Some suspended for periods, too

San Diego County lawyers have been disciplined by the State Bar of California. Thomas William Smith of Oceanside was placed on two years of probation and suspended from practice for 30 days for failing to perform legal services for 15 …

Victims not named. Details not released

The Union-Tribune and local TV stations are reporting that former Mayor Bob Filner pleaded guilty this morning to one criminal count of false imprisonment by violence, fraud, menace and deceit, and two misdemeanor battery counts. Further details have not been …

Eastern Indigo Snake could thwart its expansion plans

As reported here since 2004, Scripps Institute in North Palm Beach has been setting records for corporate welfare. Beginning in 2003, La Jolla's Scripps Research Institute wangled a $600 million subsidy from the State of Florida to set up a …

In July, AG asked for documents from San Diego's Bridgepoint

The California Attorney General's office filed suit today (Oct. 10) against Corinthian Colleges, a Santa Ana-based for-profit university, accusing the company of false advertising, misrepresentations to students, and securities fraud. Corinthian identified its core demographic with words such as "isolated," …

Ignores staff's negative recommendation

The California Coastal Commission this afternoon (Oct. 10) approved the proposed expansion of the convention center. The commission's staff had recommended the project be turned down, greatly because it would block access to the bay. But the commission decided that …

Say glut won't hit San Diego. But local center already slashing prices

Local convention center expansion touts are saying in media that the glut of convention center space around the nation shouldn't hurt San Diego, because it is such a desirable location. Carol Wallace, head of the center, said in some publication …

Will show up at Coastal Commission meeting on convention center expansion

The executive director of the Coalition for Fair Employment in Construction, which represents non-union construction workers, will show up at the Coastal Commission hearing today to try to show how unions abuse the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) to win …

Bar reinstates him after suspension

Kerry Steigerwalt, who once ran the most heavily advertised law firm in San Diego, has been reinstated by the State Bar of California. As of Oct. 6, he is eligible to practice law again, according to Bar records. His address …

Audited figures contain digital, branded data that inflate results

Since the 19th century, publications have been required to reveal their ownership in a United States Postal Service report. Since 1960, that report has had to include information about circulation, too. Monday (Oct. 7), the Union-Tribune printed its postal service …

Former U-T owner got $88 million for collapsing firm, say plaintiffs

Beverly Hills-based Platinum Equity, a private equity firm that formerly owned the U-T, is being sued for phony accounting it allegedly employed to pump up earnings of an allegedly dying company it was selling. The suit was filed in Philadelphia …

But ResMed gets big part of its revenue from government programs

Peter Farrell, founder and executive chairman of San Diego's ResMed, maker of sleep equipment, is quoted in afr.com, the Australian Financial Review, saying that the partial U.S. government shutdown is positive for business. "Any time you can stop any government …

Leaves CNBC, rejoins TheStreet.com, but will still do TV

Herb Greenberg, who recently left CNBC as senior stocks commentator, is moving back to San Diego with his wife. They will live in North County. He will rejoin TheStreet.com as editor of Herb Greenberg's Reality Check, a subscription newsletter focusing …

Furloughed 400,000 to return to work next week

In a surprise announcement today (Oct. 5), Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel said he will recall to work next week almost all of the 400,000 Defense Department civilian employees who had been sent home when the government shut down, according …

Will gut insides of $24.75 million ocean-front home, says gossip columnist

San Diego-based motivational speaker Anthony (Tony) Robbins will shell out $8 million to $10 million upgrading the $24.75 million Palm Beach home he bought earlier this year. The house is only a year old. This is reported by Jose Lambiet's …

Biotech cooked up price-capping scheme, says shareholder suit

A shareholder has filed a derivative action against biotech Sequenom in federal court, according to Courthouse News Service. The suit claims that doctors were hesitant to prescribe the company's prenatal test for Down Syndrome because insurers were reluctant to pay …

Appeals court can't believe it. He's on his way to prison

Bryan Laurienti was a broker for the now (mercifully) defunct Hampton Porter brokerage house, one of San Diego's smelliest, which went out of business a dozen years ago. According to Courthouse News Service, the 9th Circuit appeals court ruled that …

Qualcomm will love it but domestic engineers will not

In an article in the Washington DC publication The Hill, North County Congressman Darrell Issa and former San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders, now head of the local Chamber of Commerce, give hoorays for the H-1B program, by which foreign residents …

Her former boyfriend got less than half that Friday

Former San Diegan Mary Armstrong, mastermind of a $100 million mortgage scam that generated almost $15 million in kickbacks, was sentenced today (Sept. 30) to 100 months in prison. Her former boyfriend, William Fountain, Friday got 42 months. Armstrong, Fountain, …

Military, including contracting, is 22% of local economy

The presence of the military and aerospace/defense contracting add up to 22% of the San Diego economy, says Kelly Cunningham, economist for the National University System Institute for Policy Research. If the government shuts down tonight -- as seems quite …

The commission considers the matter Oct. 10

In a 24-page report, the staff of the California Coastal Commission recommended a "No" vote on the planned $520 million convention center expansion. The commission will take up the matter at a meeting Oct. 10. " The [proposal] will result …