Colorful Foliage along San Diego’s coastline lingers, despite the lack of rainfall and warmer, drier days. In the older, landscaped neighborhoods of Coronado, Point Loma, Pacific Beach, and La Jolla, you’ll find oleander and hibiscus …

Magnolia, the Southern U.S. native commonly planted as a decorative street tree in many of San Diego’s older neighborhoods, continues to bloom this month. Called the “queen of the flowering broadleaf evergreens,” its branches support …

Crape Myrtles are in bloom around San Diego this month through the end of summer. This smallish, vase-shaped tree blossoms in colors ranging from white or pale pink to lavender, red, and blue. Lilac of …

Ocean Water Temperatures are rising into the mid-60s this month, perhaps to reach the low 70s in August. The usual early-summer cool weather along San Diego's coastline, disappointing to many tourists, is mostly caused by …

June Gloom, the cool and intermittently overcast conditions likely to dominate the beach and coastal areas through the remainder of this month, mocks the already sizzling temperatures inland. If it weren’t for the ocean’s enormous …

Wildflowers of San Diego County’s highest mountains are in full bloom this week. Take a walk along any trail above 4500 feet in the Laguna, Cuyamaca, or Palomar Mountains and enjoy a palette of colors …

Rabbit and Rodent population is peaking in the canyons and hillsides of coastal San Diego County. In many neighborhoods, car headlights illuminate the rear ends of scampering cottontail rabbits making raids on succulent garden vegetation. …

The Catalina Eddy, a meteorological condition responsible for days-long episodes of dreary, overcast weather over San Diego, is most likely to occur in May and June. This weather pattern, which intensifies our late-spring “June gloom,” …

The Tall Locust Trees planted years ago along Julian’s narrow streets are once again brightening this backcountry (and former gold-rush) town with blossoms of white, pink, and lavender. Introduced into the West by 19th-Century emigrants, …

The glory and the stupidity This is just stupid (“Fires in Alpine, San Felipe Valley, Julian,” From the Archives, February 7). Wildfires suppress animals and kill them. Why would we want to glorify them not …

Blue-Blossoming Jacaranda Trees have already produced a first wave of color along the streets of San Diego. By early or mid-May, warm weather permitting, this Brazilian import could put on a dazzling show. The larger …

Star Jasmine's Sweet Perfume, exuded from clusters of small, white flowers, will continue to scent San Diego's spring breezes until sometime in June. Not a true jasmine, or Jasminum, star jasmine belongs to the genus …

Drinking and kids don’t mix Your cover story for April 8, “There are still tears,” was offensive and racist. The cover depicted two brown children and a woman with her head deep in a giant …

Mustard, a nonnative plant more like a weed than a wildflower, is blooming profusely on grassy slopes all along the coastline of San Diego County. An old story, probably apocryphal, tells of the padres scattering …

Wasting away in foodville With all respect to the article “Can Edco get San Diego to cut food waste in half?” (Cover Stories, March 24) I believe that food waste should not be allowed. The …

Warmer Temperatures and increased humidity coincide with the subtle onset of San Diego's spring season. By April's end, the intermittent showers, Santa Ana winds, cold nights, and crystalclear, sun-drenched days of winter will likely be …

Indian Hawthorn, one of the most common flowering shrubs used in landscaping as hedges and dividers in San Diego, is blooming best right about now. The plant, which has several varieties, covers itself with blossoms …

Bluesman Tomcat Courtney has passed away at the age of 91. Born in 1929, Courtney grew up in Texas, where picking cotton was the family business. As he once told the Reader, “Well, I had …

Blubbo's World "Blubbo, oh Blubbo, where do I begin? You’re dead, gone, laid out rotting in a casket somewhere in the ground; and if that’s just your body, your corpse, your shell, God, I hope …

Crack’s bandage Affordable housing is necessary but it’s a bandage on a cracked wall (“Shrinks’ Paradise,” Under the Radar, March 12). The whole system at the base needs overhaul. Greed, hedonism, over-commercialization, liberal politicians, anti-moral …

Joke’s on State students Is this title a joke (“San Diego State – an elite school,” Cover Stories, August 14)? 69,000 apply for 5,400 spots but offers of admission go to about 24,000 to make …

Detouring Mexican Sewage How about we build a wall/island right on the Tijuana River, that goes 35 miles out to sea and build a military base there (“The sewage that Imperial Beach wants to put …

Mistold taco tale In the article “Every taco tells a tale” (Taco Town, May 16, 2018), writer Chad Deal has El Borrego Restaurant listed as Deleted (no longer in business) caption next to it. As …

Rocker recall Hello this is D. T. Black of the Xterminators. I’m calling in regards to a column called Live Five by Jay Allen Sanford. It was in your May 16 issue on the Dinettes. …

