Mayor Kevin Faulconer continues to hand out city appointments to some of his biggest campaign givers. One of the more conspicuous is Guy Asaro, president of McMillin Homes, who has become a member of the …

Over the years, San Diego has known its share of newly rich political sugar daddies, spending their up-and-coming wealth on their chosen candidates of the hour. Disgraced banker C. Arnholt Smith, drug-money-laundering Jack-in-the-Box mega millionaire …

$3000 in contributions to a 2014 mayoral campaign fund favoring him have apparently gone down well with Kevin Faulconer, who's just made their principal source, La Jolla architect Timothy Golba, chairman of the city's planning …

Because of a gaping loophole in San Diego's campaign disclosure law, it won't be until the end of July that the public learns the complete identities of the big-money donors behind a minimum-wage proposal currently …

It's a chapter of history that wealthy La Jollans — who obtain their legions of domestic servants through a variety of sources, legal and not — would most likely rather forget. In early August of …

It will be a long, hot day at the end of Austin's typically hellish Texas summer when Douglas Manchester's “Fairmont Austin” convention hotel finally breaks ground. At least that's the latest prediction from the voluble …

Toorcon San Diego is a convention of computer hackers that convenes every fall here to discuss the fine art of electronic breaking-and-entering. “Schools don’t teach hacking, and the Internet hides it for both profit, and …

Two more big-money lobbyists and campaign contributors have gotten the nod from mayor Kevin Faulconer for high-profile city development positions. Donna Jones, a land-use partner at the downtown powerhouse influence-peddling law firm of Sheppard, Mullin, …

Did taxpayers get a raw deal at a high-dollar pipeline conference run by the ever-controversial U.S. Transportation and Security Administration — infamous for airport frisking gropes and other mishaps — at a bayside San Diego …

It's a very good deal, at least according to an editorial in U-T San Diego, the media operation owned by Republican stalwart and real estate mega-developer Douglas Manchester. "East County voters have an easy decision …

Are San Diego’s big media owners working together to build a virtually impregnable political machine? It’s a question being asked more and more frequently among longtime city hall observers in the wake of political plays …

Qualcomm billionaire Irwin Jacobs, who recently hosted a Democratic fundraiser with president Barack Obama at his La Jolla mansion, has deserted the party machine in at least one race this year. According to campaign disclosure …

A top aide to Republican Congressman Darrell Issa enjoyed a TV star–filled jaunt from Washington to Las Vegas and back last month, thanks to the generosity of the National Association of Broadcasters. Veronica Wong, Issa’s …

The 2014 BIO International Convention, to be held at San Diego's downtown convention center June 23–26, has announced that the keynote speaker will be ex–First Lady, former Secretary of State, and presumed presidential candidate Hillary …

UC San Diego is looking to hire a new “undocumented student support services coordinator,” to be “responsible for the planning, development, implementation, and assessment of programs and services to engage and support undocumented undergraduate and …

Ads for a San Diego County candidate for the state Board of Equalization favored by Republican publisher and real estate mogul Douglas Manchester and retired Democratic San Diego South Bay state senator Steve Peace have …

Call it the ex-admirals' political ball. In any case, it may be one of San Diego's biggest masquerades since Mardi Gras. A longtime General Dynamics executive has signed the ballot argument against a community plan …

Some seemingly strange political bedfellows are behind an independent expenditure committee backing attorney Robert Brewer for district attorney against incumbent Bonnie Dumanis. Calling itself “Public Safety Advocates," the group received $10,000 from the Alliance for …

It isn't a secret that a lot of San Diego money comes from military contractors and every so often some of all that federally funded cash is diverted to illegal purposes, stolen, and otherwise wasted. …

Arguably the most powerful corporation in San Diego, akin to the public utility octopuses of old, giant Sempra Energy has the political clout to match. But a big part of the electric company's influence isn't …

Michael Schlesinger of Beverly Hills has a big-money thing for San Diego politics, but that's about the only thing known about the mysterious money man and the source of his cash, most famous here for …

A U.S. Marine who has done two tours of Afghanistan has been shackled to his cot in Tijuana's La Mesa penitentiary infirmary while being held on illegal gun charges, according to the McClatchy News Service …

It's history now, but the 1990s were a busy time for two San Diego Democrats who jockeyed for privilege and power during the administration of president Bill Clinton. Now, a release of previously restricted documents …

The mysterious owners of the Las Vegas–based Cheetahs strip joint in Kearny Mesa have opened a new legal front in federal court against San Diego police, claiming that raids by the cops have been illegally …

Rachel Laing, the ex-media handler for GOP mayor Jerry Sanders who later went to work for political consultant Tom Shepard only to quit during the sexual harassment scandal of his top client, fallen Democratic mayor …

