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OSH - another big box first for San Marcos
Gee whiz! Lowe's gives up on San Marcos about three years ago, and is now baaaack with another operation. These retailers really make a person wonder about their management. OSH was one of those later acquisitions by Sears, one that it never should have made. While its own retail, mall-oriented stores were struggling (actually they were and are failing), Sears was buying up such things as OSH and Lands End. But at the same time, Sears was selling off its successful financial services operations to raise cash. OSH is one of few of the home center chains in the 60's model that survives. Hechinger, Angels/HandyDan, the many Cooper operations, San Diego's own Handyman, and Ernst Malmo, all are but a memory. Home Depot drove them all out of business or BK. It will be most interesting to see just what OSH offers, and if I'll bother to go there more than once or twice. I sure could use something closer and more convenient than Lowe's or Home Depot.— April 8, 2017 12:09 p.m.
Grand jury cites San Diego garbage trucks breaking trash bins
This is so typical of the city. Trash bins cannot last forever; the plastic hardens over time, and the effects of weather exposure, especially sunlight, takes a toll. That's what the world used to call "fair wear and tear". So, why does the resident have to cough up $95 for a new one? In my city we pay a monthly fee to the trash collection company, but when a bin gives out, a telephone call will get a replacement with no mention of a special charge. Oh, I almost forgot that residents of the city of SD don't have to pay for trash collection, except when . . . But if it is free of charge, it is free of charge, isn't it? Not in good ol' San Diego. Words there mean just exactly what the pols want them to mean. Lastly, with all the excuses proffered about why this is occurring, has anyone questioned the role of the truck drivers? Those arms or lifters, although automated, aren't robotic. There's a guy in the cab of the truck who operates it. I'd guess that the patience and technique of the driver can make a huge difference in the damage done to bins. Time for more training? I'd say so. Hey, Kev, how about some effort in this forgotten corner of city government?— April 7, 2017 7:19 p.m.
Ghost streetlights cost taxpayers, benefit SDG&E
If any residents of San Diego are wondering why there's no money to repair the streets, repair the water mains, repair the sewer lines, maintain the parks and libraries, etc., this is part of the answer. It goes farther than just SDGE, probably to most of the larger suppliers of goods and services. Decades of poorly run city government bureaucracy is now having its payoff. The city is broke, spends like a drunken sailor on pet projects of the council members and city big wigs, and then has nothing left to handle basics.— April 6, 2017 3:46 p.m.
Grace Brethren Church in Clairemont to subdivide property
My first reaction was that 5,000 square foot houses in Clairemont didn't sound at all correct, and it wasn't. A careful read of the story revealed that the LOTS would be that size or larger. They aren't planning for Rancho Santa Fe-sized homes there at all. The headline writer needs to revisit this story and redo the sub-headline.— April 6, 2017 7:41 a.m.
The challenge of Highway 79 between I-8 and Julian
Well yes, Alex. That was what I was getting at, but you stated it more clearly than I did. We have a major shortfall in the state now, in that the roads, highways, and freeways are handling far more traffic than they were ever designed to carry. Worse yet is the use by heavy cargo trucks that run right up to the max weight limits imposed by the state. Then the drivers, under the gun to keep tight schedules, drive those rigs like they are Camaros or Mustangs or BMWs. Right at the top speed that will keep the rig on the road, tailgating slower-moving cars, and impatient with every delay, they pound those old highways into rubble.— April 5, 2017 8:20 p.m.
La Jolla Shores neighbors propose gating new development, worry about drainage
Ponz, I tend to lean the other way, as you and others may have guessed over the years, but I have a question. Who was worse, Schenk or her bitter opponent, "The Susan" Golding? They both had men/supporters who were trying to buy their way into office. Both had spotty or worse records when in office. Susan had two wasted terms as mayor when she showed no leadership in any way, and set the city on its current downward spiral of neglected infrastructure, decayed streets, and an utterly dysfunctional police department. I look back at the history of political rivalry of those women as the War of the Wicked Witches of the West. Rather than parking in that space, others might have allowed Schenk to park there, and then vandalized her car. But, hey, who remembers those people other than us old-timers?— April 5, 2017 8:05 p.m.
La Jolla Shores neighbors propose gating new development, worry about drainage
What a quaint, old-fashioned idea: buy a lot and have a house built, one that's to your liking. In this over-controlled era with its demands for conformity to schemes and styles, that just won't do. No, prior to approval of subdivisions, every detail usually has to be reviewed, leaving no room for deviation. It will be interesting to know just what actually ends up being built. Lots like that are usually overdeveloped, leaving little unused land around them.— April 4, 2017 5:15 p.m.
Under Faulconer, credit card abuse roils city hall
Is there any campaign promise that was made by Kev-boy that he's actually kept? He'll go down in city history as the "all talk, no walk" mayor who actually did nothing to alter the status quo in a positive direction. All the talk about infrastructure upgrades (e.g. fixing the crumbling streets) has come to naught; those things are worse now than when he took office.— April 4, 2017 3:03 p.m.
The challenge of Highway 79 between I-8 and Julian
Why do they call Cal 79 a "freeway"? While it is a state highway for sure, none of the things required of a freeway are there. It isn't limited-access, it is curvy, it is narrow, and is only two lanes.) It is an old highway that was intended for light use back when it was built decades ago. Now it gets far more use and many more heavy trucks than ever, all of which can erode the shoulders. (That's what the "sides" are called in road talk.)— April 3, 2017 3:14 p.m.
Six local accountants, firms disciplined
We might have thought, in fact I did think, that the "corporate capital punishment" of Arthur Anderson after Enron would have scared all the others straight. But just a few years later we had the financial crisis, a crisis that should have been prevented by rigorous audits. Most auditors are nerds, and one failing many of them have is not being able to see the woods for the trees. They will concentrate on niggling details while the management is hauling millions away under cover of night.— April 3, 2017 9:26 a.m.