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Alliant University leaves Sweetwater school district property in National City…sets up at Southwestern College?

Trustee is not happy

Many are still perplexed by the vaunted opening of "Alliant International University at Sweetwater" in National City. A couple weeks ago (July 20), an Alliant sign was hung over an office door, and Alliant counselor ...

Sweetwater superintendent Ed Brand’s Alliant project hits snag

National City planners don’t approve location

One of Sweetwater Union High School District superintendent Ed Brand’s pet projects suffered a setback at the hands of National City planning commissioners on the night of August 5. Brand’s idea to establish Alliant International ...

Osprey nests facilitated by San Diego Unified Port District

They scare away the seagulls

The two manmade platforms in the port area of National City are home to young osprey this year — for at least the third time in the past five years. There are two chicks on ...

Paradise Valley Seventh Day Adventist Church

8000 pounds of food a week to about 500 families

Interview with Will James, pastor at Paradise Valley Seventh Day Adventist Church.

Woo-Hoo!

Ed Bedford and Elmer Niederfrank’s ghost approve of the ice cream being made in National City.

Danged Tasty

Ed Bedford sniffs out the tostilocos (a newish Tijuana street food) in National City.

Walk and Glug

“We were riding the bayside bike track and came across it.”

If I’d known then what I know now, I might have stuck to life east of the I-5. I swear, what a hike. I get off the Blue Line trolley at 24th Street, National City. ...

Sweetwater's Funds for Education

Last week, Sweetwater’s interim superintendent Ed Brand suspended the Funds for Education Committee, saying, “I can stop the grief right here.” This is the second time Brand’s private-sector fund-raising efforts have ended in controversy. Brand ...

Beautiful Mess of Cheesesteak

“You want to watch out for a heart attack, eating all this Philly food.”

If I were more of a man, I’d actually do this. I’m looking at a sign on an artist’s easel: “McGonagle’s Cheesesteak Challenge: Eat 3 and Win $50!...Three double-meat cheesesteaks in 30 minutes.” Hmm…double-meat. Meaning ...

The Tyranny of Those Tests

"Teachers have an analogy for all the testing that we are required to do,” says Melanie Morton, a Sweetwater Union High School District teacher. “You don’t lose weight if you just keep stepping on the ...

Mixed Bag of Crime in San Diego County

The criminal justice research arm of SANDAG (San Diego Association of Governments) released a crime report today, September 16. The data was a mixed bag for people who live in San Diego County: “While overall ...

Borders Bookstores Prepare to Close

Tuesday, July 19, was an ordinary day in the National City Borders store. Customers at the Westfield Plaza Bonita location were browsing, studying, and drinking coffee. When asked, few people realized that the Borders chain ...

National City's Street Vendor Sweep

If it’s up to National City officials, last-minute shoppers in National City will have a hard time finding a roadside stand or pushcart to buy Mom a quick gift on Mother's Day. Starting in May ...

Trolley Fatally Wounds Caltrans Worker in National City

On May 4 at around 1:00 in the afternoon, a southbound trolley hit a man who, according to a trolley engineer, “leaped out of a palm tree” located adjacent to the tracks. The victim turned ...

Highland Avenue Baptist Church

Membership: 300 Pastor: Emilio Meza Age: 55 Born: Coahuila, Mexico Formation: Golden State University, California Years Ordained: 15 San Diego Reader: How long do you spend writing your sermon? Pastor Emilio Meza: I spend all ...

National City Fire Spares 30 Stray Cats, 2 Brothers

In the early morning hours of October 7, flames broke out in a detached unit located on the 800 block of Palm Avenue. National City fire crews immediately responded and quickly knocked down the flames, ...

The Butcher's Block

"Around 2005 we found out that our checkbook wasn't looking like we needed it to. It's fair to say that this budget year is particularly treacherous," said Chris Zapata, city manager for National City, at ...

Click and Jab

At a special National City council meeting held on May 11, members of the public participated in surveys about the city’s finances and services. National City faces a $6.7 million dollar deficit, and the trial ...

New Direction for Old Town

National City residents crammed into council chambers on Tuesday, March 16, for a meeting of the city council. An additional 40 residents sat in a lobby to watch the meeting on a large flat-screen TV. ...

All Cops on Deck

A multi-agency DUI and driver's-license checkpoint conducted during the late hours of March 5 and 6 in National City was a success, according to a Chula Vista Police Department news release. Law enforcement from San ...

Elderly Scare

Mary Louise Wilson was sentenced to nearly 20 years in state prison on February 8. The 54-year-old admitted to setting fires at the two nursing homes she stayed at briefly during 2009. According to state ...

Quite a Hike for Picadillo

I’ve got to thank the MTS for this find. They canceled the 962 night-bus service on weekends from the Eighth Street trolley to Spring Valley and back. Who knew? And I’ve just missed the last ...

Of Ball and Bus

The Chargers’ 31-23 win over the Philadelphia Eagles led National City police to close off some streets on Sunday, November 16, at about 5 p.m. Fans cruising the streets had Chargers flags waving and horns ...

An Execution in the Hills

Seven months of countywide conflicts, calamities, and curiosities, part 2.

Pipe Nightmare

Westcal Construction company owner Richard Chidgey arrived at a job site in National City early on the morning of July 28 and discovered that someone had unsucessfully tried to steal a copper fitting from the ...

Crash Hinders Robbery Suspects

Josh Johnson was playing a video game in his home near the intersection of Allegheny Street and Calle Tortuosa on Monday, July 6, at around 5 p.m. when he heard a loud crash. He said ...

