On San Diego's mind in early 80s

Airport re-location, Lake Murray drying up, Tijuana factories, newspaper reporters becoming flaks

Author

By Various Authors

Publish Date

Sept. 9, 2018

One of the Indians came over to me to make sure I knew the “admonition,” a secret Indian word known only to Order of the Arrow members. (Robert Burroughs)

‘‘Once we found out what the noise could do to your health, we had to move.” (Robert Burroughs)

There's trouble down the runway

“For the runways alone you need a hunk of flat ground two miles long and half a mile wide. It should have enough acreage to accommodate terminal and parking, and it should be far enough from existing housing to make noise and safety of minimal concern. Most importantly, it should be easily accessible to a large percentage of the population, which eliminates the desert."

By Gordon Smith, Aug. 13, 1981 Read full article

Hydrilla. In 1976 a suspicious-looking weed sample was hoisted out of Lake Murray on a grappling hook. (Robert Burroughs)

The thing that ate Lake Murray

Officials have closed the lake to all recreation, turning what was once hoped to be a pearl of the city’s park system into little more than a neglected, forgotten pond, San Diego’s version of the Dead Sea. Simmons and others charge that city, county, and stage agencies have moved slowly and ineffectively to cope with the problem.

U.S. factories in Tijuana — good for everyone?

Mulcahy and his partner expanded to the Tijuana plant in 1977, at first hiring fewer than two dozen Mexican employees, including a Mexican manager. (Mulcahy acquired a condo at Coronado Shores.) He says today the Tijuana branch has grown to include almost 600 people.

By Jeannette DeWyze, Sept. 17, 1981 Read full article

Reporters Bernie Hunt, Mike Walker, Craig MacDonald, Dick Carlson, Otto Bos, Tom Gable — all became flaks (Mark Zingarelli)

Twist and Shout

There are a lot of reasons for reporters to take up public relations. The prospect of making more money is one. A good journeyman at the Union or the Tribune these days makes about $25,000 per year, the highest pay in the county with the exception of that at the Los Angeles Times.

By Bob Dorn, May 20, 1982 Read full article

Art Flores: "'Minimum wage! You really need a job that bad?' ” (Craig Carlson)

Low pay, hard work, miserable conditions

On his first day on the job at Escondido, he was put to work clearing debris from the San Diego River on a gypsy moth control project. “I was up to my waist in the swamps ail day. I never worked so hard in my life, In jail you only get to know maybe a couple people because they don’t know if you’re a snitch, if you’ll steal from them, or what. Here, I get to know each one like a friend.”

By Steve Sorensen, Jan. 26, 1984 Read full article

It’s like stepping into a Norman Rockwell painting: apple cheeks by the bushel, squeaky voices, a quaint respect for elders, a certain can-do spirit. (Robert Burroughs)

Camp Mataguay — not for sissies

Yesterday the troop was calling him a “homo sapien” and he was yelling, “I am not! I am not!" and he couldn’t understand why they were laughing so much. This morning they called him a “fag" because he’s dropped off the rope too many times before reaching the far lip of the gully.

By Neal Matthews, Sept. 4, 1986 Read full article