UCSD’s simultaneous skin timeAre UCSD doctors violating university policy by conducting simultaneous operations in the institution’s array of surgical suites? “The Policy defines Overlapping Surgery as an ‘operation or procedure in which the actual operating …
Adela’s big fat raisesSan Diego State University president Adela de la Torre is in line for a five percent salary boost this year, from $533,148 to $559,805, putting her pay at the very top of …
Travel bug bites Vargas stafferA top staffer for South Bay House Democrat Juan Vargas and two other congressional workers jetted off for free to January’s glitzy Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, courtesy of the …
Volvo politicsYet another editorial staffer has departed under Alden Global Capital, new owner of the faltering San Diego Union-Tribune. The departure edges the paper further to the right, a move celebrated in some quarters. And …
Guns awayDue to a personal conflict of interest, Carlsbad Mayor Pro Tem Dr. Priya Bhat-Patel, a high-profile North County gun control advocate, will be required to wait a few months longer to participate in efforts …
Liberal richiesThe political committee called the San Diego Labor Coalition, Sponsored by Laborers’ International Union of North America Local 89 has received another major round of developer cash for its direct mail “Democratic Choice Voter …
Moralist in disguise?Cappy McGarr, a big-spending hedge fund insider from Dallas, Texas, is among those who’ve kicked in the maximum $1350 for incumbent Democratic Mayor Todd Gloria’s re-election bid. (McGarr has lived part-time in La …
Touchy feelyRobert Hertzberg, an ex-state Senate Democrat from Los Angeles widely known as “Huggy Bear” because of his unwanted serial embraces of female staffers and politicos during his years in the state Capitol, gave $1000 …
Six-figure loophole?Republican County Supervisor Joel Anderson is running for reelection this year. He’s also campaigning for a seat on the Republican County Central Committee. Anderson is raising big money for the latter effort using a …
DeSantis bluesNow that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has dropped out of the Republican race for president, some wealthy San Diegans will have to write off their losses. They include General Atomics chairman and CEO Linden Blue, …
Non-Sunny scenarioCould the San Diego Union-Tribune be in play — and headed back into local hands? That’s the wishful thinking of those on both sides of the political aisle, brought on by last week’s sale …
HELIOS hits and missesCostly new high-energy laser weapons — installed and tested on San Diego-based ships — aren’t being used against deadly Houthi drones and rockets in the Red Sea, causing consternation in the Defense …
Campaign money mazeA December 27 advice letter from the California Fair Political Practices Commission has drawn back the curtain on the convoluted fundraising for GOP ex-San Diego mayor Kevin Faulconer and his county supervisor race …
U-T on the cheapA year-end offer of cut-rate, online-only subscription prices has triggered another round of speculation that the once-venerable San Diego Union-Tribune may be losing its life in print. New subscribers can get the …
Fin de U-T San DiegoIt’s the end of the line for the all-Spanish weekly tabloid published by the Union-Tribune, a newspaper that’s been shrinking all over under current owner Alden Global Capital. “The last issue …
Back to the border?More than 13 months after Union-Tribune border reporter Wendy Fry departed for a new gig at non-profit CalMatters, the paper, these days operated by MediaNews Group — a chain owned by vulture …
Behesting blastsChula Vista mayor John McCann continues to collect so-called behests from the city’s developer and a related crowd, according to a series of disclosure filings with the city clerk’s office. On October 12, Vulcan …
Abe’s money clubThe Republican-leaning San Diego Lincoln Club, noted for fierce hit pieces dispatched against opponents in local elections, has a new role: drumming up developer cash for GOP ex-mayor Kevin Faulconer’s bid to knock …
Worn and dirty bedsBorder Patrol outposts in San Diego County have been called out again, this time by the Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Homeland Security Department for worn and dirty detainee bedding, …
Masters of DeceitPadres' bribes of councilwoman Valerie Stallings“On December 14, 1999, despite urgings from the San Diego Taxpayers Association and others to delay its vote, the city council voted to push ahead with bonds for …
San Diego book clubs – what's the point?Perhaps it’s the idea of the book club book that we find unbearable. It brings to mind that women’s marketing motto, “Pink it and shrink it.” Pink it: …
Fungible exchangeA political action committee tied to Republican ex-San Diego mayor Kevin Faulconer, largely funded by a Sacramento-based business lobbying group, has closed up shop, distributing its remaining cash to the county GOP. Officially known …
Public windfall for Castellanos?San Diego Unified Port District commissioners, fresh from a mysterious July scandal that led Chief Executive Officer Joe Stuyvesant to take an indefinite leave of absence, aren’t necessarily barred by state law from …
Dangerous bike spotsFriars Road, Nimitz Blvd, University Ave., Pershing Dr., Genesee, Pacific Hwy at Barnett Ave.Safer routes: SD River Trail, West Point Loma, Robinson, GovernorBy Dryw Keltz, Sept. 23, 2015The curvy road from Fallbrook to …
Heath Freeman’s bull ridersAlden Global Capital, the vulture investing outfit that in July took control of the San Diego Union-Tribune from Los Angeles biotech mogul and LA Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong, is the target of …
