Sempra Energy also handed out some pre-Halloween treats to state politicians and utility regulators, including refreshments at San Diego’s Kensington Grill worth $29.79 on August 8 to Elaine Jennings, director for planning, preparedness, and emergency …
Solana Beach’s GOP assemblyman Martin Garrick, arrested in his state car for drunk driving in June, later pled no contest to driving with a blood-alcohol content nearly twice the legal limit. He was sentenced to …
Sempra Energy has been spreading around its campaign cash to a variety of local special interest groups, according to its recently filed state disclosure, including, on September 15, the county’s Democratic Party ($3000) and the …
The violent death of Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi has evoked varying recollections of his decades-long absolute rule. Back in March 2004, congressional Democrat Susan Davis traveled to Libya. According to a gift report filed by …
Robert Nascenzi, the computer executive who dropped out of the 52nd District primary in the race to take on GOP congressman Brian Bilbray next year, managed to collect a healthy $77,654 in contributions through September …
Early results are in from horsey Rancho Santa Fe regarding the presidential fund-raising derby, and so far the winner is Mitt Romney, with $112,000 from the beginning of the year through September 30. According to …
A wealthy La Jolla philanthropist with close ties to the charter school movement has joined with Microsoft founder Bill Gates to help support a Texas–based nonprofit corporation dedicated to developing so-called hybrid public-private charter schools. …
It’s not exactly the way Leonardo da Vinci got his start, but the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority is looking for an “artist in residence,” to be paid “not to exceed” $8000 for three …
Former San Diegan, ex–congressional candidate, and onetime Jerry Brown aide Byron Georgiou set out with high hopes and a sizable cash war chest from wealthy La Jolla Democrats earlier this year when he attempted to …
The former Ron Roberts and Brian Bilbray aide running next year for the seat being given up by retiring county supervisor Pam Slater-Price is off to a big start in campaign contributions. According to a …
As a longtime San Diego County supervisor, Republican Ron Roberts is used to being generous with other people’s money. Now he’s perfected his giving style by making so-called cash and in-kind behests, paid for by …
Ex-Padres owner John Moores, forced to unload the team during a bitter divorce battle, is expanding his lucrative sports-consulting business to universities and colleges. The latest recruits to his firm are interim Big 12 commissioner …
A donor identified on federal filings as Alexander G. Spanos, A.G. Spanos Companies/Founder, gave $30,800 to the Republican National Committee on June 16. Philip Anschutz, the Denver billionaire who is developing Farmers Field in Los …
A new audit by the Pentagon’s Office of Inspector General has found that military brass here didn’t do enough to halt illegal life insurance sales practices on San Diego County Marine Corps bases, thereby threatening …
If nothing else, the timing is interesting. On Thursday, September 8, the great blackout of 2011 swept San Diego County and beyond. The next day, the County’s Department of General Services issued a timely “request …
Campaigns don’t come cheaply these days. Even deciding not to run can get expensive. Just ask San Diego city councilman Kevin Faulconer, who was interested in running for mayor but in June pulled out of …
It’s not Comic-Con, but the Federal Election Commission’s “Conference on Federal Campaign Finance Laws for House and Senate Campaigns, Political Party Committees, and Corporate/Labor/Trade Political Action Committees” could draw a crowd and a bit of …
Jonathan Heller, who labored for years at the Union-Tribune covering the downtown baseball stadium controversies and Democratic city attorney Mike Aguirre, finds himself back in familiar territory. After leaving the U-T in 2005, Heller went …
The war in Iraq may be over, but federal spending on its fallout continues. As repeated waves of refugees continue to flood the county, providing psychological therapy and other help for Iraqis tortured both during …
San Diego sheriff Bill Gore is looking for a few good dogs. “Occasionally, canines need to be replaced due to retirement, injury, disease, age or death,” says a request for proposals posted on the county’s …
Governor Jerry Brown and the state legislature are out to kill redevelopment, but San Diego mayor Jerry Sanders is counting on the state supreme court to quash Brown’s efforts so that the mayor can spruce …
Mayor Jerry Sanders and other local pols seeking a hint about how much longer the Chargers intend to continue playing in San Diego might do well to take a look at a sponsorship deal cemented …
Ex–Democratic assemblywoman Lori Saldaña, who apparently has had difficulty making up her mind on what office to run for next, recently announced she will take on GOP congressman Brian Bilbray in a newly redrawn district …
How much do the Chargers love Los Angeles? First came word via L.A.’s Street-Hassle blog that the team’s PR honcho and all-around fix-it guru-in-chief Mark Fabiani gave $1000 to L.A. mayoral candidate Wendy Greuel. Now …
A top staffer for GOP congressman Darrell Issa recently traveled free of charge from Washington to Palo Alto to meet with a group of high-tech company executives, thanks to funding from an outfit called the …
