No Great WallAfter traveling to San Diego’s troubled border region, a senior researcher for the conservative Heritage Foundation has returned to Washington, D.C. and painted a dire picture of burgeoning Chinese immigration across the border …
Old San DiegoA controversial San Diego political committee bowed out of city politics by filing its official termination statement with the city clerk’s office on June 21. New San Diego, founded and operated by Democratic …
Waste much, want moreGiven the Democrats firmly in charge of both the San Diego County Board of Supervisors and San Diego’s City Council, plus a group of well-heeled contractors and labor unions lurking in the …
Homeless tackledA non-profit foundation tied to a controversial giant San Diego-based healthcare staffing outfit has come up with $75,000 for mayor Todd Gloria’s San Diegans Together Tackling Homelessness effort, according to a February 20 behesting …
Behest chasingControversial San Diego City ambulance contractor Falck USA gave a total of $5000 on May 16 at the behest of San Diego City councilwoman Marni von Wilpert to Los Angeles-based Equality California, per a …
Pain and sufferingWith college players set to begin pulling down cash salaries and pros like Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry leading the NBA with an annual $51.9 million, it’s easy to forget that Bill …
Peace and sanctityAn array of special interests, including pot dealers, funded the February 21 annual state of the county speech by Democratic County Supervisor Nora Vargas, newly posted disclosure filings show. Cannabis dealer March and …
Dark money assetsA $50,000 donor to the California ballot measure committee run by state Senate Democrat Toni Atkins of San Diego has been told by lawyers for the state’s Fair Political Practices Commission to stop …
Old GloriaSan Diego Democrat Todd Gloria promised a new generation at city hall when he was running for mayor four years ago. But as he approaches his reelection battle this coming November, Gloria has quietly …
It’s complicatedNorth County Republican Congressman Darrell Issa, apparently assured of reelection this fall in his safe Republican seat, has been largely flying under the national radar of late. That’s a change from his political salad …
Alden’s knock-offsWith advertising and page counts continuing to plunge, much local speculation about the San Diego Union-Tribune’s future involves questions about whether the paper’s vulture investor owner, Alden Global Capital, will soon close the print …
Big money DemocratsThe 2026 gubernatorial campaign fund of San Diego state Senate Democrat Toni Atkins picked up $5000 on April 5 from Greenwich, Connecticut resident Kaia Ferari, according to an April 8 campaign disclosure filing. …
Sniper’s watchTwo costly crowd control tools bought by local cops from a controversial San Diego-based high-tech security firm saw zero use last year, per the Annual Military Equipment Report for 2023, recently released by the …
UCSD’s simultaneous skin timeAre UCSD doctors violating university policy by conducting simultaneous operations in the institution’s array of surgical suites? “The Policy defines Overlapping Surgery as an ‘operation or procedure in which the actual operating …
Adela’s big fat raisesSan Diego State University president Adela de la Torre is in line for a five percent salary boost this year, from $533,148 to $559,805, putting her pay at the very top of …
Travel bug bites Vargas stafferA top staffer for South Bay House Democrat Juan Vargas and two other congressional workers jetted off for free to January’s glitzy Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, courtesy of the …
Volvo politicsYet another editorial staffer has departed under Alden Global Capital, new owner of the faltering San Diego Union-Tribune. The departure edges the paper further to the right, a move celebrated in some quarters. And …
Guns awayDue to a personal conflict of interest, Carlsbad Mayor Pro Tem Dr. Priya Bhat-Patel, a high-profile North County gun control advocate, will be required to wait a few months longer to participate in efforts …
Liberal richiesThe political committee called the San Diego Labor Coalition, Sponsored by Laborers’ International Union of North America Local 89 has received another major round of developer cash for its direct mail “Democratic Choice Voter …
Moralist in disguise?Cappy McGarr, a big-spending hedge fund insider from Dallas, Texas, is among those who’ve kicked in the maximum $1350 for incumbent Democratic Mayor Todd Gloria’s re-election bid. (McGarr has lived part-time in La …
