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
Picket at Sweetwater trustee Cartmill's home
Just take care that you and your message would not get co-opted, undermined or lost in the shuffle. You would need someone very adept at moderating to handle something of this nature.— January 20, 2014 5:13 p.m.
Picket at Sweetwater trustee Cartmill's home
How is Cartmill's heart going to be changed? He must be in a state of denial. I think that years ago he disassociated himself from the goings on in Sweetwater...he goes through the motions, goes along with each and every scheme and scam and tries to pretend to himself that everything is ok. Except it isn't. I really do not think that anyone can get to Cartmill, or what is left of him, because he must have walled himself off decades ago. Whatever kernel remains must be inert by this time. What a shame. And yet he still has the temerity to "guide" others. Well, Jim, surprise me. Surprise us all. Find your lost integrity and see what it tells you to do, if it still draws breath.— January 19, 2014 10:16 p.m.
Picket at Sweetwater trustee Cartmill's home
We are paying Ed Brand his $250K plus benefits because his scams are still in motion, and his puppets are still in place. His greed is boundless, his wrongdoing equally so. His behavior is a slap in the face to all those who believe in public education. If anyone reading really wants to think about it, Ed Brand seems to be determined to destroy this district. Why, we ask? He must feel that we who live here deserve nothing but contempt, that we deserve to be robbed blind. How can such arrogance go unchecked? Unstopped?— January 19, 2014 6:46 p.m.
Picket at Sweetwater trustee Cartmill's home
RE: "Whose job is it to watch the Mello bank" There is no entity created by the Mello-Roos legislation that is in a supervisory capacity regarding the funds that are garnered from all the districts. There is no oversight. All the Mello-Roos districts are supposed to be clear in their plans and projects, and all information is supposed to be available to the public. Except in Sweetwater this does not happen. Sweetwater is the Black Hole that vacuums up all sorts of funding with nary an explanation to be given or had. Obviously this is not the way things should be run.— January 19, 2014 6:15 p.m.
Picket at Sweetwater trustee Cartmill's home
That's one of the issues. Another is the standard for bus drivers and buses has not been upheld. Drivers are certified for various types of driving, and Sweetwater has a habit of ignoring such things. Further, I am sure if you really look, there will be other violations to be found, as upkeep and maintenance dollars have been spent on pet projects, not where they were supposed to be spent. In fact, Sweetwater's financial history is a bit of a mystery--approx. $100 million in missing funds...where does it all go? Who gets the benefit from it? Not the students. Not the teachers.— January 19, 2014 2:23 p.m.
Picket at Sweetwater trustee Cartmill's home
You are right, anniej--more gamesmanship from the bunch that wouldn't know how to be honest if their lives depended on it. It is disgusting to see their contempt for the public, for the teachers, for the students--for all the tenets and goals of having an educated populace. This bunch is very pleased to keep the public uneducated, uninformed and paying through the nose for all their whims. This needs to end, and soon.— January 18, 2014 11:23 p.m.
No process yet to replace Sweetwater trustee Ricasa
Sometimes I think the UT hides the articles--you can only find it via the Watchdog link, and then you need to page down. It doesn't appear on any feeds that I can see. Sort of the way some Sweetwater articles become difficult to see rather quickly.— January 18, 2014 8:54 a.m.
No process yet to replace Sweetwater trustee Ricasa
Apparently that $50,000 loan from a few years back bought Cartmill's undying loyalty. Guess that was just another good deal for Ed Brand.— January 18, 2014 8:30 a.m.
No process yet to replace Sweetwater trustee Ricasa
There is a great deal more than the old charge. Apparently there is wiretap evidence of attempted conspiracy, outright admission of guilt by Paul, etc. Read carefully!— January 17, 2014 4:24 p.m.
No process yet to replace Sweetwater trustee Ricasa
Having recently read about more investigations in San Ysidro (U-T article), I am wondering if the heat is on in Sweetwater. There is enough to look into, certainly, what with missing funds which could total around $100 million. About half of that is from the Teacher's Retirement Fund...you'd think that might make a difference when it comes to disbursements. The remaining portion of the missing funds is from Mello-Roos, which is why as taxpayers we need answers. That money could be used and should be used how it was intended to be used: for the schools in the Mello-Roos districts. Not iPADS or what Ed Brand's latest kick happens to be.— January 16, 2014 11:41 p.m.