Goldsmith Continues Cheap Shots on City Website. He Criticizes Predecessor for Politicizing Office, Then Politicizes It Even More
Newly-elected City Attorney Jan Goldsmith is stepping up his political potshots even after being elected by a landslide, and even after being criticized for the practice by media who would normally be friendly. Goldsmith is doing so on the City …
Hedge Fund in Which SDCERA Has Money Puts up Barriers to Redemptions
The Composite International Fund of Wall Street's D.E. Shaw has set up so-called "gates" to slow down redemptions as a result of money being withdrawn. The San Diego County Employees Retirement Association has 20 percent of its money in hedge …
Union-Tribune's December House Organ Doesn't Report Circulation Figures
For many years, the Union-Tribune has revealed its circulation figures to employees in a monthly internal publication called "Inside Edition." But the December edition does not have those numbers. Since circulation has been inexorably declining for years, and the Union-Tribune …
Tribune Co. Files for Bankruptcy, Saddled with $13 Billion in Debt and Decline in Ad Revenues
Chicago's Tribune Co., owner of the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times, filed for Chapter 11 (reorganization) bankruptcy in Wilmington, Delaware today (Dec. 8). The company has $7.6 billion in assets and $13 billion in debt. The Chicago Cubs baseball …
More Copley Competition:McClatchy's Miami Herald Reportedly on the Block
The New York Times has reported on its website that Sacramento-based McClatchy is looking to sell its flagship Miami Herald. This would complicate the Union-Tribune's attempt to sell itself. Copley Press announced in July that it wants to unload the …
Aguirre Preparing Paper on Derivatives Market; His New Firm Will Specialize in Derivatives Legislation
Mike Aguirre, who leaves the city attorney's position Monday (Dec. 7), is preparing a white paper on the multi-trillion derivatives market. The paper may come out later this week. In essence, it sketches how financial institutions' gambling with derivatives has …
Aguirre Sums Up Criminal Activity That Led to Pension Deficit
British author W. Somerset Maugham penned "The Summing Up" late in his career. Ditto for Mike Aguirre, who will shortly leave the city attorney's office after having lost re-election in a landslide financed by the establishment along with organized labor. …
November's Shocking 533,000 Jobs Loss Was Actually Far Worse
U.S. nonfarm payrolls plunged 533,000 in November -- far worse than economists expected. They used words such as "almost indescribably terrible" and "dreadful" to describe the numbers, because they were much worse below the surface. Job losses in September and …
Several Big U.S. Cities Could Be without Daily Newspapers by 2010, Says Rating Agency
Fitch Ratings, which provides ratings on various investments, said this week that several cities could be without daily print newspapers by 2010. Fitch rates the bonds of both McClatchy and Tribune as junk. Fitch expects newspaper defaults and closures in …
At Confirmation Hearings, Will Bill Richardson Be Asked about His Role as Peregrine Board Member?
As expected, President-elect Barack Obama named New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson as secretary of commerce today (Dec. 4). Richardson may get a grilling at upcoming confirmation hearings. He was a key player in the Clinton administration, and came under fire …
Rancho Santa Fe Is 12th of 34 Small U.S. Towns with Highest Home Values
Business Week Magazine, along with Zillow.com, has picked the 34 towns in the U.S. with the highest home values -- called "the most expensive small towns in the U.S." The towns have populations of fewer than 10,000 people, and there …
In Survey, San Diego Second Most Desirable Job Location. But It Can't Be the Weather; In Second Survey, Twin Cities Is Tops
A survey of 2,500 employees and entrepreneurs by the Human Capital Institute indicates that San Diego is the second most desirable relocation destination. It was second to New York, which is also the least desirable. In citing San Diego, respondents …
Leading Indicators of San Diego Economy Take Monumental Pratfall
The October leading indicators of the San Diego economy plunged 2.3 percent from September, the biggest percentage decline or rise since January of 2002, according to the latest data compiled by economist Alan Gin of the University of San Diego. …
San Diego Hotel Occupancy Down 6.7 Percent in October; Some Other Markets Worse
San Diego hotel occupancy dropped 6.7 percent in October, according to Smith Travel Research. Los Angeles was down 9.2 percent and San Francisco down 5.2 percent. However, the November 16-22 week jumped. San Diego occupancy was up 5.7 percent. But …
County Home Prices Continue to Decline Among Steepest in the Nation
Standard & Poor's Case-Shiller home price data for September reveal that San Diego County prices dropped 2.4 percent from August. Only six metro areas out of the top 20 did worse. Over the last 12 months, local prices plunged 26.3 …
San Diego Unemployment Rate Rises to 6.8% in October from 6.5% in September and 4.8% a Year Ago
San Diego County lost 12,200 jobs over the last year as October's unemployment rate soared to 6.8% from 4.8% a year ago and 6.5% in September, according to the Employment Development Department. Construction jobs were down 5,800 over the year. …
Copley Puts Tiny Borrego Sun Up for Sale
Copley Press, which has been trying to unload the Union-Tribune since July, has put the small bi-weekly Borrego Sun newspaper of Borrego Springs up for sale, according to the Editor & Publisher trade paper. Copley has been operating the newspaper …
Deflation Here? Consumer Prices Drop. So Do Stocks, Residential Real Estate, Commodities, and Consumer, Investor Confidence
Signs are mounting that the efforts of the government and central bank to fight deflation may be contributing to it by destroying consumer and investor confidence. All the bailout talk that escalated in earnest in September with the passage of …
Emeryville Hotel Workers, 300 Strong, March on City Hall, Claiming San Diego Company Owes Them Back Wages
The Emeryville city council last night (Nov. 17) deferred until Dec. 1 a decision on back pay that workers at Woodfin Hotel say they are owed. Some 300 of the immigrant workers purportedly marched on city hall last night to …
Flight of Fancy Evanesces. Gaylord Won't Build Convention Center Complex on Chula Vista Bayfront
One of San Diego County's sillier planned projects finally went up in smoke today. Nashville's Gaylord Entertainment won't build the big, proposed, highly-subsidized resort project on the Chula Vista bayfront. It was always a question of when this project would …