News Ticker Entries for June, 2011

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Solar Projects to Shine in Alpine

As utility companies scramble to meet the state's mandate of generating 33 percent of their power from renewable sources by ...

CO Detector Law Takes Effect

A key part of SB 183, passed last April by state legislature, is set to take effect tomorrow. As of ...

A.G. Spanos Co. Seeks 23-year Tax Break from Albany, New York

A.G. Spanos Cos., run by Alex Spanos and his Chargers-owning clan — in perennial search of a taxpayer-subsidized pro-football stadium ...

Federal Government Sends Billions to Local Contractors

A report issued today touts the continued strength of San Diego’s business community to court federal government contracts. Covering a ...

SEC Charges Former Silberman Associate with Fraud

The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged San Diegan Peter L. Jensen and another executive with fraudulently inflating revenues of ...

Hallelujah! NFL Admits Football Has No Economic Impact

For decades, the National Football League, and other professional sports organizations such as Major League Baseball, have claimed that a ...

Taking Take-Home Vehicles Away

In a June 29 performance audit, city auditor Eduardo Luna found that of the 347 vehicles provided to city employees, ...

Disaster Training at San Onofre Lax, Says NRC Report

The non-profit investigative news site ProPublica.org is out today with a lengthy analysis of safety reports released by the Nuclear ...

False Alarms Will Cost You

According to assistant fire chief Brian Fennessey, the city's firefighters spend approximately 2000 hours each year investigating false-alarm calls. The ...

Disabled Fishing Boat Yields Smuggled Pot

Harbor Police have found approximately 600 pounds of marijuana on a disabled fishing boat that was towed into San Diego ...

New Fees for SD Fire-Rescue

The city council approved new fees to generate income for the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department at its meeting yesterday. A ...

Hang Ten...Ads

Natasha Collura, Director of Strategic Partnerships for the City of San Diego, appeared at the Budget and Finance committee meeting ...

"Paycheck Protection" Measure Gets Lincoln Club Money

A group of heavyweight San Diegans are lining up to help bankroll circulation of a new initiative, intended for the ...

Beach Trash Is Coming

As the 4th of July weekend approaches, local environmental groups are gearing up for what’s often San Diego’s messiest holiday, ...

SD Wages Dropped in Decade

The average annual wage in the county was $38,148 in 2001 and rose 28% to $48,802 last year, reports economist ...

Sheriff's Dept. Investigates Death, Announces DUI Checkpoint

The San Diego Sheriff’s Department is investigating the death of a woman reported yesterday on Gillespie Drive in the La ...

City Council Pushes Public Transit

Nearly two dozen people showed up to speak at yesterday’s city council meeting in San Diego concerning a statement the ...

SD Home Values Up in April, Down Over 12 Months

County home values rose 0.4% from March to April, according to Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller data released this morning (June 28). ...

War of the Weeds

La Mesa city officials want to rid neighborhoods of properties with excessive weeds or refuse. Not only are unkempt properties ...

Gay-Marriage Proponents to Court

A collection of same-sex marriage advocates is set to appear in San Diego Superior Court this morning, petitioning for dismissal ...

High Job Satisfaction for Collection Agents

Encore Capital Group has been named one of the top 50 places to work . . . in India. The ...

Another Failed Robbery Attempt

Around 11 a.m. yesterday, police were summoned to a Wells Fargo branch on North Second Street in El Cajon. A ...

Rep. Issa Sends the Post Office a Message

Representative Darrell Issa is calling for "sweeping" and "structural" reforms of the United States Postal Service. His statement comes days ...

Assess Much? The North Park Clean and Safe Program

Frustrated with overgrown trees and unabated weeds in your local business district? Are you repulsed by the graffiti tag that ...

Port's Environmental Fund After Five Years

The Port of San Diego is celebrating five years since the founding of its environmental fund. Since the fund’s inception ...

Subsidies for Rich Farmers Hit; Rancho Santa Fe Farmer Agrees

The Washington, D.C.-based Environmental Working Group is out with its annual database of federal farm subsidy recipients from 1995 through ...

