlan City — i.e. post-apocalyptic San Diego in …

Toolbox Brewing meant to be?

I didn’t believe in fate and things that were meant to be... until I met my wife. Once she came along, things just started falling into place. My life would be nowhere near the same …

June 27, 2014
People just call me "Lee Fields"

Lee Fields, bringing his stomp-down soul funk revue to the Casbah on June 30, doesn’t so much mind being called “Little JB” — in homage to James Brown, in whose shadow all soul-funk revues do …

June 27, 2014
Ocean Beach, not Miami Beach

As most of the media people broke down their cameras and clapped their notebooks shut after the marshmallow issue was discussed at the June 25 O.B. Town Council meeting, the council moved on to what …

June 27, 2014

Thursday, June 26

La Mesa council preps for November

The La Mesa City Council voted unanimously on June 24 to let people other than councilmembers write ballot arguments for the following measures set for November: to allow medical marijuana dispensaries, to set term limits …

June 26, 2014
Pension settlement pending

San Diego's fight against having to pay legal fees for six former pension-board members accused of raising benefits, including their own, while reducing the amount the city pays into the pension system, is over. On …

June 26, 2014
Take a gamble: buy a house

Zillow.com and Bloomberg.com have combined forces to figure out which American housing markets have been the riskiest over the past 35 years. Here's the methodology: assuming buyers held their homes for five years before selling, …

June 26, 2014
Armed robbers hold up La Mesa donut shop

MEDITATIVELY MUNCHING ON A TIGER TAIL, LA MESA — "The donut business is a tough business," says La Mesa Yum Yum Donuts manager Tim Tomake, whose shop was held up on June 18. "Profit margins …

Faulconer’s wife: master of cops and conventions

It was the culmination of a year of elaborate planning at city hall and a major source of income to Katherine Stuart, wife of mayor Kevin Faulconer. And word was out to private security forces …

House fire sounds

Flames tore through an Imperial Beach house Monday night, June 23. The fire started in the kitchen of the home at 914 Fern Avenue shortly after 10:00 p.m., quickly spread to the living room and …

Ragging Bull trailer

Coming soon to a Red Box near you: The blah Bull! The redundant Bull! Martin Guigui’s The Bronx Bull! From the looks of the trailer, the only thing this has in common with Raging Bull …

June 26, 2014
Hanna's Gourmet: Neat meat loaf

As if Adams Avenue didn’t already have enough good dinner spots. Now Hanna’s Gourmet, long a popular weekend brunch spot, is serving dinner — and it's good. Hanna’s has been expanded from its original use …

OB Marshmallow Party?

LISTENING FOR THE FIFE AND DRUM, OCEAN BEACH — "Ocean Beach has always been about freedom," says Ocean Beach Citizens Brigade Confectionary Sergeant Ralph Wegmans. "And now a tyranny — once benign, but now malignant …

Bare Bones Bolland

“I haven’t made an album in seven years,” says Peter Bolland, whose last two full-lengths with the Coyote Problem earned Best Americana Album trophies at the San Diego Music Awards. For his upcoming solo full-length …

June 26, 2014
Castaneda, Quinn, Kidder, Steinbeck

What are you reading right now? Mountains Beyond Mountains: the Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World, by Tracy Kidder. I’m reading it for a cross-cultural perspectives class at school …

June 26, 2014
Life and death in Aztlan City

In Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part one, Prince Hal hangs out with Sir John Falstaff and various lowlifes at the Boar’s Head Tavern in Eastcheap, a street in central London. They swill sack. It is 1399. …

I believe that we will drink

Tom Nickel isn’t one of those bandwagoners who become infatuated with futbol every four years. He follows soccer year-round, travels the world to take in matches at storied arenas, and has made his bar, O’Brien’s …

Ehhhhh…PUTO!

“It's like something out of a TV commercial. Watching you guys celebrate the goals, hugging each other, jumping in front of the TV, and drinking Tecates. I don't really get you sports people, but I …

June 26, 2014
O.B. leaders harsh the marshmallow war

The first issue on the Ocean Beach Town Council's monthly meeting agenda on Wednesday evening, June 25, drew a host of television news crews. They’ve been made aware of a campaign initiated by the council …

Wednesday, June 25

Who are the Steampunk Junction people of San Diego?

Costumes are the gateway drug.

June 25, 2014
Father William

“You are old, Father William,” the young man said, “And your hair has become very white; And yet you incessantly stand on your head — Do you think, at your age, it is right?” “In …

June 25, 2014
King Khan’s cult music for the masses

Go back and listen to 1964. King Khan and the Shrines is what the British Invasion would have sounded like if only they knew more back then and had deeper influences other than American blues, …

June 25, 2014
A-1, baby

Moody's Investors Service today (June 25) gave California its highest debt rating since 2001, boosting the rating from Aa3 to A1. Moody's rating is two steps higher than those given by Standard & Poor's and …

June 25, 2014
Record-release roundup

O.B. rockers Markland will release its debut self-titled full-length on June 28 at the Ocean Beach Street Fair, headlining the Wonderland Stage from 5 until 6 p.m. Produced by Michael Head at Headtrap Music Studio …

June 25, 2014
Electrifying dinners

Eating has been good for state legislators who stay on the good side of San Diego–based utility giant Sempra Energy, according to the firm’s latest lobbyist disclosure filing. At Sacramento’s Downtown & Vine, Sempra played …

June 25, 2014
More on the midway

They’re a working band. But they’re still in high school. They’re coming to the San Diego County Fair this year. Twice. And, they are not afraid to bossa nova. Half Moon Portrait, with guitarist/singers Ari …

June 25, 2014
Gourmet popsicles

“Oooooh, fancy,” said my youngest as I pulled a strawberry-orange juice popsicle from its mold. (Up until that moment, her pops had all been single-flavor.) Her comment reminded me of something I’d heard about gourmet …

June 25, 2014
Cross-cultural interactive art in the park with Figment

Aiming to bridge the gap between art creators and art appreciators by removing expression from the confines of a gallery, FIGMENT made its San Diego debut last year, drawing over 1000 participants for the day-long …

Hot dogs and holiness

"Misery loves company, but holiness loves company more!” I can hear him across Petco Park’s parking lot. He’s standing, speechifying, holding forth. Something about “I was high on crystal meth. I got beat up by …

What the fair will bear

The San Diego County Fair may not be known for its adventuresome booking of bands, but few can claim that the annual expo underpays the acts. It was reported in 2007 that one of its …

June 25, 2014
Devo from the ground up

Forged in the horror of the Kent State shootings, bolstered with bracing irony and a handful of religious and pseudoscientific screeds, Devo (short for “de-evolution”) took showmanship, synthesizers, and science fiction to the masses. They’re …

June 25, 2014
Sinless City

As an ad for the Electric Daisy Carnival — an annual electronic dance music festival — Under the Electric Sky is pretty good. The gigantic animatronic owl whose nest serves as the event’s main stage …

June 25, 2014
Banish the beards and bangs

Dear Hipster: If hipsters are such big trendsetters, tell me this: what’s the next big thing? — Jenny Blaze-orange hunting fashion is going to be huge. We’ll be seeing more boardshorts in North Park. There …

June 25, 2014
Big Deal tennis, anyone?

World Team Tennis (WTT) has been around since 1974 with one three-year break. This year the WTT season runs from July 6 to July 27. The league has seven teams, reaching from Boston to the …

June 25, 2014
La Jolla’s “Street of Dreams” leads to a cliffside manse

Current Owners: Peter and Judy Corrente Listing Price: $11,900,000 Beds: 5 Baths: 5 Real estate broker Peter Corrente and his wife Judy, also an agent at the Pacific Sotheby’s brokerage, have been involved in remodeling …

June 25, 2014
Thirteen things you’ll never see in San Diego again

1) Sing Sing: Karaoke Without the Embarrassment. The Shout! House may be the place that comes to mind when the younger generation thinks of sing-a-longs and dueling pianos, but Sing Sing in the Gaslamp District …

June 25, 2014
Cup of politics

GOP House majority leader Eric Cantor’s defeat at the hands of a Tea Party insurgent has stirred the political pot in Washington. Not so much in San Diego, where the only donor to his political …

June 25, 2014
Jon Snow is no hipster

But will Petyr “Littlefinger” Baelish have a beard next year?

