Stories | City Lights News
Football First, Water Last
By Don Bauder, Published Feb. 3, 2010
In his State of the City speech on January 13, Mayor Jerry Sanders devoted 434 words to the possibility of taxpayers shelling out hundreds of millions of dollars for a subsidized Chargers stadium and 174 words ...
He Got Quite An Education
By Dorian Hargrove, Published Feb. 3, 2010
Every morning at seven o’clock, Rodger Hartnett starts his day. The 62-year-old law school graduate and county employee breakfasts inside his Tierrasanta home as he watches the news. Afterwards, he opens up his book of word ...
National Football Liars
By Don Bauder, Published Jan. 27, 2010
It’s Big Lie season again. Super Lie. Specifically, Super Bowl Lie. It’s that giddy time of the year when the National Football League trots out its claim that the city that hosts the Super Bowl can ...
The Mad Hatter’s Council Meeting
By Susan Luzzaro, Published Jan. 27, 2010
Communication at a Chula Vista city council meeting hit an all-time low on December 15. The council was besieged when one resident threw plastic eggs ... More Comments (5)
Hello? Hello? Can You Hear Me Now?
By Joe Deegan, Published Jan. 20, 2010
Suppose colleagues often call the house, even in the early hours. This morning you’re half dressed and still sipping coffee when the phone rings. It’s ... More Post a comment
More Community, Less College
By Dorian Hargrove, Published Jan. 13, 2010
On a warm September afternoon last fall, Scott Freeman sat at an outdoor table near the art department at San Diego City College. Dressed in ... More Comments (3)
Free Lunch for Banks
By Don Bauder, Published Jan. 13, 2010
Perhaps you are comforted believing that the U.S. government, Federal Reserve, and Wall Street are all working assiduously to provide you with a job. Ha ... More Comments (183)
Up, But Not Way Up
By Don Bauder, Published Jan. 6, 2010
Last year, the San Diego economy did poorly, although it was picking up a bit in the final several months. This year, it should do ... More Comments (50)
When the Horses Are Gone
By Jeannette De Wyze, Published Jan. 6, 2010
I asked Sergeant Bret Righthouse about the bad old days, back in 1994, before a cadre of mounted San Diego Police Department officers began routinely ... More Comment (1)
The Plaintiff Knew Nothing
By Don Bauder, Published Dec. 30, 2009
‘If I am guilty of anything, it’s of being a good lawyer and advocating for the rights of the disabled,” proclaims Lynn Hubbard III of ... More Comments (50)
Fabiani Talks
By Don Bauder, Published Dec. 23, 2009
The young son of a prominent government official boasted to his father that he had saved 25 cents by walking home instead of taking the ... More Comments (135)
The Logic of a Landslide
By Joe Deegan, Published Dec. 23, 2009
Brian Burke was agonizing over whether to appeal the court’s decision in the Mount Soledad landslide case. “Have you ever been too close to something ... More Comments (4)
Lobbyists Rule
By Don Bauder, Published Dec. 16, 2009
Some enterprises signal what’s going on inside by hanging a red light outside. Mayor Jerry Sanders has revealed what’s going on inside his administration by ... More Comments (30)
Great Whites Might Be Victims
By Alastair Bland, Published Dec. 16, 2009
Photo by Christie Fisher. In late 2007, when local shark researcher Michael Domeier teamed up with a television crew and National Geographic to tag great ... More Comment (1)
The Mayor and the Dirty-Money Guy
By Don Bauder, Published Dec. 9, 2009
Did Mayor Jerry Sanders get his money out of a scandal-ridden private equity group whose chief executive has filed for Chapter 7 liquidation bankruptcy? It’s ... More Comments (26)
The Pall on the Mall
By Moss Gropen, Published Dec. 9, 2009
Window-shopping at Helzberg Diamonds in Westfield’s North County Shopping Mall, Grace, the manager of nearby John’s Fifth Avenue Luggage, says, “I’d think twice before plunking ... More Comment (1)
War at La Jolla Farms
By Don Bauder, Published Dec. 2, 2009
Life should be peaceful at La Jolla Farms, that tony area of 100 superluxury homes adjacent to Torrey Pines State Park.But war has broken out ... More Comments (20)
Play the Sneaky Development Game
By E.A. Barrera, Published Dec. 2, 2009
An Orange County developer who led the effort to delay San Diego’s general plan update until his own project could be approved is one step ... More Comments (4)
Barnyard Brew
By Alastair Bland, Published Nov. 24, 2009
At Bernardo Winery, 50 large redwood vats have resided in the warehouse for more than a century. Until the 1960s they were used as fermenters, ... More Comments (8)
No Cure, No Shutdown (Yet)
By Don Bauder, Published Nov. 18, 2009
After an agonizing wait of more than 40 years, science may come up with a treatment for lupus. But the two companiesworking together on the ... More Comment (1)
Nine Miles of Nothing
By Susan Luzzaro, Published Nov. 18, 2009
Conflict has surrounded the South Bay Expressway, the southern extension of State Route 125, since its inception. Prior to groundbreaking in 2003, the privately held ... More Comments (3)
Can Feds Thwart Runaway Pay?
