As any recruiter will tell you, military service provides on-the-job training and work experience that may be applied to future careers. While those recruiters likely don't have brewing in mind, David Casperson makes a convincing …

Narrative cinema rarely unearths heretofore overlooked historical truth, but three of least year’s releases — Denial, Hidden Figures, and now A United Kingdom — have their heart set on proving that adage wrong. Filmmaker Amma …

Early Friday evening (February 24) around 4:30 p.m., Kimm McLaughlin left her cat Hula in her courtyard on West Point Loma/Mentone for “less than a minute” to run inside to use the restroom. When she …

LAST CALL. Moxie Theatre’s excellent production of Tanya Barfield’s Blue Door must close this Sunday. It’s said Moxie is a “women-centered” theater. That’s not completely true. Here’s an exception. In Leo Tolstoy’s novella The Death …

On Monday, February 27, the majority of city councilmembers entered into the national debate over the use of bathrooms for transgender students. During a closed-session meeting, a majority of councilmembers voted to file an amicus …

After nearly three hours of presentations and public testimony in support of an SDSU report on racial profiling in traffic stops, San Diego's city council took what councilmember David Alvarez termed a "deeply troubling" move …

Experimental music rarely goes as planned. Often, that’s the point. Sometimes, nothing happens at all. Just ask John Cage. One thing’s for sure: it’s a gamble. It’s downright audacious first-date material. Most people find it …

Stock of biotech La Jolla Pharmaceutical today (February 27) soared a rollicking 76.75 percent to $35.12. The company got excellent results in tests for a treatment for catecholamine-resistant hypotension, a life-threatening condition featuring inadequate blood …

Nicolai Gedda’s family has announced that the legendary tenor died on January 8, 2017. He was 91 years old. Gedda was a master of diction. If I ever had a new aria to learn I …

One of the ultimate ironies of Hillary Clinton's defeat at the hands of Donald Trump may come with the ascendance of Nathan Fletcher to a county supervisor’s seat in San Diego. Far from Washington’s beltway, …

After watching police arrest some minor drug offenders from inside the huge modern bus terminal in the Zone Norte, I headed toward a bus in Tijuana’s new rapid transit system, named SITT (Sistema Integral de …

In 1997, I returned to San Diego to work on a couple university projects; a new parking garage at USD and then the new Commons building at Point Loma Nazarene. The Point Loma job was …

For some, a Starbucks is a sign that the neighborhood has arrived. For others, it’s a microbrewery. For me, it’s a noodle shop. La Mesa already has its share of sushi joints, pho spots, and …

As the weather continues to bounce, seemingly weekly, between warm and storm, the local boats have been getting out as they can between gales and scoring well on sand bass, sculpin and a decent halibut …

Monday 27Start the jazz week off with a free lunchtime concert showcasing the U.S. Marine Corps Jazz Orchestra with special guest Gilbert Castellanos at SDSU’s Smith Recital Hall (5500 Campanile Drive) from noon to 1:30 …

Over the past five months, news of brewery closings, layoffs, and sales have seemed to outpace the opening of new breweries in San Diego. With only six new brewhouses opening in that time, it was …

"Three nights now, so horrible you wake in the a.m. with a sore throat and burning eyes," Imperial Beach resident Sherrie Simmons said recently on social media about a horrible stench in the air. "Fix …

Just Say Nay As a "matter of confidentiality," the board will not release test-positive trainers' names, though if information is obtained from other sources, they will confirm it. Harvey Furgatch, a former boardmember, thinks the …

A Vista school meeting with an immigration attorney — set up to help parents prepare to protect their families should they be suddenly deported — was abruptly canceled Thursday (February 23), hours before it was …

While hundreds of San Diegan anglers wait for the April 29 trout opener in the mountain lakes of the Eastern Sierra, Big Bear Lake, in the nearby San Bernardino Mountains, is producing some large, high …

Linda Vista residents who overlook the 27-hole Riverwalk Golf Course in west Mission Valley got a look last week at the first conceptual drafts of the project being planned on the 200 acres of land …

In A United Kingdom, a black man falls in love with a white woman, and their romance is tested by all sorts of opposing forces. In Get Out, a black man falls in love with …

Elisa Brent has been organizing the community ever since the morning of June 17, 2016, when the neighborhood woke to find a fourth story added to the condos at the corner of Emerson and Evergreen …

The Medical Board of California has given Dr. David Jee Wei Chao, former Chargers physician, four years of probation. In April of last year, the board accused the doctor of repeated negligent acts, unprofessional conduct, …

In my experience, there’s a fair amount of self-deception involved in applying the term “veggie burger” to anything. I mean, can just any mushy puck of vegetable fiber, grains, and/or nuts be slapped on a …

How does one begin to describe Slim Cessna’s Auto Club? The band, forming 25 years ago in Denver, defies categorization, though many have tried. Some have labeled their sound — a wickedly enchanting mix of …

As Donald Trump and his Republican allies in Congress ponder how to pay for the president's promised wall along the Mexican border, a new study from the Government Accountability Office contends that the Department of …

Remember in the early part of the century when the Chargers brought out the National Football League commissioner to blackmail San Diego taxpayers into paying for a new stadium? The commissioner declared that San Diego …

Officially known as the Antelope Valley Poppy Preserve, the rolling hills of the southern Mojave, 15 miles west of Lancaster, explode with color each spring as 1,745 acres of wildflowers end their hibernation and burst …

Several south coast counties restrict wood burning fireplaces, but San Diego isn’t one of them. Not yet. “Although it is not prohibited, wood burning in the home is a growing source of air pollution in …

Beginning in late 2016 and continuing through mid 2017, the City of San Diego's water department started the Pipeline 4 Project, which entails relining pipes at Lake Murray. Along with construction crews, cement trucks, and …

