Year to date hotel occupancy rates are actually up in San Diego, despite missed marketing opportunity
Report shows that occupancy rates so far this year actually rose by 2 percent compared to the same time last year.
Hotel occupancy is down in San Diego. In a March 25 article in the UT San Diego, Joe Terzi from San Diego's Tourism Authority placed most of the blame on Mayor Bob Filner and his decision to hold off on …
SD average home prices top metro areas' yearly gain
San Diego values up 9.8% year over year
Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price values for January, released this morning (March 26), show San Diego County values rising 9.8% over the last year, topping the average of 8.1% for the 20 largest metro areas. However, from December to January, …
Home sales volume increasing, but still short of last year's pace
Rising values mean more borrowers avoid short sales
The total number of existing homes under contract to be sold rose last month as compared to January, but sales numbers still lag behind 2012 averages, according to a new report from the industry trade group California Association of Realtors, …
Prosecutor: Marine admitted killing in his handwritten journal
“Murder is justice” written on the first page
Investigators found a composition notebook labeled “personal journal of Kevin Coset” and on the first handwritten page the writer specifically admitted killing Alvin Bulaoro, according to evidence presented in San Diego’s North County Courthouse today. NCIS special agent Jason Keller …
Monkey see, monkey brew: Center City’s Monkey Paw
For Guinness’ sake: Straight burger and no monkey business!
Yeah yeah yeah. It was the Jewel Box and now it’s Monkey Paw. Apart from that, same crowd, same sunset blinding everybody looking out the front door. http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/mar/26/42545/ http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/mar/25/42534/ Big difference: beers. They make half of them right here, in …
Jury favored acquittal for Fallbrook man accused in death of toddler
Mistrial declared today in 8-year-old case charged as fatal child abuse
The jury was deadlocked with the vote at 9 to 3 favoring acquittal, for a 29-year-old Fallbrook man charged with murder in the death of a toddler, 8 years ago. Public defenders are predicting that all charges will be dropped …
Owners of dogs that killed housecleaner will not be charged
Five dogs were destroyed and three dogs from the Fallbrook home were adopted out
There will be no charges brought against the owners of eight dogs that reportedly caused the death of a housecleaner in Fallbrook last year, according to a spokesman with the San Diego County Department of Animal Services. “After a thorough …
Rez Abbasi Trio: March 31
Expect sparks to fly when the guitarist performs with fellow New Yorker, SatoshiTakeishi and SD bass great Mark Dresser.
Bonnie Wright's Fresh Sound @ Space 4 Art concludes this month with a bang by virtue of a performance from the Rez Abbasi Trio on March 31, at 8 pm. Abbasi won #2 Rising Star Guitarist in the Down Beat …
Faulconer returns with new ordinance banning oversized vehicles and trailers on City streets
Options include a pilot program as well as a citywide ordinance.
Councilmember Kevin Faulconer is back in the driver's seat, hoping to steer San Diego closer to an ordinance that would regulate parking RV's, boats, and trailers on city streets. Faulconer has tried for years to get oversized vehicles off the …
Hollywood 'wiggers'
A brief pictorial (or in the case of Marky Mark, pectoral) history of 'wiggers' on film
Don't kill the messenger. I no sooner coined the term "wigger" than D.W. Griffith invented racism for The Birth of a Nation. Urban Dictionary defines wigger as, "A male caucasion (SIC), usually born and raised in the suburbs that displays …
City ethics commission won't release Maas investigation documents
Executive director turns down public records act request for emails and other material, saying, "Commission could decide to re-open a closed matter"
It's without a doubt San Diego's most sensational political story so far this year: yesterday's UT San Diego exclusive about developer Fred Maas and his efforts to dig up and publicize alleged dirt about then-GOP city councilman Carl DeMaio in …
Florida Gulf Coast University sends crate of glass slippers to defeated SDSU men's basketball team
Coach Fisher wonders, "How did they find 'em in our boys' size?"
After 15th-seeded Florida Gulf Coast University knocked off 7th-seeded San Diego State University in Sunday's NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament action (and 2nd-seeded Georgetown just two nights before), the Azuls apparently celebrated by doing a little shopping. Today, a crate containing …
Hot time in the old vice district this Wednesday
Free vibrators to be given out at Stingaree hot spot
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, pimps and prostitutes prowled San Diego's Stingaree district south of Broadway, roughly bounded by 1st and 5th Streets, and Market and K. This Wednesday, March 27, more modern forms of pleasures of …
Over 10 tons of drugs seized in Baja California Sur
5 tons of crystal meth and 5 tons of marijuana confiscated near San Ignacio
More than ten tons of narcotics were seized over the weekend near the remote Baja California Sur town of San Ignacio. The Ministry of National Defense released information regarding the seizure on Sunday, March 24th, but did not disclose the …
Smart vs. Dumb Growth
Former mayor sues Escondido over alleged misappropriation of funds
City spent $20,000 advocating for two ballot measures in November 2012 election
Former Escondido Mayor Jerry Harmon is suing the city, its sitting mayor Sam Abed, the city council, and a handful of other officials, claiming the group illegally used public funds to promote two ballot propositions last November. Prior to the …
Weinstein Company announces plan to distribute Salinger doc
Privacy, meet publicity
Harvey Weinstein is surely one of the greatest huckster-hustlers Hollywood has ever known, and possibly the best Oscar campaigner ever. He is a past master at pushing his product under everybody's nose. Pretty much the exact, total, polar opposite of …
Assassins at Cygnet Theatre
When Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman wrote their musical collage about presidential assassins, they wanted it to be as audacious as possible. But, Sondheim wrote, "audacious is an inch away from smartass." Assassins is that too. The musical links nine …
Las Morelianas Carnitas Estilo Michoacan
Michoacan-style carnitas in City Heights
Las Morelianas (3645 University Avenue, 619-521-2891) is just into City Heights, but it feels much more removed than that. Everything is rough around the edges, from the construction to the service to the clientele. Not rough as in dangerous, rough …
Mayor Filner's Special Events Committee collects cash to pay down State of the City and Inaugural Events
The committee received more than $6,000 from Bridgepoint Education, Republic Services, and SDG&E
Mayor Bob Filner's State of the City address and inauguration event were brought to you, in part, by Bridgepoint Education, waste-management company Republic Services, and San Diego Gas and Electric, according to a new disclosure filed by Mayor Bob Filner …