By Don Bauder, Published Nov. 11, 2009
The pay of American top corporate executives is obscene. About the only people who don’t agree with that statement are the executives themselves. In 1980, ... More Comments (87)
East Village Lowdown
By Nathaniel Uy, Published Nov. 11, 2009
Lured in by the promise of large-scale development in East Village, to be anchored by a state-of-the-art baseball stadium and filled with high-rise luxury condominiums, ... More Comments (16)
Did Dominelli Study Ponzi?
By Don Bauder, Published Nov. 4, 2009
J. David “Jerry” Dominelli is famed in San Diego lore for one thing: his 1980s Ponzi scheme that bilked Southern Californians of $80 million. A ... More Comments (89)
Local Fish Eat Our Sunblock, Deodorant, and Valium
By Dave Gregovich, Published Nov. 4, 2009
The dolphin skimmed down the face of a cresting wave mere feet from where I sat on my surfboard. Then, circling around, it joined up ... More Comments (3)
More Ballpark Lies
By Don Bauder, Published Oct. 28, 2009
The Portland Beavers are a triple-A minor-league baseball team affiliated with the San Diego Padres. The Beavers want taxpayers to kick in bundles of money ... More Comments (39)
The Scariest Part of Halloween
By Sheila Pell, Published Oct. 28, 2009
On a blustery afternoon, just down the road from a Mission Valley lot that’s already advertising Christmas trees, costumed sign bearers point the way to ... More Post a comment
San Diego’s Loss Is…You Know
By Don Bauder, Published Oct. 21, 2009
Economists say the United States should export its expertise. Scam Diego is doing just that. A couple of rascals who honed their skills in San ... More Comments (2)
Moving Out Is Hard to Do
By Rosa Jurjevics, Published Oct. 21, 2009
A few years ago, after moving out of a condo in a desirable San Diego neighborhood, Jacquelyn and Dave Quinonez found themselves in a bind. ... More Comments (2)
Poles Apart
By Don Bauder, Published Oct. 14, 2009
Everybody knows that Democrats and Republicans are barely speaking these days. But two political scientists at the University of California at San Diego are statistically ... More Comments (150)
Nowhere To Go
By Joe Deegan, Published Oct. 14, 2009
While San Diego’s homeless people wait for the City to provide winter shelter, they need, among other things, to go to the bathroom. And there ... More Comments (13)
Make the Victim Pay
By Don Bauder, Published Oct. 7, 2009
Comic Woody Allen once postulated that murderers should be given the death penalty before they commit the crime, thus sparing the life of the victim. ... More Comments (15)
Dogs’ Deathbed Gift
By Sheila Pell, Published Oct. 7, 2009
At 2:00 a.m. on August 26, Donna Liebrich left San Diego and headed east on I-8 for the Mexican border. Mexicali, her destination, is a ... More Comments (4)
Pop Goes Pop Warner
By Dorian Hargrove, Published Sept. 30, 2009
It’s Saturday morning, August 29. A crowd has gathered at Crawford High School’s football stadium for the San Diego Youth Football League’s season opener. On ... More Comments (2)
Vegas Pays Do-Gooders Well
By Don Bauder, Published Sept. 23, 2009
In San Diego, those who do good do not do well — from an income standpoint, that is. The professions devoted to helping people down ... More Comments (12)
All Aboard for the Fairgrounds
By Moss Gropen, Published Sept. 23, 2009
"This story isn’t about me!” Richard Eckfield, who’s been on a three-year crusade to get a train stop built at the Del Mar Racetrack, is ... More Comments (6)
Experts
By Don Bauder, Published Sept. 16, 2009
The world’s experts on all topics are huddling in Washington, D.C. One chap proclaims that he is the world’s ranking expert on goldfish. Inquires a ... More Comments (68)
