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February 28, 2024

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News & Politics Neighborhood News News Ticker Under the Radar

Food & Drink Beverage News Booze News Drinks All Around Feast! San Diego Beer Tin Fork

Movies Big Screen Movie Archives Movie Reviews Movies@Home

Happenings Fishing Report Outdoors Reader Travel Roam-O-Rama Surf Diego Theater Your Week

Music Blurt Classical Music The Gonzo Report Live Five Musician Interviews Of Note Upcoming Shows

Comics Famous Former Neighbors Obermeyer Overheard in San Diego

Archives Reader by issue date Today’s stories All of the latest stories

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 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

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

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February 28, 2024

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Ken Leighton

Ken Leighton is a Reader contributor. See staff page for published articles.

Oceanside councilwoman doesn't live at 815 North Pacific Street

The city of Oceanside just announced through city clerk Zeb Navarro that the District Attorney's office is now looking into it. I do not think the city would announce that if it was standing behind Kori Jensen. It appears (but we know for sure tomorrow night) that Ms. Jensen has lost the support of at least one of the councilmen who voted for her, and that city management does noes seem willing to back her. It seems likely that once she resigns, the council will vote to hold an election to avoid another dumpster fire. The council can not un-appoint her or reverse her swearing in. All the city can do is try to convince her to resign. Unless she resigns, nobody can force anything until and unless she is convicted in a court of law and that could take a long time.
— February 2, 2021 8:39 p.m.

Oceanside's Michelle Gomez sues ex-workers for libel and gets some to back off

If you would like to see the well-documented, fact-filled, 49-page document "Argument to Not Endorse Michelle Gomez for City Council 2020" that was distributed to members of the San Diego County Democrat Central Committee, please go to https://www.facebook.com/groups/1587734424857871/ There is a separate post about it not far from the top, or you can go to "Files" tab at top and then click "argument"
— October 28, 2020 11:16 a.m.

Cavalier Mobile Home owners vs. the rest of the neighborhood

OPD information officer Tom Bussey of the OPD just got back to me. He said that no one has filed any complaints with the OPD re threatened violence or property damage against residents of the Stewart Street neighborhood. He said the only complaints involve parking on city streets and a high profile truck that took out some branches as it drove by. Either Jim was lying about the threat or he decided to not contact the police after he received this very serious threat.
— October 20, 2020 8:52 a.m.

Fire rings out in Oceanside – for good?

This is how Marco Gonzalez of Coast Law Group responded when I asked him about beach fire rings: "I have fought the removal of fire rings on the Balboa Peninsula in Newport Beach when removal was driven by rich white beachfront homeowners claiming that fire rings brought poor brown people to their beaches. On other beaches, I have supported removal of fire rings for general safety reasons (having seen early morning surfers with nails, glass cuts, and burrows hot coal burns). I believe we should allow small fires in portable containers (which are readily available these days), but fire rings should go unless fully managed (like at moonlight beach)."
— September 17, 2020 3:34 p.m.

Fixx Solutions housing not going in at Del Mar Fairgrounds

Board member Lisa Barkett never did get back to me. But fairgrounds assistant general manager Carlene Moore did, more than 24 hours after I first reached out to them. She emailed me Tuesday evening that the offer from FIXX Solutions was given to Barkett "unsolicited" and then she in turn passed it on to the fairgrounds staff. I certainly would have liked to know why she was the one that Fixx/Pink thought of when they thought about how best to access the Del Mar fairgrounds.
— July 28, 2020 10:22 p.m.

North County feral cat rescuers out on a limb

KB told me this morning she called the Humane Society and that she had two healthy animals she wanted to bring them. She said she spoke with Marissa. Upshot: she was told that the Oceanside shelter was not taking animals at this time. This is not what the shelter spokeswoman told me in her email. And she was the one who said that my story was untrue. I think there needs to be even more scrutiny on the contracts the shelter has with the City of Oceanside and other communities that specifically spell out, for instance, they must take stray animals. The spokeswoman was not telling me the truth. I will be communicating with the executive director to get answers for KB and other animal lovers who are getting dismissed.
— July 26, 2020 4:47 p.m.

