“They didn’t own parcels of land, but did have one pseudo property right — the acorn tree. Often, a tree would be owned by a family and passed down. Uncommon but not unknown were acorn wars.”

San Diego is an ocean of pleasures, a paradise to live in or see. Only lately, though, has it started to be a great place to eat. My assignment, should I choose to accept it, …

Here's my dilemma. Should I write an advice column? Here in this publication? Do I have the right, the inclination? The, ahem, balls? Dare I ate a peach? Seeking and giving advice is as integral …

'Look at this," Edgardo Moctezuma said with disgust. Then he rose from the table and went to the rear of the tall book-lined wall and brought back a stack of books. "This is what, as …

The Barona Band of Mission Indians began construction on their new golf course. in May 2000. "The sod went in the end of June," Hillson says, "and Steve's well went dry in the middle of July.”

Although their team may be scrambling for stadium money, Padres honchos Larry Lucchino and Charles Steinberg have put together enough cash to buy a luxurious La Jolla Shores condo together. According to a deed filed …

Dear Mr. Alice: I was wondering, why do so many of our superheroes, such as Batman and Superman, wear capes? With the type of work these men do, I would think that the capes would …

For the purposes of camping, picnicking, and day-hiking in a superb mountain setting, William Heise County Park near Julian is surely the crown jewel of the San Diego County Parks system. About one-tenth of the …

Pat now even talked of divorce. “I think she would have divorced him,” Smith went on, “if he had not agreed to stay out of politics. But Nixon wanted to go on, and without her it wouldn’t work. "

"There’s hardly anything you can think about that somebody hasn’t written a book on. They often come out of dissertation topics: books on The Diseases of Mites or The Mammalian Ear, from Cornell University Press, which we have."

'In late 1985, we fled Kabul and crossed from Afghanistan into Pakistan in the dead of winter. We walked ten days and nine nights. There were about 60 people in all. Friends, neighbors. Eight members …

How trustworthy are the editorials of the San Diego Union-Tribune? In at least one case, according to the Columbia Journalism Review, not very. A lengthy expos� headlined "Media Money" in this month's edition of the …

Shannon Stewart is a typical Southern California beach girl. At 28, she is blond and tanned. She speaks in “Valley Girl” tones. She smiles a lot, and when she does, her brown eyes sparkle. She …

Dear Matthew Alice: In a set of postage stamps in the "Celebrate the Century" series, there's a stamp bearing an illustration of a baseball player representing the first World Series in 1903. He appears to …

Matt: So I eat bananas pretty frequently, and for some reason I kept a couple of those little round stickers they put on bananas in every bunch. They are from separate banana purchases, from separate …

Telescope Peak, the highest peak on the Panamint Range overlooking Death Valley from the west, was christened in the late 18th Century by an explorer who thought the view from the top was so far-reaching …

Day-of-Air Today at the East County Community Health Services clinic in El Cajon, Supervisor Dianne Jacob is holding a “newser,” an announcement directed at the media. Because Scripps East Hospital in El Cajon has recently …

Denomination: Fraternal Spiritualist Address: 4720 Kensington Drive, Kensington; 619-281-4557 Year founded locally: 1932 Senior pastors: Millie Landis, Chris Christensen Congregation size: 83 members Staff: all volunteer Church school enrollment: no Sunday School Annual budget: $99,000 …

Letter from Judy McCarty to John Moores and Larry Lucchino."The roses are beautiful! There's too much said for the sake of argument…. Please accept my gratitude on behalf of the citizens of San Diego."

A steady hum and bustle flowed in and out of Star Shots Photography Studio in Mission Valley Center. Teenage girls strolled in and out in twos and threes, sometimes chatting, other times giggling with arms …

Last week's admission by ex-U.S. Customs officer Mike Horner that he had forged an internal memo cited by 60 Minutes in an April 1997 expos� of alleged corruption among high-ranking customs officials here may not …

Matt: I was driving through New York State on vacation recently and passing Elmira, New York. I learned that it was the burial place of Mark Twain. Do you know why? Of all the places …

Dear Matthew Alice: My husband and I really enjoy the savory, thick bacon that we get with breakfast at the Original Pancake House and at Mission Café. Is it available to "ordinary" folks? -- Mrs. …

Dark thunderclouds moved into Borrego Valley on the afternoon of August 29, terrorizing residents of Borrego Springs with 70 mph gusts of wind and a downpour of one and one-half inches of rain in less …

"There were five canneries on Harbor Drive. I ended up on a fish boat for about seven years because they were paying pretty good money, but Larry never worked as a fisherman. He was too intellectual for that."

Read about author Lorenzo Madalena. Gino DeMarino nervously jerked his gray-visored fishing cap over his eyes, rubbed his hard palms over faded navy dungarees, and for the tenth time slapped the spokes of the wheel …

Tuesday, August 1, is a busy evening at Las Colinas Detention Facility in Santee. People of all races begin filling the lobby at 7:00 to get a window assignment for visitation. Unlike the downtown jail, …

A client once remarked to Margarita Alvarez that all of San Diego's fruit and vegetable vendors would eventually move to the edge of downtown. That prediction, made in the 1970s, surprised Alvarez, the assistant board …

New Yorker Jay Emmett, the Padres boardmember who pleaded guilty to federal charges stemming from his alleged role as bagman in the Westchester Theatre Mafia scandal, is listed as giving $250 to the San Diego …

There’s nothing wrong with this — it’s great. Oh, okay — so what izzit? Two guys playing, well, one of ’em’s on saxophone, two saxes actually — soprano and baritone — and the other on …

Hey, Matt: A friend of mine told me a story about her boss, who was on a business trip to Chicago. One night he was in a restaurant that had on the menu something called …

Heymatt: What happened to the wooden black horse statue that was outside Mimmo's Italian Village (next to Filippi's) on India Street? Please reply soon. Our four-year-old daughter is quite distraught over its disappearance. -- Jill …

“We didn’t like any websites about San Diego music,” says Kevin Hoffrichter, cofounder of bandconnexion.com. “So we built ours as guys who actually hang out in the clubs… It’s updated daily and not at all …

Drive down 16th, cross the trolley tracks at Commercial, and turn left at the base of Chicano Park, then pull into what used to be a gas station. Five neighborhood kids doing skateboard grinds off …

It’s punk rock Thursday. “I’m hating life,” sniffed Brian, 28, a North Park local and regular at the Turquoise room at the Aztec Bowl. “Punk is adolescent, abusive, aberrant behavior.” Nevertheless, there are a hundred …

“The first guy was, like, this 14-year-old kid from Irvine,” says Chris Greenslate about auditions for his punk band, the Cause. “He said all he listened to was Marilyn Manson. He sent us tapes [of …

“When you buy your first bar nobody ever tells you about ASCAP or BMI. If you listen to them, you need their license to open your doors,” said Tom Goettle. Goettle and wife Flo Mowery …

Eminem’s dad, Marshall Mathers Sr., a 48-year-old Chula Vista factory worker, thinks his story is worth money. A recent issue of Star divulged that he wanted to reconnect with his multiplatinum-selling son. The two hadn’t …

“A sad punk rock parade” is how Justin Fairweather, a local DJ and promoter, 23, described a recent Green Day music video shoot in San Diego. “The director was telling us we were supposed to …

Frozen on stone for centuries, the larger-than-life cave paintings of humans and animals in Baja's Sierra de San Francisco hover over the thousand or more awe-struck visitors who come to see them in a typical …