News Ticker Entries for July, 2011

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Realtors Frustrated with Short Sale Lenders

The California Association of Realtors has released the results of a survey it conducted in June to gauge agents’ experiences ...

Labor Spends Big Against DeMaio and Sanders 401(k) Measure

On May 25 a political committee called San Diego Works! Sponsored by San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council AFL-CIO, contributed $25,000 ...

Government "Hack Day" in San Diego

USA.gov, the federal government’s official web portal, is sponsoring a “hack day” for its recently launched 1.USA.gov. Along with operations ...

San Diego Police Department Realigning Districts

District boundaries across San Diego are being redrawn, that goes for the police department districts as well. On September 17, ...

Parolee Arrested for Shooting Three Days After Release

Sheriff's deputies have arrested a man they believe to be responsible for a shooting that occurred shortly after midnight on ...

New Port Clerk Pledges Open Public Records Policy

Timothy Deuel, regarded by many as one of the most professional and helpful public records managers in San Diego, has ...

UCSD's New Vice Chancellorship for "Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion" Draws Critical Blast

A UCSD plan to create a new vice chancellor position in charge of campus "equity, diversity, and inclusion” has drawn ...

The Governor Signs Kehoe's Strangulation Bill Into Law

On July 27, Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill into law that would add jail time for spouses and partners ...

Study Tracks Statewide Energy Attitudes

The Public Policy Institute of California yesterday released the results of a broad poll on the attitudes of Californians concerning ...

Workforce Index Drops for First Time in Five Months

The San Diego Workforce Index, compiled monthly by the San Diego Workforce Partnership, dropped in June for the first time ...

A New J. David Scandal

Old-timers remember the Ponzi scheme named J. David that dominated San Diego news in the 1980s and into the 1990s. ...

City Council Looks to Renew Contract for Balboa Park Organist

On August 2, city council members will decide whether to pay organist Dr. Carol Williams $28,600 a year for weekly ...

California Last in Jobs Creation

More bad news on the state economy: The Business Journals’ On Numbers is reporting that California ranks dead last in ...

New Lights Save UCSD $210,000 Annually

A $1.5 million retrofit of lighting fixtures across the UCSD campus has recently been completed. Lights have been changed out ...

Redeveloping Lane Field

The Port of San Diego is seeking community input on its plans for Lane Field. The site was originally the ...

Navy Reportedly Revokes Silver Star of Imprisoned La Jollan Wade Sanders

Politico, the Boston Globe, and multiple other online sources are reporting today that Navy Secretary Ray Mabus has revoked a ...

Golden Hill CDC Late to Submit Audit for MAD Funds

For the second straight year, the Greater Golden Hill Community Development Corporation has failed to submit Golden Hill maintenance assessment ...

City to Prepare Draft EIR for O.B. Community Plan Update

On July 26, the city gave notice that it will prepare the draft environmental impact report for the Ocean Beach ...

Rupert Murdoch's Fox Group Funds Four San Diego Politicos

Australian-born media mogul Rupert Murdoch may have his hands full with Britain's burgeoning News of the World phone hacking scandal, ...

Bringing Agriculture to the City

San Diego is studying the potential impacts of urban agriculture on the local food system. A report issued to the ...

County Home Values Rise in May

Housing values across the nation rose in May from April, according to the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, but ...

Marijuana Ordinance Goes Up In Smoke

Photo at left: Sherri Lightner San Diego city councilmembers repealed an ordinance today that aimed at regulating marijuana dispensaries. Opponents ...

Builders give $10K to Jerry Sanders 401(k) Campaign

The Building Industry Association of San Diego County PAC has made a big contribution to the effort by San Diego ...

Bridgepoint's Major Shareholder to Sell; Stock Down

Shares of Bridgepoint Education are down 11.61% to $26.96 near the end of the July 25 trading day. The company's ...

DUI Checkpoint Nets Eight Vehicle Impounds, Zero DUIs

Deputies at the San Diego Sheriff’s Poway station conducted a sobriety checkpoint from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m. Friday and ...

District Three Residents Oppose Redistricting Map

Residents of Kensington and Talmadge are asking the City's Redistricting Commission to rethink how they plan to redraw district boundaries. ...

Fresh Funds for Farmers' Markets

Healthy Works is working to provide low income families with access to produce at local farmers’ markets. Under Fresh Fund, ...

Downtown Residents Want Their Refund

More than 2700 downtown property owners are still waiting for the city to pay them back for overcharging them on ...

Touring Electrical Union's Solar Facilities

The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and National Electrical Contractors Association hosted a tour this morning of their rooftop solar ...