June 25, 2014
Cross the bridge and take the stairs

The top of 1094-foot South Fortuna Mountain has sweeping views of all of the major peaks found in the City of San Diego’s largest regional park. South Fortuna is part of a long arced mountain …

June 25, 2014
Bylaws and sweethearts in Hillcrest

The Hillcrest Business Improvement Association has been forced to rescind what has been an effective method at keeping whistleblowers or other non-desirables from becoming a member or joining its board. That strategy? Rewrite the bylaws. …

June 25, 2014
Pure magic

“When you have members of Get Back Loretta, Silent Comedy, Okapi Sun, Transfer, and the Styletones playing and singing together, it becomes pure magic.” Lauren Scheff phones the Reader from his North County home to …

June 25, 2014
I didn’t have to accept sickness, and didn’t deserve it

Membership (estimated): 20 at a time Elected Reader: Marsha Pecaut Born: West Covina Formation: California State Polytechnic University of Pomona, California State University of Fresno Years Associated with Society: “Since a child.” San Diego Reader: …

June 25, 2014
Capital news

A pair of unnamed little birds had a rough plane trip from Washington DC’s Dulles International Airport to San Diego last December, according to an official “animal incident report” recently released by the U.S. Department …

June 25, 2014
A voice mail to the editor

Excuse me for laughing in the Reader’s face, but the dumb article by David Batterson (Neighborhood News: “Shadow Mountain Church Sets Up in Hillcrest”) makes me laugh. Otherwise, I’d cry. Mr. David Jeremiah did indeed …

June 25, 2014

Tuesday, June 24

Whoa, Vergara

On June 10, judge Rolf Treu tentatively decided to do away with statutes that provide teachers with job security in the Vergara v. California court case. Treu’s ruling sided with nine student-plaintiffs who argued that …

June 24, 2014
Environmentalists win one

Environmental groups have claimed victory in a lawsuit against Pardee Homes to prevent what they feel would be irreparable harm to the San Diego River in Santee. John Buse, attorney for the Center for Biological …

June 24, 2014
Mercy for an elder fleecer?

Philip Rand Lochmiller is a notorious fleecer of elderly investors. In 1985 in North County, he was sentenced to three years behind bars for his role — along with his mother and brother — in …

June 24, 2014
Coronado land-grab prevention

The future of the Coronado bayfront is crowded with ideas. Some link islands of green and gray to increase options for walking and biking; others target tourists and revenue. But what will the San Diego …

June 24, 2014
Video of CHP officers confronting Mike Aguirre

Mike Aguirre tells the audience at a June 16 public meeting of the California Public Utilities Commission in Costa Mesa why he opposes the so-called “settlement” that would force ratepayers to shell out $3.3 billion …

June 24, 2014
Making up my own mind about Mozza

I’m not much of a Yelper, but when I was searching to verify the address for the new Pizzeria Mozza restaurant at the Headquarters two weeks after it opened, Yelp was the first site that …

Audit calls out sexual harassment at SDSU

Last summer, the scandal surrounding San Diego's then–mayor Bob Filner made sexual harassment a heated topic of discussion on local and national news media, including KPBS, the public broadcast operation owned and operated by San …

June 24, 2014
You’re going down, Phoenix Lucha Libre

In this corner, hailing from San Diego, adorned in hot pink, black, and light blue, we have Lucha Libre Gourmet Taco Shop. And in this corner, hailing from Phoenix, Arizona, also wearing hot pink, black, …

Tom n Toms activates Downtown

Tom n Tom’s Coffee enjoys minor popularity in LA, where Korean communities opened the door to the originally Korean-owned chain of coffee shops. Now, it’s open in San Diego, in the East Village and at …

Bay Ho's Bitter Brothers

In addition to my work as a journalist covering the San Diego brewing scene, I proudly act as an ambassador for the region. There are few things as rewarding as exposing people to this county’s …

June 24, 2014

Monday, June 23

Collateral damage on and off Wall Street

Floridian Jeffrey Spanier was today (June 23) sentenced to serve ten years in custody for his role in a $100 million stock loan fraud. The case was handled by San Diego's U.S. Attorney's office. Spanier …

June 23, 2014
Papa Doug digs Obama’s pond scum

Beating up on big government spending is a full-time occupation at U-T San Diego, owned by mega-millionaire Republican real estate developer Douglas Manchester. Obamacare, minimum-wage hikes, and the Barrio Logan community plan are a few …

Entirely not Mozart, entirely badass

What would happen if you brought an orchestra together which was comprised of principal players from a slew of different organizations such as The LA Philharmonic, the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Detroit Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, …

Frack-happy — for now

Nearly 200 environmental activists from across the county gathered Saturday morning, January 21, in a Balboa Park auditorium for a forum on ”community choice" energy and implementation of a long-range climate action plan. As interim …

June 23, 2014
Puesto: F-ing awesome!

If you go to Puesto, you’re going to do a lot of cursing. Not in a bad way, but along the lines of “This taco is f-ing awesome!” or “This is an f-ing great margarita!” …

Black and stopped in Utah

In a dispute that has been dragging on for six years, a judge of the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Friday, June 20, that San Diegan Sherida Felder can go ahead with a racial-profiling …

June 23, 2014
Immigrant flights from Texas to San Diego canceled

Hours after U.S. Border Patrol San Diego sector chief Paul Beeson confirmed that planes carrying illegal immigrants to San Diego from Texas would begin Monday, June 23, the chief learned the flights had been canceled. …

June 23, 2014

Sunday, June 22

Agrarian’s lament

Laurel Mehl has lived on her family’s farm since she was born in 1958. Starting with her grandfather, the family has farmed their land for over seven decades. Now her Coral Tree Farm, on two …

Sprague & Friends debut new CD at City College

Tuesday 24 The KSDS Jazz Live series kicks off their summer festivities with Peter Sprague & Friends doubling as CD- release party for Sprague’s new Ocean In Your Eyes disc featuring the guitarist's core duo …

Saturday, June 21

Children witness shooting in Tijuana

As hundreds of children looked on, a gunman opened fire on a father waiting for his sons to get out of classes at a Tijuana elementary school on June 19. According to press accounts, Margarita …

June 21, 2014
Cop-tosser gets a year in the clink

A Vista man who admitted felony assault on a deputy — during a confrontation more than a year ago in which he ended up with a bullet in his chest — was sentenced to time …

June 21, 2014
Why Ukraine?

Before we start, let’s stop: it’s not THE Ukraine, it’s Ukraine. Obama apparently learned this last year. Admittedly I didn’t know this until recently, but I'm not the Prez. And oh yeah, the capital (Kiev) …

Divide and Exit by Sleaford Mods

The current foul-mouthed darlings of music press from London to New York, Nottingham’s Sleaford Mods, have unleashed their eighth album, Divide and Exit. From the same neck of the woods as Robin Hood, Sleaford Mods’ …

June 21, 2014
Hawaiian sandwich, Russian stout: perfect combo?

Is this the future of food trucks? Joel — Joey — Rodriguez calls it a pop-up. It's just a canopy over a cooking ring. With a couple of canvas chairs for Joey, his wife Olive, …

Want to buy a house? Go elsewhere

New numbers on home sales released this week might suggest to some the signs of a market approaching its latest peak. Real-estate industry talking heads are scrambling to inject some optimism as summer, which typically …

June 21, 2014
Lionel Richie rouses Sleep Train

Lionel Richie launched the show with the latter-day “All Around the World,” but then dismissed any critics by playing a full set of hits from the ‘80s and earlier. He began with a rendition of …

June 21, 2014
The piper must be paid

The corruption cases from three South Bay school districts — Sweetwater Union High School, Southwestern College, and San Ysidro Elementary — are wrapping up. On June 20, Greg Sandoval, former Sweetwater trustee and former Southwestern …

Societe's celebratory dumpster-diver

At my day job, my colleagues and I recently brainstormed potential names for a saison. A rangy ale style originally brewed on French and Belgian farmsteads, we toyed with many farm-inspired names. In the end, …

Friday, June 20

Is there a tax dodger in the house?

A federal jury has returned guilty verdicts on all counts against Dr. James Francis Murphy and his wife, Denise Christine Murphy, for their decade-long dodging of taxes. They practiced osteopathic medicine in Encinitas and Omaha, …

June 20, 2014
No drunks drive through police checkpoint

Oceanside police officers were surprised on the evening of June 6, after they set up a DUI checkpoint and no derelict drivers showed. Over a four-hour period starting at 9:30 p.m., on Oceanside Boulevard at …

Ten-story building for La Mesa?