“This restaurant closes it doors on March 26,” Honorio Zarate said in an interview as he greeted patrons for happy hour this week. Zarate is the service manager for the TGI Fridays restaurant on 403 …

Don’t bust out the crab crackers or butter warmers just yet — not likely the “Spring Crab Feed” will be coming to San Diego. The event, marketed heavily through Facebook before the page disappeared, advertises …

Veronica Medina sits in an office overflowing with blankets, shoes, and donated school supplies. A native of San Ysidro, she has a perennial smile and wears pink lipstick that accents her jolly laugh. She doesn’t …

A Summer Place The chestnut tree is sick, its bark scaled By yellow lichen, its leaves curled and brown, Falling already in August when the wind rises Across the patio our rented farmhouse opens Against …

“I was at home working on a new project,” says musician/producer Kamau Kenyatta explaining why he had to miss this year’s Grammy awards. Kenyatta helmed the sessions behind Gregory Porter’s Take Me to the Alley, …

Hundreds of North County residents packed Jim Porter Recreation Center in Vista on Tuesday night (February 21), while a thousand or more were left to gather outside for a town-hall event missing only its guest …

The controversial plan by a stealthy group of La Jolla money men known as FS Investors to replace city-owned Qualcomm Stadium with a soccer venue and high-end commercial and housing development is turning into a …

Huh. A smoker. And smoking away right now. Not some guy — a wood-burning meat smoker. I’m loping up Indiana Street. Where it forks into Park and Robinson, and right beside a li’l ol’ bungalow, …

When 22-year-old college student Brett Miller and partner Dean Marchant bought the bar at 4479 Everts Street in 1989, it was hemorrhaging money due to poor and often absent management. While pursuing his degree to …

Public art, $1.2 million worth, is being commissioned by the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority to adorn the main airport’s forthcoming Federal Inspection Services facility, says a February 8 call for proposals. “This opportunity …

It was never this good in Beach Blanket Bingo. Kut U Up’s singer/bassist Chris Cote assembled the lineup for Camp Shred, a combination campout, beach party, music fest, and surf-industry demo held at the Cardiff …

Snow fever, it comes regularly to this East Coast transplant. The relatives back there chuckle at me when I mention “going to the snow” — those poor folks don’t have the luxury of escaping it …

The loop around Discovery Lake in San Marcos makes a perfect hike for those who want to do a light and easy stroll but still see a diversity of species and beautiful lake scenery. This …

“The Big Stir Powerpop Show was something I first organized last year in San Diego in conjunction with L.A. band the Armoires, who hold monthly Big Stir shows up in North Hollywood,” says singer/guitarist Scott …

Reclusive jazz composer Joe Garrison is unveiling a new CD called The People Upstairs with his large ensemble Night People. The musician makes his living tuning pianos and long ago he came to this revelation: …

Following O.B. Playhouse’s production of Urinetown: The Musical (directed by Jennie Gray Connard), I could ramble about the ins and outs of the real-life Malthusian trap on the edge of which we, the global population, …

Hello again, Hipster: I saw the attached graffiti near my workplace in Normal Heights. Are there hipster turf wars in San Diego? Is this the foodie gang’s tag? If they have a beef with another …

"Four deadly tales directed by four killer women.” That’s the tagline for XX, the new horror anthology opening Friday at the Digital Gym. This type of press agent math never adds up. Has there ever …

On C Street in San Diego’s Golden Hill neighborhood, cracks in the asphalt meander like fault lines. Near C Street’s intersection with 23rd Street, in a block where single-family homes are valued anywhere from $750,000 …

Straight out of the 1970s, with all the commingled smells of sweat and polyester and a big fat four-on-the-floor beat like God’s metronome, and soaring above it all is a lovely, lithe voice: that’s the …

The tumultuous rollout of president Donald Trump’s immigration policy has at least one member of the Fifth Estate yearning for the good old days of Alan Bersin, the controversial border czar under Democratic president Bill …

The Christian who is taught by God (by His Word and Holy Spirit) finds his guide in the Word of God, and commits the keeping of his soul in the hands of God. He looks …

Just the Right Edge Your Walter Mencken article (“Breaking Up Is Hard to Do”) had clarity and just the right edge of bitterness in the aftermath of the Chargers’ departure. May they continue to choke …

A 30-year-old North County man who suffered a brain injury and multiple amputations after being repeatedly tased by a sheriff's deputy has agreed to settle his lawsuit. According to court documents obtained by the Reader, …

The beach north of the Tijuana River was littered with broken trees this weekend (February 18–19), a result of an enormous flow of rainwater and sewage from Tijuana hitting some of the 140,000 trees killed …

Frank Golbeck recalls the moment in 2011 that prompted him to open a meadery and tasting room in Oceanside. Golbeck and his Golden Coast Mead cofounders had spent their first year in business contract-brewing at …

My server's answer surprised me, so when she walked away, I flagged down another waitress to ask for a second opinion. Which dish, off the entire dinner menu, did she recommend for someone after the …

Taking the audience on an enchanting journey from the land of the living to the depths of the underworld, Sarah Rhul’s Eurydice is the Oceanside Theatre Company’s current attraction at the Sunshine Brooks Theatre. Based …

A proposed road from Cabrillo Bridge that bypasses Balboa Park's Plaza de Panama and leads to a newly constructed parking garage must make another stop in San Diego Superior Court. Earlier this month, Cory Briggs …

My Life of Crime I married my third wife in ’78. She was pregnant. We went to the swap meet in Spring Valley, and I was doin’ dealings for some turquoise rings, and I looked …

Last call: Theater in January and February usually begins in slow motion. Not this season. One show must close this Sunday. Two have been reprieved. An Iliad at New Village Arts. Homer’s epic poem in …

Even if you’ve seen the Creepy Creeps perform several times, you’d likely never recognize any of the bandmembers in public. The reason: onstage, their appearance ranges from dapperly dressed apes to skeleton faces with fezzes. …

