Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed
Big Screen — Movie commentary
Blurt — Music's inside track
Booze News — San Diego spirits
Classical Music — Immortal beauty
Classifieds — Free and easy
Close to Home — What it’s like on the street where you live
Cover Stories — Front-page features
Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes
Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts
Feast! — Food & drink reviews
Feature Stories — Local news & stories
Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore
From the Archives — Spotlight on the past
Golden Dreams — Talk of the town
The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it
Letters — Our inbox
Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites
Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans
Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists
Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news
News Ticker — News & politics
Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated
Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna
Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated
Poetry — The old and the new
Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers
Reading — The hunt for intellectuals
Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails
San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds
SD on the QT — Almost factual news
Sheep and Goats — Places of worship
Special Issues — The best of
Street Style — San Diego streets have style
Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves
Theater — On stage in San Diego this week
Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative
Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work
Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego
Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads
Your Week — Daily event picks
Local navy officer took bribes from Malaysian
The Navy has long taken great pride in its officers, seemingly demanding and getting the best people to do their best. That was sometimes in contrast to the other uniformed services. But now we are treated to stories of this deeply embedded corruption that had naval officers acting like cheap gangsters. At the same time, there are stories of the mismanagement of two of the new littoral ships, and the firings of their skippers. Worse yet, statistics released by the Navy about a year ago show that it is relieving ("firing") ever larger of officers when the engage in misconduct, or just fail to do their jobs. The Navy is getting a huge black eye with all this turmoil in its officer corps. Either it has been doing a great job of hiding these shortcomings until recently, or its selection and training criteria have slipped badly. I'd guess it is the latter.— October 14, 2016 10:06 p.m.
Layoffs at Stone Brewing
All the doublespeak coming out of Stone says nothing about these layoffs. The real reason is that there's a new guy at the helm, and he may have some strong likes and dislikes that manifest themselves in wanting to shed employees. If the company is really growing--and that's the real puzzle--why cut employees? If things are no worse than described by Engels, there was no need to cut expenses that way. No, Ian, there's more to the story, and Stone will keep it under wraps now and in the future.— October 14, 2016 8:03 p.m.
What got into Wells Fargo?
The abuses by Wells that we've heard about actually earned the bank nothing, and cost it plenty. They represent a current approach to business that pressures the front-line people to accomplish super-human goals. As I look at the accounts of the things that were done, all seem so obviously stupid and counterproductive that is hard to imagine how they started, let alone how they persisted. Did the guy at the top know? Maybe not. After setting the stage for these things, he might have just let field managers figure out how to make it happen. And they did, but not in any way that benefited anyone, except to keep the pressure off for a few more days, weeks, months or years. As to your anecdotal evidence, there are always cases of deaf management. For a long time we have avoided the big banks, dealing with a local credit union, and getting credit cards through offers, or other affiliations. For anyone seeking a local "bank", I'd strongly suggest finding a credit union. Steer clear of any of the big banks, and be skeptical of the smaller banks.— October 14, 2016 7:54 p.m.
Coastkeeper says water board sends wrong message
This analysis uses 2013 as a baseline for measuring water usage and relative savings. The order for this sharp cut in use came in early 2015. By that time it was obvious that we had a drought going, and many of us had already cut back, sometimes sharply. So, the percentage of reduction has much to do with the measuring stick, and saying that we are falling short of the goal may be true if we use 2013. Going back farther, even just a year, might yield a much more favorable report.— October 13, 2016 3:55 p.m.
Bernie Sanders dunned by National City
While they need to continue pursuing this bill, the city had best prepare itself to collect nothing at all. At the time, it was seen as some sort of honor to host the old boy. Our Rancho Buena Viista High also had a Bernie rally. Hmm. I wonder of the district and City of Vista ever got paid anything to cover their costs. And I wonder if they even asked for any payment.— October 11, 2016 9:30 p.m.
Feet, not commercials or mail, decide the vote
At one point, there is a quote, "We're not telling people which way to vote, or what candidate to vote for, but we are definitely encouraging them to get out and vote." Yet "The group is against Measure A, a proposed half-cent sales tax increase panned by multiple environmental organizations last month, and also opposes Measures C and D, which address a potential downtown stadium. They favor Measures K and L, which would end the automatic election of local primary candidates who receive more than 50 percent of the vote (as opposed to facing the second-highest ranking opponent in November) and place measures before voters on general election ballots rather than in primaries." So which is it folks? Are you just getting out the vote, or are you advocating? Sounds as if this has a definite agenda. Heck, it does have an agenda. Would anyone go to such lengths, effort and expense to just convince voters to vote, with no other motivation? That would be a scream if it were true. No, all these "get out the vote" efforts have a definite agenda-driven or party driven message, As in, "get out and vote for me, or for my friends or my propositions." This piece of crock is just that, a piece of crock.— October 10, 2016 8:08 p.m.
Will Wikileak on Hillary leave puddle?
Regardless of which one is elected, we can only hope that neither has the influence to damage the nation. And maybe we can hope that the choice is removed from office by constitutional methods, given the sleaze that either one would bring to the office.— October 9, 2016 5:33 p.m.
How to die with $60 million worth of the Chargers
"Spanos" misspelled above.— October 8, 2016 8:34 p.m.
How to die with $60 million worth of the Chargers
We may now understand why the next Pernicano generation lacked interest in keeping those Hillcrest restaurants open after the old guy gave up. And it might also explain why he (and apparently they) just let them sit there, in the prime location, and fade and decay. They were rich by having that small share of the team, and could afford to wait, and wait, and wait. Is the waiting over? Some egotist will probably want to buy that share, and the Soanos gang might even be willing to pay up big to get more of the pie.— October 8, 2016 4:51 p.m.
NFL's TV tumble and the stadium vote
The outsized popularity of pro football, and football in general, has had me mystified for a long time. Years ago I had neighbors who lived, breathed, and talked of nothing but the Chargers and the NFL. That was true during the season, and all the rest of the year. They seemed to have no lives beyond their spectator sport. We're seeing a sharp decline in the popularity of golf both as a participant activity and as a spectator sport. Other sports will see declines in coming years. Since the NFL has been riding the crest for decades, it now has nowhere to go but down. Will this vote be the shot heard round the world, or at least the US and the NFL? Sure hope so, and it that happens that way, will give SD some well-deserved renown as the city that finally said No.— October 8, 2016 4:44 p.m.