The California Association of Realtors has released the results of a survey it conducted in June to gauge agents’ experiences in helping clients negotiate short sales with their banks. In a short sale, the borrower avoids foreclosure, but the bank …

On May 25 a political committee called San Diego Works! Sponsored by San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council AFL-CIO, contributed $25,000 to Too Extreme for San Diego -- A Committee to Oppose Carl DeMaio for Mayor 2012, according to a disclosure …

USA.gov, the federal government’s official web portal, is sponsoring a “hack day” for its recently launched 1.USA.gov. Along with operations in New York City, San Francisco, and Washington, DC, local consultants Measured Voice will be hosting an event here in …

District boundaries across San Diego are being redrawn, that goes for the police department districts as well. On September 17, police districts will change. For residents of North Park that means they will no longer be included in the police …

Sheriff's deputies have arrested a man they believe to be responsible for a shooting that occurred shortly after midnight on Wednesday morning outside the Salty Frog bar in Imperial Beach. Nicholas Norton, a parolee released from state prison last Sunday, …

Timothy Deuel, regarded by many as one of the most professional and helpful public records managers in San Diego, has been sworn in as District Clerk for the Port of San Diego by his father, Rodney Deuel, of Phoenix. “It’s …

A UCSD plan to create a new vice chancellor position in charge of campus "equity, diversity, and inclusion” has drawn sharp criticism from Heather Mac Donald, a contributing editor to City Journal, the magazine published four times a year by …

On July 27, Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill into law that would add jail time for spouses and partners who strangle or chokes their significant others. The bill was sponsored by State Senator Christine Kehoe. Kehoe drafted the bill …

The Public Policy Institute of California yesterday released the results of a broad poll on the attitudes of Californians concerning various environmental issues. Among the findings: Nuclear power has, unsurprisingly, fallen out of favor in the wake of the Fukushima …

The San Diego Workforce Index, compiled monthly by the San Diego Workforce Partnership, dropped in June for the first time in five months. The index was hit by the rise in the county unemployment to 10.4% in June from 9.6% …

Old-timers remember the Ponzi scheme named J. David that dominated San Diego news in the 1980s and into the 1990s. J. David Dominelli, the main manipulator, went to prison for a long stretch and has since died. Now there is …

On August 2, city council members will decide whether to pay organist Dr. Carol Williams $28,600 a year for weekly concerts at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion. The $286,000 dollar ten-year contract came under fire earlier this year during budget deliberations. …

More bad news on the state economy: The Business Journals’ On Numbers is reporting that California ranks dead last in the number of jobs created over the last five years. The state had 14,068,600 non-farm jobs reported as of June …

A $1.5 million retrofit of lighting fixtures across the UCSD campus has recently been completed. Lights have been changed out in favor of more efficient units in offices, classrooms, meeting areas, warehouses, and other areas. The new systems are expected …

The Port of San Diego is seeking community input on its plans for Lane Field. The site was originally the home to the Padres of the Pacific Coast League from 1936 to 1957, more recently it’s served as cruise ship …

Politico, the Boston Globe, and multiple other online sources are reporting today that Navy Secretary Ray Mabus has revoked a Silver Star awarded to retired captain, Vietnam swift boat veteran and La Jollan Wade Sanders, who is currently serving a …

For the second straight year, the Greater Golden Hill Community Development Corporation has failed to submit Golden Hill maintenance assessment district audits to the City on time. The audit was due last December. Now, eight months later, there is still …

On July 26, the city gave notice that it will prepare the draft environmental impact report for the Ocean Beach Community Plan Update. O.B. denizens will have a chance to comment on the proposed draft report at scoping meeting on …

Australian-born media mogul Rupert Murdoch may have his hands full with Britain's burgeoning News of the World phone hacking scandal, but Beverly Hills-based Fox Group, a subsidiary of Murdoch-run News America, Inc., has kept busy making a total of $75,750 …

