Stories | City Lights
Booze Moves to the Alley
By Dorian Hargrove, Published Aug. 13, 2008
In an alleyway in Ocean Beach, near the intersection of Newport and Bacon, Keith Morgan sits in a white plastic chair padded with two pieces of cardboard. He’s slept in that chair since May, when he ...
Sunshine and Moola, Too
By Don Bauder, Published Aug. 13, 2008
San Diego’s cost of living tops the nation’s by 50 percent, but household incomes are only about 20 percent higher. Ergo, squeezed San Diegans live on “psychic income,” or pay a “sunshine tax.” But according ...
Face Facts
By Don Bauder, Published Aug. 13, 2008
Let’s quit the caviling and cut to the chase: the U.S. is in a recession, and so is San Diego. On the last day of July, the U.S. revised its numbers and said the economy ...
San Diego Is Chargers' Problem Published Aug. 6, 2008
The Chargers say they have a problem: Qualcomm Stadium is antiquated. Sorry. The Chargers’ problem is much broader and deeper than that. The Chargers have ... More Comments (38)
Worldwide Spanish Slang Published Aug. 6, 2008
Spanish slang connoisseur Roxana Fitch grew up in Tijuana, birthplace of some of the most distinctive slang words — or jergas — in the entire ... More Comment (1)
Crow Nuisance, Crow Delight Published July 30, 2008
As children growing up in Riverside, my friends and I were captivated by crows, big birds that were bold. We used to see how close ... More Comments (3)
Spinrise Published July 30, 2008
The campaign to ballyhoo the proposed Sunrise Powerlink has one beneficial effect: it is shining light on how San Diego’s overlords try to use misinformation ... More Comments (198)
Off Road on Private Land Published July 23, 2008
In January 2005, Alan Inn bought 816 acres in Ocotillo Wells, smitten with the desert’s rugged beauty. A general contractor with experience ranging from residential ... More Comments (7)
Flipped Published July 23, 2008
Rancho Santa Fe’s John Eggemeyer III gets reams of favorable publicity for buying, rehabilitating, and flipping small banks. But now the stock market is flipping ... More Comments (8)
No Dice Published July 16, 2008
When folks run out of gas, they lose interest in sin. This does not apply just to the elderly. Ask Sin City — Las Vegas. ... More Comments (12)
Dogs Bite City Published July 16, 2008
The City of San Diego’s foundering financial ship has struck another shoal in the form of a lawsuit filed in 2005 by officers of the ... More Comments (7)
Mad Men of San Diego Published July 9, 2008
TV audiences are mad about Mad Men, a show about a Madison Avenue advertising agency in 1960. The second season on the AMC cable network ... More Comments (2)
Troublemakers Unlisted Published July 9, 2008
Two days before the June 3 election, MaryRose Consiglio and Tom Sherman emailed a group of candidates running for membership on the San Diego County ... More Comments (15)
Newspapers’ Debt Dilemma Published July 2, 2008
It’s difficult to go digital when facing a debt default. Some of the nation’s largest newspapers are behind the times technologically, partly because they gobbled ... More Comments (24)
Get Out, Stay Out Published July 2, 2008
In February 2007, the Barona Band of Mission Indians sponsored state legislation entitled Unlawful Entry: Tribal Land. San Diego County’s board of supervisors, as well ... More Comments (4)
The Creek Reeks Published June 25, 2008
On June 11, the local division of the state water board ordered the North County Transit District, which recently completed the Sprinter rail project, to ... More Post a comment
Debt Doesn’t Pay Published June 25, 2008
"Live well. Retire rich.” That was the proverb that Dan Holbrook preached over radio and TV, as he exhorted San Diegans to take on debt ... More Comments (24)
This Never Happens in Fallbrook Published June 18, 2008
Giovanni Cornejo had his head under the hood of a car when he first heard the commotion. He looked up and saw a woman at ... More Comment (1)
Greed, Gambling Society Published June 18, 2008
From superior product engineering to reckless financial engineering: that’s how America has declined from a society that makes goods to one that shuffles money around ... More Comments (41)
Where the Pain Is Published June 11, 2008
What’s the difference between National City and Rancho Santa Fe? Well — er, uh — money comes to mind. Last year, median household income in ... More Post a comment
Let the Bank Cut the Lawn Published June 11, 2008
In the first quarter of this year, three times the number of San Diego County homeowners failed to pay their mortgages as during the first ... More Comment (1)
Who Needs Ratings? Published June 4, 2008
“Golf is a good walk spoiled,” growled Mark Twain, and in recent years, more and more Americans have been agreeing with him. The industry hopes ... More Comments (20)
A Cool Elective You Can't Get Out Of Published June 4, 2008
Eduardo Ochoa teaches social justice at Lincoln High School in Chollas View. Ochoa is also a coordinator for the Advancement Via Individual Determination program, or ... More Comments (13)
Did the Mayor Do His Homework? Published May 28, 2008
On April 27 of this year, craigslist, the online classified advertising behemoth, carried this small notice: “I am requesting information on Jeffry Wetzel from Poway, ... More Comments (26)
The Key to the Mayor's Door Published May 28, 2008
It was September 17 of last year, and City Attorney Mike Aguirre was making headlines again. This time the subject was an impending water shortage, ... More Comments (8)
Big War Chest, No War Published May 21, 2008
Some people divine the future in tea leaves, others in pork bellies. Campaign contributions are also a way of seeing what is on the horizon. ... More Comments (2)
How Pension Debt Ballooned Published May 21, 2008
