College Area Stories
Long before I became one, a theater critic told me he saw “good productions of good plays, bad productions of bad plays, bad productions of good plays, and good productions of bad plays.” The toughest …
I doubt that Jade Heart playwright Will Cooper could ask for a better production than Moxie’s. The play, about a Chinese orphan adopted by an American mother, is relentlessly nonlinear and needlessly convoluted. The fits …
College Area residents are calling on the city to hire a full-time code-enforcement officer to patrol neighborhoods for violations. Examples of some types of code violations rampant around San Diego State University include houses with …
In 1995, Crumbs was Lynn Nottage’s breakout play. She went on to write Intimate Apparel (2003) and the Pulitzer Prize-winning Ruined (2007). Moxie Theatre’s fine production has breakout written all over it as well. Under …
Money demands seem never to stop growing at San Diego State University, despite 2012’s voter approval of Jerry Brown’s massive state-tax increase. So the venerable institution — led by president Elliot Hirshman, who famously makes …
In the College area, Tokyo Sushi Loha (recently relocated to 6502 El Cajon Boulevard) is a powerhouse. The place used to do slamming business out of strip mall, but the owners managed to finagle the …
The administration of $400,000-a-year president Elliot Hirshman over at San Diego State University, widely known as one of America’s biggest sex, drugs, and party schools, is spending major money to obtain a more refined experience …
“You can’t kill mom. We need the money!” Thirty-five years ago, Johnna Adams’ intellectual-horror drama would have had the same fate in academia as the works of Zinnia Wells do in her play Skinless. Not …
Membership: 150 Rabbi: Avram Bogopulsky Age: 49 Born: Brooklyn, NY Formation: St. Thomas Aquinas College, Sparkill, NY; Yeshiva Shaarei Torah, Suffern, NY Years Ordained: 25 San Diego Reader: How long do you spend writing your …
A sidewalk makeover at the corner of College Boulevard and Alvarado Road near SDSU is making the congested area more user-friendly for the disabled and those in wheelchairs. Work crews were busy on the morning …
Sponsored by the SDSU Alumni Association's Veterans War Memorial Committee, the war memorial at San Diego State is one of few such tributes of its kind to be erected on a U.S. college campus. Located …
The background photo on my brother’s iPod shows a plate of fried chicken and waffles from Roscoe’s up in Los Angeles. Before dining there, he had never enjoyed the two foods together, and he was …
Heymatt:Massage has been an effective therapy for thousands of years. It started a long time before there was a country called “Sweden.” So, how come it’s called “Swedish massage?” — E. Gregor, University City It’s …
Ed Bedford ducks into the Egyptian Tea Room for a bite just before it changes hands.
On Thursday, July 6, at about 8:30 p.m., our normally quiet College Grove cul-de-sac was undone by a tragic occurrence. The desperate cries for help that broke through the darkness on Boren Street, three houses …
A drive down El Cajon Boulevard leads to Alforon, the said-to-be “amazing” Lebanese restaurant. No disappointments there.
Last summer, when the newly installed on-campus bike path along Campanile Walkway opened at SDSU, college president Stephen Weber stated, "Not all education takes place in the classroom." He was complimenting SDSU’s Enviro-Business Society and …
Shortly after 9 p.m. on Tuesday, November 30, numerous police cars arrived at the corner of University Avenue and 58th Street. After blocking off 58th Street, police cordoned off a block of apartments on the …
“This is HIP-HOP. I don’t know what they told you, but this is called HIP-HOP!” DJ Artistic has me in a gentle headlock as he shouts this into my ear. He’s not being aggressive; he …
“Look at my boys!” says David Dadon. His son Barry is busy at the cash register. Jacob’s in the kitchen. “Barry’s the business genius,” David says. “Jacob’s the chef. He graduated at the top of …
A man flagged down SDSU police near the corner of Campanile Drive and Montezuma Road on the morning of March 31. He told officers that possibly a bullet had shattered his right passenger window as …
Author: Kevin B. Staff Neighborhood: College Area Age: 54 Occupation: Community college instructor (Cuyamaca and Palomar College) A few Saturdays ago I helped with the community council’s monthly book sale. It kind of shoots the …
BALBOA PARK Another Perfect DayBy downtownphotoguy, June 26Today we were in Presidio Park in the morning and Balboa Park in the afternoon. We were shooting with a variety of lenses and techniques…. It seems everybody …
A San Diego State University student who attended classes during the spring 2009 semester has been diagnosed with active, infectious tuberculosis. The student is considered to have been contagious between March 1 and May 21. …
Up here near the 94 College exit, a blue 1966 Valiant sits parked between a Frazee’s and a Weight Watchers place. Only one man in this town has a sky-blue ’66 Valiant: my buddy Rod, …
There was a story on CNN about the controversy surrounding a public Christmas tree in Washington, D.C. In the interest of fairness, apparently, an atheist group was permitted to place a sign up in the …
I saw an ad for a CD-release party for LL Cool J. It’s funny because when bands invite me to CD-release parties, they aren’t really parties. It’s usually the band playing a small venue for …
I suppose I am a man without a neighborhood. As a life-long San Diegan, I have called many neighborhoods “home.” Often I find myself in the minority and my native claim second only to the …
“Gated communities are created for different reasons, but the reasons are all about fear,” says president of the American Anthropological Association Setha M. Low. “In places like California, where the cities can’t expand their tax …
From the outset, a mix of old and new marked the service in Faith Presbyterian's mid-century- modern church. The old standby "What Wondrous Love Is This" served as the prelude, but the organ arrangement mixed …
Last week a guy called my voicemail to tell me that I got the NBA logo wrong. I wrote that it was Jerry West, and the caller insisted it was Pete Maravich. He should have …
Denomination: Baptist (General Conference) