Clairemont Stories
A dazzling bright morningAround 50 years ago, I was hanging around with my best friend Bowie in the parking lot before the bell, just killing time. A half-minute’s walk away, …
In the early hours of October 13, a quiet neighborhood along Marline Avenue in El Cajon was jolted awake by fire trucks and first responders. 911 Video News was among …
Clairemont was created in 1950 by Carlos Tavares and Lou Bergener, and was named after Tavares’ wife Claire. San Diego’s need for housing at the time was enormous, thanks to …
On September 27, a mysterious van crept through the PetSmart parking lot on Main Street in Chula Vista. Suddenly, it accelerated, and without warning, a man in the passenger seat …
Clairemont Stories
His watery eyes are open, but they don’t blink. He’s spreadeagled on his cushion at the foot of Papa Joe’s stool, his nose and mouth splayed over his black and yellowish toenails.“It’s his last night,” …
When it’s too much a challenge to find parking on Convoy, I’ve learned that if you drift west across the 805, you can find a smaller, yet no less diverse cluster of restaurants along Clairemont …
You are more likely to be murdered by someone you know than by someone you don’t. The latest FBI statistics show that fewer than 10% of the 20,000 people who were murdered in the United …
There’s a hilltop house in Cardiff, at 959 Cornish Drive, that is not like the others in the tony seaside neighborhood. The house itself resembles a giant box, light yellow in color, with the front …
There are quite a few reasons to visit the new location of Havana Grill, but two features in particular convinced my wife to join me for lunch. Bear in mind, she’s tagged along on enough …
Vinya: vino + vinyasa, 5185 Balboa Avenue, Clairemont Mesa; Driving up to Vinya: vino + vinyasa, I was confused. The Balboa Crest Shopping Center in Clairemont Mesa housed a liquor store and a check-cashing site. …
The first thing you realize once you start investigating “intelligence” is that it seems like no two people — people whose personalities, abilities, capacities, and traits are as different as their DNA — use the …
Buckle Up Slide into the passenger seat and buckle up: we’re about to take a driving tour down a decidedly rocky road. Yes, California’s second-largest city will always take a backseat to Los Angeles, which …
Seems like only last year I was writing about a plucky birria food truck that drummed up all its business on a single afternoon each week. In fact, it was only ten months ago that …
Saki, aka A Stray Catalyst, integrates songs with poetry, choreography, videography, and mixed media. The project began in 2019 as a collection of poetry set to music, featuring unusual instrumentation and clever lyrics, though Saki …
The Reader’s editorial staff was gratified and frequently delighted by the response we got to our writing contest: 347 non-fiction stories, 31 pieces of fiction, and no less than 199 poems. It’s good to know …
Digging concurrence Unfortunately have to concur with most of the digs (“The internet writers gang up on San Diego,” Cover Stories, January 19). Born in MA, grew up in NC, have lived in LA (total …
“To be honest, when asked to describe my music, I won’t describe it,” says Justin Pearson. “I think words, specifically genres, are limiting and misleading. However, when I get asked what kind of music I …
Burying California's powerlines is one thing; San Diego's version is something else. The city wants to underground the wires on every street, and while it's a lofty goal, residents have been asking for decades when …
The Environmental Protection Agency announced last week the beginning of what may be the end of leaded airplane fuel - the only kind sold at Montgomery Field in Kearny Mesa and Brown Field in Otay …
Michael Vilkin owned a huge vacant lot in Olivenhain, right next to a house John Upton was renting. On the morning of March 28, 2013, Vilkin drove up to the 2.6-acre lot on Lone Jack …
San Diegans want more trees. That was made clear in surveys for the climate action plan update, but tree advocates say the urban canopy is stuck in time. Under the 2015 climate action plan, a …
Occupying San Clemente Canyon alongside Highway 52 between I-5 and 805, Marian Bear Memorial Park is a small slice of riparian oasis in an urban landscape. Except for freeway noise, it’s easy to forget we’re …
The California Geological Survey released new earthquake fault zone maps in late September – and San Diego-area homeowners may be surprised to learn their property sits atop a fault. A press release from the agency …
Bryan Hance, the co-founder of BikeIndex.org, said the jump in stolen bikes reported in San Diego "is all sort of tied together with the story of covid. "In 2020, 243 stolen bikes were reported to …
Efforts to bring unleaded fuel to Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport haven't gotten far, but a study of an airport less than half its size is raising new concerns about lead exposure in children. Today {Aug. 24}, …
The house at 2719 Chestnut Avenue in northeast Carlsbad sits on a tract of land once used for tomato farming. The tract is a neat, well-kept neighborhood that is home to a mix of young …
