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Rip down Qualcomm and build new stadium?
Before the Chargers announced their departure, there was a drumbeat by "opinion molders" in the county that regardless of whether they left town or stayed, that stadium had to be replaced. But I don't recall a cogent argument about why that had to be the case. But then, as soon as the words were out of the mouth of Deano, it seemed as if all those same ones were saying and writing that it had to come down as soon as possible. The city says it is losing money on it. Guys, it was losing money on it when the Chargers still played there, 'cause the Chargers paid just about no rent. So, why the rush? If the stadium is too large now, it could be remodeled to something with fewer seats. Just because it was foolishly expanded to satisfy the NFL, doesn't mean it can't still be used. Some time back there were opinions expressed that all the repair and modification that it really needed could be done for under $150 million, and actually probably less than that. No, that existing facility is like "a perfectly good guitar", and doesn't deserve or need to be smashed and replaced. Don, I'm not sure I agree with you about turning all that property over to SDSU. In many ways, that school is too large, and if it gets to head down the route to being a "research university", will be of less value as an educational institution for local residents. But regardless of what happens to the site in redevelopment, the stadium should stay, and the Aztecs should play there. It does get frequent use for other kinds of events, and those can now be expanded since the Chargers are gone.— September 13, 2017 12:19 p.m.
Where will future Chula Vistans go to school?
What I didn't mean to imply was that no need exists or will exist. There's a good prospect for needing another high school in the growth area. But I was trying to point out that the urgency might not be as high as many think, and that other means of meeting the need could be feasible. I really "feel the pain" for those residents of the Sweetwater district who have been suffering under the fraud, lies, and failures of the administration. I know little of the current board and superintendent. Unless there is a major break with past practices in the district, it won't be up to the demands of the next several years. eastlaker and others have been commenting and criticizing the district for a long time. Vindication came when four of the five trustees made guilty pleas and were thus unseated. Trujillo is gone, Gandara is gone, and Brand is gone; what's left? Just about everything I think. Without some major changes in voting patterns, crooks could one day take over the district again and run it to their advantage. It happened recently, and could happen again. I don't think it is a matter of getting parents to adopt a wait-and-see approach to high schools. It is a matter of doing some real planning for future needs that is realistic, rather than react, react, react to crises.— September 13, 2017 9:22 a.m.
College Area excluded from granny-flat permitting?
This judge has an interesting interpretation of zoning. The ruling mentions that any ordinance it should ". . . appl[y] 'evenly to all households.'" Isn't zoning a process that sets certain areas aside for uneven uses? Municipalities don't allow heavy industry to operate in areas that are occupied with homes. Commercial activity is likewise separated from residential areas. In this instance, the existing use of homes is already dense, and granny flats would make the area more dense. It was never intended to host mini-dorms, and yet there are hundreds of them--that the city knows about--and usual family-occupied homes in the area are heavily impacted. There's another point here. SDSU has, like most other university campuses, relied on the surrounding urban area to accommodate most of its students. It has grown willy-nilly over the decades, far exceeding the maximum number of students originally contemplated. For much of its existence the usual students there were commuters who drove to campus from all corners of the city and county. But in more recent times, with another round of expansion, the pressure to find a place to live has increased, and it began to pay big for landlords to convert typical houses into student ghettos. SDSU had an obligation to create housing (on its dime) to handle to growth, but it did little or nothing in that area. The city loves the university, and anything it wants to do, it ends up doing, and the neighbors be damned.— September 13, 2017 8:06 a.m.
Feds get J. Douglass Jennings Jr. to confess
A very long time ago, I enjoyed Mark on KFMB. He did dead-on impressions of Carter and Reagan that some folks thought were real. Back then he had a sense of humor that came through. He even was their program director, working for Paul Palmer "Colonel Kuff-mubb" when he was general manager. But Mark went to a Christian station in east county, and I generally lost track of him, except that he would occasionally do an ad for some operation or another and it would run on one of the AM stations I follow. It's possible that current KFMB management didn't connect the Jennings dots, and may have been unaware of the disbarment. Or maybe the revenue was what mattered. Who knows?— September 12, 2017 8:09 p.m.
Where will future Chula Vistans go to school?