San Diego is studying the potential impacts of urban agriculture on the local food system. A report issued to the City Council’s Committee on Land Use and Housing dated July 12 covered three potential changes to zoning law that would …

Housing values across the nation rose in May from April, according to the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, but the gain was largely seasonal, warns David Blitzer of Standard & Poor's. San Diego County home values rose 0.2% in …

Photo at left: Sherri Lightner San Diego city councilmembers repealed an ordinance today that aimed at regulating marijuana dispensaries. Opponents of the ordinance, which prohibited dispensaries from residential, and many commercial areas of the City, and provided a 600-foot-buffer from …

The Building Industry Association of San Diego County PAC has made a big contribution to the effort by San Diego mayor Jerry Sanders, councilman Carl DeMaio, and the GOP Lincoln Club, among others, to qualify a ballot measure to replace …

Shares of Bridgepoint Education are down 11.61% to $26.96 near the end of the July 25 trading day. The company's largest shareholder, Wall Street's Warburg Pincus, has put its entire stake -- 65% of outstanding shares -- up for sale. …

Deputies at the San Diego Sheriff’s Poway station conducted a sobriety checkpoint from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday. A total of 544 vehicles passed through the checkpoint on the 14300 block of Poway Road. Of the cars …

Residents of Kensington and Talmadge are asking the City's Redistricting Commission to rethink how they plan to redraw district boundaries. Most of all, the district three denizens oppose getting placed in the newly formed ninth-district alongside the College Area, Southeastern …

Healthy Works is working to provide low income families with access to produce at local farmers’ markets. Under Fresh Fund, any individual eligible for CalFresh/SNAP, WIC, or SSI/SSDI benefits can request and receive $20 per month in tokens that can …

More than 2700 downtown property owners are still waiting for the city to pay them back for overcharging them on property assessments. In 2005, city consultant SCI Engineering recalculated the engineer's report. However, the firm miscalculated, overcharging downtown properties anywhere …

The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and National Electrical Contractors Association hosted a tour this morning of their rooftop solar system at the main training center for apprentice electricians in the county. The panels produce 90 kilowatts of energy, with …

General Atomics vice chairman and Hudson Institute trustee Linden Blue is out with an op-ed piece in the San Francisco Examiner — cowritten with Peter Bensinger, Drug Enforcement Administration administrator during the Ford, Carter and Reagan years — touting a …

Border Patrol agents seized approximately $750,000 worth of meth at a checkpoint on Interstate 8 near Pine Valley, in eastern San Diego County. Around 3am on July 21, agents directed a 23-year old male to secondary inspection area after appearing …

Horse race enthusiasts that had a few too many cocktails during opening day for the races had a surprise waiting for them outside the fairground's gates. Sheriff's deputies and police officers from departments in National City, San Diego, Chula Vista, …

Opponents are gearing up for a referendum against SB 48, a measure signed by Jerry Brown on July 13th. The law would revise current requirements that mandate inclusion of “Native Americans, African Americans, Mexican Americans, Asian Americans, European Americans, and …

A bill winding its way through state government seeks to ban the use of expanded polystyrene (commonly yet incorrectly referred to as Styrofoam) in food containers. With the exception of raw meat packaging, the ban would apply to packaging materials …

The blogosphere is full of rumors of a soon-to-come avalanche of newspaper layoffs and one actual report of real firings today, all of which may offer clues to the future of newspapers in southern California, including San Diego county. L.A. …

Former North County real estate swinger Philip Rand Lochmiller was found guilty in federal court in Denver today (July 21) of 31 counts of conspiracy, fraud, and money laundering. In 1985, Lochmiller of Lochmiller Mortgage was sentenced to three years …

San Diego-based Utility Consumers' Action Network (UCAN), a watchdog organization focusing on public utilities, is talking possible merger with San Francisco-based The Utility Reform Network (TURN). Neither Michael Shames, executive director of UCAN, nor Mark Toney, executive director of TURN, …