Predator's Linden Blue Slams Medical Marijuana

General Atomics vice chairman and Hudson Institute trustee Linden Blue is out with an op-ed piece in the San Francisco ...

Meth Found at Interstate 8 Checkpoint

Border Patrol agents seized approximately $750,000 worth of meth at a checkpoint on Interstate 8 near Pine Valley, in eastern ...

Drunk Driving Campaign On Del Mar's Opening Day

Horse race enthusiasts that had a few too many cocktails during opening day for the races had a surprise waiting ...

Push Back Against Gays in History Books

Opponents are gearing up for a referendum against SB 48, a measure signed by Jerry Brown on July 13th. The ...

State Bill to Ban Polystyrene Food Packaging

A bill winding its way through state government seeks to ban the use of expanded polystyrene (commonly yet incorrectly referred ...

Arizona Daily Star Layoffs Cast Long Shadow Over North County Times

The blogosphere is full of rumors of a soon-to-come avalanche of newspaper layoffs and one actual report of real firings ...

Ex-San Diegan Guilty of Real Estate Fraud Again

Former North County real estate swinger Philip Rand Lochmiller was found guilty in federal court in Denver today (July 21) ...

UCAN Talking Merger with TURN

San Diego-based Utility Consumers' Action Network (UCAN), a watchdog organization focusing on public utilities, is talking possible merger with San ...

Minkow Gets Five Years

Former San Diego pastor Barry Minkow was sentenced today (July 21) in Miami to five years in prison for committing ...

Local Group Opposes City Land Sale

Citizens Coordinate for Century 3 (C-3) has approached Mayor Sanders and the city council with a request to block the ...

Chula Vista Subcommittee To Discuss Synthetic Drugs

Last week, Chula Vista councilmembers Steve Castaneda and Patricia Aguilar want to ban synthetic marijuana strains from Chula Vista. Known ...

Appeals Court Reinstates Kelley Suit Against U-T

The 4th Appellate District has reinstated the lawsuit that former Union-Tribune editorial cartoonist Steve Kelley filed against the U-T. The ...

Cable Dump Reveals Vetting of Cambodians for San Diego Military Ops

Wikileaks, continuing to release its trove of purloined U.S. diplomatic cable traffic, has posted an unclassified message dated February 23 ...

Solar Panels Offer Cooling Benefits

A team of researchers at UCSD has competed a study outlining an often overlooked side benefit of rooftop solar panels: ...

Ramona Woman Escapes Masked Men

Sara Evins is frustrated with what she sees as an attempt to downplay an attempted assault last week in the ...

Padres to Sell AAA Team If They Can't Find a Home

The Union-Tribune is reporting tonight (July 19) that the Padres will sell their Triple-A minor league team if a home ...

City Council Votes to Move Forward with Plaza de Panama

At left: Irwin Jacobs City council voted 7-to-1 to enter into a MOU (memorandum of understanding) with the Plaza de ...

NextWave Dodges Bankruptcy — for Now

NextWave Wireless today (July 19) got a limited waiver on its obligation to repay $129 million of debt. But the ...

Wayward Whale Wanders Bay

San Diego Bay appears to have become the temporary home to another wayward whale. First spotted last week, a gray ...

Medical Marijuana Activist Files Complaint Against Anti-Pot Groups

Eugene Davidovich, a medical marijuana proponent, has filed complaints against "Citizens Against Legalizing Marijuana" and "Safe Beaches for San Diego ...

Nathan Fletcher Picks Up Big Money from Big Tobacco, Says Lung Association

GOP Assemblyman and San Diego mayoral candidate Nathan Fletcher has received a total of $25,100 in campaign contributions from the ...

DMV to Waive Renewal Fees

Republican State Senator Joel Anderson announced today that late the DMV will not impose new fees on those late to ...

Chula Vista City Councilmember Declares Mexico Safe for Travel

Chula Vista Deputy Mayor Rudy Ramirez says the public's perception that Mexico is unsafe is not supported by real crime ...

SOHO Organizes Protest Against Plaza de Panama Plan

Members of Save Our Heritage Organisation and other supportive groups gathered this afternoon at the western edge of historic Cabrillo ...

Murdoch Gets Bad Advice from Aides, Says Local Publisher

San Diegan Bob Page, who worked for embattled publisher Rupert Murdoch for five years, says News Corp.'s Murdoch "is the ...

Ex-Tijuana Mayor Jorge Hank Rhon Tied to 149 Gambling Operations Throughout Mexico

Frontera NorteSur, a news service edited by Kent Paterson and run by New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, is ...

