Local Employment Index Inches Up
The San Diego Workforce Index edged up 0.3% in July from June, according to the San Diego Workforce Partnership. The index at 86.24 is well ahead of its levels below 80 in late 2009 and early 2010. Moving in a …
Disinherited Sefton Son Wins Lawsuit, Will Share in Grandfather's Estate
The California Supreme court has declined to review an appeals court ruling that Thomas W. Sefton Jr., the oldest son of the late San Diego Trust & Savings head Thomas W. Sefton Sr., is entitled to part of his grandfather's …
La Jolla Lawyer Disbarred
Paul Conrad Ward Jr., La Jolla attorney, was disbarred on Aug. 11, 2012. In March of last year, he was sentenced in New Mexico to 21 months in prison for taking $500,000 from an investor and promising to put the …
SEC Says Radio's Ray Lucia Spread Misleading Information
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) today (Sept. 5) charged San Diego-based financial radio personality Ray Lucia Sr. with spreading misleading information about his "Buckets of Money" strategy. In this strategy, which Lucia touts on the radio, and about which …
Fellmeth Joins UCAN Board
Robert Fellmeth, professor of public interest law at the University of San Diego, and local ethics expert, has joined the board of deeply troubled Utility Consumers' Action Network (UCAN), according to Kim Malcolm, UCAN executive director. Fellmeth's appointment is a …
Has the Ghost of Jerry Dominelli Returned?
Within the last week, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission has charged two San Diego County speculators with plundering funds from commodity pools they professed to be running. Jeffrey Gustaveson of Carlsbad raised $2.5 million from investors to put their money …
Investor Says NextWave Price Too Low
An investor sued NextWave Wireless in Delaware Chancery Court today (Aug. 31), stating that the $600 million that AT&T has agreed to pay for NextWave is too low. According to the suit, the troubled company agreed to sell itself for …
Chargers 16th Biggest Political Donor
Alex Spanos, severely ailing owner of the San Diego Chargers, has given $37,800 to this year's political campaign. That makes the Chargers 16th in donations among all pro teams, according to Business Insider. Spanos gave all his money to the …
Book Criticizing San Diego Wins Top Award
The American Political Science Association has given its Best Book of 2011 award to "Paradise Plundered: Fiscal Crisis and Governance Failures in San Diego." It was published by Stanford University Press. Authors are Steve Erie, professor of political science at …
Government Bans Self-Proclaimed "Visionary Tax Attorney"
A federal court judge has permanently banned Scott A. Waage, San Diego attorney, and his law firm, from preparing federal tax returns for others. The injunction, in which Waage did not have to admit the allegations, requires him to give …
San Diego Home Values Nudge Up
San Diego County home values rose 1.1% from May to June, according to Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller data released this morning (Aug. 28). However, that lagged the 2.3% rise for the index of the top 20 markets. On a year-over-year basis, …
San Diego Among "Distressed" Metro Areas
The CredAbility consumer distress index tracks the financial condition of American households, says the publication Business Insider. There are five categories in the index: employment, housing, credit, household budgets and net worth. Overall, U.S. households scored 71.3%. A score below …
Might Murderer Holmes Have Had "Dysphoric Mania?"
The New York Times tomorrow (Aug. 27) features a long story by four reporters on James Holmes, who murdered 12 people and injured 58 in an Aurora, Colorado, movie theater shooting July 20. Holmes was raised in Rancho Penasquitos. He …
Romney/Ryan and the New Padres Owners
"Oh what a tangled web we weave..." You know the rest of the classic sentence. Right now, it appears the new Padres owners are on the periphery of a spider-infested web, but you never know if they will be found …
Cyclist Landis Will Repay His Defrauded Donors
Former professional cyclist Floyd Landis appeared in federal court today (Aug. 24) and admitted he had defrauded 1,765 individuals who donated money to the Floyd Fairness Fund. Landis agreed to repay $478,354 of these funds, as he admitted falsely claiming …
Defense Contractors Charged with North Island Bribery
The U.S. Attorney's office today (Aug. 23) announced the unsealing of an indictment charging two defense contractors and one company of conspiring with Navy officials to commit bribery, wire fraud, and money laundering at the Naval Air Station, North Island, …
Fiscal Cliff Could Hit San Diego Hard
If Congress can't reach a compromise on the 2012/2013 fiscal cliff -- rising taxes, falling spending -- San Diego could lose its expected economic growth in 2013, according to Erik Bruvold of the National University System Institute for Policy Research. …
Auditor Confirms It: Convention Center Attendance Figures Misleading
City Auditor Eduardo Luna today (Aug. 21) confirmed what the nation's ranking expert on convention centers, Prof. Heywood Sanders, told the Reader in December: the San Diego Convention Center has been publishing phony figures. In my column published December 14, …
San Diego Home Value, Rent Growth Lag Other Metro Areas
Nationally, July home values in major metro markets rose 1.2% from a year ago, according to Zillow.com. But San Diego's values dropped 0.6% on a year-over-year basis. But San Diego home values are far more expensive: the median local value …
H-1B "Body Shop" Wins Whistleblower Suit
A federal judge in Alabama yesterday (Aug. 20) dismissed a lawsuit by an American employee of India's Infosys, a so-called "head shop," or placement firm that brings in talent to American companies under the controversial H-1B program. Jack B. Palmer …