The La Mesa Planning Commission on June 18 tabled a decision on the Park Station specific plan after a co-applicant spoke against the mixed-use proposal. The proposal includes raising the height limit to 110 feet …

June 20, 2014
Spamalot is nuts — and wonderful

And now for something completely…SPECTACULAR! Moonlight has opened its outdoor summer season with a production so smart, polished, and accurate you’d think they’ve assembled an all-star team. And in a way, they have. Brad Bradley …

June 20, 2014
Don’t trample the streetscape, Santa

The Starlight Parade may be returning to western Chula Vista. For many years, thousands of families lined the sidewalks of Third Avenue waiting for Santa Claus to arrive; however, when economic times got tough, the …

Eshoo won't be eschewed by Qualcomm

2013 was a bruising political year for Qualcomm, Inc., the cell-phone chip-maker cofounded by La Jolla Democratic billionaire Irwin Jacobs. With his son Paul, then the company's chief executive, they put the firm's big-money chips …

June 20, 2014
Special interactive feature: help us choose the drug-related cop joke

Dear Reader readers: We just couldn't decide which was the better aspect of the Officers Charpentier case: the (alleged) fact that married police officers needed to sell hydrocodone to supplement the notoriously low pay offered …

Cole seeks cash to snuff campaign backfire

City councilmember Myrtle Cole is looking for cash to fight a defamation lawsuit filed by her former opponent, Dwayne Crenshaw. The lawsuit accuses Cole of dirty politics when her campaign sent out mailers placing Crenshaw …

June 20, 2014
Top of the food chain

I wouldn’t have expected top-notch fine dining from a mammoth national organization like Darden (which owns 2100 restaurants, including Olive Garden), but because my fancy foodie friends Bill and Jane approved of and recommended it, …

More tippling? Bar employment up

. San Diego County's unemployment rate dropped to 5.8 percent in May, down from a revised 6.1 percent in April, according to the state Employment Development Department. The county gained 5100 jobs in the month, …

June 20, 2014
Belgians and barrels

Despite tackling a wider range of beer styles than almost any brewery in the county, Rip Current Brewing Company (1325 Grand Avenue, San Marcos) has only dabbled in Belgian-inspired beers. That’s about to change big-time …

June 20, 2014
Fit for a job in fitness?

Patty Markham of Huntington Beach lost 100 pounds in a year by working out. She trained at a Crossfit gym, ran on the beach, and practiced yoga three times a week. When she lost her …

June 20, 2014

Thursday, June 19

Cash comingling, ethics lapses at SDSU

An audit of San Diego State University by state investigators has discovered big gaps in the way the hallowed institution tracks and discloses conflicts-of-interests, ethics training, and cash donations. According to the report to the …

June 19, 2014
Padres notch 50th moral victory of the season on day of Gwynn's passing

Following their 5-1 loss to the Seattle Mariners on June 16, the day Tony Gwynn died, the San Diego Padres' record fell to 29-41, making them one of only three teams in the Major Leagues …

Mac and cheese... Super Q slider topping?

I keep wanting to like food trucks. I don't know why — I have no trouble going to traditional storefront restaurants and dining in or taking out. I'd rather eat sitting at a table than …

Faulty headlight, dilated pupils

When deputy Agustin Rostras asked Cirilo Arenas Velasco for his driver’s license on May 30, “He said his license was suspended,” according to Rostras. Then the officer asked Velasco for some form of ID and …

June 19, 2014
Menacing and comical Journey

Memo died five years ago. He wants to visit with his living relatives on “the Day of the Dead.” To do so, he must trek through the Underworld, where Mictlantecuhtil, the cruelest of the Aztec …

June 19, 2014
Cops’ code of criminality attacked

There are unwritten codes in the San Diego Police Department, a so-called "two-tiered system of justice," where officers become untouchable and above the law. That system has served as an incubator for sexually violent predators …

June 19, 2014
Broken record, broken nose

I was people-watching on the corner of 30th and University, wondering which would be the best bar to watch the upcoming World Cup game, United States versus Ghana. An older couple walked by, the white …

June 19, 2014
SDSU appoints Tony Gwynn Statue to take over Tony Gywnn's coaching contract

The tragic death of San Diego baseball great Tony Gwynn came just days after he signed a one-year contract extension for his position as San Diego State's men's baseball coach, which he has held since …

AleSmith keeps rollin'

The first half of this year has included huge news for AleSmith Brewing Company. In addition to the announcement that the company will be moving into a building all its own with five times the …

June 19, 2014
A good place to be a model

California is a good place to live if you are considering pursuing a career in modeling,. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as of 2013 California is the third highest paying state for models. …

June 19, 2014
U-T shuns climate change in wildfire stories

According to Media Matters, a liberal nonprofit research organization that monitors media, the U-T is barely mentioning climate change in its wildfire coverage. However, other state media are doing the reverse. The media watchdog reports …

June 19, 2014
I've regained my confidence

Sherry Luft is a participant and founding member of the Job Seekers Club at South Metro Career Center. Let’s start with what line of work you’re in. How and when did you become unemployed? I …

Sixty miles to El Capitan Reservoir and back

I recently had a nice, cool day off for a leisurely and minimally hilly bike ride that doesn't involve the super-flat Mission Bay or San Diego Bay. Where else to go but to follow the …

Wednesday, June 18

Chillin’ inside Paras newsstand with the man of 4000 titles

Paras Newsstand in North Park offers Soap Opera Digest, Cheetos, clove cigs, and a whole lot of this and that.

June 18, 2014
Adiós, Ché?

University of California San Diego administrators are wasting no time in shutting down its Ché Café, a student-run cooperative. The school says that the popular music and arts venue and hangout is run down and …

June 18, 2014
Seems everyone’s going green in Grantville

After Navajo Community Planners, Inc., heard a presentation on June 16 about progress on the Grantville-focused community-plan amendment, the planning group received an update from two men who applied for a conditional-use permit to operate …

Jake’s part in Wild Heart

“I’m not the only drummer on the album. There’s four drummers total,” Jake Najor says, one of whom was Max Weinberg of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band. “I do kind of the heavy rock stuff.” …

June 18, 2014
All the leaves are brown...

A survey commissioned by the California Water Foundation, a group pushing for water-conservation policies statewide, claimed on June 17 that the drought is one of the most pressing issues on the minds of voters. A …

June 18, 2014
Crown Manor hijinks

Will letters from Coronado haunt the presidential hopes of Hillary Clinton, wife of Bill, whose own campaign for president enjoyed the big-time financial backing of the late M. Larry Lawrence, once the most powerful and …

June 18, 2014
Grunt work pays off

“I haven’t picked up my guitar since November of 2012.” Chad Cavanaugh, at least for a while, was a steady presence in the local singer/songwriter circuit. He wrote some songs, he cut a CD, and …

June 18, 2014
Chocolate-covered strawberries

My childhood friend Serena’s bridal shower is in two weeks. Our friend Lisa is preparing Spanish tapas. Bernice is bringing two gallons of her husband Frank’s amazing sangria. My job is to bring a few …

June 18, 2014
Girly behind the wheel

Dear Hipster: I’m 27, and I’ve finally settled into a career where I make enough money to think about buying a new (or slightly used) car. I want something practical but still “girly,” if you …

June 18, 2014
Southern Culture on the Skids’ white-trashy rock

Can we agree to like Southern Culture on the Skids for different reasons? I think we’ll have to. There’s an overriding country white-trashy rock appeal, the B52s-on-speed angle, and the rockabilly-surf attitude. Still others of …

June 18, 2014
Nancarrow sees the (country) light

Graham Nancarrow’s upcoming tour grew out of a chance meeting at a memorial for his father, newscaster/ecologist Loren Nancarrow, who died last December. “This lady saw us play at the Reuben H. Fleet theater,” singer/guitarist …

June 18, 2014
A whole lot of lunch

At last. Have been watching this site for months. I’m riding on the southbound Orange Line as it pulls in to the Park and Market stop. Bunch of school kids haul out and start streaming …

What it means to be free

“One of my favorite gigs here in San Diego was at Soda Bar, before I actually moved here,” says singer/songwriter Mike Wojniak. “I was living in Columbus, Ohio, and was touring across the country with …

June 18, 2014
Ghostly Remnants

“Going to a reunion would be like seeing a stranger on the street and wanting to know what college they went to and how many kids they have. Sure, once upon a time I went to a class with you, but...”

June 18, 2014
Witness to a reef

Walk at low tide to discover multiple tide pools. Get to know your anemones from Cardiff to Carlsbad.