Local Real Estate Trust Issues New Stock

Excel Trust Inc., a San Diego-based real estate investment company, announced today the issue of 12.5 million shares of stock. ...

Foreclosures Wallop SD Tax Receipts, Homeowner Wealth

City of San Diego homeowners will have lost $19.2 billion in wealth between 2008 and 2012 (estimated), according to a ...

Union-Tribune Edits Out Name of Owner

In its "People" feature on page A-2 today (June 23), the Union-Tribune blue-penciled the name of its owner from a ...

Man Hides From Cops in Attic

San Diego sheriff's deputies responded to a tip last night hoping to serve felony arrest warrants. Sergio Castaneda had two ...

Cleaning Up Qualcomm

On Monday, San Diego city councilmembers will consider allocating an additional $575,000 for consultants and lawyers hired by the City ...

Land Purchase Expands Lakeside River Park

Lakeside’s River Park Conservancy announced the purchase of 6.5 acres of land on Tuesday. The parcel, which runs along Los ...

County Defends Neighborhood Reinvestment Program

The county's Chief Administrative Officer issued a response to six Grand Jury reports that were released during the past year. ...

Bank Patron Bites Robber

La Mesa Police report an attempted robbery in the parking lot outside Bank of America at Grossmont Center. Just before ...

Residents of Bird Rock Really Don't Want The Real World

It is the true story of hundreds of residents living in the quiet beach community of Bird Rock, forced to ...

"Cool Zones" Provide Free Air Conditioning

Today marks the opening of the county’s "Cool Zone" program, administered by the Health & Human Services Agency. The aim ...

Salary Cap Issue May Keep Chargers in Town

Fans lately have been grasping for reason to believe the Chargers are doing more in San Diego than biding time ...

Your Name Here: Fundraising for the Central Library

Mel Katz, chairman of the San Diego Public Library Foundation, appeared at today's Rules Committee meeting to update councilmembers on ...

Activist Groups Call for End to War on Drugs

A crowd of about 60 gathered last Friday, June 17 at Pioneer Park in Mission Hills to call for a ...

Manchester Didn't Rake in Big Bucks on Hotel Sale

Host Hotels and Resorts has filed the official statement for its most recent quarter. It indicates that San Diego's Papa ...

Harry Reid Bashes Georgiou; San Diego Delegation Raises Cash

Photo on left: Byron Georgiou Democratic Sen. Harry Reid has come out swinging against Byron Georgiou, the ex-San Diego lawyer ...

Border Delays

As if traffic at San Ysidro's border crossing wasn't bad enough, now the 50,000-plus commuters that cross the border each ...

Kids' Meal Toys Disappear at Jack in the Box

San Diego-based Jack in the Box has become the first major fast food chain to stop offering toys with its ...

Citizens Protest Plunge Closure, Request City Council Action

Several groups of citizens appealed to the city council during an open comment period in this morning’s meeting to step ...

School Bus Was Not The Target

The bullet that struck a moving school bus in the Rincon Indian Reservation on Monday was a stray bullet, found ...

Waving The White Flag in PB.

Photo on left: Jerry Hall on Channel 10 News Pacific Beach residents looking to curb alcohol abuse in Pacific Beach ...

Hotel Indigo Sold to Maryland Investment Group

Chesapeake Lodging Trust, a Maryland-based real estate investment trust, announced the purchase of Hotel Indigo in the Gaslamp today. Total ...

Big-Time Lawyer-Lobbyist Headlines Dumanis Campaign Fundraiser

A raft of high-powered San Diego lawyers are hosting a campaign fundraiser tomorrow evening for District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis, who ...

Boxer Speaks on Nuclear Safety

Senator Barbara Boxer delivered a statement concerning the re-licensing of California’s two nuclear power plants last Thursday at an oversight ...

Housing Values (Mostly) Continue to Slide

Data provided by the California Association of Realtors show that resale activity dropped 5.8% between April and May of this ...

WD-40 Borrows $75M to Fund Expansion, Stock Buybacks

San Diego-based WD-40 Company, a chemical manufacturer perhaps best known for its namesake lubricant and 2000 Flushes toilet treatment products, ...