It didn't really matter to me what the "More" referred to, when I found myself parking it in Lakeside to eat at a small, casual spot called Sausage & More European Deli. For the record, …

Thirteen-year-old Julius Ballo may be a normal teenager at his Tierra Del Sol middle school in Lakeside, but in the boxing ring, he’s a national champion. The Santee resident started boxing when he was three. …

Since the advent of the plastic sit-on-top kayak and the internet, anglers have posted shots of their catches, forgetting that the background might hold secrets. Plus, there’s the explosion of information on rigging, technique, and …

“We just lost their main flagship,” said Mr. Robinson, a resident who lives one block away from the Pancho Villa supermarket at 3245 El Cajon Boulevard. Robinson said he is “bummed out” by the pollos …

We’ve seen a variety of outfits from singer/songwriter Ryan Adams throughout his expansive career. Never shy of being experimental, if you are able to get past the dismay of his Taylor Swift cover album, we …

Points of origin In early February, San Diego’s award-winning Bird Rock Coffee Roasters announced a merger with the Topeka, Kansas, business PT’s Coffee Roasting Co. While each brand will retain its own identity, PT’s cofounder …

The White Trash Diet Inside the kitchen, the ranch hands might be eating eggs, scrambled or fried in the fat from home-smoked bacon or ham or pork chops or sausage, biscuits sopped in sorghum molasses, …

Tuesday 21KSDS Jazz 88 presents Jazz Live celebrating the music of Tadd Dameron with the Paul Combs Quintet featuring Bill Cunliffe at the Saville Theatre on the campus of San Diego City College. The doors …

The strongest so far in a series of Pacific storms, aptly named Lucifer, slammed into southern California Friday, shutting down the sportfishing fleet and keeping local anglers on not-so-dry land. High winds built seas up …

When a restaurant has “Chocolate Bar” in its name people assume that the place is just a sweet shop or a candy store. In the case of Eclipse Chocolate Bar & Bistro in South Park, …

Thousands of San Diegans took to the streets downtown on Saturday (February 18), calling on mayor Kevin Faulconer to establish San Diego as a sanctuary city and specifically offer support for Senate Bill 54, a …

The Starbucks on Newport Avenue in Ocean Beach recently posted a sign that directed non-customers to use restrooms at nearby businesses. When the sign was posted on the restroom door earlier this week, someone asked …

Offbeat Tourist Spots You don’t have to go to Northern California in order to see redwoods. A substantial stand of trees estimated to be about seventy years old and ranging up to eighty feet tall …

A lengthy list of ingredients greets you on the front wall at Silk Road, a late 2016 addition to Poway's shopping center food scene. Three generations work the family business, led by a mother and …

According to the publication Inside Higher Ed, Chinese students at the University of California/San Diego are complaining that the university is having the Dalai Lama as this year's commencement speaker. Lhamo Dondrub (the Dalai Lama) …

There is no delight in being contrary for its own sake. It's as dishonest a critical move as quote-whore cheerleading. It cries out, "Hey, look at me!" when, of course, a critic's job is to …

Newly elected Republican supervisor Kristin Gaspar made loud and clear her opposition to funding a study about breaking up Sempra Energy's San Diego power monopoly: “In my view, when you’re ready to move forward and …

San Diego Music Theatre works hard in 9 to 5: The Musical to highlight inequities between men and women in a 1980s workplace. Through well-timed factoids and witty retorts, this musical remake of the classic …

San Diegan Cristina Montijo has been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud. She was originally charged in the Southern District of New York, but the case has been moved to federal …

My transmission was on the blink. After I checked in with the mechanic and sat down in the lobby, I realized I was hungry. So, I got up, walked out the door and headed down …

“It’s been since January that the trash hasn’t been picked up,” says Geovanni Zamudio, a 35-year-old high school teacher in Tijuana. “Garbage collectors usually come on Wednesdays where I live in Porticos de la Mesa, …

A woman from Loma Portal turned to the 40 or so La Jolla residents who came to a meeting Wednesday night (February 16) on Harbor Drive to complain about low-flying and late air traffic from …

For well over a century, the mountain orchards in and around Julian boasted a reputation for producing fine, flavorful apples and pears. More recently, the area's become better known for apple pie and hard cider, …

Despite the staggering rise in San Diego home prices (the median is more than $500,000), the percentage of your income going to your mortgage is only a little bit higher than it was in the …

Verdi’s only successful comedy, Falstaff, opens at San Diego Opera on Saturday, February 18, 7 p.m. There will be four performances running through February 26. Sir John Falstaff appears in three Shakespeare plays: Henry IV …

U.S.Navy commander Mario Herrera was charged in a complaint unsealed today (February 16) with accepting romps with prostitutes, luxury travel, and elaborate dinners featuring $1800 steaks from foreign defense contractor Leonard Glenn Francis — aka …

A taxpayer advocacy group is suing the Bonsall Unified School District for skirting state environmental laws in its pursuit to build a new high school. The group, California Taxpayers Action Network, filed the lawsuit on …

I visited The Smok'd Hog a couple of years ago when it soft-opened as The Whole Hog. Back then I had a mixed experience at the little BBQ spot at the three-way intersection of Park …

Two geniuses walk into a bar.... Sound like the setup to a joke? It is — and the jokes come fast and loose in Steve Martin’s wacky Picasso at the Lapin Agile at the Old …

After a particularly hard crunch was suffered by his car's front end on the really bad pavement in front of his Normal Heights house, Kevin G. used the city's Get It Done app to ask …

Auschwitz A message in a bottle has been found in a concrete wall on the site of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp. Dated 9 September 1944, the message, in French, contains names, numbers and home towns …

Efforts by Democratic billionaire Irwin Jacobs to bulldoze a costly road and parking garage project through the heart of Balboa Park has been getting lobbying support from an outfit called Balboa Park United. The group …

