Audit Committee Reviews Take-Home Vehicle Audit
On Monday, members of the audit committee responded to a June 29 performance audit that looked at take-home vehicles for city employees. The audit found that of the 347 vehicles provided to city employees, 99 were underutilized, costing the city …
San Diego Unified Restores 300 Positions
Two weeks after San Diego Unified trustees cut $115 million from the budget, Superintendent Bill Kowba announced the district will be reinstating approximately 300 of the 800 teachers that had received pink-slips as a result of the cuts. District officials …
Downtown Quiet Zone About To Get Really Loud
Downtown residents looking forward to hearing less noise once downtown's quiet zone project is complete may need some earplugs on Sunday, July 10. From 6am to 1pm, train horns will blast through their homes as safety crews test new signaling …
Black Heart Procession Is Infamous
"Fade Away," an original ballad from brooding indie rockers the Black Heart Procession, can now be heard on the ending credits of PlayStation 3's apocalyptic video game Infamous 2. The song is Black Heart at their best, with piano, and …
Windy Road Ahead for San Diego County Residents
As the 2020 deadline for energy companies to procure the state-mandated 33 percent renewable energy approaches, residents living in rural parts of the county appear to be running against numerous wind and solar projects. Tonight, members of the Boulevard Community …
Three-Alarm Fire in Hillcrest
Here's some pics of the fire across the street from the Uptown Shopping Center in Hillcrest. The fire seems to have started at Buonissimo Restaurant and then spread to the neighboring building. Barbarella posted some an aerial pic of the …
Audit Finds Waste in County's Animal Services Department
The City of San Diego pays the County $7.5 million each year to run the Department of Animal Services. In addition, residents of San Diego pay an additional $1.5 million in user fees, totaling $9 million per year. The County …
National City to Allow Sale of Three-Packs
Currently, National City prohibits new alcohol licensees from selling single "tall boy" beers and other single-serve alcohol containers. But since the regulations went into effect, many retailers ignored the policy, complaining that the regulations adversely impacted business. One store owner …
Sezio Sez to Ron Roberts: "Give Us Money"
Nonprofit visual arts and music collective Sezio wants a piece of the county's Community Enhancement Program pie. Unfortunately, county supervisor Ron Roberts hasn't included the nonprofit on his list of recipients. The county program takes $2.5 million from hotel tax …
St. Paul's Cathedral Wants to Rise Up
On June 3, 2008, dozens of members from St. Paul's Cathedral in Bankers Hill congregated at an Uptown Planners meeting to support the church's proposal to build two residential and commercial towers in Bankers Hill. Residents considered the plans an …
Drug and Alcohol Offenses Getting Higher in IB
The Imperial Beach Sheriff's Station saw a "dramatic" decrease in burglaries, assaults, robberies, and auto thefts during 2010. In an annual report released by the Sheriff's Department, robberies were down 50 percent, aggravated assaults by 28 percent, and auto thefts …
The Not-So Silent Comedy
On their website, 1920's cabaret-inspired music troupe The Silent Comedy announced that they will be playing the Dave Matthews Band Caravan festival on September 2 at the Gorge in George, Washington -- yes that is correct. At the fest, the …
Party Too Hard, Pick Up Trash
During this holiday weekend, if you party too hard in Pacific Beach, Mission Beach, or Mission Bay and find yourself with only a ticket to show for it, the City of San Diego may waive the citation if you agree …
Solar Projects to Shine in Alpine
As utility companies scramble to meet the state's mandate of generating 33 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2020, developers of solar and wind energy have their eyes on San Diego County. In January, the San Diego County …
Taking Take-Home Vehicles Away
In a June 29 performance audit, city auditor Eduardo Luna found that of the 347 vehicles provided to city employees, 99 of them were underutilized. And, removing the 99 take-home city vehicles would save the city $718,000 per year. "The …
False Alarms Will Cost You
According to assistant fire chief Brian Fennessey, the city's firefighters spend approximately 2000 hours each year investigating false-alarm calls. The department estimates that false-alarm calls costs the city more than $500,000 annually. "Of the estimated 111,000 emergency calls for service …
Hang Ten...Ads
Natasha Collura, Director of Strategic Partnerships for the City of San Diego, appeared at the Budget and Finance committee meeting today to give an update on the effort to sell ads at public beaches and parks. Proponents of the corporate …
War of the Weeds
La Mesa city officials want to rid neighborhoods of properties with excessive weeds or refuse. Not only are unkempt properties an eyesore to the community, but they also create fire hazards. The weed-abatement program began in May, after the city …
Rep. Issa Sends the Post Office a Message
Representative Darrell Issa is calling for "sweeping" and "structural" reforms of the United States Postal Service. His statement comes days after the USPS announced that it would stop contributing to the Federal Employee Retirement System in order to find approximately …
Assess Much? The North Park Clean and Safe Program
Frustrated with overgrown trees and unabated weeds in your local business district? Are you repulsed by the graffiti tag that is now considered a public-art installation? Do you think the City has failed to provide adequate city services, and that …