February 4 marked the 13th anniversary of the detention of El Pozolero (Ignacio Meza), a construction worker who used acid to dissolve more than 300 bodies for the Arellano Felix Cartel in Tijuana. (Pozolero means …
February 25, 2022
Latest News & Stories
Finally a memorial for those dissolved by acid in Tijuana
San Diego Opera fan joins Tolkien lovers in resenting morphs
There is a phenomenon happening among fans of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings The upcoming Amazon Original show The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has created a title wave of …
February 25, 2022
Slaking thirst in the beer deserts
Certain parts of San Diego — areas like Miramar, the 78 corridor, and North Park — are well-known as local beer meccas. But having so many breweries concentrated in certain parts of town can leave …
February 24, 2022
Greg Vaughan’s Cosmic Cabaret descends to earth
There was a five-year span in Greg Vaughan’s childhood that was little more than a whirlwind of commitments. He was playing soccer and baseball; pursuing his interests in music via voice, piano, and guitar lessons; …
February 24, 2022
Cafe Indonesia: a multi-National City
Say what? As my 929 stretch limo (read: bus) hauls me through National City, we pass a big ol’ sprawling furniture place that I remember used to take up most of the block here at …
February 24, 2022
“Everybody ends up making these Faustian bargains”
From 1978 to 1985, James Call played with local punk icons the Penetrators. “Morgan Miller III and I have just finished the first issue of a new project, 2021 Book 1,” says Call of the …
February 24, 2022
Room for One More: catching a stray
Personal identification was never the turnkey that unlatched my door to cinematic understanding, but this one was unusual. Room for One More (1952) It was sunny in the Valley, but not hot enough to require …
February 24, 2022
Trash Lamb Gallery hosts Rick Froberg’s illustrated history
“He has a book out? I love that guy! I love that band!” Rick Froberg shows the enthusiasm of a teenage metalhead when discussing former Hillcrest resident and Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford, who recently …
February 24, 2022
2022 San Diego Reader writing contest winners, part 1
The Reader’s editorial staff was gratified and frequently delighted by the response we got to our writing contest: 347 non-fiction stories, 31 pieces of fiction, and no less than 199 poems. It’s good to know …
Texas gets parts of Trump's border wall from San Diego for free
Biden’s free bollards and chains The state of Texas, reportedly gaining population at the expense of California, has received another gift by way of the Golden State: a February 15 Texas Tribune dispatch reports that …
February 23, 2022
The living art of bonsai is alive and well
It is nine in the morning on a Wednesday, and within the confines of Balboa Park’s Japanese Friendship Garden, a few bonsai enthusiasts are moving quietly among the birds and the dew, tending to their …
February 23, 2022
Young man clad in black beats janitor at Plaza Paseo Real
Multiple calls went out to 911 reporting a man dressed all in black assaulting another man at a Carlsbad shopping mall, a few days before Christmas. Police responded at 10:22 a.m. on Wednesday, December 22. …
February 23, 2022
Zad Mediterranean proves flavor is more important than location
Zad Mediterranean Cuisine sits several hundred feet down a peculiar, obsolete offshoot of Campo Road that dead ends beneath highway 94. Technically, Zad is visible from the eastbound lanes, but the storefront’s muted hues are …
February 22, 2022
Mission Valley and Valley Center ATMs attacked
On February 7, the San Diego Police Department posted on Facebook about a January 23 break-in at a Chase Bank ATM at 5111 Mission Center Road in Mission Valley. SDPD said one of their police …
February 22, 2022
San Diego to limit scooters to four companies
Street life is coming back, and with it, scooter critics. Motorized scooters are often touted as a first or last mile link in the transit chain, and the city counts them among its mobility choices …
February 22, 2022