On the morning of June 7, at least 25 police officers, social workers, and prosecutors, accompanied by a horde of television and print reporters, rolled out of a police substation in one of the poorest …
June 28, 2001
Thursday, June 28
What San Diego Unified School District doesn't say about low attendance
Swing the Boom
“These cranes are pretty nice rigs,” he told me. “They handle nice. It’s kind of like a car. [Just like little cars], the smaller the crane, the whippier it is — the quicker around.”
June 28, 2001
Tenor under Construction
My opera career up to a year and a half ago consisted of an appearance as a monkey in a Cal State Los Angeles production of The Magic Flute when I was 10 and as …
June 28, 2001
Cloudy Futures
A Kansas City school run by the School Futures Research Foundation, a Mission Valley-based nonprofit heavily backed by billionaire Wal-Mart heir and Bonita resident John Walton, has had its charter revoked. In an attempt to …
June 28, 2001
Married to the Peso
In Mexico City in June of 1994, Pat Nelson took a friend, a Mexican financial consultant, to lunch. "My friend said to me, 'Pat, in '92 and '93 the Mexican government issued short-term bonds that …
June 28, 2001
Blue surfing
The Canadian navy has suspended one of its top commanders after he admitted he'd looked at Internet porn sites last April while surfing the Web during service in San Diego. Eric Lerhe, 52, chief of …
June 28, 2001
Visit Oasis Spring in the Laguna Mountains, where a sparkling rivulet makes a headlong plunge toward the desert floor.
A more restful place could scarcely be imagined. A warm breeze from the desert below wafts up the shady canyon, bringing with it the scent of sage and bay laurel. A lone bigleaf maple tree …
June 28, 2001
How do you obtain a marijuana user and grower card?
Mr. Alice: This may sound off the wall, but here goes. How does one go about securing a marijuana user and grower card? I read all about these people and have yet to see any …
June 28, 2001
How do you start a bank?
Hey, Matthew: How do you start a bank? It looks like a nice gig! Banks are well-lit businesses with polite staff and (usually) docile customers. Judging from the nice locations, expensive furniture, and money they …
June 28, 2001
Thursday, June 21
A Seat, Legs, Back, And Often Arms, Designed To Accommodate One Person
Some passions are easy to grasp — chocolate, the sea, or Marx Brothers movies. Others are more elusive, harder to explain. I’m afraid the love of chairs falls into the latter category. It’s the sensuous …
June 21, 2001
A sexist hubby and a cheating wife
Dear Aunt Trudy, My husband is the least sexist man I know. He's polite and sweet and good-humored. Unfortunately, he has a best friend who's one of the most sexist men I've ever met. Frankly, …
June 21, 2001
M.D. Claims Soy Milk Breeds Violent Teens
Dr. David Goodman cannot understand the media's lack of concern. The Escondido-based research scientist claims to have important in-formation about soy-based baby formulas, and no one, he says, is listening. Goodman revealed his findings in …
June 21, 2001
El Cajon Craves Starbucks
It's still not La Jolla. The buildings along Main Street between Magnolia and Avocado in downtown El Cajon form a hodgepodge of 20th-century architectural styles, from an early-century board-sided, post-and-beam warehouse to 1960s stucco boxes. …
June 21, 2001
Jolly good show
The scheduled appearance of England's Prince Andrew at Bio2001, the controversial biotech summit to be held here next week, is causing a ruckus at Buckingham Palace. Prince Charles, Andrew's older brother, is fiercely opposed to …
June 21, 2001
Explore Runyan Canyon, a former hillside retreat of Hollywood stars, in the Santa Monica Mountains.
Runyan Canyon, a narrow strip of open space rising into the hills just one mile from the heart of Hollywood, counts among its former residents the actors John McCormick and Errol Flynn. For more than …
June 21, 2001
What happened to Ladybird Johnson's anti-billboard laws?
Hey, Matt: Have you noticed how many signs there are along the interstates these days? Temporaries, such as Miramar's Armed Forces Day Celebration sign beside 15, and permanents, such as Barona Casino's massive action board …
June 21, 2001
Is the painting of the dogs playing poker a joke?