Contribute your nonconformity

Dear Hipster: I think I could do your job better than you do, because I am more hipster than you. Can I have it? — Jeff If you are such a hipster, Jeff, surely you …

June 18, 2014
Jerry Sanders’s playhouse

It has to be tough being a lobbyist for the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce these days. What with taking down the Barrio Logan Community Plan, fighting the minimum wage demanded by labor unions, …

June 18, 2014
Woes at Bridgepoint, United States University

State and federal regulators, legislators, and accreditors finally seem to be getting wiser to the for-profit universities. San Diego’s publicly held Bridgepoint Education — target of investigators but darling of the local business establishment — …

June 18, 2014
3000 miles away, and he makes sure to remind me it’s over

Post Title: The Gift of Desperation Post Date: April 27, 2014 Out of desperation, I began meditating in early December of 2013. There I was: at a crisis house in Oceanside, broke, alone, nowhere to …

June 18, 2014
And a Few of Your Thoughts on Writing, Please

I used to think that to write poetry I needed absolute silence, so I could hear the muse in her bare feet. I imagined special pens, ink the color of Shelley’s eyes, and paper made …

June 18, 2014
Juice

More corporate cash to report from the grand opening last month of the new County Administration Center park on the downtown bayfront: $10,000 from AT&T, at the behest of county supervisor Greg Cox, according to …

June 18, 2014

Tuesday, June 17

ow playing at AMC Theat

My late uncle, Fred Karmel, once dared to argue the merits of letterboxing with me. “I paid a lot of money for that 25-inch Zenith, Scotty,” Freddy grumbled, “and I’ll be goddamned if I’m not …

June 17, 2014
Southeast Asia: it's a hostel world

“What do you want to do when you come visit?” “I don’t know! You plan it.” Well, let’s just see how this goes: I'm traveling on a shoestring budget through Southeast Asia with my mom. …

Because 1 billion is not enough

Qualcomm chairman Paul Jacobs and his wife, Stacy, employ a legal but controversial tax strategy that can greatly lessen or eliminate estate and gift taxes, according to Qualcomm and Securities and Exchange Commission filings. It's …

June 17, 2014
Fishers vs. surfers at I.B. Pier

Pier-fishers in Imperial Beach are complaining about the city's signs that create a protected “surf zone” that limits the area where they can fish. The signs are located on the pier, marking the point past …

Gang tats don’t help dead man

In opening statements to a jury on June 16, a defense attorney appeared to impugn the alleged murder victim, saying “everybody knew” the deceased was a drug dealer in the neighborhood and a “multi-convicted felon.” …

June 17, 2014
Armed with papers

Yesterday (June 16), the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) held an open meeting in Costa Mesa at which proponents and opponents of the San Onofre payment settlement could express their opinions. At 4 p.m., San …

June 17, 2014
Obama’s Del Martian loophole lobbyist

How transparent is Organizing for Action, the big-money "issue advocacy" committee closely associated with Barack Obama's White House? Not enough, suggests the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonprofit based in Washington DC that runs OpenSecrets.org, …

June 17, 2014
"The plumber touched me" defense

On June 16, a San Diego judge ordered six years in prison for a young man convicted of robbing his employer at an ATM machine, after a dispute over pay more than a year ago. …

June 17, 2014
Last Call: The Motherfer With the Hat at Cygnet

Cygnet’s excellent production of the Show We Cannot Fully Name, The Motherf--er With the Hat, must close this Sunday, June 22. The title’s both a warning (there will be untoward language) and an assertion: like …

Fallen heroes

The sad and untimely death of San Diego Padre great Tony Gwynn on June 16 from salivary gland cancer caused by a lifetime of dipping tobacco while playing baseball should in no way bring to …

Dollar belly filler

Can a feller fill a belly for a dollar in this town? Just ask Carlos. That’s what I did, because that’s all I had. Exactly one Washington in the pocket, eaten nothing all day, had …

Yes, nightmare

Top directors of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, along with secretary of state John Kerry, face a federal lawsuit from an American citizen who claims he's been trapped in Mexico by the border patrol since …

June 17, 2014
Letters: Punks, Diamondbacks, (un)happy hours, and the continuing Lindbergh discussion

What Was with the Tiny Plane? Just a word about the Lindbergh mural article in SD on the QT — “Clean Air(ports)”. Lindbergh was far from being pro-Nazi. He, in fact, flew 50 missions in …

June 17, 2014

Monday, June 16

PriceSmart brouhaha in Jamaica resolved

Cubans working in Jamaica are again free to shop at membership retailer PriceSmart, according to the publication The Gleaner. Earlier this year, PriceSmart suspended accounts of residents and staff of the Cuban embassy on Jamaica. …

June 16, 2014
One triggerman, two murderers

After a trial that lasted one month, a jury declared both Jeffrey McCreary and Destin Lee Withers guilty of first-degree murder in the shooting death of Mayorama Denise Rodriguez, 20, more than two years ago. …

June 16, 2014
Foodie taco, delicious taco, City Taco

It's good. Really damn good. Okay, I only earn the right to dole out restaurant reviews by stretching them out to more than a couple of words, so I'll elaborate. North Park's newest taco shop …

Off-base Marine sex assaults recounted

The Pentagon is out with its annual "Report on Sexual Assault in the Military," covering the 12 months between October 2012 through September of last year, and numbers have been on the rise. The Defense …

June 16, 2014
Never go to Tax Court on Friday the 13th

John Paul Reddam, one of the owners of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, lost an appeal from the U.S. Tax Court on Friday (June 13). According to the Metropolitan News-Enterprise, a Los Angeles publication specializing …

June 16, 2014
Tony Gwynn dies at 54

San Diego Padres Hall of Fame outfielder Tony Gwynn died today (June 16) of cancer. Since the end of March, Gwynn had been on medical leave as baseball coach at San Diego State, his alma …

June 16, 2014
North County’s prince of skate

On June 13, when most eighth-graders at Earl Warren Middle School in Solana Beach were sitting at their graduation ceremony thinking about summer and what high school might hold in store for them, student Tom …

Award-winning QUAFF

Each year, homebrewers across the country kill the flame on their portable burners and journey to the National Homebrewers Conference, where they can confer with fellow domestic fermentation enthusiasts over (many) beers. But there’s more …

June 16, 2014

Sunday, June 15

Always pressing forward

The final concert of the La Jolla Symphony season was a good one. The program included Janacek, Haydn, and a new piece for chorus orchestra, soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor, and guitar by Cary Ratcliff set to …

June 15, 2014
Baseball Street

After his final two years playing outfield with the San Francisco Giants, current San Diego Padres bench coach Dave Roberts returned to his San Diego roots. (He graduated from Rancho Buena Vista High School in …

Saxophonist Melissa Aldana blows into La Jolla

Wednesday 18 The Athenaeum Music & Arts Library (1008 Wall Street) continues their concert series with the Melissa Aldana Crash Trio featuring Aldana on tenor saxophone, Pablo Menares on bass, and Francisco Mela on drums. …

Saturday, June 14

Wanda Jackson's still one hard-headed woman

Just one night after appearing at Long Beach’s Ink ’n’ Iron Festival, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Wanda Jackson played for a smaller, but no less enthusiastic, sold-out crowd at the Casbah. For many, …

June 14, 2014
Zoe Muth's World of Strangers

The line of musical soldiers widening the Americana trail continues to increase, whether the attack leans in a hard-hitting, bad-ass direction or concocts idyllic portraits (“Chopping wood and carrying water, everything was better”). Zoe Muth …

June 14, 2014
Plate of pork, context, and nostalgia

It's kind of funny how nostalgia works. Take plate lunches, for example. The Hawaiian lunch staple usually involves some sort of cheap protein, a scoop of rice, and macaroni salad. There's nothing particularly alluring or …

La Jolla surgeon slated to lose license

Dr. Timothy G. Canty, Sr. of La Jolla will lose his physician's and surgeon's license June 17 if the executive director of the Medical Board of California agrees with negligence accusations filed by the attorney …

June 14, 2014
Another wild night at the dead end

The June 10 rescue of a woman driver who drove through a metal guardrail at the end of Cowles Mountain Boulevard and landed in a ravine happened three weeks after Navajo Community Planners’ May 19 …

What kind of racket is this, Lansdowne?

Retired San Diego police chief William Lansdowne has joined a controversial firm named ecoATM. The company installs ATM-like receptacles that pay instant cash for cell phones. Trouble is, law-enforcement officials were saying last year that …

June 14, 2014
Jobless, with children

"Even though the politicians have stopped talking about it, we still need immigration reform," said Genoveva Aguilar, one of about two dozen protesters who gathered outside the federal courthouse downtown on Friday afternoon, June 13. …

South Park meth market shut down?

For the second time this year, the yellow house at 1505 Fern Street in South Park was raided by law-enforcement officers and its occupants arrested. At 5 a.m. on the morning of June 11, an …

Black House at its new house

When I checked out Modern Times’ original Point Loma tasting room, I made the company’s Black House Coffee Stout a Beer of the Week. So, earlier this week, when taking in the Flavordome — Modern …

An ode to Brooklyn Girl brunch

Brunch. Breakfast + lunch. This simple portmanteau fills me with a mixture of joy and dread. In many ways it's the perfect meal: transitioning seamlessly between savory and sweet dishes; adeptly served by either coffee …

Friday, June 13

Fair fanatic's guide

By Wednesday, June 11, the third day of its four-week run, the San Diego County Fair was in full swing. Traffic was backing up on northbound I-5 by 10:30 a.m. As a regular fair fanatic, …

June 13, 2014
An eye on teens, and no pythons allowed

The La Mesa City Council on June 10 unanimously approved a special-event permit that allows the La Mesa Village Merchants Association to stage a modified version of the annual Oktoberfest. Changes to the event (scheduled …

June 13, 2014
For sale: Southeast SD’s complex of death

A major real estate wheeler-dealer from Houston is set to take over a big chunk of Southeast San Diego real estate, and the tenants aren't in a position to make a fuss about it. Greenwood …

