That photo has ol' Juan looking dejected. Was one of those felony charges "felony dumb?" What a great way to get stung, especially when "she" admits to being an underage teen. Sheesh.

The history of that building and others in North Park was national chain retailing. Two such companies were mentioned in the piece, Penney and Woolworths. There were others in that shopping district in its hey-day. Shopping districts like that one were vibrant with both local merchants and chain stores. The balance in numbers favored the locally owned stores, but the corporate chains were usually the higher volume ones. Penney probably did very well there until the advent of the mall; the way those shaped up was that if you didn't go into one when it became available, you would lose out. So Penney decamped when Fashion Valley opened in 1969, and it became an anchor there with its makeover approach that tried to compete with Sears in just about all categories, including automotive and tools. I think College Grove also had a J C Penney store in the 60's and 70's.

I'm inclined to agree that having a tenant like Target in that spot is highly preferable to having it vacant, covered with graffiti, and producing no jobs, no sales tax revenue, just an eyesore. Hoping for a retail renaissance of small shops and specialty stores, locally owned, is fine; keeping the business district active will help until that day arrives.

years ago ( when Northwest Airlines had their office across from the plaza) I went there to collect a free mileage ticket.

their compter was down and they told me to come back in about an hour,

I went across the street and bought a yohoo from a street vendor ( it came in a paper bag)

while drinking it sitting on the bench, the police came along and told me to move along.

( telling them I was waiting for a free airline ticket did not fly)

The readership of the San Diego Reader exposes its ugly head once again... the bewildered suburbanites who have self-segragated into their homogenous neighborhoods for so long they no longer are able to exhibit compassion for anyone who doesn't look like them. The irony is that the commentors leaving these heinous messages probably consider themselves good people.

Looks like Jason is a strapping young man in his 20's that should have a job. Instead he lives like a rodent enjoing our fine weather while making my neighborhood look like shit. I'm a 51 year old Gulf War vet that gets up every morning at 4:15 AM to go to my job. When I come home and go to enjoy the wonderful park in Old Town it is full of drug crazed transients having a "yard sale" or sleeping or eating out of trash cans. Where are my rights to have a nice neighbhood to live in since I pay rent and taxes? The solution is simple. DON'T GIVE THESE RATS ANY MONEY! SD is so nervous about a potential lawsuit by infringing on their civil liberties that they are worthless. Something has to give. I have transients in my neighborhood that have been sleeping in the same spot for over a year right in our most popular tourist areas. The police tell them to move on and they are back in 5 minutes. It looks like crap. What happened to the law against urban camping and encroachment? Round these losers up and make a central camp at Brown Field as was previously proposed where they can get their act together! How about a mental health hospital for the deranged which I see constantly thanks to the County Mental Health office next to I-5 and their revolving door policy? We got rid almost all State Hospitals thanks to Proposition 13. Way to go! Make a beer tax to fund this camp or do something different. Are we waiting for the bubonic plague or typhoid to arrive?

I dare The Reader to post this!

John Burgess Old Town Resident

The bus system in San Diego has been a joke as mass transit. It could not support itself if not for massive public subsidizes. A person on a bike can get where they are going faster than the bus. There are few, if any, bus shelters for passengers. They squander money on overbuilt buses and upscale equipment. Most of the buses run empty most of the time. For mass transit to work buses, etc, have to run 24/7 and go to places where people work. To get anywhere on a bus it takes hours and if you work nights or weekends you can't get anywhere.

The school district I work for is about to receive three 40 foot electric school buses, for $400,000 each. You are paying a million each?

The premise of the story’s title is not true, or certainly misleading. Trash collection in the City of San Diego is not “free”. Fees covering some of the costs are included in the assessments contained with property taxes. And while the 1919 Ordinance does covers single family homes on public right-of-ways, many properties, commercial, multi-family and many others pay for collection services.

Why do you think no one on the City Council touched this issue?

Finally, it’s unrealistic to assume these collection can have an infinite lifespan. I’m old enough to remember having metal cans and they too had to be replaced from time to time. One of my two black 96gallon cans is the original one dropped off by the City years ago. It has a crack but still functions. It will probably need replacing within a year or so. So I’ll just go up to Environmental Services and buy a new one when the time come.