In western lore, an hombre named the Wizard of Wichita would ride into a town, stride into a saloon, take one quick look around, and ... More Comments (44)
Prop C: Ticket to Tyranny Published May 14, 2008
‘I characterized that administration as ‘form over substance.’ They were more concerned with how their guy looked than to do the right thing.” That is ... More Comments (26)
Boards Go Green Published May 14, 2008
On the afternoon of April 3, barefoot surfers ran down the concrete steps at Swami’s in Encinitas toward ideal surf conditions. The waves were chest ... More Comments (4)
Make $ in a Pyramid: Bet Against It Published May 14, 2008
On April 25, the stock of Herbalife Ltd., which sells weight-loss and energy products through multi-level marketing, plunged by 9 percent to $40.08. On that ... More Comments (65)
Little Pay, Big Deal Published May 7, 2008
On April 21, local attorney Bob Ottilie went to the city council meeting with a Personnel Department list of salaries made by city employees last ... More Comments (13)
Will Angelenos, Zonies Stay Put This Year? Published May 7, 2008
It’s always said that San Diego tourism, the county’s third-largest industry, is insulated from — if not immune to — recessions and high gas prices. ... More Comments (18)
Knock It Down, Throw It Out Published April 30, 2008
Dust covers everything inside EDCO’s construction-waste recycling plant in Lemon Grove. Misters attached to the rafters work to keep the dust down, but inside the ... More Post a comment
Pollyanna Creep Published April 30, 2008
You’re walking around stoned all day. The economic statistics fed to you by the government are concocted to induce euphoria. For one thing, inflation is ... More Comments (18)
The Big Guys in Mexico’s Skies Published April 23, 2008
Every year, my mother-in-law stays with us for a month or two when the weather in her home state of Connecticut is at its coldest ... More Comments (8)
Centre City: Another War Published April 23, 2008
Centre City Development Corporation, the City’s downtown redevelopment organization, has been correctly accused of many things. Arrogance. Bullying. Conflicts of interest. Excessive pay and perks ... More Comments (16)
Power to the People Published April 16, 2008
San Diego mayoral candidate Eric Bidwell rolls across the cement floor of Cream coffeehouse on his Heelys, wheeled shoes that he found used on craigslist ... More Comments (7)
Spite? Published April 16, 2008
The Union-Tribune’s Christmas Massacre of December 2007 is still producing bloodshed. The Copley Press, aided by a high-powered consulting firm, is contesting unemployment claims filed ... More Comments (44)
A Very Gassy Golf Course Published April 9, 2008
Standing at the tee pad of hole 15, a Frisbee player on Morley Field’s Disc Golf Course can’t see the basket he’s aiming for. It’s ... More Post a comment
Tattered Safety Nets Published April 9, 2008
In the depths of the Great Depression, the American government set up social and financial safety nets to prevent another treacherous economic downspiral and financial ... More Comments (36)
Paddle Battles Published April 2, 2008
If the worst that could befall sidewalk diners were a swinging kayak paddle whacking margaritas off their table, they’d be lucky. It would be irksome ... More Comments (2)
Bloodsuckers Published April 2, 2008
San Diego is on the financial brink. So is Chula Vista. But the pro football team known as the San Diego Vampires — er, San ... More Comments (45)
Panic at the Micropub Published March 26, 2008
Yuseff Cherney says his revered and super-bitter Dorado Double India Pale Ale has become too expensive, if not impossible, to make. Cherney is head brewer ... More Comment (1)
Award-Winner Milks Big Bear Published March 26, 2008
Ponzi schemes — in which early investors are paid off with funds from later investors — are most often tied to stocks, commodities, and currencies. ... More Comments (196)
Bye-Bye, Meter Reader Published March 26, 2008
The Iceman Cometh, predicted playwright Eugene O’Neill, but eventually, the iceman went, and so did the milkman and the doctor willing to make house calls. ... More Comments (52)
Why Plummeting Dollar Hurts You Published March 19, 2008
The United States is behaving like a drug addict groping for another fix or an alcoholic reaching shakily for a hair of the dog. Our ... More Comments (12)
Great for Everybody Published March 19, 2008
The Port of San Diego calls the Chula Vista Bayfront Master Plan “one of the largest waterfront planning efforts in the nation.” For more than ... More Comments (3)
City Hot to Sell Bonds, But Investors Will Be Cool Published March 12, 2008
Tax-free municipal bond prices plunged in late February. The market has since stabilized a bit but remains nervous. The positive side of the collapse is ... More Comments (2)
Keep on Truckin’ Published March 12, 2008
For decades, Tijuana’s eastern colonias have sprung from the chaparral faster than the municipal government can provide services to them. The resourceful residents in these ... More Post a comment
Big Gulp Published March 5, 2008
On Friday morning, February 15, the patrons at Krakatoa café in Golden Hill sipped on blood red pomegranate tea and poked at laptops. They repositioned ... More Comments (2)
Smart? Published March 5, 2008
San Diego’s heralded Smart Corner is smarting — as in stinging. It’s a condominium/office building project, another of the City’s touted public/private sector ventures. What ... More Comments (20)
Bus Tour of RepoLand Published Feb. 27, 2008
On a Sunday morning in Hillcrest, at the intersection of Vermont and Cleveland, realtors Dan Cassidy and Mary Young fight the wind and rain to ... More Comments (2)
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