June 13, 2014
When two closets become one

There is nothing better than a best friend that has similar dimensions and the same style sense, because inevitably two closets become one. Jamie Trumper’s and Coral Treamer’s wardrobes are interchangeable. The best friends meet …

June 13, 2014
Indian bilker

Bart Wayne Volen, who has residences in San Diego and Hawaii, yesterday (June 12) pleaded guilty to looting $17 million to $19 million from owners of the Thunder Valley Casino near Lincoln, according to the …

June 13, 2014
San Diego Zoo Safari Park issues clarifying statement on Tiger Power

Following the alleged horrific stabbing of a Wisconsin girl by two 12-year-old classmates who were seeking to prove their dedication to the fictional character of Slender Man, and following the horrific Isla Vista shooting spree …

Homeless and at home in Hillcrest

The first time I saw him he was stumbling out from behind a bush near the Starbucks on University Avenue telling anyone who would listen that it was his birthday and he was 60. He …

Droplets on the window

“When I woke up this morning, I never thought I’d be enjoying live accordion music with my dinner tonight,” David said. “Droplets running down a window,” I said, taking his hand. That’s something we say …

What’s in the hopper, part two

Yesterday, I shared the top five most intriguing brewery projects on deck throughout San Diego County. Today, I’m disclosing the seven that round out my top 12 and why. 6 - Prodigy Brewing Company: When …

Thursday, June 12

Construction falters when empty nest refills

If you want to help the local economy, shoo those in their 20s out of the family home. That's the unstated message of a study by Kelly Cunningham of the National University System Institute for …

June 12, 2014
Inside the buzz on Kashkari and Faulconer

Let San Diego's rich GOP insider political intrigue begin — or continue. After a strange, if not bizarre, Republican spring campaign season, onetime Wall Street bailout chief Neel Kashkari is safely on his way to …

June 12, 2014
Ploughman's ten-year-old lunch at The Headquarters

What's the best lunch deal at The Headquarters downtown? Four slabs of ancient cheese in a stretch of crunchy baguette and a fresh pear for $6.50. That's a deal? You betcha. Those four golden slabs …

Fizzle for shizzle in La Jolla

The city's decision to fight the lawsuits over fireworks at La Jolla Cove has officially backfired. On Tuesday, June 17, city councilmembers were asked to approve doling out $250,000 to the Coastal Environmental Rights Foundation …

June 12, 2014
Arab Film Festival hosts dinner and movie at MoPA

San Diego’s Arab Film Festival is holding a mid-year event this Saturday night at the Museum of Photographic Arts. The evening of Arab culture features dinner, music, an art exhibit, and a new film by …

June 12, 2014
Drone and man work good

Northrop Grumman, usually second fiddle to General Atomics when it comes to news on local military-drone technology, has announced the first successful series of tests involving unmanned aircraft flying a mission jointly with pilot-operated craft. …

June 12, 2014
World Cup, North Park-style

Of the 32 countries participating in the World Cup, only the United States carries on like nothing is happening. Despite hosting the Cup in 1994 and having respectable finishes in 2006 and 2010, most of …

June 12, 2014
Good news for Mickelson

The New York Times did an unusual mea culpa today (June 11), admitting that sources who told the paper that local golfing star Phil Mickelson had possibly traded illegally in shares of Clorox have acknowledged …

June 12, 2014
Big Bend Country, Texas

Big Bend is a massive national park that most outside of Texas have heard little about. The whole West Texas area that bends into Mexico, between El Paso and San Antonio, is often called “Big …

Quei Bravi Ragazzi open in Encinitas

North County’s new kid on the block shares space with the luxurious Lofts at Moonlight Beach and the excellent Lofty Coffee Company. Quei Bravi Ragazzi, in addition to being the new cafe’s name, is the …

What’s in the hopper, part one

I can remember when there were fewer than 45 operating brewhouses in San Diego County. Now, that’s the number of planned and in-the-works brewing facilities I am keeping track of. With new businesses coming online …

You're gonna die

"Death Café" may sound like Goth night at a local dive bar, but it's an open event being sponsored by the City of Chula Vista to facilitate a public discussion about death and dying. Presented …

Wednesday, June 11

San Diego Reader 2014 Fun issue

Jetpack America Want to feel like Superman? After a training video and in-office instruction, strap on a jetpack and take to the air. During the 15- to 60-minute ride, the water-jetting pack can go as …

Baja music fest grows chefs

All My Friends music festival started as a house party in Tijuana five years ago and has been broadening its scope and attendance annually ever since. This year, they’re shifting from an autumn to a …

Tour dad

Bleeding Gold may be the widest-reaching indie label in San Diego. I’m sitting with its founder, Valhalla High alumni Roger Preston, on a sunny afternoon in Trolley Barn Park. He keeps pulling full-color covers for …

June 11, 2014
This is really a women's issue

City councilmember Marti Emerald joined representatives from the pro-labor Center on Policy Initiatives in Civic Center Plaza on Tuesday afternoon, June 10, as the group released a new policy brief examining the potential effect of …

June 11, 2014
In a body of light

They talk from the heart at Fraternal Spiritualist Church.

June 11, 2014
Go to Heli

“You’ll get to know God in the land of the damned,” mutters one of the vast array of scumbags on tap in Amat Escalante’s shocking crime drama Heli, opening Friday exclusively at the Media Arts …

June 11, 2014
Painful and suffering lawyers

The law firm of the brother of one-term Democratic congresswoman Lynn Schenk — a close friend of governor Jerry Brown and a member of the controversial bullet train’s board of directors — is giving big …

June 11, 2014
Trapped between ironic homage and unfettered nostalgia

Dear Hipster: You said hipsters venerate the 1980s, but why the ’80s? Why not the ’90s. Or the 1880s? — Dave The late 19th Century remains mostly off limits to contemporary hipsters, mostly because the …

June 11, 2014
Mad with envy

“You come at, say, nine in the morning, I guarantee you won’t get out before two.”

Lunar pilgrimage

On January 1, a wizard-bearded Norman Feller emerged from his Canadian bunker for the first time since he’d locked himself away from the impending anticlimax of Y2K. Actually, he didn’t. The CBC Radio broadcast turned …

June 11, 2014
Grown Up

Was it for this I uttered prayers, And sobbed and cursed and kicked the stairs, That now, domestic as a plate, I should retire at half-past eight. Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892–1950) was born in …

June 11, 2014
Between vice and virtue

Back from a lengthy hiatus from the local music scene is Grant Reinero with a new band, a goth-pop trio he calls Stewardess. Reinero seems intent on making up for lost time: “Stewardess has played …

June 11, 2014
The Many Trials of Madame Tingley, part four

The Allegations In his later years, Harrison Gray Otis rode in an armor-plated, 1910 Franklin Model H. The headlights protruded like cannons; a bronze horn stretching across the molded, deep-green hood resembled an elephant gun. …

Guided by amp buzz

Dayton, Ohio’s Guided by Voices burst onto the indie scene in 1994, though obsessives and the faithful will note that they’d been together 11 years by that point. After decades of chaos and ever-shifting lineups, …

June 11, 2014
Southern jewels and feral pigs

Hike a portion of the Pacific Crest Trail parallel to Lake Morena’s southern shore for views and interesting vegetation among boulders.

June 11, 2014
Mad Marc’s unexpected paths

“This documentary is about Marc’s life, both good and bad,” says filmmaker Carl Schneider, who’ll screen a rough cut of his documentary Mad Marc Rude: Blood, Ink & Needles on June 22 at the Casbah. …

The sports bubble is one tough bubble

Everybody loves to count money, theirs and other people’s. Regard the $2 billion offered for the recently above-average L.A. Clippers. Donald Sterling may be a demented racist (maybe not), but the man knows how to …

June 11, 2014
A tool and his vape should be parted

Dear Hipster: I am totally down with my ecig, and vaping is pretty much the shit as far as I am concerned, but I have a few friends who told me I look douchey and …

June 11, 2014
Wash off your filthy richness at this home’s lagoon or pool

The private white sandy beach consumes a majority of the backyard.

June 11, 2014
Millennial millions

Another staffer for Republican House government oversight and reform committee chairman Darrell Issa has hit the road, this time for a quick trip to Hot Springs, Virginia, to attend the 2014 GOP “Chiefs of Staffs …

June 11, 2014
Shel Silverstein critiqued Bobby Bare Jr.