Hate Crimes & DUIs in East County

The San Diego Sheriff’s office is reporting on a hate crime that occurred in Lemon Grove last Friday. After being ...

Doggie-Bag Ads

Advertisements may soon be found at trailheads and park entrances in Encinitas. On Wednesday, the city council will consider an ...

IBA Warns Council On Parking Estimates For Balboa Park Garage

In a July 15 report, the office of the Independent Budget Analyst urged city councilmembers to use conservative estimates when ...

Robot Hats

While unique and often ornate ladies’ hats have been a staple of the opening-day festivities at the Del Mar horse ...

City to Renew Cleaning Contract at Qualcomm Stadium

On Wednesday, a San Diego city council committee will decide whether to renew a contract for janitorial services at Qualcomm ...

"Paycheck Protection" Effort Passes a Million; Lincoln Club, Woolley Give $50,000

Californians Against Special Interests--a political committee promoting a so-called Paycheck Protection ballot measure to ban labor unions and corporations from ...

Less Restriction on Beer Tasting Rooms

California State Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher is celebrating the success of Assembly Bill 1014, co-sponsored by Fletcher and Wesley Chesbro (D ...

Green Jobs Outsourced to Mexico

The California Labor Federation reports that a study performed by the University of Utah suggests that Sempra Energy’s plan to ...

Mid-City Rapid Stops at City Hall

For the Uptown residents who oppose the Mid-City Rapid Bus, Monday is the last chance to put the brakes on ...

UCSD Proposes To Spend $10.5 Million on Chancellor's Mansion

With UCSD Chancellor Marye Anne Fox on her way out the door, University of California regents are grappling with costly ...

More Sand for San Diego Shores

The San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) is preparing to embark on its second Regional Beach Sand Project (RBSP II) ...

Backyard Chickens

Rachel Hiner appeared before the Ocean Beach Planning Board last week advocating for an easing of restrictions on keeping chickens ...

Ex-County Lobbyist Staffers Use Congress's Revolving Door

Photo on left: Robert Primus Three ex-employees with the County of San Diego's Washington lobbying firm, Von Scoyoc Associates, have ...

Melee Over Managed Competition at Miramar Landfill

A San Diego city council committee approved moving a plan to let private companies run Miramar Landfill to the full ...

Body Found in Sweetwater Reservoir

The body of a suspected burglar was found submerged in the Sweetwater Reservoir after witnesses saw the man enter the ...

Plaza de Panama Planners Dispute Criticisms

Supporters of a new bridge and paid parking structure at Balboa Park yesterday released a document entitled “Plaza de Panama ...

DeMaio's Dinero

Councilmember Carl DeMaio raised $540,000 for his mayoral campaign during the month of June, making him the highest fundraiser so ...

North Park Maintenance Assessment Fails

North Park property owners rejected the proposal to create the maintenance assessment overlay district that I wrote about in this ...

Young Democrat to Sacramento

The San Diego County Young Democrats have announced that their political director has accepted a position with Governor Jerry Brown’s ...

Jerry Brown's and Martin Garrick's Excellent Behests

So-called behest payments have long been a bit of a bugaboo for Sacramento politicos. According to the website of the ...

The Raid on Redevelopment Funds

Mayor Jerry Sanders is asking city councilmembers to go along with the state's $70 million takeaway of redevelopment funds in ...

Marijuana Extract Pills Coming to Market

Medical Marijuana, Inc., a San Diego-based holding company announced today that its Cannabidiol and THC Free product lines will be ...

Cat Cash Fever

Councilmember Carl DeMaio wants to send the city's auditor's recommendation of requiring cat owners to register their cats "to to ...

Audit Committee Reviews Take-Home Vehicle Audit

On Monday, members of the audit committee responded to a June 29 performance audit that looked at take-home vehicles for ...

Local Utilities' $64M Request Delayed

Local utility companies Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric were unsuccessful last week in their request to ...

San Diego-Linked Gang Routes Pot to Rhode Island, Paper Says

The Providence Journal reported Sunday that Rhode Island drug traffic is tied to Tijuana and San Diego through a transcontinental ...

Comic-Con Grossed More than $9 Million in FY '09, IRS Filing Says

Streetlight banners are up, the schedule is being dribbled out a day at a time to increase suspense, bouncers and ...

Bobby Vassallo Indicted for Wire Fraud

Alfred Louis "Bobby" Vassallo, who ran a major scam out of a posh La Jolla home, has been indicted criminally ...

Cabrillo's Flagship to Rise Again

The San Diego Maritime Museum will open its latest exhibit to the public tomorrow – a construction project to recreate ...