Roots-rocker Alejandro Escovedo jumped ship from his longtime base of Austin, Texas, to what would be considered a less-hip locale — Dallas. So, is this the Lone Star State version of ditching San Diego for …

Growing up in Chicago, Richie Keen would ride his bike down to where John Hughes was shooting Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and sneak onto the set. Later, he started as an actor before becoming a …

While San Diego State president Elliott Hirshman and California State University trustee vice-chairman Adam Day jockey behind closed doors for a costly new football stadium in Mission Valley, statistics aired last week at a meeting …

"Whooo! Whooo!” This is Mary Beth and her friend Jef. Waving their arms, pointing their fingers, whooping like werewolves, doing a dance in place here in row 32 at SDSU’s Viejas Arena. Confession: This is …

"We knew these attacks were coming, and now more than ever we must grow the resistance," opened Abel Macias, reading a statement from tribal leaders at the Standing Rock Sioux reservation in North Dakota, where …

“Before we started this nine years ago,” says vocalist Allison Adams Tucker, “many San Diegans had no experience with Brazilian culture — the language, the music, the dances. Now it’s become a part of the …

Moxie Theatre is conjuring African-American history from Tanya Barfield’s healing nightmare Blue Door. When you enter Moxie’s intimate space, you won’t see a door or the color blue. Instead, five pale gray, diaphanous panels stretch …

Membership: 300 (125 average attendance) Pastor: Madison Schockley Age: 61 Born: Los Angeles Formation: Harvard University, MA; University of Missouri, Columbia, MO; Union Theological Seminary, NY; Claremont Graduate University, Claremont , CA Years Ordained: 38 …

It is hard to say who has more fun when watching the dogs and their humans play. Dog Beach, in Ocean Beach (O.B. to locals), was established in 1972 and has become a required destination …

With Pirates of the Caribbean, Gore Verbinski took a silly-spooky theme park attraction and built it into a multibillion-dollar defense of bucking the system and living by your wits. With A Cure for Wellness, he …

The Clairemont High rock scene honored in Cameron Crowe’s Fast Times at Ridgemont High lives on, more or less, in the eight-piece rollicking Irish-rock band Ass Pocket Whiskey Fellas. “We’re all from Clairemont,” says guitarist …

Alternative Facts [The scene: the basement of Our Lady of Sorrows church, Mission Valley. A circle of chairs. A despondent array of suffering souls.] Walter Mencken: Hello, everybody. Please sit down. Welcome to Walter Mencken’s …

Beds: 5+ Baths: 5+ Current Owner: Stuart Jamieson List Price: $16,000,000 Double S Ranch, situated just west of Lake Henshaw near Santa Ysabel, comprises four residences, including “a multi million-dollar log cabin” set on 560 …

They’re too young to hold office and at least two of them can’t vote, but the Regrettes, four teens pushing back against conventional notions of beauty, status, and worth, have a Warner Brothers recording contract, …

Dear Hipster: How do you spot a poser? — Deb Oh, damn. Let’s just take a breath here. Slow down a minute before we dive into a long answer for a short question. Talk about …

Miguel Zenón is not your grandmother’s jazzman — so many of them are, for better or worse. Ever since a handful of the perkiest among them invented bebop in the 1940s, followed by the next …

“Buddy! Over here! Buy something, amigo! It’s all cheap! Free tequila shot!” Street salesmen in Tijuana usually try to shove things down your throat, whether you want them or not. They yell at you in …

Jack in the Box and North Park neighbors return to court.

That I haven’t been in an outrigger canoe doesn’t mean I haven’t wished for one. I remember when my first two-piece paddle snapped while “digging in” (paddling hard) a couple miles off La Jolla in …

Name: Helen Paris Age: 19 Occupation: Student Neighborhood: La Mesa Where interviewed: Barnes & Noble, Grossmont Center What have you read lately? Hush, Hush; it’s a series by Becca Fitzpatrick. The books are about fallen …

Last summer’s dump by WikiLeaks of thousands of emails generated by Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign honcho John Podesta turned out badly for the Democrats’ standard bearer, who later blamed her loss partly on the work …

As Long as You’re Taking an Interest... This he said/he said article about C3 Church is fine as far as it goes. The trouble is that it doesn’t go very far. We’re given a father …

Groundswell Brewing Co., formerly of Grantville, has officially made the move to Santee. In mid-February, the beer company hosted an opening event at the 12,000-square-foot, 30-barrel brewhouse and tasting room left behind by Twisted Manzanita …

She enters through the loading-dock doors at New Village Arts. Behind her, cars gleam under parking-lot lights and music drifts in from a nearby nightspot. She wears a strange coffee-brown helmet and sweat-soaked military togs, …

Three weeks after a study found that more than two thirds of Californians interviewed said not being able to find inexpensive accommodations at the coast makes going there difficult, the California Coastal Commission voted to …

She pulled within a seat of me and couldn’t wait to inquire about the open notepad on my lap. “You a critic?” she asked. “Nah,” I deadpanned, “if the movie stinks I’ll doodle.” “Seriously,” she …

Jeff Light, vice president and editor of the Union-Tribune, today (February 14) revealed that there will be seven layoffs on the editorial staff of the newspaper. His message reads, "All--Today, we're reducing our newsroom by …

The Descanso Sweetwater River Loop is a lasso-shaped hike that follows the Merigan Fire Road and then turns left onto the Saddleback Trail to start the loop. Make right turns onto the California Riding & …

When I first walked into Honey’s Bistro & Bakery in downtown Encinitas, I had one of those déjà vu moments. I was so sure I had been there before, but I hadn’t. A new friend …

Looking to avoid a $2.6 million payout to opposing attorney Cory Briggs, legal counsel for San Diego's Tourism Marketing District is asking that a judge disqualify Briggs and his firm and wipe out any opportunity …