“I’m tired, man,” Bobby Bare Jr. says by phone from his home in Nashville. “I just finished a great rehearsal.” Bare was born there; a slight twang sculpts his speech by shortening certain words and …

June 11, 2014
Twelve days of license

At Lamb’s Players, Mike Buckley’s set hits you first. You’ve come to see Shakespeare’s “festive” comedy, Twelfth Night. It’s set in Illyria. Illyria? Yeah — ancient country on the Adriatic seacoast. But instead, the set’s …

June 11, 2014
Kevin Beiser –from math teacher to political powerhouse

Not long after getting elected trustee for the San Diego Unified School District in 2010, Kevin Beiser returned to the campaign trail. Some say he never left. Since 2010, Beiser has raised nearly $80,000 and …

June 11, 2014
Pump and dump

San Diego’s economy has long been supportive of biotech, but a small portion of the industry may have just taken a big hit. It comes in the form of a warning letter sent last month …

June 11, 2014
Criticizing the critics

Crazee Review My name is Peter. I’m one of the owners of Crazee Burger in North Park and in Old Town. We recently got reviewed by one of your writers, Ian Anderson (“Still Crazee after …

June 11, 2014
New blogger acknowledges her shameless self-promotion

"Only recently have I become comfortable with social media."

June 11, 2014

Tuesday, June 10

All about the parking spots

Simon Falic, chairman and chief operating officer of Duty Free Americas flew in from Miami on Monday, June 9, to unveil an architectural design for a multiuse structure at the San Ysidro Port of Entry. …

The Signal director Will Eubank comes to town

Will Eubank stopped by the Holman...err, the Manchester Grand Hyatt last week to talk up his anything-but-sophomoric sophomore feature, The Signal, a mind (and genre) bending, eye-stretcher of a thriller that takes full advantage of …

June 10, 2014
Words and ideas trickle away in Milvotchkee, Visconsin

If you’ve seen that look, that frozen Alzheimer’s stare, on the face of a loved one, you have to wonder what’s inside. If, that is, you can get past the unthinkable horrors a.) of no …

Ringleader of casino kiosk scam confesses

Ara Keshishyan pleaded guilty today (June 10) to leading and organizing a 14-defendant conspiracy to steal money from Citibank's casino kiosks. The gang pulled the stunt in ten casinos in California and Nevada, including Pechanga …

June 10, 2014
Wild simplicity at TBL3

“We pride ourselves on not being too stuck up,” explained my server before the first course of TBL3, the exclusive tasting menu at George’s California Modern in La Jolla. “If someone wants plain fish with …

Who killed this boy?

May 30 is a date that the Leitzke family of Vista can never forget. It was the day in 1993 that nine-year-old Ryan Leitzke was left to die on the roadside, hit by a driver …

June 10, 2014
Calle Segunda, I hardly know ya

At 5 p.m., a homeless man in a wheelchair tries to cross Second Street but has trouble with the rubble; a transsexual hooker walks by wearing a short dress, stumbling around on her high heels. …

June 10, 2014
New Sweetwater boardmembers pitch in to money pit

When the Sweetwater Union High School District held its May 28 meeting, three County Board of Education trustees were sworn in to fill seats vacated by indicted Sweetwater trustees. A fourth county trustee, Lyn Neylon, …

Minimum-wage hike may have legal impacts

The San Diego City Council's attempt at hiking the minimum wage to $13.09 could make way for some uphill legal battles, warns a June 6 memo from the city attorney's office. The Committee on Economic …

June 10, 2014
A different way to dim sum

Though Emerald Chinese Seafood Restaurant is my go-to spot for dim sum, I recently decided to shake things up and finally check out China Max, a place that friends have been telling me about since …

Imperial Beach to go Boom

Last year, the City of Imperial Beach didn't fund fire works and initially had planned not to have the celebration in 2014 or 2015. But then Candy Unger and Tim O'Neal formed “I heart IB" …

Monday, June 9

Super Bowl "wish list" items are requirements

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune today (June 9) published the confidential wish list that the National Football League (NFL) demands of a Super Bowl host. Minneapolis will host the game in 2018. The requirements are detailed in …

June 9, 2014
Pimpo and Singleton do London

One more notable little secret of San Diego–bred Navy brass has finally found its way into the open. A rear admiral who was a top supply officer here has been caught with his hands in …

June 9, 2014
Downtown windfall on the down low

Surely downtown residents would be thrilled to discover the city kept a secret stash totaling $23.5 million that could only be spent filling downtown's potholed streets, building parks, leveling uneven sidewalks, or funding public safety …

Good food for the fourth day

You ever spend a few days with people who are showing you their city and all the hot spots in the tourist guide? By the time the fourth day rolls around, if you’re lucky and …

Shadow Mountain church sets up in Hillcrest

The evangelical Shadow Mountain Community Church of El Cajon now occupies the Grace Campus at 3844 Georgia Street in Hillcrest, the former site of Grace Baptist Church. Pastor David Jeremiah's views are similar to the …

Paul's princely pay

Qualcomm's Paul Jacobs raked in $20.7 million in total compensation last year — 62nd among 200 chief executives of companies with capitalization of at least $1 billion filing proxies last year by May 30. The …

June 9, 2014
Islanders to brew inland

Santee is about to get an infusion of island style courtesy of Pacific Islander Brewing Company. Founded by a trio who’s two-thirds Hawaiian who are finalizing their lease, the business is set to be installed …

June 9, 2014
Butter boots and complimentary CPR

Before me at the Allison Avenue La Mesa Fire Department on June 8 were two giant blocks of butter sculpted into a fire helmet and and a fireman’s boot. Fitting, since I was at a …

June 9, 2014

Sunday, June 8

First hour of the San Diego County Fair

For the 29th consecutive year, Escondido’s Margaret Austin, known as the “Pink Pig Lady” for her rolling collection of pink pig memorabilia, was the first to walk through the front gates on June 7 — …

June 8, 2014
Intenso año para la feria del libro de Tijuana

El corazoncito rojo de la ciudad Puede llegar a sorprender si se recuerda que la actual Feria del Libro de Tijuana se debe indirectamente a la Guerra Civil Española. Como muchas cosas en Tijuana, todo …

California or Corrupt Public Utilities Commission?

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has abruptly fired a lawyer who was pressing Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) to reveal which pipelines it had tested for high pressure, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, …

June 8, 2014
Gumption rules

Daren Scott’s directed how many shows? Less than a handful? His staging of Beth Henley’s gonzo comedy feels like the work of a seasoned pro. Not only has he served the play well, his cast …

June 8, 2014
Vote-schmote. I’m going to the beach.

What if they held an election, and no one voted. That was almost the case in California’s June 3 gubernatorial primary election. Only around 20 percent of the state's eligible voters turned out to cast …

June 8, 2014
Octopus is the new black?

Adventurous seafood fans are discovering octopus all over again. Long a staple at sushi bars, respected eateries all over the county have been adding novel dishes to their menus that prominently feature the many-armed mollusks. …

Former mayor backs “flawed” wage-rate study?

On Thursday, June 5, the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, led by CEO and former mayor Jerry Sanders, released a study disputing findings from a March report prepared by the Center on Policy Initiatives. …

June 8, 2014
Kafka's Prague: surreal moments in Old Europe

Prague is a strikingly beautiful baroque city and the prime gateway for Americans into Eastern Europe. The city has intrigued me ever since I became enamored with Franz Kafka’s books as a teenager. An Old …

Mr. Buckets of Money

In September of 2012, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged that nationally syndicated radio personality Raymond Lucia Sr. was spreading misleading information to potential investors at seminars. Lucia had told participants that his "Buckets of …

June 8, 2014

Saturday, June 7

Out-of-town guitarists highlight this week in jazz

Tuesday 10 The jazz week begins with visits from two out-of-town guitarists. From NYC, Nir Felder plays Dizzy’s (4275 Mission Bay Drive) with Frank Locrasto and Noah Garabedian, 8:00 p.m., $15 cover… Over at SD …

Xolos player seemed to seek a sporting lady

Richard Ruiz, a member of the Xolos, Tijuana’s championship soccer team, has been accused of sexual harassment by a young woman. Joshua Ábrego, a former Xolos team member who was present when the incident allegedly …

June 7, 2014
“He shot her.” “No, he shot her.”

“After he killed her, I drove away with the body,” said Jeffrey McCreary while in the witness box this week. “That made me an accessory, afterward.” But McCreary said it was his codefendant who pulled …

June 7, 2014
Diving into Ironside Fish and Oyster Bar

If you’re looking for somewhere to see and be seen these days, Ironside Fish and Oyster Bar is a sure bet. On my most recent visit, among the endless faces in the bustle I recognized …

Rotten bacon

Two months ago I was walking home in downtown TJ from a press conference at a new brewery. It was a tad before midnight and I was a block away from my apartment when two …

June 7, 2014
In case of a shooter on the rampage…

On June 6, Scripps Memorial Hospital in Encinitas was the site of a mock training exercise in the emergency room: a “patient” with mental problems walked out of exam room #13. As he was trying …

City's pot-shop governance machinery on overload

While the city attorney's office remains busy filing lawsuits against owners of dispensaries and the people who lease them their space, the city's Development Services department is stuck processing dozens of applications for new dispensaries …

June 7, 2014
Summer forecast calls for Lightning

Poway’s Lightning Brewery is mostly known for its lagers and other true-to-form Germanic offerings such as Elemental Pilsner, Thunderweizen, and Ionizer Lager.

