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Rescued Cards Launch Party May 25, 2013 Come celebrate the launch of the greeting card line, which features photos of animals rescued across the U.S. Artist Monica Hoover also displays her large-scale photos and proceeds from beer sales and a raffle will go to animal rescue organizations. 50 other Art events on Saturday, May 25
 
Check 1, Check 2 | Music & nightlife
New club, a branch of Avalon Hollywood, will do business under the name Avalon
Arts & Culture Features
Organizer of May 17 exhibition in East Village fends off criticism
Last Blog on Earth | News
Website switches to national focus, lists string of upcoming fundraisers
News
Stricken with terminal cancer, Robin Reid languishes in county jail
Cocktail Tales
Five bars serving up season-appropriate libations

 

 
Backwards & in High Heels

Let’s not sell our souls to the reform devil

San Diego Unified School District gets Race to the Top right

By Aaryn Belfer

What with the tiresome budget fights, cutbacks and narrowly averted layoffs, there aren’t many reasons to be happy with the San Diego Unified School District’s Board of Education these days.

Backwards & in High Heels

Trying to look on the bright side for one day

My attempt to put some yin to the yang

By Aaryn Belfer

I was walking through the mall the other day, forced to go to the Genius Bar after the genius move of inadvertently leaving my iPhone in standing water, when I was accosted by the kiosk people.

Backwards & in High Heels

The Democratic National Convention afterglow didn’t last long

The impact of going from Obama to the Kardashians in no time flat

By Aaryn Belfer

I know that the echo chamber is crushing Barack Obama since last Friday’s jobs report, but I spent the three nights before that watching the Democratic National Convention, and I am in love!

Backwards & in High Heels

The momentary unpleasantness of back-to-school

It’s back on the hamster wheel for me

By Aaryn Belfer

As I sit at my desk, I notice the light has faded. I look out my office window and decide, when the garden lights pop on, that it must be nearly 8:30 p.m., but then I look at the clock and my worst fear is confirmed: It’s only 7:22.

Backwards & in High Heels

Platform flip-flops and oversized sunglasses

Top 10 regrettable San Diego fashion trends

By Aaryn Belfer

Top 10 regrettable San Diego fashion trends

Backwards & in High Heels

Co-sleeping and my family’s ongoing relationship with Honda

The CRV was probably not built for sex, but it surely does the trick

By Aaryn Belfer

Some time ago (OK, fine, so it was just before Ruby started kindergarten), after many years of struggling with our now 7-year-old’s well-documented sleep issues that—at their very worst—forced my husband and me to seek middle-of-the-night solace in our Civic Hybrid.

Backwards & in High Heels

Why a happy photo op with the statue of Joe Paterno is nuts

Doing the right thing was too far down on the priority list for the late Penn State coach

By Aaryn Belfer

We human beings are crazy, aren’t we? I’m convinced that most of us are doing the best we can to be good people, to do the right thing and to evolve and grow and all that.

Backwards & in High Heels

Racism isn’t the eradicated plague of the 20th century

Kids at camp in Tahoe City get a rude lesson

By Aaryn Belfer

On the last day of June, while still percolating over a Boston Globe article in which white author Jeff Jacoby claimed that “America’s racist past is dead and gone,” my family headed north to attend a camp for families that have adopted children of color.

Backwards & in High Heels

I’m inching closer to my Mrs. Roper Caftan Phase

Memory loss, special diets and getting closer to a return to the cradle

By Aaryn Belfer

Last month, my daughter celebrated her seventh birthday, and let me tell you: Nothing makes a middle-aged woman feel more at home in the sweat-soaked country of peri-menopause like her baby turning 7.

Backwards & in High Heels

Some uncensored thoughts on U-T TV

I get the feeling that we are the butt of a joke

By Aaryn Belfer

We need to talk about another war, one that threatens the soul of San Diego. If we even have a soul, which I very much doubt. The grave danger is U-T TV. Warning: Expletives ahead.