Last summer, a movie named Cell came out. In the plot, users of cell phones were reprogrammed into mad killers. Critics sneered. The movie was not a big hit. The producer, Cell Film Holdings, sued …

As the big-money politics behind the drive to turn over the Qualcomm Stadium site to a secretive syndicate of La Jolla money men mounts, one of the city's mightiest pro-developer lobbies has jumped into the …

A petition addressed to mayor Kevin Faulconer is making the rounds, asking him to overturn an agreement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to round up and kill feral cats. The petition points to one …

The House of Pacific Relations International Cottages in Balboa Park says it is a "near utopian multicultural organization" that was launched in the 1930s "to create a spirit of understanding, tolerance, and goodwill" among various …

It may be critic-proof. Bridget Carpenter’s (book), Tom Kitt’s (music), and Brian Yorkey’s (lyrics) new musical comedy is undemanding and thoroughly predictable — even if you haven’t read Mary Rogers’s 1972 novel, seen the 1976 …

The fifth annual San Diego Comic Fest makes its debut in a new venue, Four Points By Sheraton, running February 17 through 20. Music-themed events will include discussion panels, a live band trivia contest, and …

The Fish Market on the border of Del Mar and Solana Beach has been a go-to spot for me since it opened in 1981. It’s more laid back than the coastal restaurants on the beach, …

Water scientists say that the discovery of caffeine in creeks and lakes throughout local recreation and open-space areas suggests that people are answering the call of nature without questioning if it's a good idea for …

A crowd of red-shirted union picketers took to the streets downtown on Saturday morning (February 11), banging drums, chanting, and blowing on vuvuzelas outside an AT&T store at the corner of Third and Broadway. "We're …

We Used to Play Acoustic Delta Blues on the Corner of Prospect "We used to play acoustic delta blues on the corner of Prospect and Herschel. We would put on really nice suits and shine …

Over the past few years, I've happily jumped on the pork belly trend, the game meat trend, cured and smoked meats, bone marrow, and pretty much anything confit. Creative chefs embracing unusual cuts and oleogustus …

San Diego Unified School District offered a glimpse into the ongoing implementation of its climate action plan on Thursday evening (February 9) with its Family Climate Action Summit. A crowd of about 100 trickled into …

Monday 13There’s a Monday jam session going down at Busalacchi’s (3707 Fifth Avenue) with Louis Valenzuela on guitar, Mackenzie Leighton on bass, and Kevin Higuchi on drums from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. No cover …

A 413-pound yellowfin tuna was caught by angler Kevin Boyle of West Hills about 15 miles off Tres Marias Islands aboard the Constitution during a three-and-half-day trip out of Puerto Vallarta. Several other large fish …

Two Divided by Two Learning some of the courtroom shortcuts made things easier for me — places north of Date Street where you can park all day for free, the back entrance to the county …

I felt like checking out Little Italy on a sleepy Sunday morning in January, so I drove the distance from North County to meet my cousin for brunch at Bracero Cocina de Raíz, a restaurant …

After 16 years, Lola Luna women’s clothing boutique in Ocean Beach will close its doors at the end of February, as they have opted to not renew their lease. Owner Kimberly Johnson and longtime employee …

Eleven alleged members and associates of Oceanside's Westside Crips gang were indicted today (February 10) for racketeering, conspiracy involving drug trafficking, prostitution, and other crimes. "[T]he manager of two national brand hotels in Oceanside" was …

Public attendance at a Thursday evening (February 9) hearing to introduce water rates for Imperial Beach, Coronado, and southwest San Diego for the next three years was so sparse that the public was easily outnumbered …

Carlsbad's brewery scene has been on the rise, with two new breweries opening in 2016, and two more due by the spring. However, the North County city lost one in December, when On the Tracks …

Wall Street analysts at NobleCon13, an investor conference run by Noble Capital Markets, were recently presented with a fundamental truth about the newspaper business, but it wasn’t good news for readers of the San Diego …

I must take responsibility for not double checking the time of Sunday’s concert at the San Diego Symphony. I along with about a dozen or so others assumed that the concert started at 2 p.m. …

First things first: the 2017 San Diego Jewish Film Festival is underway, and runs through the 17th. Film lineup is here. I rather like the cutline: "Our Lives Projected." Between that and the first San …

A nondescript industrial center near Palomar Airport looks like every other in the vicinity. Yet, the nine-building Carlsbad Gateway Center at 5650 El Camino Real is vastly different. “We have 80 businesses that create, innovate, …

I’ve heard there is a multitude of cafes and restaurants in Point Loma's Liberty Station, but I have been able to find only a handful of them. Recently, my daughter Aja and I found a …

Current and former San Diego councilmembers gathered in front of city hall Friday morning (February 10) to offer support for an ordinance being introduced by Chris Ward (District 3) that would require recipients of city …

Dropping two weeks after the inauguration of Donald Trump, crossover thrashers Iron Reagan’s new record, Crossover Ministry, couldn’t have come at a more perfect time. Eschewing the typical pizza-party fare of many crossover bands (with …

A California appellate court ruled yesterday (February 9) that the City of San Diego is not responsible for the mitigation of the foul odors wafting from the seal lions at La Jolla Cove. The ruling …

Maybe someone warned him about the Belly Up Tavern’s location in laid-back Solana Beach. Maybe it was the venue’s seated-show setup. Maybe it was because his group was playing on a Sunday night. Whatever it …

“A lot has changed from the first time I attended these shows,” said Walter Manongdo on February 4 at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. His yellow Nissan race car was posted at the entrance next to …

North Park's brewery count is up to ten. Pariah Brewing Company officially debuted its beers to the public at select taproom events the first weekend of February, followed by a ticketed grand opening scheduled for …

Bosco Kwon, owner of BK Power Imports of Los Angeles, pleaded guilty in San Diego today (February 9) to selling drug paraphernalia. Kwon admitted that his company sold thousands of butane canisters to smoke shops, …