The race by Republican county supervisor Bill Horn to hold on to his seat against a challenge by Oceanside mayor Jim Wood is off with a financial bang, with backers of both sides lining up …

It may finally be curtains for the Sacramento lobbying firm of Sloat Higgins Jensen & Associates, dumped by a host of big-name clients after it agreed earlier this year to pay a record $133,500 fine …

The election of mayor Kevin Faulconer appears to have paid off as expected for developer and U-T San Diego owner Douglas Manchester, who backed the Republican's campaign earlier this year with $356,000, funneled through GOP …

It's a strange-bedfellows tale of trash and casino chips. The Pala Band of Mission Indians and their affiliated entity Pala Casino came up with $20,000 on April 23 for a campaign committee calling itself Citizens …

Is one of San Diego's wealthiest women — whose family foundation backs nonprofits linked to the billionaire Koch brothers — abusing her lucrative radio and TV broadcasting licenses to muzzle an electoral opponent of Republican …

Drug-related homicides have been up sharply in Tijuana, but there’s a political shoot-out over just how much, according to a new report by the University of San Diego’s Justice in Mexico project. Though drug-gang conflict …

Democratic Assembly speaker–elect Toni Atkins hasn’t wasted time cashing in her newly won influence for campaign dollars to support the party’s roster of San Diego City Council candidates. Democrats are throwing a $125-a-head (up to …

War may be bloody hell, but life as a La Jolla venture capitalist isn’t a bed of roses either, according to an email making the rounds of local Harvard Club members. The group is offering …

Real estate developer and U-T San Diego publisher Douglas Manchester has boarded the Board of Equalization bandwagon of GOP ex-assemblywoman and former Chula Vista mayor Shirley Horton, kicking in $6000 on April 21, according to …

Insurance consultant and Republican Lincoln Club leader Douglas E. Gray has backed out of an appointment by San Diego mayor Kevin Faulconer to the city's civil service commission. Interviewed in his downtown C Street office …

Continuing a string of appointments of political backers to key spots in San Diego city government, Republican mayor Kevin Faulconer has renewed the long tenure of downtown lobbyist Paul Robinson as chairman of the Mission …

An outfit calling itself “Californians for Population Stabilization” is buying San Diego television commercials as part of what it says is an Earth Day–linked campaign against “mass immigration.” The spots begin with a child asking …

Fate and fortune turn quickly in San Diego politics, for none more so than Kimberly Hale Miller and Phil Rath, influence-peddlers once employed by a lobbying firm owned by Tom Shepard, political consultant to fallen …

Smoking giant R.J. Reynolds of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, has been handing out some big money lately to California politicos, including $1500 each to Democratic state senator Ben Hueso and Republican assemblyman Brian Maienschein. GOP senator …

What a difference a year can make in San Diego's uniquely rough-and-tumble brand of municipal politics. In March of last year, then-mayor Bob Filner — a longtime critic of what he said were sweetheart Mission …

The battle over the City of San Diego's so-called linkage fee on commercial development to pay for subsidized housing ended with a whimper last month. San Diego Chamber of Commerce honcho and ex-GOP mayor Jerry …

The San Diego city ethics commission has reached a stipulated agreement with La Jolla luxury car dealer Marc Chase to fork over a hefty penalty in the political-money-laundering case involving a Mexican national, GOP district …

Could a political contribution by any other name smell sweeter to San Diego Republicans? That seems to be one of two persistent questions for Los Angeles developer Michael Schlesinger, who has been battling nearby residents …

UCSD wants to build a costly new biology building, but the state hasn’t yet given it the cash, so University of California regents have said it’s okay for the school to start working on a …

The recently released University of California report on the “campus climate” at UCSD warns students to be on the lookout for mashers at the upcoming Sun God festival. The document relates that 94 of those …

The Customs and Border Protection department’s Advanced Training Center in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia — to which San Diego Border Patrol sector trainees are regularly dispatched for a high-tech education in all manner of shooting, …

Two San Diego County–based labor groups are up for charges at this month's meeting of the state's Fair Political Practices Commission. One of the cases dates back to 2010, according to the allegations, when the …

San Diego House Democrat Susan Davis, infamous for years of free world travel, thanks to various lobbyist-related groups, stuck closer to home in her latest gratis mid-winter foray from the nation's capital. A travel-disclosure form …

Cooked up in 1995 as a way of easing border travel from Mexico to the United States for those who qualify for pre-approval, the so-called Secure Electronic Network for Travelers Rapid Inspection Program, SENTRI for …

A Texas banking start-up owned by U-T San Diego publisher Douglas Manchester has lost another round in federal court in its long legal battle with an irate vendor alleging that the La Jolla real estate …