Company missed critical bond payment this week

According to a detailed story in the San Jose Mercury News, Rural/Metro Corp., a privately-held ambulance operation serving San Diego County, is struggling to pay its bills. The Mercury News reports that Scottsdale-based Rural/Metro missed a crucial bond payment this …

But area added 7,500 jobs over month, 19,300 over year

The San Diego County unemployment rate in June was 7.3%, up from a revised 6.8% in May. The county gained 7500 jobs over the month and 19,300 from a year ago. Obviously, more people are joining the labor force, looking …

Largest municipal bankruptcy in history

Detroit, once the nation's fourth most populous city, has filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy, according to the New York Times. It is the largest city ever to file for bankruptcy, and the largest in terms of debt. Details are sketchy …

Industries reliant on federal funding lag others

Kelly Cunningham, economist for the National University System Institute for Policy Research, has done a study showing jobs growth in sectors most closely tied to federal spending is lagging. The villain is sequestration. The five private sectors most reliant on …

Says she saw far worse conduct when on Assembly's ethics committee

Channel 10 is reporting this evening (July 17) that former Democratic assemblywoman Lori Saldana says that while Mayor Bob Filner's actions with women are questionable, they are not illegal, and he should not resign. "So far, the attorneys have not …

But he is capable of wising up and must be given chance

I have spoken with a lot of people with inside knowledge of what has happened to Mayor Bob Filner. Here are some facts: 1. He is rough on people who work for him, but rougher on women than men. He …

Three others in final running

According to press accounts (including some in the foreign press), Papa Doug Manchester made a bid for the Boston Globe, but it came in too late for evaluation. Ergo, say these accounts, Manchester is not in the running. Apparently, the …

No mention that he was fired and UCAN and Shames are suing each other

Troubled Utility Consumers' Action Network (UCAN) has asked the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to pay it $535 an hour for the work that its former executive director, Michael Shames, did on the general rate case of San Diego Gas …

Is Filner courting downtown crowd? No white hats, it appears

I was not at the press conference this morning (July 15), at which Donna Frye, Cory Briggs and Marco Gonzalez claimed to bring out more details on why Mayor Filner should resign because of sexual harassment. But it was described …

The mayor says the obvious: he is entitled to due process

"I'm not going to resign, and here's why," said Mayor Bob Filner in a written statement this morning (July 15). "As your elected mayor, I fully expect to be accountable to the citizens of San Diego for all of my …

It happened in front of children, wife said in 1986 divorce case

If the accusers of Mayor Bob Filner are going to come forward this morning (July 15), as some are suggesting, then it is time to look at official public filings against those who, some say, should replace Filner. The mayor's …

Political MoneyLine tells how it was allegedly accomplished

Political MoneyLine, a publication allied with Roll Call, says that Stephen and Susan Polis Schutz of SPS Studios in La Jolla found a way to ante up a bundle to their son, Rep. Jared Polis, D.-Colorado. In a recently-filed midyear …

This was another school bought by Michael Clifford

The Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) announced this month that it has put Chula Vista's United States University on probation. Rancho Santa Fe's Michael Clifford, who buys for-profit educational institutions, purchased it in 2009 when it had a …

AT&T offers $15 a share, stock leaps higher than that

AT&T late today (July 12) agreed to buy Leap Wireless for $1.2 billion, or $15 a share. In after-hours trading, Leap's stock leapt to $16.73, well above that offer, and well over double the $5.82 closing in regular hours trading. …

Filner's issues should remain in forefront, but he has tough battle ahead

People are correctly attacking Mayor Bob Filner for personality problems, but citizens, including those of his own party, should not forget the issues on which he was elected. Wisely, he is eating humble pie on the sexual harassment revelations, apologizing …

House, backed overwhelmingly by big money, voted down bill to reform accounting

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, a private watchdog group that was actually created by Congress, has been critical of the large accounting firms for accepting information from their corporate clients and blessing it without doing independent inquiries. The accounting …

Overall market soars as Bernanke says spigot will stay open

Stock of controversial Bridgepoint Education is up 20.94% in early trading today (July 11) as its Ashford University, which accounts for almost all of company revenue, was given accreditation by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. The threat of …

The local money management firm lost when phone company nationalized

San Diego-based money management firm Brandes Investment Partners has lost a case revolving around the nationalization of the leftist nation's telephone company. According to venuezuelanalysis.com, the World Bank's International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes agreed with Venezuela that the …

SD lawyer wants names of engineers working on project; Edison balks

Southern California Edison, which owns almost 80% of the now-closed San Onofre nuclear facility, is redacting names of its engineers so investigators can't depose them, says San Diego attorney Mike Aguirre. In a filing yesterday (July 8) with the California …

But it's not one of 10 fittest cities

Facebook has culled a list of cities dedicated to fitness. The calculation is based on user activity such as fitness-related status updates, gym check-ins, use of fitness apps, and fitness-related life events between January 1 and March 31 of this …