Tax-funded lobbying The battle to succeed the San Diego Union-Tribune for reportorial relevancy was notched up a bit last week by the Voice of San Diego, the website backed by billionaire Qualcomm co-founder Irwin Jacobs. …

As predicted by privacy advocates, a hoard of surveillance data collected by video cameras and audio sensors incorporated into San Diego street lights is exclusively in the hands of the city's police department. The sweeping …

Jacobs’s latest stand The ultimate tab for taxpayers of the now-aborted secret deal between Qualcomm billionaire Irwin Jacobs and Republican mayor Kevin Faulconer to bulldoze a mammoth parking garage into the heart of Balboa Park …

An outspoken critic of the mayor departs her downtown condominium en route for her law office a few blocks away, monitored by an array of video cameras and audio sensors concealed atop the city’s streetlights. …

While San Diego streets and sidewalks appear like deathtraps to critics of the unregulated e-scooter industry, the city faces yet another risky urban challenge: mangled curb painting. "Painted curbs are important because they help convey …

Billionaire physician Patrick Soon-Shiong, who built a pharmaceutical fortune on owning intellectual property, is famous for zealously protecting his lucrative portfolio of patents and cancer cell lines. A year ago, he recruited noted patent guru …

SDSU’s money-raising newsies As the editorial clout of the Union-Tribune continues to fade under the reign of Los Angeles-based owner Patrick Soon-Shiong, other San Diego media outlets are jostling for a greater role in the …

When state Assembly Democrat Lorena Gonzalez deployed a firehose of cash from her re-election campaign committee to jumpstart husband Nathan Fletcher's bid for a seat on the county board of supervisors last year, questions regarding …

Liberal Terra firma Political hopefuls continue to pile into next year’s San Diego races for city council and county supervisor, portending a costly scramble for votes as term limits continue to take their toll on …

It's home to some of California's most infamous inmates, including Bobby Kennedy's killer Sirhan Sirhan, but one of the biggest black marks against the Robert J. Donovan Correction Facility on Otay Mesa may be its …

During last fall's war over the fate of what used to be Qualcomm Stadium and surrounding acreage, an éminence grise from the city's scandal-ridden history hovered over the political battlefield. Rancho Santa Fe's John Moores, …

Democrats bonding It hasn’t taken new House Democrat Mike Levin, who won the seat of Republican Darrell Issa after a grueling campaign season last year, long to hit the road. “What I saw was an …

While San Diego's city hall continues to dally on the regulation of so-called e-scooters and other transportation devices cluttering local streets and sidewalks, hard evidence has emerged from Los Angeles about the surging tide of …

Off and running on Facebook As the lineup of would-be San Diego mayors continues to grow, one candidate is already up on Facebook, dispatching oblique hits against Republican incumbent Kevin Faulconer and reinforcing the message …

Now that term limits have been imposed on the board at the San Diego Unified School District, incumbents there are looking around for their next gig. First to declare for higher office is Kevin Beiser, …

Downward trend The Los Angeles Times, owned by billionaire physician Patrick Soon-Shiong, is accelerating its not-so-stealthy creep into the editorial content of the San Diego Union-Tribune, also purchased by the pharmaceutical magnate last year as …

Before he left office this month to make way for newly elected Democrat Nathan Fletcher, termed-out Republican county supervisor Ron Roberts took one final trip to China, using up a sizable portion of the remaining …

Foodies’ rules Based on a new wave of help-wanted advertisements, the Los Angeles Times under the reign of billionaire physician Patrick Soon-Shiong is veering toward the kitchen. Eating well is a top Times hiring priority, …

DC undocked San Diego, widely known for its hands-off policing of e-scooters, is equally notorious among medics and insurance companies for rising shattered bone and head injury rates among the daring who partake in the …

Left turn only The surprisingly lop-sided victory of Democrat Jen Campbell over eight-year Republican incumbent Lorie Zapf in San Diego’s second district city council race last month is boosting liberal interest in taking two of …

A report by state auditor Elaine Howle released December 20 blames both city and county for the severity of last year's deadly Hepatitis A breakout in downtown San Diego, with lack of accountability by local …

Chapel of the lobbyists As an irate citizenry mustered to save the historic Naval Training Center’s house of worship from conversion to a bar and eatery, San Francisco developer Scott Seligman, who controls the property, …

It's a small world for Doug Manchester, the former Union-Tribune owner who made a failed bid to replace San Diego's ex-Qualcomm Stadium meant to lure an NFL replacement for the Chargers back in February 2017 …

Because of the Wall Street Journal's November 13 report that federal investigators are looking into spending and fundraising issues involving president Donald Trump's inaugural committee, eyes are returning to the two San Diego major money …

Chip off the old politico San Diego city councilwoman Lorie Zapf lost her Second District seat to Jen Campbell after a bitter battle of independent expenditure committees, but Zapf’s daughter Tana kept her job with …

