There’s one thing missing on the Dabbers' MySpace profile: songs. The two-piece, consisting of Kill Me Tomorrow’s Zack Wentz on drums and vocals and Shelby Gubba on bass, don’t have any proper recordings of the …

At the beginning of last year, the San Diego Unified School District cut $53 million from their budget. Six months later, the board members approved an additional $33 million in cuts. So, when the State …

On February 21 at 9:00 a.m., residents of City Heights and surrounding areas filed into Hoover High School’s dimly lit auditorium on El Cajon Boulevard. They were there for the San Diego City Council Budget …

Several weeks ago, during the public comment portion of an Oceanside City Council meeting, a concerned citizen asked the mayor and four councilmembers to take a stand on the potential closure of the detention facility …

At Chula Vista City Hall in early December, this correspondent attended a special budget hearing on ways the city could slash $4 million from this fiscal year’s budget and $20 million from the budgets of …

During the past 15 years, seals have taken over La Jolla’s Casa Beach. The beach that was established as a swimming area for children in 1930 became a hotspot for seals to “haul out” and …

In the opening line of her state-of-the-county speech last Wednesday evening, Dianne Jacob, chairwoman for the County Board of Supervisors, promised the audience a “no B.S. speech,” implying she would give an accurate depiction of …

San Diego city councilmember Carl DeMaio says he was shocked when he saw some of the payments made to retired city employees, so shocked he thought it was a joke. It wasn’t. On Tuesday, February …

Local alt-country singer John Meeks says he searched long and hard before he found the female vocalist to accompany him on his country duets. He had two songs ready but no singer. He looked all …

Residents of University Heights refer to the canyon underneath the Vermont Street Bridge (over Washington Street and near the onramp for Highway 163) as the “dead zone,” a trash-filled netherworld covered with dried-up palm fronds, …

On a breezy Wednesday evening — February 4 — hundreds of residents from San Diego’s District 4 filed through the glass-paned doors of the Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation to attend the first of four …

This past December, the Uptown Planners agreed on the vision for the West Lewis Street Mini Park in Mission Hills. They didn’t want concrete walkways or planters or bridges; they wanted the design to be …

On January 14, San Diego’s own celebrity correspondent and red-carpet rude boy, Bob Stencil, took his signature mustache, aviator sunglasses, and unorthodox interviewing style to the Sundance Film Festival for ten days of celebrity interviews …

Back in the 1920s, Colonel Ed Fletcher took his brother in-law to the cliffs overlooking the ocean on his newly purchased land in what is now Solana Beach. Fletcher armed his brother-in-law with a fire …

Barack Obama wasn’t the only politician campaigning for change last year. San Diego city councilmember Donna Frye and then-councilmember-elect Carl DeMaio spent most of last summer canvassing the city, holding public town-hall meetings, asking San …

In San Marcos, the wounds from last November’s elections need more time to heal. Some of those wounds were reopened at a January 27 city council meeting while the council deliberated on Councilmember Mike Preston’s …

Tucked away in a quiet residential neighborhood overlooking Mission Valley, the Academy of Our Lady of Peace (O.L.P.) is a Catholic High School for young women. The private institution, founded in 1882, relocated from downtown …

During the past year, city officials in Imperial Beach have tried to pass an ordinance banning the sale of tobacco paraphernalia commonly used to smoke illegal substances. Last October, deputies raided two “smoke shops” for …

To address the city’s bleak financial future, Mayor Jerry Sanders asked city-council members to take a hard look at their district and try to find areas where the city could save some cash. On January …

The computer lab at Spreckels Elementary School in University City needs some upgrades. The 33 antiquated Macintosh desktops, purchased in 1997, are running on old operating systems and crashing on basic commands. The computers are …

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 …

After blaming his predecessors for mishandling the city’s pension and benefit system, outlining his dedication to work with the city’s labor unions, and praising the hard work and sacrifice from city employees, Mayor Jerry Sanders …

At a January 14 meeting of the Kensington/Talmadge Planning Committee, committee members took an official stance on the proposed improvement project for Hoover High School. The committee unanimously agreed to write a letter in opposition …

Carlsbad city councilmember Matt Hall stood before the Encinitas City Council on Wednesday, January 14, and asked for their support in opposing a proposed power plant near the Agua Hedionda Lagoon in Carlsbad. The applicant, …

The Chula Vista City Council signaled for financial rescue during a January 8 meeting, officially declaring the city is in a fiscal emergency. The reason for the declaration, according to newly appointed city manager Jim …

