SD unemployment rises in January as jobs decline
Not surprisingly, retail jobs account for one-third of job loss
The San Diego County unemployment rate was 8.6% in January, up from a revised 8.2% in December and below the 9.5% of a year earlier. The county lost 22,000 jobs between December and January, 7,500 of which were in retailing, …
Little cookies, long story at El Cuervo
Hillcrest taco shop serves shortbread cookies with history baked in.
I don’t usually go to El Cuervo (110 West Washington Street, Hillcrest, 619-295-9713) because it’s very average and on the wrong side of the street. Really, it’s virtually identical to Los Panchos--both restaurants even use the same style of menu …
Trials and tribulations: State wants to charge $10 fee for public to view court files
New proposal is included in a bill from the Judicial Branch
A recent proposal from California's Judicial Branch gives a whole new meaning to the term 'trials and tribulations'. In this case, the tribulations do not come at the expense of defendants or the accused but on journalists and members of …
More than 200,000 travelers expected in Baja California for Easter
Annual tourists expected to continue in large numbers for Semana Santa
The state of Baja California expects up to a quarter million travelers to visit tourists destinations during Easter week, which is known as Semana Santa in Mexico. According to Juan Tintos Funcke, head of the Ministry of Tourism, the state …
New York Times cites LPL's regulatory problems
Brokerage sells high-commission non-traded REITs, among other things
San Diego-based LPL Financial has grown into the nation's fourth largest brokerage firm with 13,300 brokers, 6,500 offices and 4.3 million customers -- but "a growing list of problems with regulators," notes the New York Times in a story this …
Snooze you can use: Ping Pong tonight at Snooze, Hillcrest!
The breakfast eatery is staging its 2nd annual ping pong face-off. No food, plenty of booze
Hot news tonite! 5:00 p.m. [Friday 3/22] at Snooze, the pretty-new Hillcrest breakfast place (3940 5th Avenue, Hillcrest, 619-500-3344)... http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/mar/22/42388/ ...they’re holding their Second Annual Ping Pong contest, with a three-foot-tall trophy topped by a table-tennis bat for the winner …
Danielle LoPresti battling stage III non-Hodgkins lymphoma cancer.
Her band is "taking a break indefinitely until Danielle is restored back to full health"
"Life wildly turns, and sometimes it wraps around our hunger, to teach from the burn..." - "Run With It," Danielle LoPresti http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/mar/21/42385/ "Two months ago, Danielle was diagnosed with Stage III Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma cancer," according to a statement circulated today …
Papa Doug's son says he is for same-sex marriage
Says his father now regrets the funds he provided to Prop. 8
The Austin Chronicle, in an article that was picked up here, confused Douglas F. "Papa Doug" Manchester, founder of Manchester Financial Group, with his son, Douglas W. Manchester, president of the Manchester Texas Financial Group. The young Manchester emailed the …
Hasta La Vista, Chicano Park?
Following report that Coronado Bridge is "structurally deficient," City announces plan to replace "outdated, crumbling supports"
City Planner Bill Whiteman: "Those murals are great and all, but all the pretty paint in the world can't cover over our responsibility to keep users of the Coronado bridge as safe as possible. Transportation for America rated our bridge …
Quail Brush, Pio Pico turned down, but....
Door seems to open for SDGE to try again for new plants
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), meeting today (March 21), turned down Quail Brush and Pio Pico power plants that San Diego Gas & Electric (SDGE) has been pushing for. San Diegans have expressed strong opposition to both plants, and …
Is sealpunching the new bumfighting?
Videos of abuse at La Jolla Children's Pool selling for $100 on underground websites
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/mar/21/42359/ Scene from Sealpunch III: Pound Puppies, available at internetgloryhole.com "Discover the hot sealpunching action that the government doesn't want you to see!" reads the ad for the red-hot Sealpunch series of videos. The line is a reference to Mayor …
Tentatively, judge sides with Filner in TMD dispute
Oral arguments to be heard Friday
Superior Court Judge Timothy Taylor today (March 21) turned down the request of the Tourism Marketing District (TMD) to force Mayor Bob Filner to sign an operating agreement that would provide $30 million annually for tourism promotion from a 2% …
There goes the neighborhood
Real estate prices plummet around "drone prone" La Mesa mosque
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/mar/21/42358/ THINKING ABOUT RELOCATING SOMEWHERE LESS "SUBURBAN," LA MESA - If you ask Will Strikefirst, regional director of Drone-Related Operations for National Emergencies (DRONE), he will tell you that there are absolutely no plans to reduce the Al-Rribat Al-Islmai mosque …
Cannabazaar: A Tribute to Cannabis Culture
Normal Heights gallery ArtLab celebrates the sweet leaf
Willie Nelson once said: “Federal and state laws (should) be changed to no longer make it a crime to possess marijuana for private use.” Just kidding. That was Richard Nixon. Seriously. The 37th president of the United States of America, …
Bowery boy Scorsese pens impassioned plea to preserve old neighborhood
It was the first story to cross the transom this morning. Groggy me reached for the nearest pair of Big!Lots readers in order to make sure my eyes weren't playing tricks and that Marty had not announced plans to resurrect …
Mother kills two young daughters, then self, in Rosarito
Daughters 7 and 9 gagged then hung
Playas de Rosarito police discovered two young girls murdered in their home in the evening of Wednesday, March 20th. The victims, 7 and 9 year old sisters, were found gagged with tape and hung by rope. The 45 year old …
U.S. Border Patrol is still thinking about it
Two off-duty agents survived a public fight and then trial for battery
This morning, March 21, 2013, the United States Border Patrol stated: “Agent Helwig and Agent Torello are on administrative duties pending an internal investigation.” This appears to be the same status they have had since June of 2012. Ten months …
Women In Jazz this sunday
Allison Adams Tucker on the problems with putting an all-female jazz group together, gender in jazz, and why smooth jazz chick saxists are too cute
"It started with SWAN (it stands for Support Women Artists Now) Day in La Jolla." It's Allison Adams Tucker on the phone to chat up her Women In Jazz show. She explains how, exactly, she became involved. "They had events …
Phuong Trang
Inexpensive Vietnamese family-style dining in Kearny Mesa.
Following a tip from a friend of mine (he’s a scientist!), I took a little group up to Kearny Mesa to visit Phuong Trang (4170 Convoy Street, 858-565-6750). Reportedly, it’s one of the best Vietnamese family restaurants in the area. …