Spotty coverage in P.B.

The laid-back beach community of Pacific Beach has its own unique sense of style. Wardrobe basics consist of everything from bikinis and board shorts to maxi dresses and crop tops. On a perfect, 75-degree afternoon …

Ponzi is never pretty

Matthew Sample of San Diego raised around $1 million, mainly from New Mexico investors, then fraudulently diverted one-third of the funds to himself, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission. According to the publication Albuquerque …

June 7, 2014
Intense year for Tjuana's annual book fair

Little red heart of Tijuana It may surprise you to learn that we indirectly owe the current Feria del Libro de Tijuana to the Spanish Civil War. Like most things in Tijuana, it all started …

June 7, 2014

Friday, June 6

War is Hall

One sweet, one sour. Let’s open on bitterness. This is in regards to the movie review by Scott Marks on May 29 (Run Toward Danger). As usual, the facts about the Vietnam War are misconstrued. …

June 6, 2014
Attack of the charter cities

The Middle Class Taxpayers Association, a left-leaning consumer group that formed in 2011 but has been largely silent over the past three years, announced on Thursday, June 5, the launch of a website aimed at …

June 6, 2014
Casa Sol y Mar: Technicolor Mexico

I am perfectly happy eating every meal at a taco shop with some variation of “bertos” on it, but yellow-and-red-striped huts with Formica tables and vending machines for 50-cent tattoos are only going to appeal …

Border Patrol bombarded, hatches plan B

Breitbart's announcement that hundreds of illegal aliens caught in the Rio Grande would be processed and released in the San Diego area by the Border Patrol on June 4 may have been a bit premature …

Where punk rock and comedy commingle

While watching the “absolutely fabulous” Black Flag tribute band “Black Fag” at the Soda Bar, the major flaw with the current touring version of Black Flag finally dawned on me. There is no joy in …

June 6, 2014
Labor force, deconstructed

Ten unlicensed contractors who were illegally bidding on home-repair work in areas affected by the recent Cocos Fire were arrested on June 4 in a sting operation initiated by the Contractors State License Board. Fraud …

June 6, 2014
Sharp minors are the key

Rick Elice and Michael Patrick Walker are the multi-talented, mega-award-winning creators of Jersey Boys, Peter and the Starcatcher, and Altar Boyz. Their world premiere musical isn’t a dog. But, even with a top flight cast, …

John Newman's Tribute

John Newman’s debut opens with a slow string section, a voice that sounds like the singer reading out great acts of ages past, and an electronically whirl-winded “Crystal,” from the AT&T Natural Voices® synthesized voice …

June 6, 2014
The Fault in Our Stars

[This piece contains spoilers about the film. Not the ending or anything, but still. Read at your own risk.] So I joined the review aggregator that is Rotten Tomatoes. (Thanks, Rotten Tomatoes!) I don’t love …

June 6, 2014
Some trees and a man died for this

“Mr. Vilkin protected himself,” said attorney Richard Berkon, speaking for a man accused of killing his neighbor. “This case was justified. It was self-defense.” Trial began yesterday, June 5, for an Encinitas man charged with …

June 6, 2014
You name it, moneyman

For San Diego's billionaires, megamillionaires, and the corporations they love, renaming public real estate has long been a hallowed tradition. Qualcomm, founded by La Jolla Democrat Irwin Jacobs, has its name on the stadium in …

June 6, 2014
Petco seeks home field advantages

"It's often been said that the hometown crowd is a kind of tenth man," says Petco-Padres liason Des Perate. "As the San Diego Padres continue to struggle this season, we here at Petco have been …

Beer flowing the way of wine

To meander through downtown Sonoma and stop in at a winery tasting room or two feels natural. One is in the middle of wine country, after all. Why wouldn’t a winemaker looking to increase the …

Hold on…maybe Mayor Faulconer has a better plan

Proponents of Propositions B and C were delivered a stinging defeat on Tuesday, June 3, when voters citywide in a relatively low-turnout election rejected the Barrio Logan Community Plan Update, overturning the community-and-city council-approved plan …

June 6, 2014

Thursday, June 5

Old McDonald’s had some history

Demolition of one of the county’s oldest original McDonald’s sites began on June 3. Located at 137 Canyon Drive, near Mission Avenue, the restaurant was one of three McDonald’s locations that served the San Diego …

Scandal-raising questions at U-T San Diego

Days after a sweep of many key election races in his favor, San Diego real estate developer Douglas Manchester's U-T San Diego has run an unorthodox front-page pitch for subscribers. The entire page is blank, …

June 5, 2014
Last Call: Book of Mormon, Happy Days, Mud Blue Sky

The Book of Mormon Maybe THE most hype-heavy show ever to come to the San Diego Civic lives up to all the accolades. Witten by the creators of South Park, the musical is guaranteed to …

Poop-pipe redo

The Imperial Beach City Council voted Wednesday night, June 5, to replace a failing sewer line and to move forward on paving unpaved alleys. The repair to the sewer line that runs under Highway 75 …

From Don Draper to Don Ho

“This place looks out of my league,” my friend texted me hours before we were planning to meet downtown for drinks and appetizers. He was referring to the Cat Eye Club, which, during its first …

Talkin' 'bout new generation

Votes were hardly tallied before shots began flying in what's expected to be a hotly contested 52nd Congressional District race between Democratic incumbent Scott Peters and former city councilmember and onetime mayoral hopeful Carl DeMaio, …

June 5, 2014
With apologies to William Blake

Tyger Tyger, burning bright, In the forests of the night How did you end up in there, Trapped beneath my vacant stare? Am I supposed to quake in awe At thy claws, thy fearsome jaw? …

Summer Youth Media & Tech Camps at Media Arts Center

Other than films screened at the Digital Gym and San Diego Latino Film Festival, it’s been too long since The Big Screen has plugged any of the more academic pursuits put forth by the Media …

June 5, 2014
Engage with Edgeland Futurism

Abraham Lincoln once said, “The best way to predict the future is to create it.” It was under this premise that Ash Eliza Smith has spent the last several months teaching an experimental course at …

It takes more than a beach body

Looking to score the quintessential San Diego summer job as a lifeguard? Join the club. To qualify, you need more than a beach body and a whistle. Lifeguard hopefuls need to take several classes in …

June 5, 2014
Low voter turnout blamed on lingering Malaise Layer

"Mayor Faulconer is the face of the good-ol'-boy establishment," said Area Man as he cracked a fourth Dos Equis while sitting on his patio and watching his grass wither on Election Day. "District Attorney Dumanis …

Societe Brewing goes long

I am in awe of birthday celebrants with the foresight, ability, and friendship base to stretch their special day into a full week of good times. So, I can’t help but to marvel a bit …

The three traits of a successful real estate agent

Joda Mize, founder of Girl’s Guide to Real Estate, discusses what it takes to get into the real estate business. First, please tell me a little bit about your background? Well, I moved to San …

Bad for polar bears, good for jobs

If you don’t believe in global warming, you probably won’t be looking for a job in climate change. But if you are one of the 63% of Americans who do, the job market in this …

June 5, 2014

Wednesday, June 4

NFL seeks larger (court) audience

The National Football League and a group of related entities, including equipment manufacturers, moved June 3 to have a concussion-related suit tried in U.S. District Court, instead of Superior Court. The defendants, who were served …

June 4, 2014
Car-crazies in I.B.

About 50 cars and some motorcycles — from lowriders and hotrods to Harley-Davidsons — showed up for an informal car show on Seacoast Drive in Imperial Beach on June 3. Derek Spencer, who sports a …

Interview with Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia director Nicholas Wrathall

Gone are the days when public intellectuals roamed the television airwaves. (Gone, for many, are the television airwaves.) They may have been partisan, but they were not merely pundits. They classed up the joint, offering …

June 4, 2014
Cory Briggs, environmental ambulance-chaser?

City attorney Jan Goldsmith and the attorneys working for him are doing their best to try and dig out the thorn in their side whose name is Cory Briggs. Briggs is an environmental lawyer who …

June 4, 2014
$6 million glass home for sale

A luxurious glass house in Pacific Beach has gone on the market for $5.995 million. "Press a button and part of the roof — 30 feet above the floor at the house's entryway — retracts …

June 4, 2014
The Sickstring Outlaws: Straight Outta Bakersfield

“Our best gig,” writes Drew Gino Zollo, “was opening up for a sold-out David Allen Coe show right here in Ramona.” The Sickstring Outlaws are a rugged country band based in the North County. “We …

June 4, 2014
Five minutes in, eyes are glued

Jim Carrey took the “I’m funny but take me serious” route to a whole different level with Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. One of the only movies I crave watching over and over. Simply …

June 4, 2014
Don’t call me Shirley

The Big Lebowski is near and dear to my heart. It’s great the first time but even better the second, third, and thirty-ninth times. A sign of a good movie is when the characters stick …

June 4, 2014
Borrego's own Jurassic Park

Tour Borrego Valley’s spectacular southern Sky Art metal sculptures.