I Would Drive 100 Miles

I covered a hundred miles driving to three different parties on one recent Saturday. The first party was up in Murrieta. I would’ve blown it off, but it was for an old high school friend ...

Grand Theft Video

According to National City Police Department radio traffic, at approximately 10:10 p.m. on Tuesday, May 12, two men walked into the GameStop store in Plaza Bonita Mall and tied the employees up, placing posters over ...

The Italian Leprechaun's Pub

History’s in the air. Talk about hidden jewels. Turns out that here in National City they have the only original transcontinental railroad terminus in the United States still standing. Since 1882, the depot has been ...

Theory of Relativity

Relatively speaking, despite a 3.3 million-dollar structural deficit, National City’s finances are in pretty good shape -- that’s what mayor Ron Morrison told nearly 40 residents during a special city-council-sponsored “strategic planning and budgetary workshop” ...

For the Children

On March 5, the South Bay Union School District voted to eliminate 80 teaching positions, but it was not the slam-dunk many expected. District superintendent Carol Parish addressed those attending, saying, “We had to start ...

Cornerstone Church of San Diego

Sunday at Cornerstone Church of San Diego was bright with promise. It was also bright with spotlights and searchlights, glowing now white, now green, now pink during the opening half-hour of praise. The lights matched ...

Nine Sinking Cities

This month and in early February, city managers and finance directors in cities across San Diego County are appearing before their respective city councils to report significant budget deficits. Of the county’s 18 municipalities, 14 ...

Highland Avenue Baptist Church

The Sunday service in the well-used sanctuary at Highland Baptist ran the gamut of the Christian experience. Well, maybe not the gamut — the gamut is pretty huge — but a fair swath of it. ...

Crossroads Church

“You don’t argue with a calling,” said Pastor Matt Ortiz before the service in the refurbished school auditorium. “We started out in west Chula Vista, but God called us into National City. I was talking ...

Like a Good Neighbor…National City Is There

Another day, another Chula Vista City Council budget meeting. Over the past three months, the city’s held meeting after meeting trying to resolve a $4 million deficit for this fiscal year and a $20 million ...

Breakfast Beer

"End Times Christian Soldiers Mission," says the church near Oak Park School. Lord, why does everyone love this "end is nigh" stuff? I'm aboard the 955 bus, heading south toward National City. On the other ...

Upside-Down? Go Short

In San Diego’s hemorrhaging real estate industry, it’s better to be upside-down and rich than upside-down and poor. That may sound axiomatic — it’s always nicer to be rich than poor — but carriage-trade folks ...

Where the Pain Is

What’s the difference between National City and Rancho Santa Fe? Well — er, uh — money comes to mind. Last year, median household income in National City was $44,130, according to figures provided by the ...

Brothel Bash

I got a call about a party in Stockton but thought it was too far to drive. I was tempted, however, when I heard the warehouse was going to be decorated as a brothel. Ken ...

Lucky Waller Park, 1974

Shnops and Sheriff Don Amos at Lucky Waller Park in National City, 1974. San Diego County sheriffs have employed dogs for 40 years. The San Diego Police Department's K-9 unit -- the largest in the ...

Gilded Shams: The Fountain of Youth (Part Two)

Depending on who tells the story, when Captain Charles Fitzallen sailed from Cardiff, Wales, aboard the Challenger in 1887, he had a bald spot either the size of a monk’s tonsure or the Great Globe ...

Of Course You Qualify!

Foreclosures and how we got there.

Mario is a recent immigrant from Mexico, and he's typical of homeowners facing foreclosure. He doesn't want me to use his surname; he's ashamed of getting behind on his payments. He thinks he's been irresponsible, ...

Man Brings Lover Roses Then Shoots Her

Shocked shoppers see a woman fall to her death from a parking structure at Parkway Plaza in El Cajon. Was she pushed? In Chollas View, a mother loses the second of her two sons to ...

Paradise Valley Seventh-Day Adventist Church, National City

A wide range of musical styles carried a wide range of religious sentiments during the first half of the Sabbath service. Old-timey hymn piano, keeping the beat under the opening songs: "Majesty, worship His majesty/ ...

South Bay Community Church, National City

"This is one of the best churches that I've ever been to," said congregant John. "It's kind of like God's little secret. If you come here at nine o'clock, you'll see the other room set ...

Get Dirty! Have Fun!

'One of my pet peeves right now is the school educational system," says Susan Walter, education chair for the National City Living History Farm Preserve (informally known as the Stein Family Farm). "Kids are taught ...

Playing Hard to Get, Chargers Prefer L.A.

In France, a common mini-scandal is the ménage à trois, a person with two lovers, sometimes under the same roof. The San Diego Chargers, secretly and lustfully eyeing the Los Angeles market, may outscandalize the ...

Apostolic Assembly of National City, National City

Pastor Misael Zaragoza was a Navy Seal in the Vietnam War, and it was his idea to hold a patriotic celebration service, which bore a strong military emphasis. But it opened with straightforward praise: Eddie ...

Multicultural Mixers

Tiffany was turning 30 and hosting a party in the clubhouse of her Mission Valley apartment complex. I got there a few minutes after 7 p.m. as she was setting up, so I shot pool ...

Light Eye at Lai Thai

That's odd. Here it stands, right in the hub of Little Manila. On one side is that outpost of the venerable Filipino Ma Mon Luk noodle empire, Asian Noodles. On the other, across East Plaza ...

Inzunza's Hideaways

It turns out that National City mayor Nick Inzunza, recently the subject of a Union-Tribune exposé about his plans to take an extended holiday vacation from his mayoral duties, owns a getaway in the San ...

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