HER EYES SHINE AS SHE LEANS FORWARD IN HER CHAIR, SMILING, REMEMBERING. “MY MOTHER WAS A DANCER,” SHE SAYS, “RIGHT HERE IN SAN DIEGO. WHENEVER A DANCE COMPANY CAME TO TOWN SHE WOULD TAKE ME, …

“I feel awful.” Myrna’s 83-year-old vocal chords, partially paralyzed from her stroke two years ago, labored with the effort of speaking. The staphylococcus aureus bacteria coursing through her bloodstream had colonized her heart and brain, …

This year, the Palomar Mountain summits have shown off their best vernal coloration rather late -- through June. It's still a fine time to visit Palomar Mountain State Park, which features some of the finest …

Wednesday morning, 9:45. Gloria Penner's Editors' Round Table on KPBS. "Isaac Cubillos," she says, "do you agree with Bob Kittle? Do you think our Port District is doing what it is supposed to do?" "I …

As the deadline for the city's November ballot draws closer, Padres owners John Moores and Larry Lucchino are turning up the heat on the city council. At issue: the millions of dollars of taxpayer subsidy …

Is KPBS, the public TV and radio station complex owned by San Diego State University, with an annual budget of $16.7 million, in imminent danger of going off the air for lack of a federal …

Dear Matthew AnswerMan Alice: I took out a spoon for my morning cereal. While looking at the spoon, the mirror image of my face was upside down. When I flipped the spoon over, my face …

Yo, M(atthew) Alice: No Malice intended, but I bet you only answer the easy questions or the ones you can readily access in that big book of dopey questions you keep under your desk. Anyway, …

They couldn’t find water for days. When they saw a pond near an Indian camp, they raced through the natives, scattering them, dove in the water, and “overloaded our empty stomachs, and soon became as sick as death."

"You want to know what it’s like?” asks Maggie, a thin blonde in her 60s. “In plain words, it’s hell.” Maggie sounds exhausted. She can’t get inside the medical transport van fast enough. Veronica, the …

'The rotor head of a helicopter doesn't know what kind of mission it's on," says Jeff Frederick. "It just goes 'round and around at 4000 revolutions per minute, and when metal fatigue reaches a certain …

You've seen it on Hard Copy, read about it in the paper. Now, how about the truth on the millionairess, the parasite, and the million-dollar horse she claims was murdered, South Pacific? Start with the …

A San Diego hotel room was the scene of a Super Bowl rape by Denver Broncos defensive coach John Teerlinck, according to a federal lawsuit filed in Colorado last week by an Arizona woman said …

The rapidly urbanizing East County community of Alpine once displayed a sign along the main highway boasting "Best Climate in the USA by Government Report." Apparently the town's boosters got what they wanted. Thousands of …

Hey, Matt: Quick question: Did Mikey (from Life cereal ads) really die because of a lethal pop rocks/Coca-Cola cocktail? --J. from the Net The famous Life commercial aired off and on for about 15 years, …

The automobile, the streetcar, and the motorbus enabled whites to move farther from downtown. They left older houses, in Logan Heights and Golden Hill, for new developments north and east of Balboa Park.

In San Diego, a network of quacks and charlatans, and opposing them, skeptics and scientists, debate the existence of UFOs, ghosts, and government conspiracies. San Diego is a logical venue for disputes over the paranormal: …

Finian Thomas Lickona turned one year old on May 6; he celebrated with a small group of close friends. After he had eaten his strawberry shortcake, homemade by Mama and overburdened by whipped cream pseudo …

IN SECONDARY INSPECTION: Sonja — her real name — is breathing hard, straining, pulling, ready as she’ll ever be to get to the business at hand. George, her partner (not his real name), struggles a …

For the first time since the 1978 PSA plane disaster over North Park, the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) is changing San Diego's air traffic control system. According to Jerry Hargarten, the FAA's new plan looks …

'I was in the middle of death. I was surrounded by death. Most Americans, most Westerners, wouldn't think this was a good or healthy thing because we either try to hide from death, or we …

Big labor in San Diego has been on a roll, what with victories in the convention center and Prop 226 campaigns last week. But today the local labor movement faces a moment of truth at …

Familiar to most Del Martians but unknown to most outsiders, the Torrey Pines State Reserve Extension conceals itself amid the coastal bluffs inland from Del Mar and just north of the main Torrey Pines reserve. …

Dear Matthew Alice: My daughter is on a swim team and also plays water polo. Almost every evening she comes home with her hair wet from the pool water. This drives our cat, Mickey, completely …

Matthew Alice: I noticed this back in December and was startled to see it was still going on [in April]. The palm trees that were planted in ridiculously large numbers at the airport have all …

Matt: Why are we always told not to refreeze meat? When you go to the supermarket, you often find poultry and sometimes beef and pork that is defrosting right there on the rack, and when …

Hector renamed the site “Pio Pico,” because it’s across Otay Lakes Road from the campground by the same name. The site is 16,000 square meters and lies above Dulzura Creek, east of the confluence with Jamul Creek.

Julian caught our attention because it ranked fourth in SAT scores among public schools, despite being so small and so rural. The high school and the community seem to have a truly symbiotic relationship,

'How did you get this number?" snarled an unidentified male voice at the other end of the line. "John isn't involved involved in anything! Don't ever call here again!" John's phone number isn't hard to …

A few years ago, before that file resource known as the Information Superhighway or Internet was released to the public, local bulletin board systems (BBSes) ruled. The message bases were full of opinions and facts …

A concert promoter's suicide may have helped lead to the hasty departure of Wes Brustad as executive director of a big cultural festival in Memphis. Brustad, formerly of El Cajon, had been the executive director …

The six-mile-long Big Laguna Trail, high in the Laguna Mountains, wends its scenic way over gently rolling hills and grassy dales, never dipping below 5400 feet of elevation nor rising to more than 5900 feet. …

Dear Sir: The Mad Bomber, Ted Kaczynski, lived in a decrepit cabin in Montana. During his trial, the government seized it and hauled it to Sacramento. Whatever happened to it? Rumor has it that it …

M.A. of Reader: The average internal temp of humans is 98.7 degrees F. Why then do people sweat and feel uncomfortable when the outside temp is 98.7? -- L.B. of Poway Skin's big job is …

American Hero: I've entered a few sweepstakes-type contests in the recent past, and a few of them have a statement such as "Canadian residents, in order to win, must first correctly answer a time-limited skill-testing …

As much research as I did in Amsterdam, and as much help as I had with the police business and the prostitute business and the city, I can truthfully say that the shoe idea was mine.