Following the the footsteps of San Diego Restaurant Week (or Beer Week) comes San Diego Film Week: 7 days, 7 festivals, 7 workshops, 100 shorts and features, and thankfully only 2 parties. The project is …

La Jolla residents are the latest to complain about jetliner noise from the airport. However, their formal complaint to the La Jolla Town Council tonight (February 9) has been removed from the agenda because the …

The recent construction of a center divider at a busy intersection in the South Bay is causing a significant traffic problem, according to local residents. The median on Coronado Avenue (a half block east of …

On February 4, more than 50 people gathered to voice opposition to a proposed condo development on Kellogg Beach in La Playa, a bayside neighborhood in Point Loma. After the meeting, Howard Haimsohn started the …

If You’re Making Art and Getting Paid for It... “People used to say, ‘Oh, I love your music; I put it on when I go to sleep.’ At first, I was insulted: ‘Thanks a lot. …

The goings on of God were then seen in his sanctuary, God’s day was a delight and His tabernacles were amiable. Our public assemblies were then beautiful; the congregation was alive in God’s service, everyone …

Lord. Trying to concentrate. Ten percent, double it, aargh! Sixteen bucks. And that’s just the tip. Total for this lunch, $105.97. I try not to let it show as I usher the two ladies out. …

Clint Sobolik’s latest project takes on the nickname he picked up in his last band, the Whiskey Avengers. “I squint a lot and I’m a man of few words, so I guess I just gravitated …

As food containers made of polystyrene continue jamming San Diego’s landfills, a maker of the ubiquitous plastic has been pouring money into the Greater San Diego Chamber of Commerce’s political action committee at a record-setting …

Love in a Life I Room after room, I hunt the house through We inhabit together. Heart, fear nothing, for, heart, thou shalt find her — Next time, herself! — not the trouble behind her …

"I miss the ocean,” says songstress Barbara Nesbitt, who left San Diego in 2011 for the musical mind-meld that is Austin, Texas. Her new album, Right as Rain, debuted January 13, sporting production and guest-playing …

It turns out that Robert Pinsky is also a sax player. We spend minutes talking about the beloved Buescher 400 series tenor sax he once owned but that got stolen. “Tenor sax,” he tells me …

In 1542 from a 100-foot Spanish galleon carrying officers, crew, slaves, a priest, and the ship’s captain, explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, landed in San Diego Bay near Point Loma. They were the first Europeans to …

“The phrase ‘alternative facts’ immediately hit me as being very Orwellian,” says Matthew Stewart, who used the phrase coined by presidential counselor Kellyanne Conway as both title and topic of a new tune currently popping …

San Diego has an international reputation for quality theater. And far too many locals aren’t aware of it. In the past 25 years, we’ve sent at least 45 shows to Broadway. We average around two …

How to celebrate Valentine’s Day out beyond dinner and jewelry? Does your pudding like plays? Mystery Café dinner theater in Bankers Hill (619-460-2200) has a Valentine’s Day murder-mystery show on February 14 entitled I Do, …

Arms wave in the air, hands outstretched as if to grab something fleeting. It’s Friday night at MyCity Youth, fists and music pumping. Teenagers and preteens sway transfixed, all eyes on the stage, where a …

“Artist residences are about taking the time to explore your work in a new way,” says Melissa Walter, who is currently the artist-in-residence at Bread & Salt, “a gallery and experimental center for the arts.” …

Dear Hipster: I found my first gray hair about five years ago, and ever since I’ve been plucking them out, one by one, as they arrive on my head. I consider them the forward scouts …

Guitarist William Wilson loves his children too much to suggest they follow in his footsteps. “It’s too hard,” he says flatly. Still, “the other day, I was talking to a banker, and when I told …

Attending a midnight screening of 2003 cult film The Room is kind of a train wreck, if train wrecks were accompanied by group chants, spontaneous games of football, and multiple plastic spoonados. It’s widely regarded …

The story of Coyote begins with a horse. A Trojan horse. The year is 1997. A ten-year-old Daniel Espinosa weaves through traffic at the San Ysidro Port of Entry to get a closer look at …

In San Diego County from 1992 through 2001, Peter Navarro ran unsuccessfully for mayor, county supervisor, city council, and Congress. Then he became an economics professor at the University of California, Irvine. Now he is …

The Lemon Twigs sound like a rough cut of the Beatles from way back before the Fab Four had gotten tight from playing all those marathon gigs in Germany. Throw in some Bay City Rollers, …

To find classical music in this town you’ve got to want to find it. Without consulting Google, can you say where Symphony Hall is? The only people who can answer this are people who already …

President Donald Trump hasn’t been drawing much support from the traditionally Republican San Diego establishment, much of which derives a big chunk of change from its free-trading ties to Tijuana and cheap manufacturing. Another component …

The great weather. The beaches. The Navy and Marines. The zoo and SeaWorld. Bad to mediocre (and exiting) sports teams. Comic-Con. Free associations on San Diego call up these images. But, “Oh me, the gods,” …

Never in the News Regarding the January 26 cover article, “The Government Made Me a Sex Offender” — I don’t know how the CBP officers can call anybody a sex offender. [Names omitted] — all …

Downtown's "World Trade Center" at 1250 Sixth Avenue started out as the San Diego Athletic Club in the late '20s and eventually became home to publisher Harcourt Brace Jovanovich; they vacated the building in 1993 …

The Encinitas City Council set up a task force to put together a proposed housing plan Monday night (February 6) in hopes of avoiding another legal defeat for failing to identify how to create almost …

Super Bowl Sunday was one of the greatest comeback performances in history. After a shaky start the team came together and finished like the champions they are. I speak not of the selfish and immature …

The Variety headline read, “Dine-In Cinema Gets Immersive: Indoor Drive-In to Open in Nashville.” An indoor drive-in offering an immersive dining experience translates to Carbon Monoxide Cocktails on sale at the concession stand and a …

