If state assemblyman Joe Coto has been looking particularly relaxed lately, maybe some credit should go to East County's Barona Indians, who anted up $105 for a massage he received while at the Barona Valley …

PolyHeme, that controversial blood substitute deployed in some of the city's poorest neighborhoods during trials conducted by UCSD three years ago, has come a cropper. Evanston, Illinois-based Northfield Laboratories announced on May 23 that of …

Padres CEO and Rancho Santa Fe denizen Sandy Alderson has lost his bid to become a trustee of Dartmouth College, from which he graduated in 1969. Alderson's hard-fought election campaign, featuring a slick direct-mail piece …

Early last summer, as the battle over the Sunroad Enterprises office tower near Montgomery Field was taking shape at city hall, another potentially high-stakes contest was unfolding a few blocks away at the federal courthouse. …

With Mayor Jerry Sanders mired in all manner of controversy, from Sunroad's office tower to his draconian cutbacks of public services, keeping a "protocol officer" on the payroll might seem superfluous, but apparently somebody's got …

A drug that bombed as an antidepressant is now being touted by its maker as a possible "female Viagra," and local women wanting to take a chance on the experimental substance in exchange for a …

The latest statewide poll shows Hillary Clinton out front of Barack Obama in the race to collect California's Democratic presidential nominating delegates, but some rich La Jollans aren't taking any chances. Investor Murray Galinson, for …

Just how much is ex-GOP mayor Susan Golding going to be making as the new president of the San Diego Child Abuse Prevention Foundation? The foundation's spokeswoman didn't return calls, but it's likely to be …

Now that conservative cable, movie, Internet, Fox TV, and newspaper mogul Rupert Murdoch has made his $5 billion bid for Dow Jones, publisher of Barrons and the Wall Street Journal, all eyes are turning to …

Congresswoman Susan Davis, who's been racking up plenty of international frequent-flier miles courtesy of the Aspen Institute, a Washington, D.C., think tank sponsored by a host of unidentified special interests, is at it once again. …

Union-Tribune circulation continues to plummet. The collapse may not simply reflect demographic and industry factors affecting other metro dailies. The downfall may in part reflect San Diegans' disgust with the continued mixing of news and …

Former Swiss banker Paul Erdman, an all-time great financial writer, died April 23 at age 74, in Sonoma County, north of San Francisco. Not far away in Marin County, at last report, is former San …

Three familiar San Diego names are on a newly released list of Hillary Clinton "bundlers," volunteer fund-raisers who channel big money into presidential campaigns. Federal law limits individual contributions to $2300 each for primary and …

His boss John Moores has long been San Diego's preeminent behind-the-scenes political boss, and now Padres CEO Sandy Alderson is stepping out of the shadows with his own high-dollar campaign, including a custom-designed website, sandyalderson.com, …

A key lobbyist for the parent company of Student Loan Xpress, that controversial student loan company founded by San Diegans Robert deRose and Fabrizio Balestri in 2002, used to work for GOP congressman Randy "Duke" …

When Dr. David A. Brenner was named vice chancellor and dean for the school of medicine at UCSD in February, his salary was the talk of the campus. Brenner, a gastroenterologist who came from New …

Thanks to a flurry of press releases from the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, a Santa Monica-based group that advocates legislative gift reforms, and major stories in the L.A. Times, San Francisco Chronicle, and …

Padres owner and chronic wheeler-dealer John Moores, who seems to have inherited the city's Daddy Warbucks role once played by late GOP financier C. Arnholt Smith, may be about to get even richer. The Wall …

A year ago last month, San Diego Union-Tribune editor Karin Winner was fiercely crusading for "Sunshine Week," an effort by the American Society of Newspaper Editors to focus attention on the problem of getting stubborn …

San Diego Democratic congresswoman Susan Davis has turned up on a list of lucky lawmakers who went on a five-day winter getaway to balmy San Juan, Puerto Rico, this February thanks to the Aspen Institute, …

Financial disclosure statements for city and county public servants were due Monday of this week, and as usual they revealed that many local officials are not above accepting free meals and other gratuities. Take San …

San Diego mayor Jerry Sanders may have his Charter Revision Commission stacked with big-money establishment favorites, like ex-city schools superintendent Alan Bersin and GOP lawyer and political insider John Davies, but local libertarians are happy …

Steve Peace, the ex-legislator now working for Padres owner John Moores, has been doing more than just making the rounds of legislative offices in Sacramento and working the rubber chicken circuit on behalf of Moores's …

When Jay Goldby announced back in January 2004 he had decided not to seek a third term on the Poway City Council, the then-63-year-old grandfather said that he and his second wife, Sherrie Anne Bagley, …

