San Diego tourism lags other California coast metros
Local figures up moderately -- others up stoutly
April occupancy rates in San Diego County hotels dropped slightly from 71.1% in April of last year to 71% the same month this year. However, average daily room rate rose from $126.42 to $131.19, according to Smith Travel Research. For …
Carrier suit against U-T begins tomorrow
Carriers say they were misclassified as independent contractors
Preliminary matters in the case of newspaper carriers suing the Union-Tribune begin tomorrow (May 24) in the Superior Court department of Judge John S. Meyer. Persons who signed contracts with the U-T as home delivery carriers beginning in 2005 say …
Appeals court reinstates discrimination case against Ace Parking
Superior court wrongly dismissed racial, age discrimination complaints
Richard Hodges, an African American aged 63, claimed in a Superior Court suit that he was wrongfully terminated by Ace Parking in 2009, ostensibly because of a business slowdown, but actually as a result of racial and age discrimination, harassment, …
Tax preparer gets 15 years for stealing 292 identities, $515,000
He fled to Mexico, but returned to do more mischief -- and got nabbed
Tax preparer Neil Thomsen was sentenced today (May 22) to 15 years in prison. He was convicted in a jury trial in late 2011 of using 292 stolen identities to cheat the Internal Revenue Service of $515,000 in fraudulent tax …
Thomas Jefferson School of Law low in employment stats
More than one-third of 2012 grads unemployed
According to a story in the Sacramento Bee, 33.9% of 2012 graduates of San Diego's Thomas Jefferson School of Law were unemployed nine months after graduation. The data are from the American Bar Association. Jefferson had the highest unemployment rate …
FINRA fines LPL Financial for faulty email system
Over time, firm couldn't access hundreds of millions of emails
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has fined San Diego's LPL Financial $7.5 million and ordered it to deposit $1.5 million into an escrow account to establish a fund to make payments to customers in arbitrations or litigations against the …
San Diego home values continue soaring beyond nation's
Rent increases, though, are more subdued
San Diego County home values in April soared 19.7% from the year earlier, according to a report from Zillow.com today (May 21). Of the largest 30 metro areas, only five (San Francisco, Phoenix, Sacramento, San Jose and Columbus, Ohio did …
Sentences for defense, loan modification scams
A busy day in U.S. Attorney's office
Michael Tuisee, who worked in a medical warehouse at Camp Pendleton, was sentenced to six months in prison today (May 20) for stealing and reselling expensive medical equipment that was due to be shipped overseas to treat injured Marines. In …
Pot in pots, pepper pallets -- and tires
U.S. Customs made unusual marijuana haul Friday
Dogs of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection sniffed out three creative attempts to bring marijuana into the U.S. last Friday. At 4:45 p.m. a Mexican citizen tried to bring in 185 pounds of pot hidden in auto tires. Then …
Websense agrees to be purchased for $24.75 a share
Private equity firm Vista Equity Partners is the buyer
San Diego-based Websense, which specializes in software to protect organizations from cyber attacks and data theft, agreed to be purchased today (May 20) for $902.88 million, or $24.75 per share, up from Friday's closing of $19.23. The buyer is private …
April county unemployment drops sharply to 7%
Are San Diegans drinking more?
The April unemployment rate in the county dropped to 7% from 7.7% in March as the 2800 jobs were added, according to the California Employment Development Department. The rate for April a year ago was 8.6%, as the county gained …
Carlsbad broker suspended, fined for trust activity
After removing funds, Kent Houston didn't provide documentation to regulator
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (known as FINRA) has suspended Carlsbad's Kent Houston for two years and fined him $25,000 for failure to provide testimony, and additionally given him a consecutive one-year suspension and $50,000 fine for having outside business …
Suit alleges SEC wouldn't pursue Madoff-like probes
San Diego attorney Gary Aguirre handles whistleblower case
In late 2004, Kathleen Furey, a senior attorney in the New York office of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), started investigating a financial advisor who, she thought, might have violated the Investment Company Act of 1940 and the Investment …
San Diego has cleanest air in six decades
Despite population growth and more cars, smog level recedes
The United States Environmental Protection Agency announced today (May 16) that San Diego County is now breathing the cleanest air in more than six decades. The county has met the 1997 national air quality standard for smog, or ground-level ozone. …
Bridgepoint says internal controls weak, could affect stock
But stock has been rising steadily and sharply over last five days
On May 10, controversial for-profit education company Bridgepoint Education reported that it would delay its quarterly (10-Q) to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Today (May 15) the company reported it had found "a material weakness in internal control over financial …
Papa Doug cut a rug at 70th birthday bash
Scantily-clad lasses in bikinis added to the festivities
Some think the political biases of Papa Doug Manchester of the Union-Tribune are atavistic, but his spirit sure isn't. He held his 70th birthday party bash almost a year ago at his Grand Del Mar hotel, but a video of …
Taxpayer association slams bonds it once endorsed
Poway's bond gets Grand Golden Fleece award
Blogger W.C. Varones points out that the San Diego County Taxpayers Association gave its Grand Golden Fleece award to Poway for its bond that raised $105 million but in the long run will cost about $1 billion. But the taxpayer …
These guys solicited homeless and addicts in tax scam
They are sentenced to 10 months in prison
Isaiah Konkus and Justin Petersen were sentenced today (May 10) to ten months in prison and ordered to pay $268,832 to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for masterminding a scam to exploit the Earned Income Credit program. That program is …
Bridgepoint to be late filing quarterly report with SEC
Questions over internal financial control behind delay
Bridgepoint Education, the for-profit university that is under investigation on many fronts, today (May 10) filed a document saying that it will be late turning in its quarterly report (10-Q) to the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company cited "unanticipated …
County bonds serving disabled get BBB-minus rating
Outlook negative, says Fitch
Fitch, the bond rating agency, has affirmed the BBB-minus rating of San Diego County's certificates of participation issued on behalf developmentally disabled and mentally impaired persons. The outlook is negative, says Fitch. The program is called Arc and serves 1800 …