Former San Diego pastor Barry Minkow was sentenced today (July 21) in Miami to five years in prison for committing securities fraud. While in his teens, Minkow had launched a carpet-cleaning company that turned into a $211 million fraud. He …

Citizens Coordinate for Century 3 (C-3) has approached Mayor Sanders and the city council with a request to block the sale of approximately 65 acres of city-owned land along the San Diego River. The group, whose mission is to “establish …

Last week, Chula Vista councilmembers Steve Castaneda and Patricia Aguilar want to ban synthetic marijuana strains from Chula Vista. Known as "Spice incense," the synthetic cannabis is often marketed for use as incense but most users smoke it for the …

The 4th Appellate District has reinstated the lawsuit that former Union-Tribune editorial cartoonist Steve Kelley filed against the U-T. The suit was thrown out by Superior Court Judge Jay Bloom in November of 2009. Kelley had been fired by the …

Wikileaks, continuing to release its trove of purloined U.S. diplomatic cable traffic, has posted an unclassified message dated February 23 of last year to the U.S. State Department from the American embassy in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. It discusses the need …

A team of researchers at UCSD has competed a study outlining an often overlooked side benefit of rooftop solar panels: the cooling effect on buildings that mount them. The study, to be published in an upcoming edition of the science …

Sara Evins is frustrated with what she sees as an attempt to downplay an attempted assault last week in the rural San Diego Country Estates, several miles east of the town of Ramona. Around 10 p.m. on Sunday, July 10, …

The Union-Tribune is reporting tonight (July 19) that the Padres will sell their Triple-A minor league team if a home can't be located in Escondido or someplace else in North County. The Escondido deal has been cooking for some time, …

At left: Irwin Jacobs City council voted 7-to-1 to enter into a MOU (memorandum of understanding) with the Plaza de Panama committee that will begin to explore options of removing vehicles from the plaza. The vote came after hours of …

NextWave Wireless today (July 19) got a limited waiver on its obligation to repay $129 million of debt. But the waiver expires August 1. On Monday, NextWave had said it would have to go belly up if it couldn't renegotiate …

San Diego Bay appears to have become the temporary home to another wayward whale. First spotted last week, a gray whale up to 40 feet in length has popped up in several places, most recently near the Bali Hai restaurant …

Eugene Davidovich, a medical marijuana proponent, has filed complaints against "Citizens Against Legalizing Marijuana" and "Safe Beaches for San Diego Yes on D." The complaints have been submitted to the Fair Political Practices Commission, district attorney Bonnie Dumanis’ Integrity Unit, …

GOP Assemblyman and San Diego mayoral candidate Nathan Fletcher has received a total of $25,100 in campaign contributions from the tobacco industry, according to a database of state legislators released today by the Center for Tobacco Policy & Organizing, run …

Republican State Senator Joel Anderson announced today that late the DMV will not impose new fees on those late to register their vehicles. The announcement comes two months after legislators passed a special bill which ordered the DMV to stop …

Chula Vista Deputy Mayor Rudy Ramirez says the public's perception that Mexico is unsafe is not supported by real crime statistics. In a July 18 press release, Ramirez reported on a recent meeting with mayors from cities throughout Baja and …

Members of Save Our Heritage Organisation and other supportive groups gathered this afternoon at the western edge of historic Cabrillo Bridge, protesting the plan pushed by Mayor Sanders and Qualcomm co-founder Irwin Jacobs. Their intent is to build a new …

San Diegan Bob Page, who worked for embattled publisher Rupert Murdoch for five years, says News Corp.'s Murdoch "is the smartest fox in the forest" and will probably emerge cleanly from the phone-hacking scandal involving one of his British publications, …

Frontera NorteSur, a news service edited by Kent Paterson and run by New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, is reporting that in Mexico "Las Vegas-style gaming, casinos and other gaming establishments" have "spread like wildfire across the country in …

The San Diego Sheriff’s office is reporting on a hate crime that occurred in Lemon Grove last Friday. After being cut off in traffic near Sweetwater Road and Broadway, a lone Hispanic male honked his horn in frustration. Two Caucasian …