Mugglebee’s quest My name is Jack Mugglebee, I’m not sure if my last name is familiar or not, but I am writing you this letter because your article mentions a man named Nelson Katz who …

Fashionable junk I must say that I’m disappointed with the recent developments with the Reader paper. I always picked it up every week to find out about music events, restaurant and movie reviews, etc. But …

Spotty holiday FYI, The staff of [San Diego County Regional Airport Authority] were off in honor of Cesar Chavez holiday thus reason nobody answered the phone (“Message at airport on Uber-Lyft staging area a joke?” …

Commoners’ guide to classical music Please, please, please let the essay/article on classical music be some kind of twisted satire (“Classical music not for dummies”, Classical Music, April 2). You have to train to understand …

Easy cop trick About a letter by Joseph Carmellino (“Backyard Intrusions”, Letters, March 27). In his letter he says that “on several occasions I have had to call the cops. They showed up in force …

Capitalism vs. Socialism, redux Prof. Chibber: According to Matthew Lickona, a reporter for the San Diego Reader, you participated in a debate (“Is it time for America to embrace socialism?) with Michael Munger on March …

Capitalism vs. Socialism, redux Prof. Chibber: According to Matthew Lickona, a reporter for the San Diego Reader, you participated in a debate (“Is it time for America to embrace socialism?) with Michael Munger on March …

Illegal-vision In reference to the letter from massprivatei (Hacker stalls Port of San Diego’s video spy network”, News Ticker, March 11), I’d just like to suggest he look at England’s policing, and how, when anyone …

Oldest in Seaport I often point out to tourists the grave marker at the old jail. It was a yard where...merchant marines and whalers and Americans and Europeans who died here [were] buried. I noticed …

Skateworld heaven While I’m not a resident of Linda Vista, I am a native San Diegan and regular patron of SkateWorld (“Linda Vista’s Skate World, you’re fine, now go away,” Neighborhood News, March 1). As …

Cowboy politics Here’s something voters of San Diego county must know about Buck Boy (“Poway Mayor Steve Vaus announces for Dianne Jacobs seat,” News under the Radar, February 27): Colluded with GOP cohorts in the …

Spy cam ubiquity I have all four cameras everywhere (“San Diego’s street lights that spy,” Cover Stories, February 29). It is not a matter of privacy, it is a matter of security. A lot of …

Born in the USA This concerns the theater article this week by Jeff Smith about Familiar at the Globe (“An in-house culture war that’s also funny,” Theatre Reviews, February 13) and in the second paragraph …

Heads up Trump During the afternoon of Saturday, Jan 2, I received an email request from for information regarding the gathering of Venezuelans in Waterfront Park, for the purpose of manifesting our gratefulness to the …

Not going anywhere Regarding Thomas Larson’s January 23 article, “We wish there were fewer”: I generally refrain from acronyms so, oh my word. Who turned the tragic-ometer up all the way to full blast? Larson …

Un-bared naked names As a 55-year member of the working press, I’m amazed that a self-described major-newspaper and Associated Press reporter hid behind anonymity to criticize one of your writers (“Writer Harrison skewered on Hinze …

Violent, vulgar and inflammatory First and foremost I want to thank you for your dedication to providing the public with access to information about what is happening in our community. Access to this knowledge is …

A touch of glass The red hot material hardens almost instantly. His apprentice grabs the cana and quickly puts everything in the kiln for a few moments, and the intense heat soon brings it back …

Homelessly mental Hey John Kitchin (“Not laziness, not mental illness, not alcoholism, and not mental illness,” Letters, December 12), I have been living in San Diego, CA at least 10 yrs now. I have to …

Mentally homeless Tearing Down the House (Letters, Dec. 13) and a response to Teri Siciliani (Letters, Dec. 20): Thanks to the Reader for publishing my letter and responses. I admire its features “City Lights”, “Under …

Off the rails I once lived in San Diego as a Navy man. I so enjoyed the city and all it had to offer. Being a native of California then moving to Alabama I do …

How easy it is to penetrate San Diego high society Being a Marston or a Burnham is surely a social plus, but not being one won’t be held against you.“They don’t reach out to newcomers; …

A nice clean place for a lonely sailor The U.S.O.’s new, clean building and its superior organizational skills seem to give it an overwhelming advantage over the Y. The Y seems old and pockmarked by …

According to TransparentCalifornia.com, Myeshia Etia Whigham earned $124,829 in pay and benefits in 2017. Meanwhile, principal Jose Soto Ramos was at the taxpayer trough for $182,307 just last year alone. Are we getting our money’s …

Could SeaWorld buy a San Diego council seat? Ellis maintains a belief in a floor space ratio requirement rather than strict height limitation. “What good would it have done to restrict buildings on the east …

For women only Ms. Hernandez has not spent her whole life in this Las Hermanas setting. Her lifestyles have run the gamut from three houses and an engineer husband to the women's collective where she …