Minkow Owes $584 Million

Ex-con man and anti-fraud investigator Barry Minkow owes $584 million to Florida-based homebuilder Lennar Corporation. The judgement, reported by the ...

SD Unemployment Rate Drops to 9.6%

The May unemployment rate in the county dropped to 9.6% from April's revised 9.8%, according to the California Employment Development ...

Mark Fabiani to Spin Chipotle Undocumented-Alien Woes

Reuters is reporting today that Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. has picked up the services of La Jollan Mark Fabiani to ...

The Stench from Mt. San Diego

According to some residents living in Coachella Valley, they can smell San Diego County from their homes and schools. And, ...

Mitt Romney's La Jolla Ties Attract Increasing Notice

Curbed, a national website covering celebrity and other high-end digs, presented a guided tour of the houses of GOP presidential ...

Eagle Scout Fights to Perform Public Service

Fifteen-year-old David Youngman appeared before the Escondido city council yesterday to ask for help getting permission to move forward with ...

City Wants $250,000 More for Kessler Lawsuit

On June 21, city councilmembers will consider appropriating $250,000 to the Brown Law Group to represent the City in a ...

Assemblyman Martin Garrick Arrested in Sacramento on DUI Charge

The Sacramento Bee's CapitolAlert blog reports this morning that former GOP Assembly Leader Martin Garrick was arrested on suspicion of ...

Decaying Property Attracts New Tenant

After years of decay, an abandoned building at 2285 Hotel Circle South in Mission Valley appears to have attracted a ...

Expats Look To Improve Image of Baja

Ken Bell sees the impact that the decline in tourism to Mexico has had on the economy. As media reports ...

Med-Mar Proponents Against Dumanis

Medical cannabis supporters took aim at Bonnie Dumanis during a San Diego chapter meeting of Americans for Safe Access held ...

No Beach Parking Fees

Charging for parking at San Diego's beaches is not the top recommendation for finding additional revenues, Independent Budget Analyst Andrea ...

Anthony Weiner Owned Shares in San Diego Subprime Outfit

It's no doubt among the least of New York Democratic Congressman Anthony Weiner's problems these days, but based on his ...

Burl Stiff Leaves Money, Items to San Diegans

Burl Stiff, former society columnist for the Union-Tribune who died recently, left money and gifts to San Diegans, according to ...

Botched Street Sign Installed

San Diego has been in the process of replacing its green street-name signs with blue ones for a few years. ...

Wave of Support for Belmont Park

Residents of Mission Beach flooded council chambers on June 14 in support of Tom Lochtefeld (pictured at left), who leases ...

More Layoffs at Union-Tribune

More employees went to the guillotine at the Union-Tribune today (June 14). The move was completely unexpected, according to sources ...

Explosion Threat Disrupts Downtown

A bomb scare temporarily shut down a section of Broadway downtown for about 45 minutes Tuesday afternoon. An employee of ...

If You Want a County Job, Get E-Verified

County supervisor Dianne Jacob wants companies that have contracts with San Diego County to register with the Department of Homeland ...

$498,000 Design Cost for new Hillcrest Fire Station

The San Diego city council this morning debated the retention of Rob Quigley Architects, Inc. for the re-design of Hillcrest’s ...

Americans for Safe Access Comments on Imperial Beach Ban

Nothing is going to stop Marcus Boyd from attending the Imperial Beach city council meeting on Wednesday. He will be ...

Vehicle Crashes Into Animal Hospital

A vehicle jumped a curb, crossed a pedestrian walkway, and crashed into the lobby of Rancho Village Veterinary Hospital near ...

DEA Warns of New Hits Against Border Agents

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has quietly told its law enforcement partners along the border that they should be prepared ...

Ban? What Ban?

The ordinance being proposed by Imperial Beach City Manager Gary Brown doesn't ban the use of medical marijuana, it just, ...

Former Metro VW Site Bought By Developer

A grant deed recorded on May 10, 2011, confirmed the transfer of property at 1902 Kettner Boulevard, former home of ...