Because I Said So

Pride and publicity

Of profits, promotions, parades and pandering

By Tony Phillips

San Diego's 32nd Annual Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) Pride Celebration got underway last Saturday with a parade that passed in front of my house. Location, location, location.

Crossword

Crossword: We Interrupt This Program...

Weekly crossword by Ink Well Xwords

By Ben Tausig

 Across 1. Flow partner 4. They might recede 8. Blood disorder that causes fatigue 14. Virtual adoption 16. Bit of hanky-panky, generically 17. Drama about an anonymous soldier who blogs

Crossword

Crossword: Going for a Spin

Weekly crossword by Ink Well Xwords

By Ben Tausig

Two $20 gift certificates to Mitch’s Seafood will be awarded weekly. Email a picture of your answers to crossword@sdcitybeat.com or fax it to 619-325-1393.


Crossword

Crossword: Video Circuits

Weekly crossword by Ink Well Xwords

By Ben Tausig

Download a printable PDF here.Two $20 gift certificates to Mitch’s Seafood will be awarded weekly. Email a picture of your answers to crossword@sdcitybeat.com or fax it to 619-325-139

Crossword

Crossword: Change is Gonna Come

Weekly crossword by Ink Well Xwords

By Ben Tausig

Two $20 gift certificates to Mitch’s Seafood will be awarded weekly. Email a picture of your answers to crossword@sdcitybeat.com or fax it to 619-325-1393.

Crossword

Crossword: Caginess

Weekly crossword by Ink Well Xwords

By Ben Tausig

Two $20 gift certificates to Mitch’s Seafood will be awarded weekly. Email a picture of your answers to crossword@sdcitybeat.com or fax it to 619-325-1393.

Crossword

Crossword: Dark Points

Weekly crossword by Ink Well Xwords

By Ben Tausig

Two $20 gift certificates to Mitch’s Seafood will be awarded weekly. Email a picture of your answers to crossword@sdcitybeat.com or fax it to 619-325-1393.

Crossword

Crossword: Triple features

Weekly crossword by Ink Well Xwords

By Ben Tausig

CliTwo $20 gift certificates to Mitch’s Seafood will be awarded weekly. Email a picture of your answers to crossword@sdcitybeat.com or fax it to 619-325-1393.

Crossword

Crossword: Q-tips

Weekly crossword by Ink Well Xwords

By Ben Tausig

Click here for a printable PDF. Two $20 gift certificates to Mitch’s Seafood will be awarded weekly. Email a picture of your answers to crossword@sdcitybeat.com or fax it to 619-

Crossword

Crossword: This Just In

Weekly crossword by Ink Well Xwords

By Ben Tausig

Click here for a downloadable PDF. Two $20 gift certificates to Mitch’s Seafood will be awarded weekly. Email a picture of your answers to crossword@sdcitybeat.com or fax it to 6

Crossword

Crossword: Code of Silence

Weekly crossword by Ink Well Xwords

By Ben Tausig

Two $20 gift certificates to Mitch’s Seafood will be awarded weekly. Email a picture of your answers to crossword@sdcitybeat.com or fax it to 619-325-1393.

Editor's Note

The Dave Maass Era ends

Goodbye to perhaps San Diego’s best investigative reporter

By David Rolland

Lots of San Diegans have wanted Dave Maass to Shut! Up!—mostly those who find themselves in his argumentative crosshairs on Twitter. He certainly has a way about him.

Editor's Note

Reunions and elections

My necessary weekend getaway to the past

By David Rolland

I’m sitting on a bench at my alma mater Calabasas High School. I’m looking over toward a walkway leading down from the softball field where I lost consciousness after Matt Behrens and I collided with each other on a pop fly.

Editor's Note

Goodbye, Gloria Penner

KPBS icon’s impact on CityBeat

By David Rolland

San Diego lost one of its most well-known and important figures on Saturday, when journalist Gloria Penner succumbed to the cancer she’d been battling for more than a year.

Editor's Note

Adios, Aaryn Belfer

One of our longtime columnists calls it quits

By David Rolland

Aaryn Belfer’s biweekly “Backwards & in High Heels” column first appeared in CityBeat’s Jan. 24, 2007. Her last column for us appears in this issue. 