Escondido Councilmember Sam Abed changed his mind. He wants to give back 5 percent of the 10-percent pay increase he supported for the city council back in 2007. At a January 7 city-council meeting, Abed …

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 …

Inside San Diego City Council chambers on Monday, January 5, five certified public accountants — already vetted by the Office of the Independent Budget Analyst — vied for three positions on San Diego’s Public Audit …

The City of Chula Vista’s financial ship is sinking. With a projected deficit of $20 million for the next fiscal year, the city is slashing services and tossing programs overboard, trying to stay afloat. One …

Mel Vernon leans against a black steel fence behind Quarry Creek Shopping Center, on the border of Carlsbad and Oceanside. Above him towers a massive signpost facing the traffic on State Route 78. Below him …

Seventy-year-old Hoover High School wants to make some major renovations to their sports facilities, including new bleachers, restrooms, a press box, new entrances to the fields, and 90-foot light towers so they can host nighttime …

At a December 17 Oceanside City Council meeting, councilmembers Jerry Kern, Rocky Chavez, and Jack Feller voted in favor of awarding La Mesa's Helix Environmental Planning, Inc. an extra $247,000 for an environmental impact report …

Three years ago, Del Mar Unified School District decided to sell off a 5.3-acre parcel of surplus property located in the heart of the city, at Ninth Street and Camino del Mar, for $8.5 million. …

During the December 17 Encinitas City Council meeting, the city’s state lobbyist, Jonathan Clay from the Carpi and Clay government relations firm, gave a year-end legislative summary to the council. “The governor, because of the …

Every Saturday for the past year and a half, a group of Escondido teenagers have been meeting at 8:00 in the morning to pick up cigarette butts strewn about 11 of Escondido’s city parks. So …

At the December 10 Solana Beach City Council meeting, councilmembers adopted a resolution that requires all publicly funded building projects within city limits to meet minimum “green” building standards established by the Leadership for Energy …

In the months leading up to his December 8 inauguration to the San Diego City Council, Councilmember-elect Carl DeMaio was outspoken about the role of the city-council president. He believed the position — created in …

During a special council meeting on Friday, December 5th, only days after Mayor Sanders vetoed the City Council’s decision restoring the community centers and painter positions back in the current year’s budget, a compromise was …

On December 1st, San Diego City Councilmembers voted 6 to 1 in favor of hiring two lawyers from the law firm of Burke, Williams and Sorenson as lead negotiators for fiscal year 2010 city employee …

December 8th is the last day the public can comment on the impacts the expansion of Scripps Memorial Hospital in Encinitas will have on the community. The project consists of seven phases, over a 13-year …

Like many other municipalities in San Diego County, revenues in the City of Escondido’s financial coffers are drying up. The city is projecting, for the current fiscal year, a $6 million budget deficit. The deficit …

The residents of Coronado are proud of their history. In city council chambers, underneath the large silver crown logo, behind the council’s desk, are the words “Established in 1890.” While the residents of Coronado love …

At the November 19th Oceanside City Council meeting, Caltrans along with shopping mall giant, Westfield Group, appealed the Planning Commission’s decision to support Jefferson Enterprises proposal to build a 92-acre shopping plaza in Oceanside, near …

Twice, during the last two months, representatives from the City of San Diego, Greater Golden Hill CDC, and MAD Oversight Committee met with mediators from the National Conflict Resolution Center to establish more productive, positive …

Back in 2002, San Diego voters approved Proposition S, a construction-bond program for the San Diego Community College District. The $685 million in bonds provided for repairs and major renovations at each of the three …

At 9 a.m. on the morning of Wednesday, November 13th, the city Budget Review Committee met in a crowded and raucous city council chambers to discuss Mayor Sanders’s plan for $43 million in budget cuts …

On December 8th, termed-out San Diego City Council president Scott Peters won a seat on the San Diego Unified Port District’s board of seven commissioners. The District One rep’s appointment wasn’t achieved without some controversy. …

When it comes to crossing the border, Carlos Hermosillo plays it by ear. As he gets close to the San Ysidro crossing, he calls 700-7000 on his cell phone, and a recording gives him the …

Mayor Jerry Sanders gave San Diego’s three new city council members a little taste of what they should expect during their first year on the council. The day after elections, while the final votes were …

Back in 2006, Escondido City Council members Ed Gallo and Sam Abed teamed up in support of a controversial housing ordinance aimed at preventing landlords from renting to undocumented immigrants. During that debate, Abed and …