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 …
February 22, 2017
News & Stories
San Ysidro – where it's cheaper for kids to live in a motel
Four children, two cars, and a forest of walnut trees
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 …
February 22, 2017
Kamau's gold
“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, …
February 22, 2017
Congressman Issa missed at town-hall meeting
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 …
February 22, 2017
Lobbyists in Mission Valley land rush
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 …
February 22, 2017
Pulled-pork sandwich hunted down in Hillcrest
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, …
Lap up the Dog's Brew
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 …
February 22, 2017
$250,000 immigration art
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 …
February 22, 2017
Cardiff shreds
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 …
February 22, 2017
Boot up for snow-play
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 …
February 22, 2017
Easy stroll around Discovery Lake in San Marcos
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 …
February 22, 2017
Roxy reunion
“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 …
February 22, 2017
Tuner, composer, space traveler
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: …
February 22, 2017
Find the Easter egg hidden in Urinetown
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, …
February 22, 2017
Normal Heights foodie gang goes underground
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 …
February 22, 2017
Female-fashioned frights
"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 …
February 22, 2017
C Street downtown and in Golden Hill crumble
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 …
February 22, 2017
Gavin Turek and the nu disco
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 …
February 22, 2017
Like Trump, like Bersin
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 …
February 22, 2017
Scientist Michael Faraday on the Word of God
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 …
February 22, 2017
The need to respond
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 …
February 22, 2017