Editor's Note

Romney’s assault on government assistance

Add our voice to the chorus of commentary

By David Rolland

Romney said that 47 percent of Americans pay no income tax, and those are the people, he said, who are safely deposited in Barack Obama’s electorate bank.

Editor's Note

Mike Aguirre, Jerry Sanders and CityBeat

Former city attorney rips us while the mayor honors us with a day of our own

By David Rolland

When Mike Aguirre was the city attorney in San Diego, he’d sometimes call me to talk excitedly about how CityBeat could help define a vision for future San Diego. I would enjoy those calls.

Editor's Note

A milestone and a crossroads

We’ve hit our 500th issue, and we need your help

By David Rolland

Ironically, thanks to a declining print-publishing industry in general and the worst economic downtown since the Depression, the better we’ve become, the more we’ve flailed financially.

Editor's Note

UCAN’t be serious!

Don’t be too quick to judge amid allegations against utility antagonist

By David Rolland

If you made a list of all the prominent people in San Diego and ranked them according to how likely it would be that they’d be accused of cooking books, laundering money and improperly feathering their own nest, Michael Shames’ name would probably be near the bottom.

Editor's Note

Doug Manchester is the man in the mirror

New U-T San Diego owner and I have the ‘vision’ thing in common

By David Rolland

On Sunday, new U-T San Diego poobahs Doug Manchester and John Lynch said we “must not let the boundaries of our city’s enormous possibilities be limited by too-modest dreams of our own.” God, I totally agree.

Editorial

Repair the state safety net

Some increased revenue should go to decimated social services

By CityBeat Staff

California Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor last Friday announced that he believes that the estimated revenue figures in Gov. Jerry Brown’s revised state budget plan are low by $3.2 billion.

Editorial

IRS and AP: troubling developments

Congress must fix 501(c)(4) loophole, and Obama must reel in Holder—also, the grand jury and sheriff get it wrong

By CityBeat Staff

Late last week, a draft report from the U.S. Inspector General was leaked, revealing that the Cincinnati IRS office had used the terms “tea party” and “patriot” in a search for 501(c)(4) nonprofit organizations that were abusing their tax-exempt status by being too active in election campaigns.

Editorial

Too many dead inmates in San Diego jails

The first thing the Sheriff’s Department must do is admit it has a problem

By CityBeat Staff

Is 60 dead inmates in six years a lot? If you look at the number the way the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) does, which is the same way major health organizations like the Centers for Disease Control do, it is.

Editorial

Dwayne Crenshaw for City Council

And Lorena Gonzalez for state Assembly

By CityBeat Staff

Let’s deal immediately with the unsightly elephant in the room: Dwayne Crenshaw, one of two candidates for the vacant City Council District 4 seat up for grabs in a May 21 special election, is backed by the Lincoln Club of San Diego County, a pro-business group often aligned with the Republican Party.

Editorial

San Diego City Council goes backwards on medical marijuana

Marti Emerald leads the way down a conservative path

By CityBeat Staff

For all the effort San Diego Mayor Bob Filner put into proposing a new way to make storefront medical-marijuana dispensaries legal, and after more than three hours of public testimony on Monday, the City Council essentially ignored Filner’s proposal and reverted to a plan that failed two years ago. 

Editorial

Filner’s cuts to city attorney’s budget are defensible

City Council likely won’t agree, but they’d better keep their mitts off shelter money

By CityBeat Staff

On Monday, Filner unveiled his proposed budget for the fiscal year that begins on July 1, and it includes a cut of $1.4 million to the City Attorney's office amid the mayor's plan to solve a $38.4-million deficit.

Editorial

Not much excitement for the 2013 Padres

New ownership’s on the hot seat

By CityBeat Staff

"[W]hen you look at the Padres' hopes for contention, they look pretty grim. Now, and for the foreseeable future." Ugh. That was Jonah Keri, writing at Grantland on Monday, placing the Padres at No. 29 out of 30 in his baseball rankings

Editorial

The high road and the low road

Bob Filner maybe takes things a step too far

By CityBeat Staff

In politics, there’s nothing more appealing than a politician who takes the highest road possible while still passionately pursuing a policy objective.

