News Under the Radar
The practice called behesting, wherein state legislators tell their fat-cat campaign donors which nonprofit organizations to contribute to — and in turn bask in the reflected political glory of the donated cash — is alive …
La Jolla’s Lynn Schenk, the ex–Democratic congressmember and former aide to Jerry Brown who was written up last month in the Los Angeles Times for allegedly taking a questionable foreign trip in conjunction with her …
As usual, recent disclosures show that the county’s gambling tribes have been offering hospitality to politicians from far and wide. In particular, on September 14 Barona’s “private gaming area” hosted a $56.25-a-plate meal for some …
Twenty-nine politicos from the League of California Cities got in free to September 19’s Chargers versus Jacksonville game at Qualcomm, thanks to tickets with a face value of $98 each, distributed by San Diego city …
700CN, the gleaming blue and white 1990 Gulfstream Aerospace G-IV executive jet that was the pride of Copley Newspapers and its owner David Copley, has finally been sold. The new owner, according to Federal Aviation …
Forget the price of health insurance for its employees, the City of San Diego also has to deal with setting up a health and dental plan for its police dogs. According to a recently posted …
The EdVoice Independent Expenditure Committee, whose parent EdVoice has been backed by wealthy charter school advocates such as Los Angeles billionaire Eli Broad and San Diego investor Buzz Woolley, gave $25,000 to the Republican Party …
Bridgepoint Education, Inc., the controversial private schools outfit, was spreading the campaign cash around this election season. On October 13, it gave $1500 to Democratic senate candidate Juan Vargas; the same day, Democratic assemblyman Marty …
Union-Tribune owner Tom Gores played it straight down the middle in the high-stakes battle for California governor. On October 20, the Beverly Hills billionaire gave $25,000 to Democrat Jerry Brown. The same day he gave …
On October 20, GOP congressman Darrell Issa threw a birthday party for himself at Carmine’s restaurant in Washington, D.C., a brand-new branch of the famous Carmine’s in New York, which boasts serving “every meal in …
The San Diego city auditor says he has busted a scheme in which employees of a division of the City’s General Services Department sold scrap metal from city projects for $5000 and spent $3000 of …
On September 17, Richard Ledford picked up a contract to lobby on behalf of trash hauler Allied Waste/Republic Services Inc. to help it “obtain a contract for the sale and private operation” of the City-owned …
Alma Vasic, owner of F Street Corporation, which runs the adult bookstore chain and website by the same name, contributed $2500 to Democratic assembly candidate Toni Atkins on October 11, according to state filings. The …
Who has been the biggest recipient of Senate campaign cash from Sempra Energy’s political action committee this year? According to figures compiled by the OpenSecrets.org, as of October 3, it’s none other than majority leader …
The National Science Foundation is planning what it calls a “marine seismic research” project during which “various research vessels operated by U.S. academic institutions or government agencies” will use a variety of underwater devices such …
The County of San Diego is in the market for some brand-new cars, including a 2010 Dodge Challenger SE, which the Yahoo! auto site says lists at $23,345; it’s a muscle car touted by its …