I don’t expect to be ambushed by the fans of Maxine Hong Kingston, David Henry Hwang, and Amy Tan in Portland. They show up to vent their moral outrage and save my soul.

“MISCELLANEOUS ELOQUENCE: University of Washington astrophysicist Dr. Bruce H. Magon, quoted by The New York Times on the continuing inability of science to measure or infer what the ‘blackness’ in space is, even though, by …

Last year, MTV rolled into town for a spring break taping session at Mission Beach, and the Union-Tribune opened the floodgates of hype, churning out column after column about how hip and harmless the event …

San Diego may have lost much of its aerospace industry, but that's nothing compared to the gaping hole El Cajon is about to face. Woman's World Shops - makers of extra-large clothing for the extra-big …

That gooey stuff spread out all over Fiesta Island may look like dried sewage and smell like dried sewage, but to Susan Hamilton, deputy. director of San Diego's clean water program, it's a precious commodity. …

It's been 11 years since the Padres were number 1 at anything, but new owner John Moores tops the list of professional baseball team owners who contributed money to federal candidates or a national party …

Matthew: I was curious to know what percent of Lotto winners win from Quick Picks. — Jim Sharkey, Pacific Beach Last time we profiled the “typical” Lotto winner, the Quick Pickers were really lagging, somewhere …

Dear Matthew Alice: When lightning strikes the ocean, why doesn’t all the sea life get electrocuted? Wouldn’t it be just like a radio falling into someone’s bathtub? — C.B., San Diego Well, if we’re talking …

M.A.: Where did we get the stupid expression “The proof is in the pudding”? It doesn’t seem to mean anything to me. — Wondering, San Diego “Stupid,” like, why the proof s in pudding and …