It is a quiet weeknight in early February at the Chula Vista downtown library when Dr. Dan Davis of UCSD, wearing pale green cotton hospital scrubs, arrives in the auditorium. He's come to make the …

It's conflict-of-interest filing time again for state legislators, and as usual, financial disclosures by members of the local delegation reveal that many have been living high on the hog. Take 80th District Republican assemblywoman Bonnie …

Customarily reticent David Copley is speaking out, but it's not about future plans for the Union-Tribune now that the rest of the newspaper chain left him by his late mother Helen has been sold for …

For decades, legions of executives, editors, and reporters of once-mighty Copley Newspapers have trooped out to the firm's posh Casa del Zorro resort near Borrego Springs for the annual "Ring of Truth" awards honoring employees …

Padres owner John Moores is a member of the board of regents of the University of California. So is fellow Rancho Santa Fe denizen Gerry Parsky. Moores contributed heavily to Democratic governor Gray Davis before …

Wealthy car dealer Steve Cushman has been in the news about his port commission appointment battle with Laurie Black, daughter-in-law of the late del Coronado hotel mogul and U.S. ambassador to Switzerland, M. Larry Lawrence, …

A chain of Midwest papers is the rumored buyer of the Peoria Journal Star, put on the block by David Copley to pay his late mother Helen's estate taxes, reports blogger Billy Dennis in his …

The San Diego State University Foundation, which has changed its name to the San Diego State University Research Foundation, has been involved with more than its share of unsavory political practices in an unending search …

Time again to check up on the doings of that growing corps of lobbyists working the corridors of power down at San Diego's city hall to get contracts and permits for their well-heeled clients. Year-end …

Former lobbyist and appointed San Diego city councilman Scott Harvey was once executive director of the San Diego County Disposal Association, a trash haulers' group. About two years ago, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger named him as …

A subsidiary of the real estate outfit that recently recommended taking day-to-day approval of San Diego's real estate dealings away from the city council has again been tagged with campaign-reporting violations. According to a stipulation …

The wife of ex-Democratic state senator Steve Peace is no longer a member of the state's Integrated Waste Management Board following the expiration of her term last month. Senate President Pro Tempore Don Perata named …

When ex-Democratic state senator Steve Peace and county supervisor Ron Roberts rolled out their futuristic vision for a remade downtown waterfront two weeks ago, regional airport board chairman Alan Bersin was sitting in the front …

Election time is over for now, but San Diego Eighth District city councilman Ben Hueso has continued to spend some profitable time out on the political fund-raising circuit, where corporate contributions are banned but individuals …

Ex-Democratic state senator Steve Peace kicked off his drive to remodel the San Diego waterfront last week by insisting that his boss, Padres owner John Moores, had no secret plan to oust downtown rival Doug …

The plan by David Copley, who turned 55 last week, to sell off Copley-owned Midwest papers continues to stir controversy. In Peoria, the Copley-owned Journal Star reported on its business page about a big meeting …

Now that Congressman Duncan Hunter has entered the presidential derby, it may be instructive to take a look at just what kind of people are giving campaign cash to the county's congressional delegation, composed of …

The developer who's stirred controversy by building a high-rise office building smack in the flight path of Montgomery Field is a longtime veteran of local, state, and federal politics, funneling thousands of dollars to a …

Freshman San Diego city councilman Kevin Faulconer -- a close ally of Mayor Jerry Sanders -- is in the clear regarding a vote he cast January 9 to advance Doug Manchester's Navy Broadway Complex plans. …

The impending sale of the Copley newspapers in Ohio and Illinois has inspired some to reminisce about how the chain came to be in the first place. One interesting reference comes from Time magazine's April …

Democratic state assemblywoman Lori Saldaña was along for the ride on a lavish two-week postelection junket through South America that is causing big static in L.A. Paid for by an outfit called the California Foundation …

Two impending San Diego conferences are of more than passing note for those with an interest in the dicey side of politics. First up is called the Capital Campus California Retreat, sponsored by George Mason …

Capitol Weekly, a Sacramento paper aimed at state government insiders, is out with its annual list of legislative staff salaries. Among San Diego representatives, Wade Teasdale, ex-staff director for North County GOP senator Bill Morrow, …

Since Chargers star running back LaDainian Tomlinson isn't going to the Super Bowl this year, he can now turn his attention to some of his other interests, which have included politics. On January 4, 2006, …

When David Copley isn't busy shedding reporters and other employees who worked for his late mother's rapidly shrinking newspaper chain, he can be found on the gentle Mediterranean waters off Nice and Antibes, between Monte …

Fallout continues over the prospective sell-off of the Copley newspapers in the Midwest. In Peoria, Illinois, home of the Journal Star, the Peoria Newspaper Guild, which represents reporters and photographers at the paper, has set …