The power of San DIego's Port Authority

General Atomic pushes fusion, Camp Pendleton history, how they got the telescope on Mt. Palomar, last natural area left in metropolitan San Diego, our sad ballet scene

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Publish Date

March 21, 2022

Ney:: “Fishermen are notorious for wanting things for nothing.” (David Covey)

Port authority

Don Nay can look down and, if he had the inclination, marvel at the sheer dimension of his domain and its power. San Diego’s biggest and most prosperous companies lease their ground from Don Nay’s port. Solar, Rohr, National Steel and Shipbuilding, Van Camp Tuna, the Sheraton hotels.

By Neal Matthews, Dec. 14, 1978, Read full article

Ohkawa. General Atomic, a division of General Dynamics Corporation, had been actively researching the fusion process since 1959. (David Covey)

Gulf Atomic strives after nuclear energy

As the head of General Atomic’s controlled fusion research program, Ohkawa has been working for the last twenty years to solve one of the most elusive riddles of modem physics; the controlled conversion of hydrogen into helium, a process which heretofore has taken place only in the middles of stars.

From Spanish rancho to hard-core Marines

“Las Flores got its name from the billions of flowers between the ranch house and Las Flores. The flowers were called gotas a sangre—because they looked like little drops of blood. They were no bigger than the tip of my little finger.” She lifts her wrinkled hand and tips a pinky with a thumb.

By Neal Matthews, Nov. 15, 1978 Read full article

I saw the Messier 87 photons while standing in the metal cage which hangs from the underbelly of the 200-inch Hale telescope. (Robert Burroughs)

Cast a cold eye on heaven

The concept of building the world's biggest telescope on Palomar Mountain was born when Alfred Einstein sailed into San Diego Bay as part of a world cruise in 1931. Officials from the California Institute of Technology drove down to greet the father of relativity, and they eyed the North County mountain for the first time as a possible observatory site.

By Jeannette DeWyze, May 11, 1978 Read full article

“Florida Canyon is a pitiful little remnant, really." (David Covey)

Nature's last stand

“Florida Canyon is a pitiful little remnant, really, of what was once a widespread environment. But its value lies in its accessibility. It’s practically in the center of the urban area, where people live who never get out into natural country.

Dancers are the first to give in when their company cannot afford to pay its performers. (Jim Coit)

Where else are they going to see a wildflower?”

By Gordon Smith, July 27, 1978 Read full article

Grace under pressure

San Diego Ballet’s retort is that it is the city’s only professional company. When talking about its arch rival, spokesmen usually manage to mention that the California Ballet “just isn’t a professional company.” The California Ballet, however, has never claimed to be a professional company. “I think we're both semiprofessional,” asserts Maxine Mahon.

By Cynthia Lyle, Oct. 12 , 1978 Read full article