Local lawyers disciplined by state bar
Some suspended for periods, too
San Diego County lawyers have been disciplined by the State Bar of California. Thomas William Smith of Oceanside was placed on two years of probation and suspended from practice for 30 days for failing to perform legal services for 15 …
Filner pleads guilty to one felony, two misdemeanor counts
Victims not named. Details not released
The Union-Tribune and local TV stations are reporting that former Mayor Bob Filner pleaded guilty this morning to one criminal count of false imprisonment by violence, fraud, menace and deceit, and two misdemeanor battery counts. Further details have not been …
Justice at last? Scripps snakebit in Florida
Eastern Indigo Snake could thwart its expansion plans
As reported here since 2004, Scripps Institute in North Palm Beach has been setting records for corporate welfare. Beginning in 2003, La Jolla's Scripps Research Institute wangled a $600 million subsidy from the State of Florida to set up a …
AG charges Corinthian Colleges with false advertising
In July, AG asked for documents from San Diego's Bridgepoint
The California Attorney General's office filed suit today (Oct. 10) against Corinthian Colleges, a Santa Ana-based for-profit university, accusing the company of false advertising, misrepresentations to students, and securities fraud. Corinthian identified its core demographic with words such as "isolated," …
Coastal Commission approves convention center expansion
Ignores staff's negative recommendation
The California Coastal Commission this afternoon (Oct. 10) approved the proposed expansion of the convention center. The commission's staff had recommended the project be turned down, greatly because it would block access to the bay. But the commission decided that …
Convention center liars expose themselves
Say glut won't hit San Diego. But local center already slashing prices
Local convention center expansion touts are saying in media that the glut of convention center space around the nation shouldn't hurt San Diego, because it is such a desirable location. Carol Wallace, head of the center, said in some publication …
Non-union workers to blast project labor agreements today
Will show up at Coastal Commission meeting on convention center expansion
The executive director of the Coalition for Fair Employment in Construction, which represents non-union construction workers, will show up at the Coastal Commission hearing today to try to show how unions abuse the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) to win …
Kerry Steigerwalt practicing law again
Bar reinstates him after suspension
Kerry Steigerwalt, who once ran the most heavily advertised law firm in San Diego, has been reinstated by the State Bar of California. As of Oct. 6, he is eligible to practice law again, according to Bar records. His address …
Postal Service numbers reveal weak U-T circulation
Audited figures contain digital, branded data that inflate results
Since the 19th century, publications have been required to reveal their ownership in a United States Postal Service report. Since 1960, that report has had to include information about circulation, too. Monday (Oct. 7), the Union-Tribune printed its postal service …
Platinum Equity cooked books, says lawsuit
Former U-T owner got $88 million for collapsing firm, say plaintiffs
Beverly Hills-based Platinum Equity, a private equity firm that formerly owned the U-T, is being sued for phony accounting it allegedly employed to pump up earnings of an allegedly dying company it was selling. The suit was filed in Philadelphia …
ResMed founder says government shutdown a good thing
But ResMed gets big part of its revenue from government programs
Peter Farrell, founder and executive chairman of San Diego's ResMed, maker of sleep equipment, is quoted in afr.com, the Australian Financial Review, saying that the partial U.S. government shutdown is positive for business. "Any time you can stop any government …
Herb Greenberg returning to San Diego for the weather
Leaves CNBC, rejoins TheStreet.com, but will still do TV
Herb Greenberg, who recently left CNBC as senior stocks commentator, is moving back to San Diego with his wife. They will live in North County. He will rejoin TheStreet.com as editor of Herb Greenberg's Reality Check, a subscription newsletter focusing …
Hagel recalls almost all civilian defense workers
Furloughed 400,000 to return to work next week
In a surprise announcement today (Oct. 5), Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel said he will recall to work next week almost all of the 400,000 Defense Department civilian employees who had been sent home when the government shut down, according …
Tony Robbins to spend up to $10 million on Florida mansion
Will gut insides of $24.75 million ocean-front home, says gossip columnist
San Diego-based motivational speaker Anthony (Tony) Robbins will shell out $8 million to $10 million upgrading the $24.75 million Palm Beach home he bought earlier this year. The house is only a year old. This is reported by Jose Lambiet's …
More trouble for Sequenom's Down Syndrome test
Biotech cooked up price-capping scheme, says shareholder suit
A shareholder has filed a derivative action against biotech Sequenom in federal court, according to Courthouse News Service. The suit claims that doctors were hesitant to prescribe the company's prenatal test for Down Syndrome because insurers were reluctant to pay …
He claimed he didn't know the basic stockbrokers' creed
Appeals court can't believe it. He's on his way to prison
Bryan Laurienti was a broker for the now (mercifully) defunct Hampton Porter brokerage house, one of San Diego's smelliest, which went out of business a dozen years ago. According to Courthouse News Service, the 9th Circuit appeals court ruled that …
Sanders, Issa pump H-1B program
Qualcomm will love it but domestic engineers will not
In an article in the Washington DC publication The Hill, North County Congressman Darrell Issa and former San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders, now head of the local Chamber of Commerce, give hoorays for the H-1B program, by which foreign residents …
Mastermind of $100 million mortgage scam gets 8 years
Her former boyfriend got less than half that Friday
Former San Diegan Mary Armstrong, mastermind of a $100 million mortgage scam that generated almost $15 million in kickbacks, was sentenced today (Sept. 30) to 100 months in prison. Her former boyfriend, William Fountain, Friday got 42 months. Armstrong, Fountain, …
Shutdown will hit San Diego, already belted by sequestration
Military, including contracting, is 22% of local economy
The presence of the military and aerospace/defense contracting add up to 22% of the San Diego economy, says Kelly Cunningham, economist for the National University System Institute for Policy Research. If the government shuts down tonight -- as seems quite …
Coastal Commission staff says "No" on convention center expansion
The commission considers the matter Oct. 10
In a 24-page report, the staff of the California Coastal Commission recommended a "No" vote on the planned $520 million convention center expansion. The commission will take up the matter at a meeting Oct. 10. " The [proposal] will result …