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More layoffs at Union-Tribune
A familiar circuit: Dump the most experienced (expensive) journalists, publisher announces unconvincing rationale, readers abandon ship in droves, cash flow suffers, lay off the most experienced (expensive) journalists...— May 28, 2013 4:43 p.m.
More Layoffs at Union-Tribune
You're right of course; thank goodness for the Reader (among others). Still, big-pocketbook publishers are able to do major projects that are sadly rare these days. Not that the Copleys enjoyed rocking the boat even when they were in their heyday.— June 16, 2011 2:12 p.m.
More Layoffs at Union-Tribune
One wonders how many special districts and city agencies now go completely uncovered by even college journalism interns, let alone experienced journalists. Just when San Diego County could use some real digging (as happened in the City of Bell by The Los Angeles Times), the U-T seems to have jettisoned everyone but marquee columnists and the bottom tier of the newsroom payroll. County taxpayers are going to have some nasty surprises in the next decade as pensions and bonds become due and deferred capital projects cause the infrastructure to fail. And they won't get even a hint of it coming down the pike because there is no one left to report it, no one to properly edit it and in any event there is no place to print it. Damned shame.— June 15, 2011 10:30 a.m.
U-T Names Online Specialist as Editor
Could the lack of comments about this posting indicate, at long last, a lack of interest in the fate of the U-T?— February 14, 2010 7:16 a.m.
Surprise: Union-Tribune Solicits Employee Suggestions
I found that ideas from below were not rejected out of hand, but neither were they rewarded. They sorts of dissipated, like a mist. Toward the end there was definitely a Not Invented Here mentality that caused ideas from below to wallow, and it was also obvious that from around 2005 onward David was not longer interested in anything that didn't have an immediate and substantial return on investment -- no matter where the idea came from. It's not that Helen and David didn't want to entertain worthy ideas. They simply didn't know what to do with them, especially beginning in the mid-1980s.— February 7, 2010 4:35 p.m.
Two Borrego Clubs Close Amid Bond Default
Given the tough market and the decision by Borrego Ranch Resort & Spa to ban minors, this sad ending seemed inevitable. Is there not one former Copley investment that didn't result in massive layoffs, a precipitous drop in value and a fire sale (assuming such happens in Borrego Springs)?— January 11, 2010 2:11 p.m.
Blackwater One of 15 Most Hated U.S. Companies
To #2: In fact, some of those companies are in serious trouble and may not make it to 2011. Sometimes, though, customers have no choice. Dish Network, for example, largely caters to people who live outside the normal service areas of cable TV; many of their customers have no alternative for TV and broadband Internet. United, too, serves a lot of smaller markets as the sole carrier, and residents of Chicago are largely dependent on it for some foreign destinations. And sometimes its just more fun to hate a company than to give up its product. Fox News, for example.— January 5, 2010 1:57 p.m.
Taxpayer-Financed Stadiums Bring "Municipal Woes," says NY Times
The State of New York is also nearly broke, and its general fund ends the year in deficit for the first time ever. Today The New York Times editorialized that the entire state legislature should be voted out of office. At least they got their two publicly financed baseball stadiums built before the roof caved in. The Mets and Yankees owners are spared the unvarnished shame of finding 100% private financing for their places of business; meanwhile, the city is cutting back on bus and subway service, and half the members of state legislature are playing tag with process servers dispatched by various investigatory agencies. Sound familiar, San Diego?— December 31, 2009 12:17 p.m.
Taxpayer-Financed Stadiums Bring "Municipal Woes," says NY Times
The main problem is that fans -- especially those from the suburb cities -- see a lovely new stadium and wonder why it took San Diego so long to build it. There's no doubt that PetFood Park is lovely, but that's not the issue. Was the old stadium adequate (yes) and did the public coffers have enough discretionary funds to build a new stadium where one was not needed (not a snowball's chance in hell). New Jersey's experience with new arenas is so messed up that next season they will charge fans a rather hefty tax so that -- this is true -- the Nets can be bribed to move to the Pru Center in Newark, which will allow the arena at the Meadowlands to be used exclusively for concerts (which make a much larger profits than a last-place NBA team). The Pru Center in Newark is actually very nice, but when it's not hosting sparsely attended N.J. Devils hockey games, it's home to such NCAA basketball powerhouses as The New Jersey Institute of Technology. At least the city of Newark didn't get stuck with the whole construction tab. Consider what San Diego is stuck with: Jack Murphy Stadium (unless someone pays me to call it Qualcomm, I won't) gets used roughly 30 times a year for NFL and college games, not nearly enough to be considered a steady place of employment for most concessionaires. PetFood Park is used about 90 times a year, also not enough to be considered a source of steady employment. Even if taken together, that's barely 50% of full-time employment and (except for the players and senior team staff) they are all low-wage jobs. Where, exactly, is the city's financial return? At least when the Dodgers were handed Chavez Ravine on a platter there was no question of the city recouping any money. Dodger Stadium was a way for the city and county of Los Angeles to stake a claim as a major city by drawing a ballclub from New York City. No one pretended otherwise. San Diego already has the teams, and it's exceedingly doubtful that anyone is going to move to L.A. in protest if the Chargers decamp to the bucolic City of Industry. So what's the excuse for such blatant corporate welfare? We know that no city official will ever admit that PetFood Park is hemorrhaging money and demand larger rent from the Padres, and the Union-Tribune will never tally the losses. But will no one stand up to the Chargers?— December 28, 2009 8:01 p.m.
Supreme Court Justice Asks: Who Passed Bribe?
One other thought: The pension board may end up wishing that the state prosecutes them. The Feds might go after the board for "theft of honest services" which is broadly understood to be covered by the U.S. Code. When (quoting the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals) "a public official acts as trustee for the citizens and the State . . . and thus owes the normal fiduciary duties of a trustee, e.g., honesty and loyalty to them. Theft of honest services occurs when a public official strays from this duty." If the pension board did anything naughty via U.S. Mail, they might get whacked under 18USC1341, the mail fraud statute that has been used to prosecute theft of honest services cases. Here's the law in a nutshell: "Whoever, having devised or intending to devise any scheme or artifice to defraud, or for obtaining money or property by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations or promises . . . places in any post office . . . shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both . . ." False promises sure sounds like the Pension Board, huh? Book 'em, Danno.— November 5, 2009 3:14 p.m.