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Shocker! CPUC unanimously thumbs down SDG&E
Can we safely assume that if the vote had gone the other way it would have been the end of it? If this sticks, it will represent a sea change in the CPUC. Corrupt or not, some highly visible decisions just have to be decided in one way. This was one of those. Try as they may, I doubt that the ratepayers can be stuck with that tab. But other, less visible and more technical matters can still be tilted toward the utilities. As to whether Sempra can challenge this decision in superior court, I had the impression that legal actions affecting CPUC had to be done at the appellate level. It should be an uphill battle for Sempra to prevail; the commission was established to evaluate evidence, consider financial implications, and rule. It wasn't designed to be second-guessed by courts. Failure to follow proper procedures and ignoring relevant evidence would be grounds for court involvement, but not the considered judgment of the five members. Yes, it will be interesting to see how it goes. And I think aardvark is right--this isn't the end of it.— November 30, 2017 2:58 p.m.
Car won from casino still undelivered
Agreed. This stuff about sovereignty is a historical artifact. Treaties with the tribes and bands have a defined meaning under the US Constitution. But around a century ago, the members of those tribes became citizens, and that should have ended the fiction that they were somehow sovereign too.— November 24, 2017 10:34 a.m.
Car won from casino still undelivered
The Indian bands get to have it both ways; sovereign when it suits them, and active in the local community (making election contributions) when that suits them. If they are sovereign, some of the rules about foreign involvement should apply, but do not now seem to have any relevance. But they cannot be sued, and don't have to follow federal, state, or local laws involving employment rights. I'd say that if you want to spend time on those reservations it would be a very good idea to remember that normal protections from injury, fraud, and who-knows-what-else are not there.— November 24, 2017 9:05 a.m.
Accused of shooting up fentanyl on the job
We all like to think that medical doctors are somehow superhuman, and we entrust them with vast discretion to use powerful medications. It's sobering (for us especially) to learn that many of them are very fragile humans. Doctors are supposed to know how to stay well, and if there is any group of professionals who should fear addiction, it is they. And yet, with the availability of opiates and opioids, there is a wide-open door for docs to get and abuse them. After his history of bouts of abuse, he's a poor risk for rehabilitation, and a poor risk to patients. A shame considering the cost and complexity of a medical education.— November 23, 2017 10:11 a.m.
SDG&E and AT&T’s turkey times
So Kev-boy and his charity gave away 700 turkeys, did they? Sounds like a bunch of birds, and it is, but at some wide-open event like that, a line of 1000 people could easily form before the handing-out ever started. If this were such a grandiose thing, think in the range of 7,000 turkeys. Forty-plus years ago I worked for a locally-based retailer that gave a turkey to every employee at Thanksgiving. Since you've long been able to buy the birds in narrow weight ranges, they decided to give ten pound turkeys. Using the usual rules of thumb, that would serve six, or at a stretch eight, with little or no leftovers. Generous? I leave that to you to determine. Some years later that retailer began to cut back. There was a time when it provided the turkey at T'giving, a ham at Christmas, a birthday cake upon one's birthday, and a company-paid picnic/party in the summer. Little by little they were whittled down the freebies to only one thing. The employees decided that the turkey was the favorite, and so that was the only such gift remaining. Some things are sacred, and a turkey for Thanksgiving is one of them. Just how much political benefit does Faulconer get out of handing out a few hundred turkeys? I don't claim to know.— November 22, 2017 5:20 p.m.
If there’s a vote on San Diego's convention center...
Convention centers are businesses, and in business location is often paramount. San Diego, for all its attractions, is not well-located. Virtually all the attendance at conventions and trade shows comes from one quadrant of the circular area surrounding the city. Very few come from points to the south, and to the west it is all ocean. Add that to the "flyover country" that is between SD and most points to the east and northeast, and you have a need to travel large distances. Chicago on the other hand emerged as the rail travel hub of the nation in the 19th century, and in the 20th century, as rail travel waned, emerged as a hub of airline activity. Today, for much of the nation, it is not all that far away, and has offered many big-city amenities and attractions for a long time. Add in the small, single runway "international" airport, and you have a picture of a distant and hard-to access city. (I will concede that SD does have better airline connections than might otherwise be expected for a metro area of its size.) In traveling around the US, whenever we mention being from the San Diego area, anyone who has visited here will exclaim that it is a "beautiful city." That often has me scratching my head, but I have to remind myself that typical tourists and conventioneers don't see the whole picture. If they stay downtown, the views from the convention center and the high-rise hotels are impressive, with blue water, blue sky and (usually) abundant sunshine. And it they don't go farther afield than the Zoo, Golden Triangle, and beaches up as far as La Jolla, they see attractive areas. But if they stray in other directions from the waterfront, some very bad looking areas are nearby. Think of Barrio Logan with its mixture of toxic industry, heavy truck traffic, mixed in with old housing. It may be an interesting area to see, but it's not beautiful. Could a competing convention facility in Chula Vista pull business away? It most surely would, but as far as civic beauty goes, the western side of CV isn't something all that attractive. There's a reason that the Chula Vista center hasn't been built yet; it would not pay off. Private investors want some assurance that they'll turn a profit when they invest, unlike public entities. All you have to do is look at convention attendance, note the downtrend, and decide to invest in something else.— November 22, 2017 8:55 a.m.
Alleged sex, lies, and genital moles
These classic union bosses are the cancer. Hard-working folks in the private sector now have few industries or companies they can work for that still have unions. So, they work hard and trust the union "leaders", and get screwed. This guy probably lost more jobs for his members than anyone else. The supermarket strike of about fifteen years ago was unnecessary, and accomplished little, except perhaps to secure his reputation as a tough guy. So, while he's out as a bigwig in the labor council, he still is the prez of the UFCW local, the one that has the supermarket workers in its membership. Only when he's gone, gone, gone will those folks be able to breathe easy.— November 21, 2017 3:49 p.m.
Protesters defy food-sharing ban in El Cajon
So the El Cajon cops looked the other way when they were passing out food parcels. This was right after the city government, i.e. city council, passed an ordinance to prohibit just that sort of activity. Whazzup with the PD? Not enough of them on duty to make a proper show of force (after all it was during the sanctified and historic parade) or some other reason? I'd guess it was to avoid embarrassment if they were arresting well-meaning folks during the iconic parade. Regardless of their motivations, if the council makes something a crime and the PD ignores it, someone has a big problem. I'd say the city manager (who works for that same council) had better tell the chief of police (who works for the city manager) to do his job and enforce the ordinance. Otherwise the council needs to repeal the ordinance and come up with a more politically acceptable way to deal with homelessness in their city.— November 20, 2017 7:35 p.m.
County unemployment falls, jobs gain
The way unemployment is measured is old-fashioned and crude. As to whether the figures ever were accurate is not clear. But now with all the folks who have given up trying, the underground economy (which is hard to see as legitimate employment), and the shame associated with being chronically unemployed, the stats are more suspect than ever. I simply cannot accept the notion that only one in twenty-five people out there who would want to work cannot find a job. Oh sure, as Ponzi says, the job growth has been in low-paid positions. It is true that more are working now than in a long time; that's easy to see by looking at the traffic congestion throughout the county. But I don't buy the idea that we're that close to full employment.— November 20, 2017 8:56 a.m.
Crudo on a Thursday: out of the foie gras, but not the sea bass
There must be a story of why the operation is named "Crudo." But even if it has some significance, it is just too close to "crud." And that's what your review seems to be saying it is.— November 19, 2017 9:45 a.m.