WEEKLY NOISE

Monday, Dec. 29
Early in the evening, police officers used a security passkey to enter an apartment in a low-income St. Vincent De Paul building in East Village, acting on rumors among some residents that someone had died. Indeed, someone had. Steve Mathis, 52, was dead in an apartment that was in serious disarray. Exact cause of death has not been determined, but Lt. Jim Duncan says it was definitely a homicide.

Tuesday, Dec. 30
Chargers attorneys capitulated by agreeing to move their court case against the city of San Diego to the city of San Diego. The team's lawsuit wants a judge to determine once and for all if the Chargers can begin courting other cities. In response, Dick “Tough Guy” Murphy proved he's the goofiest mayor west of the Mississippi by saying, “The Chargers blinked.”

Wednesday, Dec. 31
The San Diego Padres turned to local boy David Wells to anchor their pitching staff as the team opens up shop at their new ballpark. The Padres signed Wells, a Point Loma High grad, to a one-year contract loaded with incentive-based pay. The 40-year-old pitcher will now endure a new wave of talk about his impressive girth and hard-partying reputation. It's his own fault, perhaps; after all, it was he who confessed to pitching a perfect game “half-drunk.”

Thursday, Jan. 1
At about 1 a.m., officers arrived at a Rancho Bernardo house where three guys might have been playing a variation on the game “Paper, Rock and Scissors.” This variation, which could have been called “Knives and Scissors,” involved three drinking buddies suddenly turning on one another. The object, it seems, is to puncture your friends' bodies as many times as possible. All three players were hospitalized, one reportedly in serious condition.

Friday, Jan. 2
San Diego food workers union chief Mickey Kasparian told a Union-Tribune reporter that he knows the names of 50 union members who have been “contacted” by the Ralphs grocery chain as part of an alleged scheme to employ locked-out workers-in some cases under different identities-which would be illegal. The United Food and Commercials Workers union filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Friday claiming it has hard evidence of the illegal activity. The UFCW's strike against Vons-and the retaliatory lockout of Ralphs and Albertsons workers-is nearing the three-month mark.

Saturday, Jan. 3
Lamont Long, 21, was in front of the Bel-Aire Market on Logan Avenue at 9:30 p.m. when what was described as a white Chevy sedan pulled up. Someone in the car fired multiple shots, and as Long fled, he was struck once on the left side of his abdomen. The San Diego Police Department's gang unit is convinced it was a gang-related, drive-by shooting. “It had been relatively quiet in that area, in terms of gang violence,” said Lt. Vince Villalvazo. Long's injury wasn't life-threatening.

Sunday, Jan. 4
It was the first of many Sundays of rest for the weary San Diego Chargers and their fans, who had the opportunity to watch four good football teams play in the first round of the National Football League playoffs.