How many dollars are San Diegans willing to surrender to developers of a new stadium for professional soccer and San Diego State University, biding its time for the lucrative opportunity to hike the price of …

There aren’t many bands with lead singers who drum. The list includes “Phil Collins, Don Henley, [the Band’s] Levon Helm, and the guy from the Romantics. I watched all the biographical documentaries on those guys. …

The BahamasPress.com is an online news operation in the Bahamas. On December 27, it reported, "Lyford Cay resident Papa Doug Manchester is being tipped as the next U.S. Ambassador to the Bahamas under a Trump …

San Ysidro, Chula Vista, and now Bonita residents are watching their Canary Island palms choke and die — sometimes with the entire crown falling to the ground below. The culprit? The South American palm weevil …

The San Diego Theater Critics Circle held its 12th annual awards ceremony on February 4. Congratulations to the winners, the nominees, and the entire community of theater artists for one heck of a year. Designer …

When Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits sold to Constellation Brands in fall 2015, a small part of the business wasn't included: the spirits. For the moment, Ballast Point no longer produces liquor. Instead, a new …

Today (February 6), the City of La Mesa accepted applications — and a nonrefundable $1200 initial fee — from people seeking a conditional use permit to open a medical marijuana dispensary, cultivation business, or to …

“Music stays the same across time but also transforms across time and it is full of layered patterns and the patterns interact harmoniously with one another. I was fascinated with music because it gives people …

A University of San Diego law student says a fellow student defamed her on Twitter for her unwavering support of then-candidate Donald Trump. The woman, Tiffany Dehen, is suing the student (who has not been …

We were in the mood for tacos, and Alberto’s or actually any ’Berto’s wasn’t going to cut it. I had heard about The Taco Stand in Encinitas and was told it was authentic and beat …

Morris "Mo" Shenker, a St. Louis-based hoodlum lawyer and casino owner, has been in the news lately even though he died in 1983. He was featured in a front-page story in the New York Times …

A crowd of about 50 cycling advocates from across the county packed into Mission Brewery downtown on Saturday morning (February 4) to learn about advocating for their cause: safer, expanded access to city streets for …

The Sun Strides North in February, swinging higher across the sky each successive day. Already quite noticeable is the change in the time of sunset, currently almost a minute later per day, and sunrise, currently …

Monday 6The jazz week begins with a free, noon-time concert by the Gilbert Castellanos Trio at the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library (1008 Wall Street.) All ages… Pianist Mikan Zlatkovich plays “acoustic fusion” with a …

On February 4, the first bluefin tuna of the year was landed aboard the Eclipse at Colonet. It was reported as a small 15-pounder though signs are good for another epic season for the hard-fighting …

The North County Transit District has announced a new firm, MV Transportation, will operate and maintain its regular bus routes, paratransit, and special transportation services. The contract includes the hiring, training, and employment of bus …

Craft spirits are coming soon to North Park. 619 Vodka has started building out a distillery at the former site of a produce shop just off 30th Street (3015 Lincoln Avenue). Slated to open by …

Although it's not yet funded, project managers for the planned trolley station at Balboa Avenue (just east of I-5) have started gathering information for what people want to see there — what will compel them …

Fresh on the heels of women’s marches all over the world, David Lindsay-Abaire’s Good People perfectly highlights the heartbreaking struggles of working-class women in the shadow of male privilege. Margaret, or Margie, a middle-aged woman …

Even when I couldn't find the place, my friend was about to miss the train, and a Rubio’s was staring at me from across the street, I pursued the siren call of the smoked-tuna taco. This family-run Pacific Beach taco stand started in 2011 and recently added East Village and Encinitas to its lineup. The Encinitas shop is so new it didn’t even have a proper sign up yet.

Are the van Dams Fit Parents? In their neighborhood, with the type of activity they had in their house, who knows what other types of things were going on in that house? It all stems …

A 33-acre Encinitas strawberry farm landed on mayor Catherine Blakespear's wish list this week when the real estate agent representing the family owners offered it to the City of Encinitas. "It's just north of the …

Nine individuals have been charged with 34 felony crimes for filing false insurance claims. The ring was brought down by the district attorney's office and the California Department of Insurance, in a two-year dragnet called …

Metropolitan Transit System officials say that in spite of new litigation, progress is being made on the rehabilitation of the 100-year-old binational railroad. Earlier this week, the Reader reported on a new lawsuit filed by …

Last fall, after months of secret city hall meetings with representatives of the Spanos family, Kevin Faulconer, San Diego mayor and putative Republican gubernatorial hopeful, announced he was endorsing the $1.8 billion, taxpayer-subsidized downtown football …

A new Pacific Beach program will include private security patrols and a program that hires local homeless to sweep sidewalks, the area's business improvement district Discover Pacific Beach announced on Friday. Funded in part by …

How does the old curse go? “May you live in interesting times”? It is certainly an interesting time. Things fall apart; the center cannot hold. Each side is forever seeing further evidence of the other’s …

David Dale Lamb has been suspended by the State Bar of California, according to the February edition of California Lawyer and state bar records. Lamb, a public defender, has been convicted of possessing child pornography …

It was announced on Monday afternoon that the Hot Snakes would be playing an impromptu show later that night at John Reis’s Bar Pink in North Park. The four of them, packed onto the little …

Vince Obarski recalls first hearing about mead as a kid, referenced in fantasy games such as Dungeons & Dragons. He associated it with beer, and medieval times, but didn't grasp how far back it actually …

Immature and selfish. Are there any two more undesirable attributes? You might say cruel and unfeeling but cruel and unfeeling are just different iterations of immature and selfish. As positive as I feel I’ve tried …

Christopher Switzer and Mark Gillette on October 11 took their charter sport-fishing vessel, a 57-foot craft named the Commander, to sea from Mission Bay. They later made an emergency call to the Coast Guard, saying …

