Unrelenting Swoon: San Diego Home Prices Now Back to Levels of Fall of 2003
The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller Home Price Indexes through April, released today (June 24), show that prices of existing family homes throughout the nation continue to plunge. For 20 major cities, they have dropped a collective 15.3 percent from a year …
UNUM Group To Pay $5.5 Million for Making Under-the-Table Fee Payments to Unidentified Agent
UNUM Group, a Chattanooga-based insurance company with a spotty record, will pay $5.5 million to the U.S. government for failing to report special fees it was paying to a San Diego insurance broker in a group insurance plan. The Employee …
County Unemployment Rate Surges in May Although Jobs Rise for Month
The county unemployment rate rose to 5.5 percent in May from a revised 5.1 percent in April, although the number of employed persons rose by 3,100 over the month, according to the state's Employment Development Department. This seeming anomaly often …
After the Glow, the Bad News: Tiger Is Out for Season
San Diego got everything it wished for at the U.S. Open last week. Tiger Woods was in the tournament all the way, including a final 18-hole playoff that went 19 holes on Monday. Sunday's TV audience was the highest overnight …
Brandes Gets Mug in Newspaper, but Moneywise Gets Mugged by Newspapers
Charles Brandes, the billionaire San Diego money manager, loves to be photographed in the newspapers with his lovely new bride, Tanya. In the Union-Tribune June 8, Charles and Tanya were pictured in a Burl Stiff column about David Copley's friends …
Vinson & Elkins Agrees To Pay $4.35 Million in Malpractice Suit
One of the biggest lies told by critics of City Attorney Mike Aguirre is that his lawsuits are draining City coffers. Today (June 13), the law firm of Vinson & Elkins agreed to pay $4.35 million to settle a malpractice …
Realtors Hold Post-Election Fundraiser To Help Mayor Sanders Pay Back His Debt
The real estate industry keeps lining Mayor Jerry Sanders's pocket -- a perfect arrangement, since he is in their pockets. The government affairs committee of Commercial REALTORS Association of San Diego and the CCIM San Diego Chapter have joined with …
Yes We Cannes! The Yacht That Tells a Lacht -- Everything, Actually -- About Copley Newspapers
There is a great Mel Brooks satire about the French Revolution. Count de Monet (pronounced Count da Money) rushes up to King Louis and screams, "Your majesty, your majesty, the peasants are revolting!!" Replies Louis, "That's right. They stink on …
Michael Ellis, a Founder of Metabolife, Gets Six Months in Custody for Lying to FDA
Michael Ellis, one of the founders of Metabolife, today (June 9) was sentenced to six months in custody for lying to the Food and Drug Administration. In 1998 and 1999, Ellis and Metabolife sent letters to the FDA stating that …
Class Action Lawyer Lerach Seeks Prison Treatment for Alcoholism
San Diego's Bill Lerach, once the most feared class action lawyer in the U.S., has filed papers seeking prison treatment for alcholism, according to a story in the New York Sun June 6. "Lerach has suffered for years with severe …
City Auditor Says Blackwater Didn't Misrepresent Self, but Criticizes City Procedures
The day after a federal judge decided that the City can't black controversial mercenary firm Blackwater Worldwide from opening its shooting gallery near the border, a City auditing team released a study saying that Blackwater had not misrepresented itself when …
Federal Judge Says Blackwater Can Go Ahead with Shooting Range; City Attorney Protests Decision
As widely predicted, U.S. District Judge Marilyn Huff today (June 4) granted military mercenary firm Blackwater Worldwide a temporary restraining order that enjoins the City from refusing to allow the controversial firm to occupy a shooting range training facility near …
Grand Jury Tells CCDC To Stop Claiming It Funds Redevelopment Projects
The 2007/2008 San Diego County Grand Jury today (June 2) recommended to Centre City Development Corp. (CCDC) that it stop claiming that it funds redevelopment projects. It should state that it is an agent for the City Redevelopment Agency. City …
Kroll's Wolves, Who Fleeced the City of $20 Million, Return To Chase Foxes
In August of 2006, Kroll, Inc. issued a report about San Diego's financial reporting problems. The firm had been hired to decide whether a mild report by Vinson & Elkins, or a stronger one by City Attorney Mike Aguirre, best …
Judge Says Federal Court Can Hear Blackwater's Suit
Judge Marilyn Huff ruled today (Friday, May 30) that the suit by mercenary firm Blackwater Worldwide against the City can be heard in federal court. The city attorney's office argued that it was a minuscule local matter and there was …
More Fat Cats Give Money So Mayor Can Select Own Auditor
Late filings show that more real estate developers and others wanting favors from the City of San Diego are dumping money into Propositions A, B and C. Proposition C is the dangerous one: it permits the mayor to name the …
Sanders, Gwinn, Dumanis Have Quietly Plotted To Shift Family Justice Center to YWCA, Says Aguirre. The Planned Move May Trample on Rules
Working secretly, Mayor Jerry Sanders, former City Attorney Casey Gwinn and DA Bonnie Dumanis have been planning to shift control of the City's Family Justice Center to the YWCA, says a new study by current City Attorney Mike Aguirre. Actually, …
Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Plummets 35 Percent As FDA Thumbs Down Developmental Drug
Stock of San Diego biotech Ligand Pharmaceuticals is down 35.10 percent at 9:40 a.m. today (Wed., May 28) as an advisory committee of the Food and Drug Administration said that GlaxoSmithKline's blood-clotting disorder drug Promacta is no more effective than …
Blackwater Sues City, Claims Its Bid for Border Facility Thwarted by Politics
Blackwater Worldwide, the controversial mercenary firm, has filed suit in federal court claiming that the City is thwarting for political reasons its attempt to have a training facility near the border. Earlier, Blackwater was stopped in its bid for a …
San Diego Housing Prices Plunge 20.5 Percent in Last Year, 25.9 Percent from 2005 Peak
Prices of San Diego existing family homes plummeted 20.5 in March from a year ago, according the Case-Shiller index, published by Standard & Poor's. San Diego prices are down 25.9 percent from the peak in November of 2005. Over the …