Not to take anything away from bvagency, cvret, bbq, and especially eastlaker, there are some points that could be missed. That state guideline that requires a whopping 50+ acres for a high school campus is becoming more ridiculous every day. It is a throwback to times when California land was cheap and plentiful, neither of which is generally true today. It provided space for many special purpose athletic fields, plus tennis courts, outdoor basketball courts, volleyball courts, etc., etc. And if you have that much space, there is ample space for s stadium, a performing arts facility, and parking for all. One reason was that the earthquake-proof buildings required in the state used to be single story. But in recent years the codes can be met with two- and three-story buildings. If you have a hard time imagining a high school campus of that size in, say, San Francisco, you have company. They simply aren't that big, not even close, and still get the job done. Locally, La Jolla High used to take up a mere eleven acres, and it is highly regarded. So, it may be very possible to get state clearance for a high school campus that is much smaller than 52 acres. But there's another trend afoot. Public school enrollment isn't growing the way it did in the 80's, 90's, and 00's. Birth rates may be about the same as they were then, but two things are siphoning students away. Many folks are now convinced that they need to pay tuition to a private or parochial school in order to get a decent education for their kids, and they pay plenty for it, often more than they can afford. The other phenomenon is charter schools which are cranking up and cherry-picking the students who are easiest to educate. While publicly funded, they are not legally permitted to pick and choose students, but they do, using some ingenious tricks. It is quite possible that all that growth of housing units will not require all that much additional school capacity after all. A few years back, Escondido was on the road to getting a fourth high school. Then, after reviewing growth projections the district scaled the fourth school to a smaller "academy" type of operation. Vista Unified, which had a crying need for a third high school, finally built one, out on the edge of town. (It had needed to address the high school overcrowding problems early on, but didn't get around to it until six new elementary campuses were constructed, and one new middle school.) That third high school now caters to interdistrict transfers as much as to those who reside in the district, and the other two high schools are dealing with reduced enrollment. The future needs in Chula Vista may not be as severe as many fear.— September 12, 2017 3:18 p.m.
Feds get J. Douglass Jennings Jr. to confess
I'd guess that any funds or other wealth he managed to hide in Bankruptcy are long gone. So, to stay out of jail he would have to find some way to pay his criminal defense attorney(s). That he was an attorney doesn't mean he knows squat about criminal defense. The practice of law nowadays is very specialized and compartmentalized. To stop the misery, he and wife cop pleas. She'll probably avoid jail. He might get a short term in one of the nearby "country club" federal slammers. And hey, three hot meals, a cot, and some medical/dental care might be a welcome respite from his anxiety-ridden current existence. It wasn't more than two or three months ago that I heard, for a week or two, some AM radio ads from the "Jennings Tax" group done by Mark Larson. He made a personal testimonial about the approach taken by Jennings wherein you decide how much tax you want to pay, and the firm then devises a strategy to make it happen. Yeah, right! Isn't it amazing how long some of these grifters, and those who aid and abet them, can keep these things going?— September 11, 2017 7:55 p.m.
Meth-troubled dad faces court dates
It is quite possible that the abused woman is the one who raises his bail. Or he has family members who can afford that. He's scary in that he came close to being killed during a home invasion. Home invasions can turn tragic and deadly, usually for the victims. Keeping your doors, and windows if possible, locked after dark is a very good practice.— September 10, 2017 1:36 p.m.
Meth-troubled dad faces court dates
Eva, I'm glad to see you put "transient" in quotes in the story. That term has been abused and used wrongly for decades. Some time back, it was used to describe homeless folks. I digress. How is it that this "transient" jailbird can come up with $6500 for the bail bondsman? He comes across as bad news all the way around. As to his previous treatment in the criminal justice system, he got off very easy. I'd assume everyone associated with that plea bargain figured he'd learn his lesson and behave. Whatever he learned didn't avoid a whole new string of offenses. This time we can hope that our new DA will take a tougher stance, and not cop a plea like the last one. But don't count on that. He has so many different charges pending that it is hard to keep them all straight. Keep us posted on this one.— September 10, 2017 noon
Breaking Bad: Clairemont edition
This situation may be typical of what is happening in many of the older, central neighborhoods in San Diego. In other words, the city may be in far worse condition than many of us imagine. Not only are the streets, water mains, sewers, parks, and beaches a mess, the crime level in the whole place could be out of control. Decades of poor police leadership and city attention paid to everything other than quality of life for the taxpayers and residents is coming home to roost. And no matter what is done, the city will get worse, far worse, before it gets better, IF it ever improves.— September 9, 2017 9:14 p.m.
Petco's rat problems mount
When Petco prevailed in that suit, I was surprised. Now we are hearing more about how that happened, and that an appeal is underway. My take is that the plaintiffs have strong grounds to make an appeal go their way. On a personal note, I cannot imagine why anyone would want a rat for a pet. Hey, I spend money on pest control to get rid of them, keep them out of the attic, and make my life more pleasant.— September 9, 2017 9:13 a.m.