Advertisements may soon be found at trailheads and park entrances in Encinitas. On Wednesday, the city council will consider an agreement that would allow companies to post advertisements at trails and parks in exchange for free pet-waste bags. In the …

In a July 15 report, the office of the Independent Budget Analyst urged city councilmembers to use conservative estimates when considering parking revenues from a new parking structure in Balboa Park. If not, money for maintenance, bond repayments, and security …

While unique and often ornate ladies’ hats have been a staple of the opening-day festivities at the Del Mar horse track for decades, this year promises to produce a spectacle greater than in the past. About two dozen girls aged …

On Wednesday, a San Diego city council committee will decide whether to renew a contract for janitorial services at Qualcomm Stadium. The contract will cost the City just under $2.3 million for 3 years, with 26 events per year, including …

Californians Against Special Interests--a political committee promoting a so-called Paycheck Protection ballot measure to ban labor unions and corporations from using automatic payroll deductions to collect campaign contributions--has continued to pick up big support from some politically well-connected San Diegans. …

California State Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher is celebrating the success of Assembly Bill 1014, co-sponsored by Fletcher and Wesley Chesbro (D – Santa Rosa). An announcement came yesterday via blog on Fletcher’s mayoral campaign webpage. The bill, which would place beer …

The California Labor Federation reports that a study performed by the University of Utah suggests that Sempra Energy’s plan to move "green" energy production out of state could cost California up to 15,000 jobs. The study, authored by university professor …

For the Uptown residents who oppose the Mid-City Rapid Bus, Monday is the last chance to put the brakes on the project. It's the day when city councilmembers will consider allowing SANDAG to install angled-parking along Centre Street, Lincoln and …

With UCSD Chancellor Marye Anne Fox on her way out the door, University of California regents are grappling with costly plans to restore the old chancellor's house, providing her successor with the kind of multi-million dollar, well-appointed mansion that Fox, …

The San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) is preparing to embark on its second Regional Beach Sand Project (RBSP II) next spring. RBSP I, which took place in 2001, involved the dredging of 2.1 million cubic yards of sand, used …

Rachel Hiner appeared before the Ocean Beach Planning Board last week advocating for an easing of restrictions on keeping chickens in a residential area. Hers was the second in a series of presentations to local community groups, the first being …

Photo on left: Robert Primus Three ex-employees with the County of San Diego's Washington lobbying firm, Von Scoyoc Associates, have turned up on a "revolving door" list of former federally registered lobbyists now working as congressional aides. The list was …

A San Diego city council committee approved moving a plan to let private companies run Miramar Landfill to the full city council for consideration. The hearing, however, was not without some major trash talk. Councilmembers Sherri Lightner and Marti Emerald …

The body of a suspected burglar was found submerged in the Sweetwater Reservoir after witnesses saw the man enter the reservoir after breaking into a nearby home. Sheriffs say the unidentified man broke into a Spring Valley home on Tuesday …

Supporters of a new bridge and paid parking structure at Balboa Park yesterday released a document entitled “Plaza de Panama – Myth vs. Fact,” yesterday afternoon. “Clearing up some misinformation in our quest to restore the heart of Balboa Park,” …

Councilmember Carl DeMaio raised $540,000 for his mayoral campaign during the month of June, making him the highest fundraiser so far. Earlier this month, assemblyman Nathan Fletcher revealed that his campaign had raised $300,000. In a July 12 email, DeMaio …

North Park property owners rejected the proposal to create the maintenance assessment overlay district that I wrote about in this week's paper. The district will not be formed. In a ballot summary provided by the City, commercial property owners in …

The San Diego County Young Democrats have announced that their political director has accepted a position with Governor Jerry Brown’s administration. Colin Parent took over as Director of External Affairs for the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) …