One of my biggest fears in life is to wake up someday in more or less the same circumstances as Margie Walsh from David Lindsay-Abaire’s Good People (now playing at Scripps Ranch Theatre through February …

Craig Noel Awards A reminder: The San Diego Theater Critics Circle will hold its annual awards ceremony on Monday, February 6, at the Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation at 404 Euclid Street, in Lincoln Park. …

Before the holidays my husband and I stayed for a week outside Julian at an RV park, and each morning I would drive a few miles to the library to write. One afternoon, instead of …

The long-empty storefront at 3020 University Avenue in North Park may at last find a lessee. The building has been an eyesore for several years in the ever-growing, popular foodie district of North Park (in …

On January 31, as I sat in the Oceanside Digiplex Theater at the Mission Market Place, I couldn’t help but be bothered by the squeaky seat behind me; I also noticed a seat covered up …

Big things are happening on the binational railroad — unfortunately, they are transpiring in courtrooms and not on the 108 miles of track that stretches from Tijuana up through the border at Campo and into …

Last year, when my 16-year-old was a freshman in high school, we attended his school’s open house. I was interested in meeting his teachers and getting an idea of what his school day was like. …

Condo This property is absolutely ideal Because of the incredible view. The design might be a bit dated, But the price is totally appropriate. The incredible view of the ocean Beyond the easily accessible beach …

The best documentary I’ve seen this year is Barbara Kopple’s Miss Sharon Jones! (USA, 2015, Starz) Kopple is able to compellingly intertwine the personal tragedy of dealing with cancer with the interpersonal and economic fallout …

A termed-out San Diego county supervisor who last month voted himself a $19,000 raise and a comparable hike in benefits is also tapping in to a five-figure campaign bank account left over from his final …

More than 25 years of bookselling to wonderful souls that eschew the online Prime Deals for the smells of a real bookshop can still wear me out at the end of the day. My moment …

The Revivalists (no, they don’t live up to their name, but we’ll get to that later) are among the crop of indie rockers who have discovered soul and R&B and in their own DIY way, …

If ever there were a compelling reason for San Diegans to hang out in Old Town, it’s Home & Away at the former location of Kelly’s Pub. For about two years now, locals and tourists …

Two years after their debut full-length, Hideout’s sophomore album, So Many Hoops, So Little Time, is due February 3 via Small Plates Records, preceded by singles for “Doctor” and “I Got Your Message.” 500 vinyl …

I was sorry when my interview with I Am Not Your Negro director Raoul Peck was cancelled at the last minute, in part because I wanted to ask him — out of genuine curiosity as …

I look at my chunk of bread. Just think, Napoleon ate this. Could have. Really. This bread. That’s how long it’s been going. Back in 1815, Battle of Waterloo and all that, this exact same …

While Republican-turned-independent-turned-Democrat Nathan Fletcher continues to mull his options regarding running next year for the board seat being vacated by Ron Roberts, another supervisorial hopeful has jumped into the race ahead of him. Lawyer Omar …

The annual NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) convention just wrapped in Anaheim, and San Diego musicians were well represented, as performers, consumers, and product endorsers. Guitarist Wayne Riker has been attending the convention for …

The Museum of Photographic Arts Joan and Irwin Jacobs Theatre once again plays home to the Human Rights Watch Film Festival which runs Thursday, February 2 through Sunday, February 5. For more information and a …

Dear Hipster: I was reading that column you did a while back about hipster baby names, and I had an idea. You know how some names are basically supergeneric white-guy names? I mean, here’s looking …

While North County Republican congressman Darrell Issa has been jousting with critics and backers of president Donald Trump who gathered outside his Vista office, a top aide has drawn lighter duty. For three days beginning …

The October record-release show for Cruz Radical’s self-titled album at the Whistle Stop had one snafu: no vinyl. “We held out hope until the last minute they would show up. Part of it was our …

What is now the Kendall-Frost marsh reserve at the northeast corner of Mission Bay Park was acquired by the city and set aside in 1965. Since then, the De Anza Cove trailer park, Campland on …

Dave Smalley is about to roll through San Diego with the same line-up of Down by Law that played on 1994’s Punkrockacademyfightsong. The band has gone through its fair share of membership fluctuations over the …

Current Owner: Sunranch LLC Listing Price: $45,000,000 Beds: 6 Baths: 10 House Size: 20,408 square feet The 22-acre estate at 17111 El Vuelo in Rancho Santa Fe “is located on one of the most coveted …

Here’s a fun fact: the Los Angeles Chargers might sell out some games in 2017. They are likely to pull off this seemingly impossible feat by aiming small — as in 30,000 fans small. That’s …

The Twin Peaks trailhead begins at Silverset Park, which is an ideal spot to park and head out onto the trail. For the adventurous souls who seek the summit, the trip is well worth the …

Real Genius (USA, 1985, TriStar) captures the culture of college nerds better than any other movie I’ve seen. Many characters, anecdotes, and even graffiti come from Caltech students that helped with production. The movie’s also …

Jan Goldsmith completed his eight-year term as San Diego’s city attorney on December 13, 2016. His legacy will remain present at San Diego city hall for years to come, possibly not as much for major …

Riverview Church Membership: 900 Pastor: Mel Svendsen Age: 59 Born: Brooklyn, NY Formation: Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Chicago; Northeastern Bible College, Essex Fells, NJ Years Ordained: 35 San Diego Reader: What’s your favorite subject on …

“Conquer your fear of sharing fake news by keeping it real,” goes a recent email pitch for bargain online subscription rates from the financially flagging San Diego Union-Tribune. “148 years of trusted journalism is a …

Alleged Sex Offender Elicits Laughter Your cover story about the alleged sex offender was funny. The guy didn’t really try to prove his innocence at all! After four embarrassing accusations, he resorted to Google. LOL! …