Hey, Matt: I've always wondered about that painting of the dogs playing poker. Was that painted as a joke or was the artist serious when he did it? Where did that thing come from? -- …
June 21, 2001
How do I get the telemarketers to stop calling?
Help! HOW DO I GET TELEMARKETERS TO GO AWAY?!?! -- I can't stand the ringing anymore! I can't stand it! Arrrrrgh! Gandma Alice has made you some nice tea. Sit down here next to the …
June 21, 2001
Thursday, June 14
A Filipino writer takes on his San Diego countrymen
He believes that advertisers control the content of most Philippine newspapers in San Diego. Print something against what they believe, which is to say the status quo, and you’ll be out of business quickly.
June 14, 2001
Under the bridge
San Diego city officials are suddenly in a big hurry to build a multimillion-dollar bridge across the San Diego River in Mission Valley just east of the big Interstate 805 span. The reason: the city …
June 14, 2001
Naked Monks Irk Campo Residents
Rumors spread through the backcountry town of Campo the way a wildfire spreads through the local hills. It starts with a passing comment in the feed store, an off-the-cuff remark in the post office. It's …
June 14, 2001
No Mexican food without epazote
l was working in my herb garden last weekend when my neighbor, pulling weeds on his side of the fence, retched. “My God,” he said. “What are you doing over there? What is that smell?” …
June 14, 2001
Take an early-evening stroll through spring-green chaparral on Cuyamaca's Pine Ridge Trail.
If you want a quick escape from the dreary late-afternoon June gloom dogging the coast of late, try this little outing to the blue-sky realm of the Cuyamaca Mountains. Pack along a light dinner of …
June 14, 2001
Esperanto — no irregular verbs
Se vi povus legi cition, vi komprenas Esperanton. If the degree of a manifesto’s passion and ardor were any test, the Prague Manifesto would be an important one: “Any system of communication which confers lifelong …
June 14, 2001
Is there anywhere in San Diego where women can see men dancing for women?
I have seen in San Diego boys dancing for boys, and women dancing for guys. Is there anywhere near where us females can see the men dance for US? (example: Chippendales) -- Jan Lyons, San …
June 14, 2001
What is the difference between the terms "road" and "roadway?"
Hello: Can you tell me why the weather and traffic people insist on using the word "roadways" when describing conditions on the roads? What is the difference between a road and a roadway, anyway? Seems …
June 14, 2001
What is a cobweb?
Hey, Matt: What's a cobweb? I say they're spider webs. My wife insists they're not, but she can't tell me where she thinks they come from. Settle the argument. -- Mr. & Mrs. Clean, Santee …
June 14, 2001
Thursday, June 7
Gene Dente of Serengeti Company tells me all about diamonds
I swallowed the lump in my throat as my eyes peered upward. Surveying the Jewelry Exchange, on the corner of Sixth and E downtown, I felt small and insignificant. I gazed up at the eight-story …
June 7, 2001
Cabby
"The people that come out of these places in the Gaslamp are pretty bad, but not as bad as people who come out of the local bars. Like in Imperial Beach.”
June 7, 2001
Ponzi patriots
A La Jolla investor and businessman who once ran Honolulu's Polynesian Cultural Center for the Mormon church has been busted for his alleged participation in a giant Ponzi scheme, which prosecutors say cost its victims …
June 7, 2001
I Looked at the Baby and Couldn't Believe It
Captain Bob Spangler, 50, has been a San Diego Firefighter for 27 years. He is also licensed as a paramedic and a nurse. A former lifeguard, Spangler's career encompasses lifesaving in one form or another. …
June 7, 2001
Volunteer Cop Triggers One-Man Crusade
Dale Raver, 53, a Poway resident and the owner of a cell-phone-accessory business, is waging a quixotic crusade against the City of Escondido, which he believes is breaking the law. He's spent over 30 hours …
June 7, 2001
Get good vibrations from the Kelso Dunes in Mojave National Preserve
Booming, roaring, barking, squeaking, and whistling sands have figured in folklore and travelers' tales for 1500 years, with the earliest references found in Chinese and Mideastern chronicles. Marco Polo describes encountering the phenomenon on a …
June 7, 2001