“Being with the prisoners was a very rewarding experience,” says acoustic blues singer-guitarist Robin Henkel of volunteering for Jail Guitar Doors, a guitar and songwriting workshop then held at the East Mesa Reentry Facility, a …
November 1, 2018
Latest News & Stories
Prison bars and guitars
Marine Lair
Occupying a prime oceanfront plot in La Jolla’s esteemed Barber Tract is a mansion the owner has dubbed “Marine Lair,” a home the listing promises is “built entirely different than any other home in San …
November 1, 2018
Suicide in the trenches
Ed. Note: November 2018 marks 100 years since the end of World War I. The San Diego Reader will devote this month’s poetry columns to the poets who wrote about their experiences of that war. …
November 1, 2018
Poke power
Are we running out of tuna? Standing here in Poke Etc, in the middle of National City’s Highland View Center, I’m starting to wonder. Little signs on the counter say they’re going to have to …
November 1, 2018
Bogdanovich boosts Buster
Is it me, or has Landmark’s Ken Cinema become San Diego’s big screen answer to the A&E Biography channel? Truth be told, my adulation over Pick of the Litter was guided more by a love …
November 1, 2018
The sad but beautiful ’80s sound of Paper Kites
I figured Aussie bands would be good for plenty of stories about driving long stretches gig to gig over their home continent. I was disappointed. “Most Australian bands when they tour,” explains Paper Kites singer …
November 1, 2018
San Diego’s Ammar Campa-Najjar runs for congress, sings campaign song
Ammar Campa-Najjar, who got national publicity as a mixed-race underdog running to unseat an indicted congressman can sing, too. A just-released music video has him singing an original song written by his former professor at …
November 1, 2018
The Del Mar Mesa Duck Pond: a reservoir behind an earthen dam
The route described here is one of the official City of San Diego Parks & Recreation trails. In addition, there are many unofficial trails through this same area that have been created by mountain bikers …
October 31, 2018
Why we adore Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes may be the most instantly recognizable character in all of fiction. But how well do we actually know him? A new play, Holmes & Watson, playing at North Coast Rep until November 18, …
October 31, 2018
San Diego's last ocean front lots
Thirty-six years ago, the Reader surveyed the San Diego County coastline in search of any remaining vacant, buildable land along the coast. In January of 1982, we found a scant 79 parcels of land remaining, …
Carlsbad
Cover Stories
Del Mar
Encinitas
Imperial Beach
La Jolla
Ocean Beach
Oceanside
Point Loma
Solana Beach
October 31, 2018
Former Union-Tribune cartoonist Steve Kelley goes to Pittsburgh
Kelley’s next stand Former Union-Tribune political cartoonist Steve Kelley, who departed the paper in the aftermath of a 2001 dispute over “butt cracks” he allegedly snuck into print, is back behind the inkwell, this time …
October 31, 2018
Life-sustaining gorillas
Denny comes loping up to the window. He raises his hands against the glass until David Carr lifts his hands so they’re palm to palm, and would be touching were the glass not there. Then …
October 31, 2018
Australians being hilariously Australian
Dear Hipster: I saw a video the other day on the Australian National Geographic website, of all places, about how the Oxford English Dictionary gives the etymology of hipsters as having something to do with …
October 31, 2018
Water ahead of the caravan
“Here,” says Hugo Castro. “Put it under the branches, in shade, but where they can see it.” A gecko darts out. I lean over. I’m expected to dash off a little note on the bottle …
October 31, 2018
Duncan Hunter's smoke-filled spending
Republican congressman Duncan Hunter, fighting for his political life in the wake of a federal indictment for campaign finance violations, has called upon the services of a consulting firm linked to a controversial Wisconsin political …
October 31, 2018