A product of the 1950s Tiki culture“Special Tables for Spies, Espionage Agents to View the U.S. Fleet — Binoculars furnished to U.S. Citizens only,” said a 1950s advertisement for the restaurant. Dressed in one of …
Toni’s Sempra connectionThe biggest donor to California state legislators during the first half of this year was none other than San Diego-based utility giant Sempra Energy. So reports the Sacramento Bee in a September 28 …
Citizen pot bustI thought about the spring day my two hiking buddies and I were off-trail, crashing through dense thickets of tangled brush. It was growing dark, and the three of us had gotten separated. …
I live in Tijuana, SmugglersvilleI was hobbling back from the store with a liter of milk, when I saw three young men sitting on the steps in front of a house in my Tijuana neighborhood. …
Inspecting a gift horse’s mouthA number of questionable self-contributions to UCSD have been targeted for audit by the school’s Audit & Management Advisory Services. A June 16 report covers cash donations from UCSD faculty members, …
Fox newsMediaNews Group, the famously staff-slashing publishing outfit that took over the Union-Tribune from Los Angeles pharmaceutical billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong in July, is gradually putting its own people in charge of the San Diego daily. …
Pictographs of Cabrillo's San Salvador east of Jacumba"There’s some petroglyphs over in Pinto Canyon," Frank said as he passed me on the trail. Frank Johnson, a handsome 75-year-old man, with flowing white hair and a superb …
San Diego treasure hunters, not as nerdy as you think.“Start over there, where the sand is shiny.” For wet-sand hunting, Russ recommends the area of the beach kept perpetually wet by the tide, so that’s …
Agenda unsettingHave San Diego Republicans abandoned any serious attempt to unseat incumbent Democratic mayor Todd Gloria? Such a surrender could be indicated by the October 3 filing of a campaign committee calling itself the San …
Dining on the P-cardSan Diego County’s so-called P-Card program has been riddled with abuse, mismanagement, and improper spending, according to a report recently posted online by county auditors. “Out of 274,272 P-Card transactions made during …
The woman we never forgetBy Abe Opincar, Amy Gerstler, Barbarella Fokos, Deirdre Lickona, Ernie Grimm, Geoff Bouvier, Jeannette DeWyze, Jeff Smith, Jennifer Ball, Jim Morris, Laura McNeal, Mary Grimm, Matthew Lickona, Patrick Daugherty, RF Jurjevics, …
Un-retired slasherTom Karlo, who retired as chief of San Diego State University’s KPBS public broadcasting operation in 2020, received $172,206 in annual state pension benefits last year, according to the website TransparentCalifornia.com. “Karlo said he …
Voice of CateA self-styled “affordable housing” championing organization has agreed to pay a $1000 fine levied by the San Diego City Ethics Commission for repeatedly failing to report campaign contributions it made, including $25,000 to …
Pennsylvania newspaper sale contrasts with San Diego'sThe San Diego Union-Tribune, sold to Alden Global Capital by L.A. billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong on July 10, is no longer the most recent addition to Alden’s tattered collection of …
Tugboats of San Diego Bay“We got a call from a friend with the Navy on a Saturday morning before Easter, and he said, ‘How fast can you get to Camp Pendleton?’ We said we could …
Did Bin Laden's Brother Live a Secret Life in San Diego?What was Binladen, now 35, heir to a multibillion-dollar Middle Eastern fortune based on construction and Saudi oil, doing in San Diego? And why would …
Torch passingThe journalism power-shift away from the once-influential San Diego Union-Tribune — of late handed off to Florida-based vulture investing outfit Alden Global Capital by LA Times billionaire owner Patrick Soon-Shiong on unrevealed terms — …
29 Reader writers on their fathersBy Abe Opincar, Anne Albright, August Kleinzahler, Bill Manson, Deirdre Lickona, Duncan Shepherd, Eleanor Widmer, Ernie Grimm, Jangchup Phelgyal, Jeanne Schinto, Jeannette DeWyze, Jeff Smith, Jennifer Ball, Jim Eichel, John …
• Stephen Facciola's edible worldHe and Caplan started to swap names, to compare notes on big players in the exotic fruits and vegetables community. (“I’m sure you’re acquainted with Paul Thomas in …
Gloria’s fat funding loopholeSan Diego mayor Todd Gloria won’t have to recuse himself from vetoing any city council actions involving his bevy of campaign contributors, but he does have to disclose that he got their …
The murderous saga of Andrew CunananWhen Vulgar Favors, Maureen Orth's book about the murderous saga of Andrew Cunanan, hit the best-seller lists last month, a national audience was offered a sinister portrait of San Diego, …
San Diego's least-remembered great man – U.S. Grant Jr. On a Sunday in September of 1929, 15 members of San Diego’s elite gathered to carry the coffin of an old friend. Among the pallbearers were …
Rudder and stickA San Diego aviator whose company made the seaplane featured in Kevin Costner’s movie Waterworld has lost his appeal to the National Transportation Safety Board of an administrative judge’s ruling in June 2022 …
What happened? A pioneer family's tragedy There was nothing to do but walk back to the house. Eric and his wife walked 10 yards, 20 yards, 30. The sky was still pink in the west. …
La Jolla 1962 Dressed in long trousers and boat shoes and a white Lacoste tennis shirt, I accompanied Toby across Vista del Mar and Neptune Place to the Pump House and down concrete steps to …