It’s a dangerous place out there in the public sector. Witness the County of San Diego, currently seeking a contractor “experienced in risk assessment for public entities in potential workplace violence.” According to a request …
Local politicos of both major parties continue to partake of the hospitality offered by Native American casinos around the county. During the second quarter of the year, according to state lobbyist disclosure filings, Barona spent …
A newly formed lobbying outfit in Sacramento has picked up some of San Diego County’s heaviest political hitters as clients, including one very influential public agency. According to state disclosure records, Capitol Strategic Advisors, LLC, …
Word last week that Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus had stripped ex-captain and swift-boat veteran Wade Sanders of his Silver Star rekindled the memories of political watchers about the brief Democratic primary campaign for …
Democratic Congressman Bob Filner, who has declared his candidacy for mayor of San Diego, took a free trip to Paris last month courtesy of a group of Iranian-Americans from Colorado tied to a controversial organization …
Fans of the movie Citizen Kane will remember the “declaration of principles” read by publisher Charles Foster Kane, played by Orson Welles, to his prep-school buddy, Jedediah Leland (Joseph Cotten), right after they take over …
The nonprofit Sunlight Foundation is out with some interesting new information about a relatively little-known but popular practice: big corporations and unions giving large sums of money to charitable activities favored by congressmembers, senators, and …
GOP congressman Brian Bilbray, fresh from his skeet-shooting fund-raiser in the hunt country of Virginia last month, will soon be back among Southern California’s landed gentry with a genteel fund-raiser set for July 23 at …
The ex-mayor of Brawley, Daniel Paramo, has been appointed acting warden at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in Otay Mesa. A San Diego State University graduate and a former Brawley city councilman, Paramo has …
The San Diego County Regional Airport Authority’s master concession agreement with HMSHost is expiring next year, and the battle over a replacement has turned into a gold rush for local lobbyists. With the competition reportedly …
A big fan of high-tech policing, San Diego sheriff Bill Gore is in the market for an elaborate, new, state-of-the-art, Star Wars–style computer and video console system for his watch commanders. According to a recent …
In his final quarter of collecting congressional campaign funds before he announced for mayor, Democrat Bob Filner picked up sizable change from a variety of contributors, some with San Diego interests. Pauline Foster, mother-in-law of …
Democratic state senator Juan Vargas is apparently cleaning up some old campaign debt before embarking on his run for the congressional seat being vacated by Bob Filner, who has announced he’s running for San Diego …
He is the man who helped build a greater part of Las Vegas with millions of dollars from Jimmy Hoffa’s mobbed-up Teamsters’ pension fund. Along with his close friend and business partner, the legendary Moe …
One local loser in the demise of San Diego’s redevelopment agency, if its demise actually comes to pass, could be the San Diego public relations and lobbying firm of Southwest Strategies, founded by onetime Evening …
A top aide to GOP congressman Duncan Hunter headed for Africa this spring on a trip paid for by the International Republican Institute, whose board, chaired by Arizona senator John McCain, includes such other Republican …
Another contractor picking up some sweet change from the City’s Centre City Development Corporation is the Portland, Oregon landscape architectural firm of Walker Macy, designer of that city’s Pioneer Courthouse Square, which local politicos lust …
Genomic-engineering pioneer Craig Venter appears to be on the verge of officially breaking ground on flashy new offices on state land at the UCSD campus, but university officials are reluctant to tell the public the …
Once again presidential election season is about to begin, with potential GOP candidates jostling for position in a crowded and confusing pack. A few possible contenders have already made their way to San Diego County …
Diego’s Qualcomm Inc. has already spent $1,930,000 on federal lobbying through May 2, according to the website OpenSecrets.org. That’s more or less on the same pace as in 2010, when the cell phone giant spent …
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has determined that a research project conducted by UCSD’s Antiviral Research Center violated the privacy and confidentiality rights of an unspecified number of human research subjects taking …
Termed-out GOP state senator Mark Wyland has set up a campaign committee to run for the Board of Equalization and is already picking up big money. Last week he collected $8000 from the California Ambulatory …
The convention-dependent business of Katherine Stuart, wife of GOP city councilman Kevin Faulconer — said to be interested in running for mayor to succeed termed-out fellow Republican Jerry Sanders — is doing better than ever, …
Attorney Julie Dubick, chief of staff to mayor Jerry Sanders, reported a few tourist-related assets of her own, including a tidy stock holding in Hilton Hotels valued at between $2000 and $10,000 and an interest …
The City of San Diego is slashing library hours and street repairs, but GOP mayor Jerry Sanders is still handing out big money to City lobbyists. According to its most recent disclosure statement, during the …