I passed three police cars stopped in the 1100 block of Felspar Street on the afternoon of January 5. I parked my car and as I walked toward them, two of the cars drove away. …
January 7, 2010
Pacific Beach News & Stories
Dirty, Suspicious
No Room at the Pier
The day after Christmas, I took a friend to the beach in P.B. Near Crystal Pier, I was talking about the cottages built there in the ’30s. I noticed a bunch of people with walkie-talkies …
December 31, 2009
Red Christmas
On Christmas day, from the boardwalk in PB, I saw set up on the beach a one-man camp punctuated by an American flag that snapped in the wind. Sitting beneath a tattered umbrella was a …
December 26, 2009
Hey, Cowboy
Move over, Matthew McConaughey, and make room for 60-year-old Jamie Trivisonno, whom I discovered on my way to the gym on Monday afternoon, December 21. Shirtless and with a cigar in his mouth, Trivisonno danced …
December 23, 2009
Claim Jumper
On Friday, December 18, my girlfriend and I went out for dinner to Nick's at the Beach on the corner of Mission Boulevard and Thomas Avenue. When we arrived, there weren’t any parking spaces available …
December 21, 2009
Surfer, Actor, Purveyor of Weed
I was walking through Pacific Beach on December 15 at about 6 p.m. and stopped to admire an enormous painting on a brick wall at 1421 Garnet Avenue when a voice called out to me, …
December 17, 2009
Star Power
I was able to hit two parties recently because one involved a student film festival, and the kiddies don’t usually party into the late hours. The event, a fundraiser at Isabel’s Cantina in P.B., was …
December 9, 2009
Beach Garbage Cleanup
Take a stroll through Pacific Beach, and you’re likely to encounter just a few too many empty food containers, cans, bags, party flyers, bottles, and cigarette butts. “On a good day we probably remove between …
November 19, 2009
Save the Lifeguards
The most pressing issue addressed at the November 18 Pacific Beach Town Council meeting was the looming likelihood of a reduction in lifeguards. It was pointed out that the city’s reported goal of reducing the …
November 19, 2009
Eligible Violators
I was driving through Pacific Beach on Saturday, September 14, when I noticed a small group of people on Garnet Avenue clad in orange vests and armed with trash tongs. I stopped to chat. Turned …
November 16, 2009
Tipsy and Talkative
I get invited to a number of pub-crawls. I’m not a beer drinker and usually pass. But a guy named Steve, who logged on to the Reader website once to comment on a party, informed …
November 11, 2009
Plug In, Plump Up
The roofs over eight parking spaces at the McDonald’s restaurant on Garnet Avenue are covering soon-to-be-operational ChargePoint stations from Coulomb Technologies, Inc. (coulombtech.com). The charging stations will be open to all drivers of plug-in vehicles. …
October 8, 2009
P.B.'s Plague
At last week’s Pacific Beach Town Council meeting, Lou Cumming, member of the PB Town Council and sub-committee chair of their Safe & Beautiful Committee, addressed the crowd and spoke about his efforts in keeping …
September 23, 2009
Dog Gone Wild
On Friday afternoon, September 18, police responded to reports of a vicious dog running loose and biting someone in Pacific Beach. When police arrived at the parking lot on the corner of Ingraham and Garnet …
September 20, 2009
Fire Lane
Do this on a Friday or Saturday night — almost any night, really. Impress your date, your friends, kids, mom or dad, freak out your dog; it will only cost what you want it to, …
September 16, 2009
The Case of the Blue Violin
Jennifer “Spags” Spingola and her blue violin have been around the world. The flying V, six-string electric violin was made for her nine years ago by Wood Violins of New York. “It’s one of a …
August 26, 2009
Not Fair
Police officers are finding themselves with more time to closely examine vehicle registrations and ticket vehicles that do not have updated registration, despite the fact that the vehicle is not actually on the road. This …
August 16, 2009
After Midnight
San Diego police arrested one person for driving under the influence and issued a misdemeanor citation to another person for making threats in connection with a disturbance that began at a Pacific Beach bar. On …
August 15, 2009
Salsa Susie, Tango Tony
On the same weekend last month, I went to two dance parties. One was for a salsa dancer who turned 40. The locale, in P.B., was decorated with pictures of him. A DJ played salsa …
August 5, 2009
Pitifully Doomed
San Diego mayor Jerry Sanders recently announced that the City has launched a new website at which people can make donations to support the fire-pit program. Despite a $259,500 donation, fire-pit funding has only been …