Editorial

John Warren is a bigot

A comment on Voice & Viewpoint’s repulsive election endorsement—plus, we have a new reporter

By CityBeat Staff

Have you ever heard of a publication called San Diego Voice & Viewpoint? If you have, it might be because you used to hear its publisher and CEO, John Warren, on KPBS radio.

Editorial

Announcing our District 4 City Council endorsement

Dwayne Crenshaw? Barry Pollard? Myrtle Cole? Or someone else?

By CityBeat Staff

San Diego's District 4 has been without representation on the City Council since December, when Tony Young resigned to take the top job at the local Red Cross.

Letters

Letters: The T-word

Our readers tell us what they think

Why is it OK to print “tranny” and “faggot” but not OK to print “the n-word”?

Letters

Letters: East Village's homeless

Our readers tell us what they think

The homeless are here to stay because it’s a perfect environment for them. The people in my building care about the community and so do the family business owners and untold numbers of nonprofits within a few miles.

Letters

Letters: Outsource the City Attorney

Our readers tell us what they think

Thank you for pointing out Mayor Bob Filner’s proposed $1.4-million decrease to the City Attorney’s budget in your April 17 editorial.

Letters

Letters: Terrible mistake

Our readers tell us what they think

I am disappointed that CityBeat could not write a story about transgender people without messing up a person’s preferred gender pronoun. CityBeat owes Lyn Gwizdak an apology.

Letters

Letters: The road Filner took

Our readers tell us what they think

Regarding your April 3 editorial on Bob Filner and the Tourism Marketing District: Why not just say, “Well done, Mayor Filner!” 

Letters

Letters: Dyer propaganda

Our readers tell us what they think

Cleverly weaving dissociative events, statements, belief systems by individuals and fringe groups, [Dyer] has painted a highly inflammatory and inaccurate picture of present historical events.

Letters

Letters: Liked/didn't like/really didn't like Joel Dyer’s piece

Our readers tell us what they think

Joel Dyer's March 20 news article regarding conspiracies was excellent. This article focused on frightened people with various problems who look for a scapegoat.

Letters

Letters: The case for recycling

Our readers tell us what they think

Decker’s conclusions about recycling are selective, superficial and in some instances, plainly inaccurate. 

Letters

Letters: Edwin the glib sociopath

Our readers tell us what they think

If Edwin Decker, in his Feb. 20, “Sordid Tales” column about assault rifles, was attempting an imitation of Tom Tomorrow’s Glib Sociopath, then he succeeded fully. Swimming pools? Toasters in bathtubs? Edwin, you are now the cartoon.

Letters

Letters: Trowbridge and Maass

Our readers tell us what they think

Ian was always quick to come up with speaking points and new ideas and point out the fact that we could do much better—in fact, that the citizens not only wanted better, but deserved better.

Political Lunacy

Haven't we been here before?

In San Diego politics, the frame of the game stays the same

By Carl Luna

In San Diego politics, the frame of the game stays the same

Political Lunacy

San Diego song

City may have passed a pain-free budget, but it has a bigger hole in it than Henry’s bucket

By Carl Luna

City may have passed a pain-free budget, but it has a bigger hole in it than Henry’s bucket

Political Lunacy

In lieu of flowers

A eulogy for departed City Attorney Mike Aguirre

By Carl Luna

A eulogy for departed City Attorney Mike Aguirre

Political Lunacy

Black hole in the sun

Why would anyone want to be a member of the San Diego City Council?

By Carl Luna

Why would anyone want to be a member of the San Diego City Council?

Political Lunacy

On to the 19th century!

