Copley Press Sells Posh Condos in Ballpark District to Owner David Copley. The Deal Raises Questions
Reader document sleuth Matt Potter has come up with information that should interest anxiety-ridden Union-Tribune employees. They had cocked their eyebrows in mid-2003 when the parent company, Copley Press, revealed that it had bought two luxury condos in the 11-story …
Warner Springs Ranch Ousts Board, Possibly Opening Way for Pala Band to Buy Back Ancestral Homeland
Members of North County's financially-troubled Warner Springs Ranch have successfully ousted the board by a vote ratio of more than 4 to 3. A new board has been elected. For some time, there has been a feud among the 1,000 …
Jeff Moorad, Former Players' Agent, Says He Has Reached Agreement in Principle to Purchase Padres
Jeff Moorad has resigned as chief executive officer of the Arizona Diamondbacks and says he has an agreement in principle to buy the San Diego Padres, according to the Associated Press. Moorad was a former players' agent; other Major League …
Wall Street Journal Puffs Up Sam Wyly, Ignoring Offshore Tax Shenanigans Uncovered by Congressional Investigators
In a book review Dec. 29, the Wall Street Journal gives a rave review to "1,000 Dollars and an Idea," a book by Texas billionaire Sam Wyly. James Freeman, an assistant editor of the Journal's editorial page, sings the Wyly …
San Diego Home Prices Back to Levels of March '03, Down 36% from '05 Peak
According to Standard & Poor's Case-Shiller data released this morning (Tues. Dec. 30), San Diego home prices in October were back to their levels of March of '03. San Diego existing homes have now dropped 36.4 percent from their peak …
City of Industry to Vote Jan. 20 on $500 Million Infrastructure Bond that Would Serve Planned New Stadium
Industry, California (also known as City of Industry) votes Jan. 20 on a $500 million infrastructure bond to serve the area in which billionaire Ed Roski Jr. has proposed building a $800 million pro football stadium. Roski and his partner …
Delicious Irony: SEC Clears San Diego Councilmembers at the Time the Public Is Learning What a Worthless Agency It Is
The Securities and Exchange Commission has ended its investigation into the involvement of San Diego's elected officials in the fraudulent bond offerings. This comes at the very time that the SEC will be investigating itself (supposedly); it admits that it …
Lead Indicators of San Diego Economy Continue Steady Decline
The lead indicators of the San Diego economy, compiled by University of San Diego economist Alan Gin, continued to drop in November, indicating that the good news is not arriving. The indicator has declined each month this year. The November …
County Unemployment Rate 6.9 Percent in November, Up from 4.9 Percent a Year Ago
San Diego lost 15,300 jobs in November from a year ago, and 2,200 from October, according to data from the state's Economic Development Corp. The unemployment rate was 6.9 percent, the same as the revised rate of October, but well …
Gless, Powanda Sentenced for Roles in Peregrine Systems Fraud
Matthew Gless, former chief financial officer of Peregrine Systems, was sentenced today (Dec. 17) to 63 months in custody for his role in the massive fraud. Former international sales director Douglas S. Powanda was sentenced to 78 months. Gless and …
Ex-Madoff Trader, Now Running Cardiff Firm, Was Asked by Hedge Firms about Those Steady Returns
Steven Winters is the founder and managing partner of Gemini Strategies, a boutique Cardiff investment firm. His bio says that from 1994 through 1996, he was an equity and derivatives portfolio manager for Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities in New …
Wall Street's Goldman Sachs, Which Got $10 Billion Government Handout, Paid Only 1% in Taxes
Here's one that should start a revolution. In October, Wall Street's Goldman Sachs, supposedly the best-managed investment firm (calling itself a bank) on the Street, got $10 billion and debt guarantees from the U.S. government, according to Bloomberg.com. But this …
San Diegan Who Spearheaded Tax Avoidance Schemes for Dentists and Doctors Indicted on Tax Charges
A federal grand jury today (Dec. 16) indicted former dentist L. Donald Guess on two counts of filing false income tax returns. Guess ran a tax avoidance operation for medical professionals named xelan Inc. Four years ago it had more …
Federal Reserve Essentially Admits It Is Fighting Depression, Not Simply Recession. It Lowers Interest Rate Target to Lowest Level Ever
The Federal Reserve today (Dec. 16), essentially admitted it is fighting a depression, not a recession. The central bank dropped the federal funds rate, the interest that banks charge each other, to a range of zero to 1/4th of 1 …
New Website Preserves Documents from Aguirre, Gwinn Administrations
There is a new website, www.sdcityattorney.com, that preserves documents created by former City Attorney Mike Aguirre. Importantly, this includes his 35 interim reports, which are perhaps the best record of San Diego corruption extant. The website also includes closed session …
Copley Employees Likely to Get 5% to 15% Lower Lump Sum Benefits; If Company's Pension Plan Badly Underfunded, May Not Get Lump Sums at All
Yesterday afternoon, I posted an entry indicating that severely-ailing Copley Press will no longer be putting money into its defined benefit pension plan, although older employees will still have access to their money. New employees will not have such a …
Copley Press Tells Employees It Will Put No More Money into Defined Benefit Pension Plan
Union-Tribune employees say they were told Friday via the Copley Press's electronic in-house communications system that the company will no longer put money into the defined benefit pension program. New employees will not get into the defined benefit program, although …
Melvyn Weiss, Once Co-Managing Partner of Notorious New York/San Diego Law Firm, Allegedly a Victim of Ponzi Schemer Madoff
According to the Wall Street Journal of Saturday/Sunday (Dec. 13-14) one of the persons who lost money in the alleged $50 billion Ponzi scheme of Bernard Madoff is New York's Melvyn Weiss, former co-head of the now-defunct New York/San Diego …
Gardner Gets 8 Years for Peregrine Scam; His Lawyer Says Criminal Activity Going on Before Gardner Got There
Stephen Gardner, former chief executive of Peregrine Systems, was sentenced today (Dec. 11) to eight years and one month for his role in the fraud. Gardner's lawyer, Reid Figel, said that Peregrine was engaged in criminal activity before Gardner arrived …
Moody's Says Singleton's MediaNews Almost as Sick as Tribune, Headed for Default
Moody's Investors Service said today that William Dean Singleton's Denver-based MediaNews Group will soon be in default on its credit agreement, and its debt load is nearly as bad as the one that pushed Tribune Co. into bankruptcy. Despite well-known …