But After All, He Was a Man
By Janice Donaldson, Published Sept. 16, 2009
I’m standing in front of a real human body at Body Worlds and The Brain — Our Three Pound Gem, currently on exhibition at the ... More Comments (29)
Chargers Won’t Fulfill Desires in San Diego
By Don Bauder, Published Sept. 9, 2009
Experts say the San Diego Chargers could make the Super Bowl this year. However, the team’s desire to build a new stadium in San Diego ... More Comments (84)
If We're the Best, Imagine the Worst
By Joe Deegan, Published Sept. 9, 2009
Mark-Elliott Lugo, who is an energetic-looking 59 years old, might well be the poster child in the San Diego public transit system’s campaign to increase ... More Comments (117)
PUC Loves SDG&E
By Don Bauder, Published Sept. 2, 2009
Wall Street absolutely loves the state’s Public Utilities Commission (PUC). That’s a major reason why backcountry folks may have to swallow San Diego Gas & ... More Comments (16)
They Have No Concrete Proof
By Dana Wyant, Published Sept. 2, 2009
On April 12, 2007, I did some concrete work in the backyard of my Rancho Peñasquitos home with the help of my wife, son-in-law, and ... More Comments (8)
Clearing the Bases
By Don Bauder, Published Aug. 26, 2009
Back in 1998, then–Padres majority owner John Moores promised that if taxpayers would pour more than $300 million into a ballpark, he would produce teams ... More Comments (273)
I Blow Smoke on Your Law
By Dorian Hargrove, Published Aug. 26, 2009
Sitting on a park bench at Prescott Promenade on a hot July afternoon, John stares at a brawny tattooed man in his 50s smoking a ... More Comments (65)
Get the Union-Tribune — For Almost Nothing
By Don Bauder, Published Aug. 19, 2009
How would you like to buy a whole year’s home-delivery subscription to the Union-Tribune, Thursday through Sunday,for $29.95? That’s particularly enticing, because if you want ... More Comments (12)
An End to the Evil Euc
By Joe Deegan, Published Aug. 19, 2009
In 1909, newspaper magnate Edward Willis Scripps began planting eucalyptus on the San Diego ranch he’d bought 11 years earlier. Those trees and their descendents ... More Comments (2)
Tijuana Tailspin Hurting San Diego?
By Don Bauder, Published Aug. 12, 2009
It wasn’t so long ago that the Convention and Visitors Bureau, hotel marketers, and San Diego ad agencies “would utilize Tijuana in advertising,” recalls Jack ... More Comments (29)
The Park After Dark
By Joe Deegan, Published Aug. 12, 2009
Asking that her name be withheld, a woman emailed us a few months ago about a liquor store that was “bad, bad news for the ... More Comments (34)
Swine Fear
By Rosa Jurjevics, Published Aug. 5, 2009
Dina is 11, slight in her turquoise hoodie, and dark-haired. She’s finishing up the fifth grade at a private North County middle school where, she ... More Post a comment
Unappealing Banana Trucks
By Dorian Hargrove, Published Aug. 5, 2009
On a Tuesday afternoon in June, Barry Jung, Dole Food Company’s general manager of West Coast operations, drives his white Ford pickup toward a green-and-black ... More Post a comment
Sticky Finger Season
By Don Bauder, Published July 29, 2009
Recessions always bring out the vultures, and these days they are a step ahead of technological trends, as scam haven San Diego is learning once ... More Comments (49)
Was Andrew Nice to You?
By Anonymous , Published July 29, 2009
May 10 must be the year’s hardest day for Mary Ann. In 1997, her son, Andrew Cunanan, went on a killing spree that ended with ... More Post a comment
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