Scores of San Diego restaurants have closed permanently during the pandemic, but there’s at least one subset of eateries that only seem to be growing stronger: those serving Nashville hot chicken. I’ve tried so much …
Northminster Presbyterian Church Contact: 4324 Clairemont Mesa Blvd, San Diego (858) 490-3995 https://northminstersandiego.squarespace.com Neighborhood: Claremont Membership: 90; 60-75 per week on Zoom (since COVID shutdown) Pastor: Jay Shirley Age: 66 Born: Corpus Christi, TX Formation: …
When Clairemont restaurant Kroran Uyghur Cuisine opened in mid-2018, it brought new cultural fare to San Diego, one not often found within the United States. I was excited to try it and spent most of …
“Not being able to find a waffle with whipped cream after playing a show in Las Vegas. Do your research if you’re ever in Vegas looking to eat a waffle at 1am.” That’s local singer/songwriter/producer …
“Want to try a real Mozambique stew?” says this guy with his dreads gathered in a crocheted rastacap. Mozambique? Oh yeah. Africa. Coast. Southeast. ‘Capital’s Maputo, right?” “Right!” He says. “Nobody knows our capital.” Even …
On August 16, the power shut off in the Clairemont neighborhood west of the 805 freeway. “Our kids were doing online music tutorials,” said Steven S., “then ‘poof,’ the electricity went dead. The internet (modem) …
If developers want to build small urban infill projects to patch housing gaps, great. But there's no guarantee it will fly. And it may take longer than the "expedite" program for such housing suggests. On …
Gather ‘round, my children. I want you to hear what a success story sounds like. It begins with a challenge; sometimes, that challenge is a crisis. “It was supposed to be a simple gall bladder …
“Established in 1974 in the neighborhood of Clairemont,” is the first thing that stands about Sandwich Emporium. That makes it about 45 years old, which would have to put it not far down any list …
Robert Scott, longtime operator of San Diego’s Comickaze Comics, has reportedly passed away. The former department store manager opened his Clairemont Comickaze store in the early '90s, an era when comic publishing, distribution, and retailing …
Red balloon sent up in Bay Park "I am against high density,” says Johnson. “I think it’s wrong. I'm very unhappy with the way that this is going. We don't need more people [here]. That's …
A week doesn’t go by without news of a hit-and-run or a near miss caused by a speeding driver. Residents on the Mount Streets in Clairemont have reported parked cars in front of homes getting …
On April 20, Jonathan W. from Clairemont saw a Facebook photo of a teenager climbing out of the sunroof of a Mercedes-Benz W210 in Escondido, while the vehicle “was going fast up a hill.” “They’ll …
On the Airbnb app/website, Craig is referred to as a “Superhost” for his $70 per night unit that can sit five visitors. Craig accommodates his guests in his green 1998 Ford E350 van; he’s based …
Joel Pointon in Clairemont has been calling his city council office about a messy median on Balboa Avenue at Mt. Abernathy and Mt. Alifan. He and others started making calls before Lorie Zapf was in …
Our mayor has a dream, a dream in which NIMBYs click their heels three times and turn into YIMBYs joyfully proclaiming, “Yes, in my backyard.” In this perfect world, constituents no longer have any anti-housing …
On January 31, a lady walking her dog announced to me that "Trader Joe's is coming to Clairemont!" She said she knows someone that works for the Clairemont Town Square shopping center and that everything …
Every time on of my friends travels to Cuba, I start craving the stewed beef dish, ropa vieja. The pictures they share on Facebook never have anything to do with food: it's mostly cars, beaches, …
In the 1850s, San Diego pioneer Louis Rose maintained cattle and a ranch house in Rose Canyon, utilizing the canyon’s stream to water his animals. As the town grew up around the creek and Mission …
On August 15, Bay Park resident Laura Schumacher saw her husband's favorite ficus tree being cut down (above Mission Bay Park on Clairemont Drive between Denver and Galveston). The workers told her they were there …
It's 2:30 am on a Thursday, and I'm headed to a warehouse in Mira Mesa to learn the paperboy trade. When I arrive at 3 am, the parking lot is dark and full of double-parked …
Thieves are targeting whatever isn't nailed down in Clairemont's front yards. It's a big problem in Pacific Beach, too, according to one resident, "Yards are being picked clean of outdoor furniture, surfboards, and bikes. If …
As the San Diego water department plans to plant several dozen miles of pressurized 48-inch-diameter steel pipes to and from its pure water plant, residents of University City are worried. They are expressing those concerns …
It’s an old joke by now, something along the lines of: "going to war is how Americans learn geography." I’ve laughed about it myself, but I’ve been able pick out Kuwait and Vietnam on a …
As tensions wane over a homeless housing development on Mt. Alifan Drive, all eyes have shifted to a bigger affordable housing project on Mt. Etna Drive. Both are within one-half mile of each other by …
Lenny Swanson heard a knock at his front door on June 11 at 7:00 p.m. He looked out his window to see a 20-something, Hispanic male, heavy build. "He said, 'we're gathering signatures to bring …