Buzzo’s new voice(s)

Recalling previous trips to San Diego with his long-running, ever-heavier band the Melvins, Buzz Osborne, coming to the Casbah on June 10, tells the Reader that he remembers “lots of [gigs] over the years but …

June 4, 2014
Stock shots

“The shot of me that’s on the front of the new GoPro box?” says Tyler Jordan. “It’s on all their billboards, too.” That’s him, for example, on the side of the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood. …

June 4, 2014
Want to play the arena?

San Diego’s live-music venue options have been shrinking over the past five years. Bucking that trend is the arrival of a new venue — within a venue. While it still does not have an name, …

June 4, 2014
Sophisticated simplicity

‘We have signs outside that say, ‘Home of the Salty Dog,’ so people think we’re claiming we invented the Salty Dog,” bartender Daniel Baker says with a laugh. “But I have to tell them that, …

Budgetary trauma, outsourced

Should San Diego open its police department “psychological services” contract to competitive bidding? No, says the department in a memo to city council. “The utilization of another counseling firm would require all employees utilizing services …

June 4, 2014
Watch the Damn Movie

“I don’t want to watch something I’ve never seen and am really excited to see, because with a crowd like this, there’s gonna be talking, and I don’t want to be the bitch who tells everyone to shut up.”

June 4, 2014
Swing dancing is the happiest dancing

“Swing dancing is the happiest dancing around,” says Margie Adams, owner of 2 to Groove in Clairemont Mesa (619-291-3775; 2togroove.com). I like happy, so I asked for more info. “If you’re a newcomer, I suggest …

June 4, 2014
All the wine glasses on the high shelf shatter

Opera? On Orange Avenue? I was ambling up Coronado’s main street, trying to figure out what to do for the three hours Carla usually takes to get her hair frou-froued up over here — Diane …

Hillbilly-tinged steampunk

The Bucking Delorian is the kind of place you want to fall in love with. I mean, it’s a freaking Back to the Future–themed bar in downtown Lakeside! But, not unlike the broken promises of …

June 4, 2014
To lobby is divine

The tortured saga of the City of San Diego’s high-priced Washington lobbyist entered yet another round of possible contention with a request last week by GOP mayor Kevin Faulconer for proposals from a fresh round …

June 4, 2014
Parking structure, SDSU style

Trustees of the California State University system advanced a plan to spend $142.7 million to build Plaza Linda Verde at San Diego State. The so-called mixed-use facility, in the works since 2011, “will house 659 …

June 4, 2014
Lions out of cage

It’s been less than a year since Soft Lions started playing together, but they are releasing an EP titled Earth Energy, on June 7 at Soda Bar. The self-described “moody post–riot grrl jams” feature members …

June 4, 2014
The many trials of Madame Tingley, part three

Tingle, tingle, little star / Oft I wonder who you are. / What you do that isn’t right, / Every blessed, spooky night. In mid-October, 1901, as Madame Katherine Tingley’s Universal Brotherhood gained popularity, the …

Cubicle Wars

Post Title: All the Battles I Fought When I Worked in a Cubicle Post Date: February 23, 2014 As an HSP, I’m highly tuned in to my environment, and lots of little things become big …

June 4, 2014
Classic on so many levels

Brazil’s City of God, about growing up in favelas (slums), is great. Any more realistic and it’d be a documentary. One DVD extra is a documentary about the current state of favelas. They interview not …

June 4, 2014
Stabbing outside Carrows Restaurant in Oceanside

Steven said the voice was suddenly closer to him, when he heard “Welcome to hell!” It was after 8 p.m. and dark. “I happened to turn around and look, and this guy was coming up …

June 4, 2014
I Am

I am — yet what I am, none cares or knows; My friends forsake me like a memory lost: I am the self-consumer of my woes; — They rise and vanish in oblivion’s host, Like …

June 4, 2014
Militant in the communion of the church

After I came to years of discretion, by all the best means I could, to inform myself whether the religion of England were indeed the very same which being prefigured and prophesied in the Old …

Tuesday, June 3

This again?

Edge of Tomorrow sports a fine premise for these entertaining times: what if you woke up inside a video game? Specifically, what if you had to go through the brutal grind of dying over and …

June 3, 2014
Deliciously Bad

The Truth about Tara Re: Sporting Box, “Amazing and Super Stupendous,” May 29. Tara the Hero Cat? Perhaps. As the video is edited, there is no doubt that the dog went after the child. But …

June 3, 2014
Kids to stand up for dead dad?

During a brief hearing in court today, June 3, prosecutor Keith Watanabe complained to the judge, again, “We haven’t gotten the murder weapon yet.” Julie Elizabeth Harper, now 41, is accused of shooting her husband …

June 3, 2014
Free High School Film Festival Sunday morning at the Ken

The San Diego High School of International Studies Film Festival offers its students the chance to see their work projected on a big screen, and you’re invited to take part in the excitement. The fifth …

June 3, 2014
Musical Merit is money

The lucrative Musical Merit Foundation of Greater San Diego held its 68th annual awards program on Sunday, June 1. The competition includes both instrumental and vocal disciplines. The preceding Thursday was the preliminary round, out …

June 3, 2014
South Bay politiscape on election day

Chula Vista’s election primary has been low-key. Most candidates have compiled modest campaign contributions and campaign mailers have been, for the most part, innocuous. One factor in the minor-key campaigning is that a candidate can …

Backpacker fave lost in translation

Making a sandwich from three ingredients takes a lot of brass. But mostly it takes three pretty terrific ingredients, and clearly one of them is going to be bread. So what do you get when …

Lobbyists bungle in the jungle

Victoria Middleton, chief of staff to San Diego Republican congressman Duncan Hunter and a longtime member of the capitol's junketing class, appears partial to jungles. Back in 2011, she jetted off to Africa on an …

June 3, 2014
Disorder in the court

San Diego Superior Court will soon begin another costly changeover to its computerized case-management system. A deal was inked on Friday, May 30, to pay $6.8 million to Tyler Technologies to implement a new program, …

June 3, 2014

Monday, June 2

Firebug or amateur firefighter?

A man accused of feeding a smoldering fire until it re-ignited into flame during the raging fires in San Diego County three weeks ago was actually putting dirt onto the spot to put out the …

June 2, 2014
Morning crash mystery in Tijuana

At about 6:30 a.m. on May 31, I heard six to eight loud bangs outside my apartment in Tijuana’s Zona Centro. I immediately got up and walked out to my balcony. A red taxi van …

June 2, 2014
An ex-Marine, a gay guy, and a doctor enter a primary...

Tomorrow's (June 3) primary in the 52nd District could produce some surprises. Recently, Republicans have been playing down once-hot-button social issues (gay marriage, abortion), and some think that's giving short shrift to a significant portion …

June 2, 2014
Liquor-store owners get a pass on late report

Knocked out of serious politics by a relentless barrage of hit pieces dispatched by the GOP Lincoln Club, Nathan Fletcher — the onetime Republican assemblyman who became an independent and later a Democrat in his …

June 2, 2014
Taiwan Cinema Spotlight debuts at MoPA

The first-annual Taiwan Cinema Spotlight takes center stage this Thursday at the Museum of Photographic Arts. The three-day/three-film event, a joint effort by the Taiwan Academy, Pacific Arts Movement, and MoPA, showcases the work of …

June 2, 2014
Auditorium report card: AMC Mission Valley #9

Make no mistake about it: when you see a film at an AMC Theatre, chances are you are not getting the full picture. Case in point, auditorium #9 at AMC Mission Valley. The masking was …

June 2, 2014
Odd Couple times 40

Lewis and Clark were trailblazers — the comedy team, that is, of Al Lewis and Willie Clark. Vaudeville headliners back in the 1930s, they were together 43 years and “retired” 11 years ago. Why the …

Balboa Park Golf Course plan gets go-ahead

The City of San Diego, golfers who frequent the Balboa Park Golf Course, and pedestrians who traipse and cycle the the winding road where the clubhouse is located hope to replace the 1930s clubhouse, pathways, …

June 2, 2014
Art brought to Barrio Logan battle

Barrio Logan residents and other San Diegans packed the Chicano Arts Gallery on Logan Avenue Saturday evening, May 31. Showing was Until our Last Breath, a one-day art exhibit organized by longtime Barrio activist Brent …

June 2, 2014
Summer target for Fall Brewing

Regular readers of my column are familiar with Premier Stainless Systems. The Escondido-based business has been wildly successful over the past several years, establishing itself as, well, the “premier” manufacturer of brewing systems locally and …

Sunday, June 1

L.A. foodie binge

Why break bread in the City of Angels? Wade into a mixology oasis, devour seared red meat and make your way through a parade of Asian delights? Eat, pray and love. Nah, I just love …

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