North County feral cat rescuers out on a limb

Nina Thompson says there a lot of “untrue statements” in the article. Let’s take a look. Regarding the assertion that they are not a “no-kill shelter,’ the article clearly quotes Thompson’s exact words in response: ““No animals have been euthanized at San Diego Humane Society due to Covid-19. In fact [SDHS] has not euthanized a healthy or treatable shelter animal since 2002.” There is nothing unclear about that. She spent paragraphs two, three and four in her Facebook rant saying her quotes were not used. I don’t know how to tell you Ms. Thompson but your response is all there. Regarding the “closed operations” quote, the article clearly quotes you saying: “San Diego Humane Society never closed due to COVID-19. We have remained open through the entire pandemic." I have to say that that was the common perception from many in the rescue industry who feel that the shelter is closed and/or is letting them down. Besides Jenny Major and KB quoted in the article, considerer these who posted on-line: From Julie Asleigh: “No TNR at many shelters!! Which will likely increase the number of kittens born in the coming months. From Hannah Johnson: “Us picking up the slack for the shelters’ failures, yet the shelters are still receiving millions!” From Stephanie Levinson: “People can not drop at the shelter so many more sick on the street.” From Christine Casad Sollenberger: “Shelters closing has certainly been a big issue for people wanting to adopt.” One main point of the article is that the San Diego County Humane Society is no longer providing spay and neuter services to outside rescuers (like KB and Jenny), even as it maintains a massive staff of 18 Vice Presidents and Directors. Your rant did not address that key complaint posed by KB which was the point of the article.
— July 22, 2020 2:44 p.m.

How they pry Marines out of downtown Oceanside

I pointed out that the City of Oceanside no longer encourages military-oriented businesses to relocate out of downtown, so I am not sure the "pry Marines out of downtown" phrase in the headline reflects what is actually happening. Also, the fact that Sgt. Pope was able to resurrect the mostly-Marine barbershop business on Coast Highway also seems to indicate that there is no USMC uprooting. It does seem, however like all mom-and-pop small businesses may face the struggle going forward. Rents are going up for commercial as well as residential.
— July 6, 2020 10:55 a.m.

Del Mar Fair asks Orange County Fair for bail-out

The Orange County Fair Board did not make a decision at their June 25th meeting about issuing the $5million loan to Del Mar. They could decide to do so (or not do so) at their next, July 23 meeting. Meanwhile, a committee of two from the OC Board will teleconference July 7 with a committee of two from the Del Mar Board. No decision will be made at that time. A few current Del Mar Fair employees have written in, expressing their specific concerns about how the Del Mar Fair operation is handled. We will look into it.
— June 29, 2020 2:55 p.m.

Pro-China station broadcasting from Rosarito

It's Friday and AM 690 is still on the air. Either the operators of AM 690 are ignoring the demand (and getting away with it) or they provided the FCC with the information on the other entity that helps provide programming. I just asked the FCC what's up and have yet to hear back. Please know that Scott Kaplan is not being hired by 1090 to go back on the air. According to Bill Hagen, Kaplan is a partner with him in the new, "Mightier 1090". So that means he can not be kicked off his own station. And while Kaplan may be a hack at times, he is a driven, compelling radio talent. When everyone else says AM is dead, he and Hagen are daring to prove everyone wrong. It reminds me of the Pirate Radio guys in the 60s who were so committed to the pop music of the day, that they rented a ship and started broadcasting in international waters. Kaplan can be both bitchy and rude. But in this era of vanilla smooth-talkers, he stands out. I mean can anyone tell me what exactly is the point of Darren Smith?
— June 26, 2020 1:11 p.m.

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News & Politics Neighborhood News News Ticker Under the Radar

Food & Drink Beverage News Booze News Drinks All Around Feast! San Diego Beer Tin Fork

Movies Big Screen Movie Archives Movie Reviews Movies@Home

Happenings Fishing Report Outdoors Reader Travel Roam-O-Rama Surf Diego Theater Your Week

Music Blurt Classical Music The Gonzo Report Live Five Musician Interviews Of Note Upcoming Shows

Comics Famous Former Neighbors Obermeyer Overheard in San Diego

Archives Reader by issue date Today’s stories All of the latest stories

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 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

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

See all neighborhoods

February 28, 2024

See previous issues