An Instagram post and a Reader cover photo helped police identify five Antifa activists who allegedly attacked people in Pacific Beach on January 9, 2021, according to redacted transcripts of the May 2022 grand jury …
August 19, 2022
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Stories by Eric Bartl
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Antifa defendants expose selves gloating over Reader cover
Twisted Tea part of grand jury’s conspiracy indictment against Antifa
San Diego’s groundbreaking Antifa criminal conspiracy case was reinforced on May 23 when a grand jury indicted eleven alleged Antifa militants with conspiracy to riot and various assault charges, for the attacks on pedestrians in …
June 14, 2022
District Attorney, Union-Tribune fail to remove Dennis Hodges from San Diego County commission
The San Diego County Human Relations Commission held a special meeting June 9 to consider expelling Commissioner Dennis Hodges, a Christian pastor, for controversial statements he’s made about transgenderism. Commissioner Cara Dessert, the CEO of …
June 13, 2022
Gonzalez-Fletchers take aim at Sidiqa Hooker
On May 9 Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher accused Carl DeMaio of plotting to trick black and brown voters into voting for a black candidate for fourth district county supervisor on June 7, instead of her incumbent …
May 27, 2022
Why is the San Diego Union Tribune smearing East County?
On April 22 San Diego Union Tribune columnist Charles T. Clark wrote East San Diego County has an “appetite for racism.” The U-T published the warnings he said a barber gave him when he arrived …
April 29, 2022
Imperial County Covid story banned by Twitter and YouTube
On January 7 Dr. George Fareed of Brawley and Dr. Brian Tyson of El Centro published Overcoming the Covid Darkness, their story of treating 7,000 Covid patients in the Imperial Valley since April 2020. What …
January 19, 2022
Summer Stephan first D.A. to take on Antifa
On December 6 San Diego District Attorney Summer Stephan announced felony conspiracy charges against eleven alleged Antifa militants. The DA blames Antifa for the January 9 Pacific Beach attacks against pedestrians on the boardwalk and …
December 13, 2021
Creep Catcher gets 45-year-old meeting 14-year-old boy at Ramona's Stater Brothers
On a sunny day in September 2020, a 45-year-old public school teacher drove to the Stater Bros. grocery store on Main Street in Ramona to meet someone he thought was a 14-year-old boy he had …
November 19, 2021
San Diego's anti-fascists turn fascist
Saturday, January 9th: a warm and sunny winter afternoon in Pacific Beach. The boardwalk was bustling. A man and his Rottweiler were on a routine walk when, as they passed the Baja Beach Café at …
February 24, 2021
San Diego Unified revokes then reinstates benefits for Gompers Prep founders
On Tuesday, January 12, parents and teachers from Gompers Preparatory Academy pleaded with the San Diego Unified school board to restore on-loan agreements the district made with four of their founding staff members 15 years …
January 18, 2021
Unexpected views from some San Diego African Americans
“You painted a black person” Last year, while exiting an MTS bus at the El Cajon Transit Station, I heard a man yell, “Imagine a world without black people!” A black girl walked away from …
July 8, 2020
Dark night for La Mesa
More than a thousand protesters marched outside the La Mesa Police Department Saturday, May 30. Stretching down University Avenue and Baltimore Drive they held signs that read “Black Lives Matter” and “I Can’t Breathe,” words …
June 2, 2020
San Diego pandemic protests bring out everyone with an opinion
The Covid-related business shutdown and stay-at-home orders issued by Governor Newsom and San Diego County public health officer Wilma Wooten have led to civil disobedience and lawsuits. A local protest movement began April 18 at …
May 6, 2020
El Cajon – from rednecks to immigrants
The slow end of the Kalasho regime At a city council meeting in September Elia spoke publicly to Kalasho: “Ben, you need help. It hurts me to see fellow Chaldeans spiral like this. It might …
May 4, 2020
Best Reader stories from 2019
Hillcrest: gayborhood or ghetto? “I was only in West Hollywood for four years and I came from the East Coast by way of Las Vegas,” he says. “To me, Hillcrest is just normal. At least …
April 4, 2020
Poway – city in the country
I Crawled Inside Brenda van Dam's Head and Tried to Guess What Went on in There Dad’s is probably the most famous barroom in America, at least this week, and what goes on here is …
January 6, 2020
Ex-Lincoln High soccer coach arrested in Orange County
Xavier Cajica-Bautista, a former San Diego Unified special education assistant and soccer coach, was arrested by the Irvine Police Department November 16 for assault with intent to commit rape, sexual battery, obstructing use of a …
November 25, 2019
Is California sex-ed anti-immigrant?
On September 21, Arabic-speaking immigrants gathered at the Ninevah Club in El Cajon (at Main Street and Mollison Avenue) for a conference hosted by Protect our Kids, a group spreading awareness of California’s required instruction …
October 30, 2019
Nick Cannon-Jason Crawford sex trafficking probe closed
The Reader’s August 28 story “Shark Bait” told of Sara, Monet, Julia, and other girls from Lincoln High School who say Nick Cannon, host of comedy show Wild 'N Out, served as the bait for …
October 29, 2019
Abortion and carpetbagging dominate 50th Congressional seat debate
On October 14 former San Diego city councilman Carl DeMaio, former congressman Darrell Issa and state enator Brian Jones joined congressman Duncan Hunter at Mission Valley’s Town and Country Hotel for the San Diego Republican …
October 21, 2019
San Diego students required to take ethnic studies
On September 24 the San Diego Unified school board passed a resolution in support of a state bill (AB 331) that would add one semester of ethnic studies to California public high school graduation requirements …
October 16, 2019
Who are the drag queens at Chula Vista library?