San Diego Unified Restores 300 Positions

Two weeks after San Diego Unified trustees cut $115 million from the budget, Superintendent Bill Kowba announced the district will ...

Downtown Quiet Zone About To Get Really Loud

Downtown residents looking forward to hearing less noise once downtown's quiet zone project is complete may need some earplugs on ...

Sheriff Declares Mobile Home Park Crime Free

Last night the Sheriff’s Department certified its first ‘crime free’ multi-unit housing development in Valley Center. Vicki and Jay Smith, ...

Job Gains Shockingly Low. Double-Dip?

The nation gained only 18,000 jobs in June, and May gains were revised down from 54,000 to 25,000, the federal ...

Taxpayers' Association Forms, Takes On Insurance Companies

Photo at left: Dave Jones- from BenefitsPro website Today marked the inaugural meeting of the Middle Class Taxpayers Association, held ...

Sempra Is Big Donor on Secret Latino Legislative Caucus Money List

Following a report in the Sacramento Bee last week that the state's Latino Legislative Caucus had stopped disclosing donors to ...

Bersin and Napolitano Offer Latest Spin on Border Drug War

Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Alan Bersin (left), once chief of schools ...

PriceSmart Stock Leaps

Shares of PriceSmart, the warehouse retailer that sells consumer goods and perishable foods in Latin America, are up 11.6% to ...

Windy Road Ahead for San Diego County Residents

As the 2020 deadline for energy companies to procure the state-mandated 33 percent renewable energy approaches, residents living in rural ...

New Chemical for Food

El Cajon-based PURE Bioscience, Inc. announced today that an antibacterial chemical it’s created has passed the first round of independent ...

Three-Alarm Fire in Hillcrest

Here's some pics of the fire across the street from the Uptown Shopping Center in Hillcrest. The fire seems to ...

Audit Finds Waste in County's Animal Services Department

The City of San Diego pays the County $7.5 million each year to run the Department of Animal Services. In ...

DUIs Up Over Past 4th Weekends

The San Diego Sheriff reported final numbers on its annual campaign against drinking and driving on the weekend surrounding Independence ...

National City to Allow Sale of Three-Packs

Currently, National City prohibits new alcohol licensees from selling single "tall boy" beers and other single-serve alcohol containers. But since ...

Money for Studies at San Onofre

At a meeting of the California Public Utilities Commission tomorrow morning in San Francisco, San Diego Gas & Electric and ...

Port Seeks Community Comments

The Port of San Diego is inviting residents to attend a meeting of its Citizen Advisory Committee on the North ...

San Diego State University Near Top of Fastest Growing Tuition List

San Diego State University ranks near the top of a newly-released U.S. Department of Education roster of public universities with ...

Sanders Pushes Car-Free Zone in Balboa Park

Mayor Jerry Sanders has thrown his support behind the proposal to redevelop Balboa Park’s Plaza de Panama into a car-free ...

St. Paul's Cathedral Wants to Rise Up

On June 3, 2008, dozens of members from St. Paul's Cathedral in Bankers Hill congregated at an Uptown Planners meeting ...

SPAWAR-like Kickback Scandal Hits Newport's Naval Undersea Warfare Center

The Providence, Rhode Island Journal is reporting that a kickback scandal at Newport's Naval Undersea Warfare Center bears striking similarities ...

Assessed Property Values Rise

San Diego County Assessor Ernie Dronenburg announced last week that the value of all taxable property in San Diego was ...

San Diego State Wants Someone to Find It Big Money

Beset by the state's financial woes, money-hungry San Diego State University is on the prowl for a temporary rainmaker to ...

Drug and Alcohol Offenses Getting Higher in IB

The Imperial Beach Sheriff's Station saw a "dramatic" decrease in burglaries, assaults, robberies, and auto thefts during 2010. In an ...

Expanding Diversity in UCSD Student Population

UC San Diego announced on Friday that it will be accepting a record number of transfer students and a more ...

Avalon Ventures Big Winner in Zynga

At left: Zynga's Farmville social game San Francisco's social games maker Zynga filed for an initial public offering on Friday, ...

Local Philanthropist Attempts Catalina Channel Swim

Blair Cannon, a local businessman and philanthropist, announced yesterday his intention to swim the 21 mile Catalina Channel from Santa ...

Bilbray Aide Briefs Doctors on Biomedical Bills, Gets Free Lodging

It's no secret that GOP congressman Brian Bilbray has been a major political beneficiary of the bio-tech industry. According to ...

Kids Need Sunglasses, Too

Health experts are reminding parents this summer that it’s just as important to protect kids’ eyes as their skin in ...