You can’t fight City Hall—but you can fight retro plans to build a new one

By Carl Luna

You can’t fight City Hall—but you can fight retro plans to build a new one

Political Lunacy

An odd year

Elections in odd-numbered council districts and an odd trio challenging an odd city attorney make for odd times

By Carl Luna

Elections in odd-numbered council districts and an odd trio challenging an odd city attorney make for odd times

Political Lunacy

Light the candles

Even small wars cost a lot to raise these days

By Carl Luna

Even small wars cost a lot to raise these days

Political Lunacy

Tijuana burns

Our neighbor's house is on fire--and no one seems to give a damn

By Carl Luna

Our neighbor's house is on fire--and no one seems to give a damn

Political Lunacy

It's really not so bad

From financial woes to flaming fires, plagues of problems bedeviled San Diego in 2007, but we go on

By Carl Luna

From financial woes to flaming fires, plagues of problems bedeviled San Diego in 2007, but we muddled on

Political Lunacy

The fall of Mike Aguirre

Can the city attorney survive the autumn of his discontent?

By Carl Luna

Can the city attorney survive the autumn of his discontent?

Presently Tense

I'm tense no more

Out with this old column, in with a new one

By D.A. Kolodenko

Having grown up in San Diego seeing so many creative, smart people move to Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Europe and other, less-deserty pastures, I always admired those who stayed, or relocated, here for their resolve to make it work in a town where picking up a newspaper is less popular than applying zinc oxide to the nasal region.

Presently Tense

How may I help you?

Providing a different kind of tech support

By D.A. Kolodenko

Punya and Abhijeet, both in their late 20s, told me they were the only two guys from hundreds in the company’s Bangalore office who’d been sent to San Diego for training. So, these were the voices on the phone! I had come face to face with the living, breathing targets of every joke ever told in the U.S. about trying to get a modem fixed.

Presently Tense

Cuckoo world

My admiration for a local antiques collector

By D.A. Kolodenko

Long before the Gaslamp Quarter became the gentrified playground of San Diego’s young 9-to-5ers, there was this giant antique mall down there, south of Market.

Presently Tense

Sleepless in San Diego

Where can a night owl go for a hoot

By D.A. Kolodenko

If New York is the city that never sleeps, San Diego is the city that has a glass of warm soymilk before tucking itself into bed at 8:30.Sure, you’ve got your weekend Pacific Beach bro-fest, your

Presently Tense

The politics of dancing

Shaking up the meaning of an American memorial

By D.A. Kolodenko

Five people were arrested on Saturday for dancing at the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Presently Tense

A view of the bridge

Balboa Park’s future in the grand scheme of things

By D.A. Kolodenko

I’m sure you’ve heard about Irwin Jacobs’ plan to invest in a park renovation that would remove cars from the Plaza De Panama in the heart of the park and divert traffic coming off of the Cabrillo Bridge toward other parking areas.

Presently Tense

Bird of sacrifice

Pelicans are large and in charge, but their future is murky

By D.A. Kolodenko

Living smack in front of the tide pools in O.B. for 11 years will make an amateur pelican expert out of you, and it occurs to me that this year, something looks different.

Presently Tense

Roe v. Wade on hold

Facing the erosion of abortion rights in America

By D.A. Kolodenko

It’s already happening across the country. The New York Times reported that since Republicans made gains in the mid-term elections, 29 states now have anti-choice governors and 15 have both anti-choice governors and legislatures.

Presently Tense

Nukikazes wanted

Japan’s crisis offers a glowing opportunity

By D.A. Kolodenko

One of the more interesting yet under-reported stories from the ongoing disaster in Japan is about how the Tokyo Electric Power Company has ramped up its effort to find workers willing to brave the dangerous conditions at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

Presently Tense

Meltdown versus shutdown

Let’s stop sucking the nuclear boobs

By D.A. Kolodenko

Shut down San Onofre Nuclear Power Plant! If enough of us demand it, it will happen. Raise your voices! Send letters! Organize a demonstration! Walk like an Egyptian!

Shenanigans

Shenanigans: The search is over

Staff writer Dave Maass is leaving; can you find 22 of his favorite subjects?

