My family taught me that the world was cruel, cold, heartless.

On February 22, the annual San Diego Collie Club dog show took place at Magee Park along Carlsbad Boulevard. The show helps raise money for the Southland Collie Rescue organization. In addition to the judging …

Cult DIY rocker Gary Wilson, soon to play Poland’s Off Festival, has a new seven-inch out this week: “Sea Cruise” b/w “I Just Want to Hold You in My Arms Tonight,” both from his upcoming …

Mayor-elect Kevin Faulconer made an intelligent move this afternoon (February 26) by naming assistant police chief Shelley Zimmerman as San Diego's first female chief, replacing William Lansdowne, who stepped down yesterday. Zimmerman is an ideal …

“So? David didn’t get me flowers either,” I said. “Is it at all possible that you’re looking for ways to vilify the guy because that would somehow make kissing his wife an acceptable thing to do?”

A crowd gathered in Hillcrest on Monday evening, February 24, to celebrate what they see as another step toward recognition and equality for transgender people in California and beyond. Late Monday afternoon, California secretary of …

When you catch a cold or the flu, you often suspect that you got it in a restaurant. In San Diego, you certainly may have. A new study by the Institute for Women's Policy Research …

After four EPs and three full-lengths, the Dum Dum Girls, masterminded by Dee Dee Penny (née onetime San Diego resident and Grand Ole Party drummer Kristin Welchez, aka Kristin Gundred), seems poised to go ubiquitous, …

Not all dog walkers are created equal. When I acquired my Frenchie Bleu, I knew that I needed dog walking services midday for my little guy because I work full-time and can be gone for …

Near the end of Walking the Camino: Six Ways to Santiago — Lydia Smith’s finely observed documentary about travelers along Spain’s 500-mile pilgrim trail, the Camino de Santiago — one of the pilgrims makes a …

Larry Groupé had no problem that Canadian figure-skater Kevin Reynolds used his music for the Olympics. “My brother called me from back East.” says Groupé, Oceanside’s two-time Emmy-winning composer. “They got the Olympics three hours …

About a year and a half ago, Jaime Brambila and five associates began transforming the 1800-square-foot curio stall above his family’s former restaurant, Café La Especial (1952–2008), into a contemporary gastro bar. La Justina — …

The golden-brown steaming lake of birria sends wafts of beefy, spicy, cilantro-y, almost mole-ish richness swirling up my nostrils. And now the lime I’ve squirted on it makes it so purr-fect it almost sings as …

I love being a woman to be forty years old to be mistress of my life to fall in love with men to easily forget men to write my poems to cook aromatic dishes to …

The Critic’s Code says we can’t talk about endings. But the final scene of Ayad Akhtar’s otherwise involving comedy-drama, The Who & The What, doesn’t feel right at all. Up to that point the play …

Ironwood Wash and Canyon are not on any map prior to March 11, 2010. That was the date that the U.S. Board on Geographic Names unanimously approved the official naming of this wash and canyon, …

Asked why San Diego’s School of Rock chose to open an new branch in Encinitas, music director Tyler Ward credits popular demand and sympatico vibe. “We have recently had tons of requests from families in …

While Brian Bilbray hung out at the club, back on the real Capitol Hill, staffers for House freshman Democrat Juan Vargas were meeting with lobbyists for the government of Mexico regarding “Country of Origin Labeling.” …

In 1973, if you’d asked 15-year-old Andrea Rushing if he’d rather meet Salvador Dalí or Michael Jackson, he would have picked Salvador Dalí. “I was probably the only black boy in the South whose hero …

Synthesizer maestro and resident alien of alienation, Gary Numan’s music was, and is, dark, strong, and rich — goth when goth wasn’t cool. He took time from touring behind his new album, Splinter (Songs from …

Republican ex-congressman Brian Bilbray, defeated by Democrat Scott Peters in November 2012, is still entertaining constituents in the nation’s capital, according to his most recent campaign disclosure statement, dated this January 31. In October of …

Laundered money in politics is money whose source is hidden. Dark money is political spending by tax-exempt organizations that don't have to reveal individual donors and might not reveal donations until the election is over.

The San Diego County Water Authority won a tentative ruling late yesterday (Feb. 25) in its two long-running lawsuits against Los Angeles's Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which supplies 46 percent of the county's …

How many fundraisers can a university use? An army, more or less, at least based on the latest job announcement from UC San Diego Health Sciences. “The current needs for campaign recruitment include four seasoned …

Police chief William Lansdowne, beset by his force's sex and other scandals, resigned yesterday afternoon (Feb. 25), effective Monday, March 3. Mayor-elect Kevin Faulconer reportedly did not ask the chief to resign, although the two …

More to the Arts Perhaps I missed something, but I was quite disappointed that the Reader’s “2014 Guide to the Arts in San Diego” (February 13 cover story) apparently did not feature dance or music …