So-called behest payments have long been a bit of a bugaboo for Sacramento politicos. According to the website of the state's Fair Political Practices Commission, "behest payments are contributions to charity by individuals and corporations solicited by members of the …

Mayor Jerry Sanders is asking city councilmembers to go along with the state's $70 million takeaway of redevelopment funds in order for local redevelopment to continue. "Instead of reforming itself and making tough decisions like we’ve done here in San …

Medical Marijuana, Inc., a San Diego-based holding company announced today that its Cannabidiol and THC Free product lines will be available in the United States effective August 1. The company filed a patent for its process in extracting the compound …

Councilmember Carl DeMaio wants to send the city's auditor's recommendation of requiring cat owners to register their cats "to to the litter box.” “This proposal, which will impact every San Diegan who owns a cat, is driven not by a …

On Monday, members of the audit committee responded to a June 29 performance audit that looked at take-home vehicles for city employees. The audit found that of the 347 vehicles provided to city employees, 99 were underutilized, costing the city …

Local utility companies Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric were unsuccessful last week in their request to bill ratepayers $64 million for seismic studies at the San Onofre Nuclear Generator Station. A previous post details a complaint …

The Providence Journal reported Sunday that Rhode Island drug traffic is tied to Tijuana and San Diego through a transcontinental pipeline operated by street gangs carefully nurtured by Mexico's most deadly cartels. "South of the border, rival cartels, including La …

Streetlight banners are up, the schedule is being dribbled out a day at a time to increase suspense, bouncers and bartenders are poised and at the ready, Gaslamp is bracing for an endless traffic jam. In short, it's time for …

Alfred Louis "Bobby" Vassallo, who ran a major scam out of a posh La Jolla home, has been indicted criminally for wire fraud by a grand jury in the Central District of California. The indictment charges that Vassallo obtained money …

The San Diego Maritime Museum will open its latest exhibit to the public tomorrow – a construction project to recreate San Salvador, the flagship of Juan Cabrillo’s fleet and the first European ship to reach the West Coast. The ship …

Two weeks after San Diego Unified trustees cut $115 million from the budget, Superintendent Bill Kowba announced the district will be reinstating approximately 300 of the 800 teachers that had received pink-slips as a result of the cuts. District officials …

Downtown residents looking forward to hearing less noise once downtown's quiet zone project is complete may need some earplugs on Sunday, July 10. From 6am to 1pm, train horns will blast through their homes as safety crews test new signaling …

Last night the Sheriff’s Department certified its first ‘crime free’ multi-unit housing development in Valley Center. Vicki and Jay Smith, managers of Hide Away Lake Mobile Home Estates, were presented with certification at a Neighborhood Watch meeting. In order to …

The nation gained only 18,000 jobs in June, and May gains were revised down from 54,000 to 25,000, the federal government announced today. Economists had expected 125,000 jobs in June — a stunning commentary on the economy's weakness or possibly …

Photo at left: Dave Jones- from BenefitsPro website Today marked the inaugural meeting of the Middle Class Taxpayers Association, held at the College-Rolando Library branch. It was attended by close to 100 of the group’s stated membership of over 500 …

Following a report in the Sacramento Bee last week that the state's Latino Legislative Caucus had stopped disclosing donors to its nonprofit foundation two years ago, the group has released a list of donors responsible for a total of $50,000 …

Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Alan Bersin (left), once chief of schools here, hooked up with a bevy of other Obama administration law enforcement bigwigs today to release their Southwest Border Counternarcotics …

Shares of PriceSmart, the warehouse retailer that sells consumer goods and perishable foods in Latin America, are up 11.6% to $60.54 as the market nears its close today (July 7). Volume is very heavy. The shares are already up 140% …

As the 2020 deadline for energy companies to procure the state-mandated 33 percent renewable energy approaches, residents living in rural parts of the county appear to be running against numerous wind and solar projects. Tonight, members of the Boulevard Community …