By Dave Maass

Bill Horn, marijuana, Occupy SD, Zany-Zane and Gary Kreep were among our beloved staff writer's favorite topics. 

Shenanigans

Shenanigans: Black History mini-crossword

Fill in the blanks with prominent African-American figures

By Dave Maass

Who is the current Assembly member for District 79? Plus more questions involving prominent African-American San Diegans. 

Shenanigans

Shenanigans: Flu hunt

Can you find nine flu symptoms and the six FDA-approved vaccines?

By Dave Maass

A list of the six FDA-approved vaccines. Now, get vaccinated. 

Shenanigans

Shenanigans: The procurement is right

Guess the winning bids on these county of San Diego contracts

By Dave Maass

How much for metal and wood barricades, lapel-mics, and commercial truck driver's license training? 

Shenanigans

Shenanigans: Secretary of defense mini-crossword

Which secretaries fit in the blanks?

By Dave Maass

Which secretary was the subject of the 2003 Oscar-winning documentary Fog of War

Shenanigans

Shenanigans: Gun game

Can you identify these firearms, which were all explicitly named in the 1994 assault-weapons ban?

By Dave Maass

Can you tell the difference between an Uzi and a Striker 12?

Shenanigans

Shenanigans: Ebenezer teasers

Bah humbug! Here's some trivia to bum you out on Christmas

By Dave Maass

How much sugar is in a standard-sized candy cane? Which toys are potentially dangerous? Happy holidays! 

Shenanigans

Shenanigans: Dwarf hunt

Can you find the 15 members of 'Thorin & Company' from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey?

By Dave Maass

Hint: there are 13 dwarves, one hobbit and one wizard.

Shenanigans

Shenanigans: Filner's furrow

Can you find your way through the new San Diego mayor's thoughts?

By Dave Maass

The new mayor's brain is a labyrinth! (But with less David Bowie and more focus on neighborhoods).  

Shenanigans

Shenanigans: The procurement is right

Guess the winning bids on these county of San Diego contracts

By Dave Maass

Flashlights, double-cotton-crotch underwear and pavement markings all won bids from San Diego County.

Sordid Tales

Sylvia Browne is a wretched charlatan

I’ve long since had it up to here with the ‘psychic’ who said Amanda Berry was dead

By Edwin Decker

For about 15 years, I've been not-so-patiently waiting for the career of celebrity psychic Sylvia Browne to crash and burn, and I suspect that day may be upon us.

Sordid Tales

Abstinence education is fine; abstinence-only is not

Maybe having no kids makes me the expert

By Edwin Decker

Sure, abstinence should be taught to students, but not -only. Abstinence should be taught side-by-side with the condom option, the pill option, the mutual-masturbation option and the gargle-Listerine-before-giving-head option.

Sordid Tales

The last bastion of my manhood

Dignity’s final gasps came as she took control of the thing I loved the most

By Edwin Decker

My wife and I recently threw a going-away party for a married couple we know and love. It was while setting up for the party that the last bastion of my manhood flew away.

Sordid Tales

The Ten Commandments of figuring out the restaurant bill

How to handle stingy little check-dodging weasels, and other useful tips

By Edwin Decker

You know about these people, right? These chum-sucking, check-ducking, cheap-ass charlatans who'll do whatever it takes to avoid paying their fair share?

Sordid Tales

Understanding the difference between ‘public’ and ‘private’

My first-ever letter to an editor

By Edwin Decker

After nearly 25 years of receiving hate mail from irate readers, I finally got around to writing an angry letter to an editor myself.

Sordid Tales

Why it’s perfectly acceptable to download free music

File sharing is nature’s way of refunding audiophiles for previously purchased crappy albums

By Edwin Decker

Do you want to know why I don't feel sorry for the record companies when they complain about file sharing and other piracy? Because, when you think about it, they still owe consumers a lot of money.

Sordid Tales

Nobody needs to ‘need’ an assault rifle

What we ‘need’ is to pursue the things that make us happy

By Edwin Decker

I'd like to state at the outset that I'm not necessarily against gun control. What I am against is a certain argument that many gun-control activists use when referring to assault rifles.