Touchy feelyRobert Hertzberg, an ex-state Senate Democrat from Los Angeles widely known as “Huggy Bear” because of his unwanted serial embraces of female staffers and politicos during his years in the state Capitol, gave $1000 …
Six-figure loophole?Republican County Supervisor Joel Anderson is running for reelection this year. He’s also campaigning for a seat on the Republican County Central Committee. Anderson is raising big money for the latter effort using a …
DeSantis bluesNow that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has dropped out of the Republican race for president, some wealthy San Diegans will have to write off their losses. They include General Atomics chairman and CEO Linden Blue, …
Non-Sunny scenarioCould the San Diego Union-Tribune be in play — and headed back into local hands? That’s the wishful thinking of those on both sides of the political aisle, brought on by last week’s sale …
HELIOS hits and missesCostly new high-energy laser weapons — installed and tested on San Diego-based ships — aren’t being used against deadly Houthi drones and rockets in the Red Sea, causing consternation in the Defense …
Campaign money mazeA December 27 advice letter from the California Fair Political Practices Commission has drawn back the curtain on the convoluted fundraising for GOP ex-San Diego mayor Kevin Faulconer and his county supervisor race …
U-T on the cheapA year-end offer of cut-rate, online-only subscription prices has triggered another round of speculation that the once-venerable San Diego Union-Tribune may be losing its life in print. New subscribers can get the …
Fin de U-T San DiegoIt’s the end of the line for the all-Spanish weekly tabloid published by the Union-Tribune, a newspaper that’s been shrinking all over under current owner Alden Global Capital. “The last issue …
Back to the border?More than 13 months after Union-Tribune border reporter Wendy Fry departed for a new gig at non-profit CalMatters, the paper, these days operated by MediaNews Group — a chain owned by vulture …
Behesting blastsChula Vista mayor John McCann continues to collect so-called behests from the city’s developer and a related crowd, according to a series of disclosure filings with the city clerk’s office. On October 12, Vulcan …
Abe’s money clubThe Republican-leaning San Diego Lincoln Club, noted for fierce hit pieces dispatched against opponents in local elections, has a new role: drumming up developer cash for GOP ex-mayor Kevin Faulconer’s bid to knock …
Worn and dirty bedsBorder Patrol outposts in San Diego County have been called out again, this time by the Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Homeland Security Department for worn and dirty detainee bedding, …
Masters of DeceitPadres' bribes of councilwoman Valerie Stallings“On December 14, 1999, despite urgings from the San Diego Taxpayers Association and others to delay its vote, the city council voted to push ahead with bonds for …
San Diego book clubs – what's the point?Perhaps it’s the idea of the book club book that we find unbearable. It brings to mind that women’s marketing motto, “Pink it and shrink it.” Pink it: …
Fungible exchangeA political action committee tied to Republican ex-San Diego mayor Kevin Faulconer, largely funded by a Sacramento-based business lobbying group, has closed up shop, distributing its remaining cash to the county GOP. Officially known …
Public windfall for Castellanos?San Diego Unified Port District commissioners, fresh from a mysterious July scandal that led Chief Executive Officer Joe Stuyvesant to take an indefinite leave of absence, aren’t necessarily barred by state law from …
Dangerous bike spotsFriars Road, Nimitz Blvd, University Ave., Pershing Dr., Genesee, Pacific Hwy at Barnett Ave.Safer routes: SD River Trail, West Point Loma, Robinson, GovernorBy Dryw Keltz, Sept. 23, 2015The curvy road from Fallbrook to …
Heath Freeman’s bull ridersAlden Global Capital, the vulture investing outfit that in July took control of the San Diego Union-Tribune from Los Angeles biotech mogul and LA Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong, is the target of …
A product of the 1950s Tiki culture“Special Tables for Spies, Espionage Agents to View the U.S. Fleet — Binoculars furnished to U.S. Citizens only,” said a 1950s advertisement for the restaurant. Dressed in one of …
Toni’s Sempra connectionThe biggest donor to California state legislators during the first half of this year was none other than San Diego-based utility giant Sempra Energy. So reports the Sacramento Bee in a September 28 …
Citizen pot bustI thought about the spring day my two hiking buddies and I were off-trail, crashing through dense thickets of tangled brush. It was growing dark, and the three of us had gotten separated. …