El Cajon-based PURE Bioscience, Inc. announced today that an antibacterial chemical it’s created has passed the first round of independent expert review, Marketwatch reports in a company press release. Silver dihydrogen citrate (SDC), has been declared Generally Recognized As Safe …

Here's some pics of the fire across the street from the Uptown Shopping Center in Hillcrest. The fire seems to have started at Buonissimo Restaurant and then spread to the neighboring building. Barbarella posted some an aerial pic of the …

The City of San Diego pays the County $7.5 million each year to run the Department of Animal Services. In addition, residents of San Diego pay an additional $1.5 million in user fees, totaling $9 million per year. The County …

The San Diego Sheriff reported final numbers on its annual campaign against drinking and driving on the weekend surrounding Independence Day. DUI arrests for the four-day period spanning Friday through Monday totaled 334, a increase from 270 last year and …

Currently, National City prohibits new alcohol licensees from selling single "tall boy" beers and other single-serve alcohol containers. But since the regulations went into effect, many retailers ignored the policy, complaining that the regulations adversely impacted business. One store owner …

At a meeting of the California Public Utilities Commission tomorrow morning in San Francisco, San Diego Gas & Electric and Southern California Edison will request permission to bill their ratepayers $64 million for seismic studies. The reports will concern the …

The Port of San Diego is inviting residents to attend a meeting of its Citizen Advisory Committee on the North Embarcadero Port Master Plan Amendment. The meeting, seventh in a series, will be held from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. tonight …

San Diego State University ranks near the top of a newly-released U.S. Department of Education roster of public universities with the fastest rising tuition and fees. According to the department's website, the College Affordability and Transparency Center, tuition at SDSU's …

Mayor Jerry Sanders has thrown his support behind the proposal to redevelop Balboa Park’s Plaza de Panama into a car-free zone. In an open letter issued last week, he lamented the current condition of the park, writing that “Every year, …

On June 3, 2008, dozens of members from St. Paul's Cathedral in Bankers Hill congregated at an Uptown Planners meeting to support the church's proposal to build two residential and commercial towers in Bankers Hill. Residents considered the plans an …

The Providence, Rhode Island Journal is reporting that a kickback scandal at Newport's Naval Undersea Warfare Center bears striking similarities to the small business fraud scandal that broke two years ago at the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command in …

San Diego County Assessor Ernie Dronenburg announced last week that the value of all taxable property in San Diego was up 0.51 percent, or about $2 billion. The value on the county tax roll now sits at $395.7 billion, and …

Beset by the state's financial woes, money-hungry San Diego State University is on the prowl for a temporary rainmaker to hit the road with the aim of researching and attracting a fresh shower of cash from heavy-hitting donors. Under ex-president …

The Imperial Beach Sheriff's Station saw a "dramatic" decrease in burglaries, assaults, robberies, and auto thefts during 2010. In an annual report released by the Sheriff's Department, robberies were down 50 percent, aggravated assaults by 28 percent, and auto thefts …

UC San Diego announced on Friday that it will be accepting a record number of transfer students and a more diverse student base when classes begin in the fall. The university will admit 3,692 freshmen and 3,061 new students via …

At left: Zynga's Farmville social game San Francisco's social games maker Zynga filed for an initial public offering on Friday, expecting to raise up to $1 billion. It's almost certain to be a hot IPO; the company is now very …

Blair Cannon, a local businessman and philanthropist, announced yesterday his intention to swim the 21 mile Catalina Channel from Santa Catalina Island to Rancho Palos Verdes, just south of Los Angeles. Cannon hopes to raise $210,000 for charity, or $10,000 …

It's no secret that GOP congressman Brian Bilbray has been a major political beneficiary of the bio-tech industry. According to the Sunlight Foundation's Influence Explorer website, Bilbray's top campaign contributors from 1993 through last year included Health Professionals ($362,000) and …

Health experts are reminding parents this summer that it’s just as important to protect kids’ eyes as their skin in the sun, Medical News Today reports. Even though a recent study indicates that 68 percent of adults wear sunglasses outdoors, …