Sordid Tales

Who the hell cares about Beyoncé lip synching?

I the hell care about Beyoncé lip synching!

By Edwin Decker

I must admit, I’m fascinated by the topic of lip synching. I’ve truly enjoyed watching and listening to all the talking heads bicker about whether Barack Obama knew that Beyoncé was using a backing track at the inauguration.

Sordid Tales

Mentoring a horny, drunken Pacific Beach baboon

Lesson 1: Don’t hit on the bartender

By Edwin Decker

It was on a busy Saturday night, in a bar on Garnet Avenue, when I unknowingly stooled up beside a horny, drunken Pacific Beach baboon.

Sordid Tales

Why recycling is a waste of money, time and energy

A defense of conservatism

By Edwin Decker

As a fence-sitting political independent, I’ve taken a lot of grief over the years from my mostly Democratic friends who say it’s a copout to avoid picking a side. 

Spin Cycle

Bob Filner, six months out

Only results will silence recall talk

By John R. Lamb

Sure, Filner has had his share of victories—but they’ve come typically in the courtroom or City Council chambers, where most San Diegans dare not enter. But tangible, visible evidence of a progressive shift in a burgeoning Democratic town? Meh, not so much.

Spin Cycle

Nathan and the giant pitch

The blowup over Citizen Fletcher’s switch to the Democratic Party

By John R. Lamb

Fletcher also wrote that he watched former President Bill Clinton’s Democratic National Convention speech three times “trying to find something I disagreed with. I couldn’t. It was clear—at least to me—that I was a Democrat.”

Spin Cycle

Plaza de Filner

Will the mayor's quicker, cheaper plan for Balboa Park's core fly?

By John R. Lamb

After Mayor Bob Filner had finished unveiling his proposal to rid Balboa Park’s Plaza de Panama of parked cars by Memorial Day, one stunned local resident queried: “Are you talking about all of this happening this Memorial Day, or 2014?” “Next month!” Filner boomed from his seat.

Spin Cycle

A hurdle for Myrtle

District 4 runners-up hop on the Dwayne Train

By John R. Lamb

When the primary dust had settled, local labor’s sweetheart, Myrtle Cole, found herself with more than twice as many votes as her nearest competitor, San Diego Pride executive director and community activist Dwayne Crenshaw.

Spin Cycle

Reclaiming Balboa Park

Let’s start the conversation, post-Jacobs Plan

By John R. Lamb

Over beers and the occasional shot of whiskey, urban designer Howard Blackson and Australian-born transplant Pauly De Bartolo, began brainstorming about ways to reconnect Balboa Park to its truncated past.

Spin Cycle

Victory for the San Diego GOP!

Granted, it comes at community-planning level

By John R. Lamb

Imagine a Republican Party victory in San Diego these days minus fanfare. No chest thumping on social media from local party chairman Tony Krvaric that the end days are approaching for “socialists” and “union stooges.”

Spin Cycle

San Diego, the ‘blank slate’ city

Esteemed panel confronts our collective identity woes

By John R. Lamb

Before a not-quite-capacity crowd at Balboa Park’s Mingei International Museum one evening last week, an artist, architect, scholar and urban designer shared a couch and their thoughts on San Diego’s ongoing struggle with its identity.

Spin Cycle

Five more District 4 hopefuls

The other City Council candidates you should know

By John R. Lamb

On March 26, voters in the City Council’s District 4 will choose the successor to Tony Young, who’s resigned. That decision will determine, at least on paper, the partisan slant of the supposedly nonpartisan council.

Spin Cycle

An open letter to Irwin Jacobs

Rise above the surprise

By John R. Lamb

“Never let defeat have the last word.” —Tibetan Proverb

Spin Cycle

Adios, Plaza de Panama project?

Judge tentatively rules that City Council approval broke municipal law

By John R. Lamb

Could this coming Friday mark the end of the road for Irwin Jacobs’ contentious $45-million makeover plan for Balboa Park?

 
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