On September 10, Francisco Soto and Xaime Aceves Equihua (stage names “Barbie-Q” and “Raquelita”) presented Drag Queen Story Time to a reported 300 adults and children at the Civic Center Chula Vista Public Library on …
September 18, 2019
Rancho Bernardo man with 84 cockatiels fights San Diego Humane Society
Fourteen years ago Rancho Bernardo resident Robert D. Fausner had four pet cockatiels. He kept them in his one-bedroom apartment cage-free and by January of this year they had reproduced into 83 free-flying birds, plus …
September 11, 2019
More drama at San Diego Junior Theatre
The three-year saga at Balboa Park’s San Diego Junior Theatre, a city-funded operation, continued May 7 when former theatre parent Matt Valenti and his family went to City Hall to confront city attorney Mara Elliott. …
September 4, 2019
Lincoln High teacher sued for sex talk
Girl v. world, mother, teacher On October 15, 2018, Lincoln High School psychologist Freddy Moreno summoned Sara to his office. A teacher wanted him to find out what was traumatizing her “shy, sweet, and respectful” …
August 28, 2019
Kaiser to face largest strike anywhere in 20 years
The Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions warned in an August 12 press release they are planning the “nation’s largest walkout since 1997.” Coalition spokesman Sean Wherley says over 80,000 Kaiser Permanente employees in six states …
August 26, 2019
San Diego Unified paid $400k for claim against Lincoln High coach
After being accused of sexual assault a former Lincoln High School soccer coach, Said Cajica, continued coaching youth soccer teams and on February 21 changed his name to Xavier Cajica-Bautista. Said’s path to becoming Xavier …
July 23, 2019
Real men at Wilson Middle School, SDSU, El Cajon City Council
It’s early Friday morning in City Heights. Nearly 30 boys flock to Wilson Middle School an hour before school starts to spend time with their mentor Roosevelt Johnson. They enter his classroom and greet one …
June 26, 2019
Kidnapping halted in El Cajon
Friday, June 14, 4:40 pm. I got off the bus in El Cajon at Washington and Magnolia. From a distance I see what I think is a grandmother, mother and children crossing the street. We …
June 17, 2019
UCSD researchers use organs from aborted babies
Researchers from the UCSD School of Medicine are in the market for human organs that are "fresh" and "fetal," according to emails published by the Center for Medical Progress, a citizen journalist/medical ethics watchdog group …
June 5, 2019
San Diego Unified dumps anti-Islamophobia initiative
On March 7 a group of parents represented by San Diego attorney Charles S. LiMandri, chief counsel of the Freedom of Conscience Defense Fund, settled a lawsuit — Citizens for Quality Education v. Richard Barrera …
May 22, 2019
Why did Kevin Beiser accusers keep quiet so long?
Last week four men publicly accused third term San Diego Unified school board trustee Kevin Beiser of sexual harassment. Now others are saying they too were preyed upon. On March 18 a John Doe plaintiff …
March 25, 2019
San Diego School District unites Democrats and Republicans
On December 11 the San Diego Unified School District board of trustees got rid of a thorn in its side — the non-agenda public comment segment at the beginning of their meetings. Trustees Richard Barrera, …
March 6, 2019
Women's March and Walk for Life – a mile or a world apart?
Two events drew out civic exhibitionists in San Diego on Saturday, January 19, each expressing a different view about what it means to be pro-woman. An estimated 20,000 participants in the Women’s March gathered at …
January 24, 2019
Miranda Escoto tried to report abuse of students
Schools in San Diego County have a problem. Many teachers, administrators, and staff are not reporting suspected child abuse to the proper authorities, despite a legal requirement to do so. And some who do report …
January 23, 2019
Torrey Pines Road – "so damn dangerous"
Visitors to La Jolla Nursing and Rehabilitation Center on Torrey Pines Road a couple blocks northeast of La Jolla Parkway put their lives in danger when they park across the street, say a nursing home …
December 14, 2018
Lincoln High School was designed to fail
A father of two former Lincoln High School students says San Diego Unified School District filed false criminal charges against him after he started speaking out against the district for their failures to protect children …
December 12, 2018
Rogue attorneys
On November 9 Clayton Marlow Anderson, Jr., a former attorney from La Mesa, was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for “defrauding clients and investors,” according to a U.S. Department of Justice press release. …
November 29, 2018
What makes the border fence work
“Assault a U.S. law enforcement officer – expect to be held accountable,” said chief border patrol agent Rodney Scott in a press release November 3. On October 31 a federal jury in San Diego found …
November 14, 2018
The slow end of the Kalasho regime
Tuesday’s votes have been tallied and the race with the largest margin of defeat in San Diego County was for El Cajon’s first district city council representative. Previously elected to citywide council positions, Ben Kalasho …
November 9, 2018
Little-known San Diego election facts
Proposition 6 may not get the response at the ballot box its supporters were hoping for. Asking voters to reduce what they have to pay for gas was a sure bet, but state Attorney General …
November 1, 2018