Loan Fraudster Gets 30 Months

Michael Trap, owner of a loan modification scheme, was sentenced to 30 months in prison today (June 10) and ordered ...

Palin Email Reveals Sempra Energy Pipeline Scheme

As we first reported in September 2008, back in 2005 Sempra Energy helped enlist the backing of then-ex Wasilla, Alaska ...

Parking Meters May Be Coming to Bays, Beaches, and Parks

San Diego city councilmembers are searching for ways to chip away at the structural deficit. A few months back, Budget ...

FBI Feud Derails Border Corruption Cleanup

Mexican drug lords are corrupting U.S. border patrol and customs agents at an increasing pace while supposed watchdogs in the ...

Water Under the Bypass Bridge

One day after Irwin Jacobs announced that he was putting a hold on the Plaza de Panama project, the Save ...

Filner Reports $13,325 from Public Employees Retirement System

Now that Bob Filner has jumped into the San Diego mayoral race, online researchers will have a ball looking him ...

Filner Is In

It's official, after weeks of speculation Congressman Bob Filner has entered the race to become San Diego's next mayor. Filner ...

Bypassing the Bridge

Mayor Jerry Sanders and Qualcomm cofounder Irwin Jacobs appeared at a Rules Committee meeting on Wednesday in support of a ...

Oprah Winfrey Picks Up Bob Filner's Freedom Riders Tab

Democratic congressman Bob Filner, who appears to be inching closer toward a mayoral run, made a splash last month when ...

City Settles For $1.8 Million in Wrongful Death Case

In 1999, engineers for the City of San Diego determined that a yield-sign was needed for drivers turning left from ...

Mel Shapiro's Lawsuit Against the District Attorney's Office

Longtime civic activist, Mel Shapiro, wants to find out if any complaints have been made against government officials since District ...

Allied Waste hikes in Oregon a harbinger?

Albany, Oregon is a long way from San Diego. But does prolonged haggling between the city council there and trash ...

Navy Shrink Warns of Synthetic Marijuana Horrors

It's not quite the Manchurian Candidate, but a staff psychiatrist at the Naval Medical Center here has gone public with ...

WFP Securities Closes Down

WFP Securities, the San Diego County brokerage whose extremely dubious investments were featured in my April 20 column, has told ...

Uptown Partnership Stays Parked in Uptown

For years, residents of Uptown lobbied the City to reform the Uptown Partnership, the nonprofit responsible for administering the community ...

Sheriff Looking To Order Some Heavy Iron

Sheriff Bill Gore has been talking up his plans for high-tech intelligence-driven crime fighting, but he's also quietly hedging his ...

Encinitas Fire Alarms

“Something is not quite right here in Encinitas, there seems to be a lot of collusion and misinformation within our ...

May Jobs Growth Anemic, Unemployment Rate Rises

The nation created a mere 54,000 jobs in May as the unemployment rate rose to 9.1% from 9.0% in April. ...

Global Commission on Drug Policy Calls for Legalized Cannabis

A commission made up of establishment figures including ex-Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker, ex-GOP secretary of state George Shultz, and ...

Kehoe Considers Run for Mayor

Former city councilmember, and current two-term State Senator, Christine Kehoe is definitely maybe entering the race to become San Diego's ...

Dumanis' Campaign Begins

It's official, District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis' campaign to be San Diego's next mayor is now underway. With three days remaining ...

Government Waters Down For-Profit College Regulations

The Department of Education last night (June 1) issued Milquetoast, pusillanimous new regulations for the for-profit colleges, as many such ...

He Offered Investors More Than 60% a Year

An indictment was unsealed today (June 1) charging Steven Bartko of Vista with running a Ponzi scheme and accusing him ...

Court Settlement in Favor of Mission Valley Mobile-Home Owners

Residents of Mission Valley Village Mobile Home Park are breathing a sigh of relief after San Diego Superior Court Judge ...

Juan Vargas Banks Big Labor Dollars on the Same Day His Labor-favored Bill Is Passed

It's not unusual for Democrats and Republicans in the state legislature to accept big contributions from special interests, including both ...