With sharp-elbowed maneuvering to succeed termed-out San Diego Republican mayor Kevin Faulconer growing ever more intense backstage at city hall, a congressional staffer has put in a word for her boss. "We are looking at …

One of San Diego county's most lucrative businesses is also one of its quietest, churning out politically-incorrect products that draw sparse local media coverage while playing a key role in the world munitions market and …

Rough operators Qualcomm, the home-grown tech giant known locally for take-no-prisoners political plays, is quickly getting a national reputation for dirty tricks. A November 21 report by the New York Times outlines Qualcomm’s hiring of …

San Diego's Lincoln Club, which steps forward each election time on behalf of Republican candidates by savaging their opponents with hit pieces, has shut down its latest political committee, called the Public Integrity League Opposed …

Control of Liberty Station, obtained from the city of San Diego by the Republican mega-donor McMillin family during the controversial reign of GOP mayor Susan Golding in 1999, has quietly changed hands for more than …

Party before the storm Utility giant Sempra Energy and its subsidiary San Diego Gas & Electric, enmeshed in a bevy of California controversies — including an ongoing effort to resist so-called Community Choice Aggregation in …

A sole-source contract touted by development officials for bringing new efficiency to permit processing as it breezed through city council three years ago has come a cropper, according to a November 16 report by interim …

The Navy's fleet of 51 attack submarines, a portion of which is based in San Diego, is suffering from a series of "significant maintenance delays and operating and support cost expenditures," that could jeopardize the …

e-scooter pay-off The Mineta Transportation Institute at San Jose State University is out with a study likely to gladden the hearts of San Diego e-scooter riders, plagued by a rash of accidents and beset by …

Patrick Soon-Shiong, reputed by some to be the richest man in Los Angeles and the wealthiest physician in America, is currently worth $6.8 billion, per a real-time ranking by Forbes, which as of November 20 …

Qualcomm's co-founder, Democrat Irwin Jacobs, is famous for high-dollar political intrigue, including attempts to alter the school board, conceal campaign money, and promote a massive parking garage in Balboa Park with well-timed cash for mayor …

Anti-Trump trumped A flurry of last-minute advertising on Facebook attacking president Donald Trump wasn’t enough to get Republican Lorie Zapf re-elected last week against anti-Trump Democrat Jen Campbell. “Lorie Zapf will stand up to Trump’s …

The gloves are off at San Diego city hall as mayor Kevin Faulconer and fellow Republican Lorie Zapf discover that newly empowered Democrats are not likely to play nice, given their new House majority in …

Phil Rath, a prominent member of San Diego's well-compensated local influence peddling corps and chairman of the board of Civic San Diego, has agreed to pay a $5000 fine to settle conflict-of-interest charges brought against …

La Mesa’s foreign freebies Taking off on an all-expense paid junket to the Middle East, courtesy of a non-profit fund closely tied to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which styles itself as “America’s pro-Israel …

Ex-Padres owner John Moores, long a lurker around the margins of San Diego State University's attempts to take control of the city-owned acreage formerly known as Qualcomm Stadium, has finally outed himself. On November 2, …

Last minute money has been arriving in torrents during the final week of San Diego's Campaign '18 and is being spent in record amounts, funneled through a byzantine network of political committees that make it …

Kelley’s next stand Former Union-Tribune political cartoonist Steve Kelley, who departed the paper in the aftermath of a 2001 dispute over “butt cracks” he allegedly snuck into print, is back behind the inkwell, this time …

Republican congressman Duncan Hunter, fighting for his political life in the wake of a federal indictment for campaign finance violations, has called upon the services of a consulting firm linked to a controversial Wisconsin political …

The fundraising battle between two political committees waging a war of hit pieces against their foes in San Diego's Second District city council race currently favors the Republican incumbent, thanks to a fresh cash infusion …

Bombs away San Diego’s bigger-than-life public art world is in turmoil. A proposed million-dollar pair of oversized plastic straws designed in Los Angeles to grace the entrance of San Diego’s new toilet-to-tap water plant has …

The lobbying unit for San Diego police - pouring cash into four city council races – now has helpers in the form of Mission Valley real estate titan Thomas W. Sudberry, Jr. and Los Angeles …

Can a revived investigative reporting push be the key to saving the Union-Tribune from losing its identity, as well as its already dwindling advertising business, to its big northern sibling, the Los Angeles Times? Or …

Jerry’s female side The San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce Political Action Committee led by Republican ex-mayor and former police chief Jerry Sanders has come up with a creative name for its latest political venture: …

As the November finish for some bitterly-fought campaigns approaches, San Diego's ethics commission has been cleaning up legal loose ends left over from June's electoral contests, with costly outcomes for two failed city council hopefuls. …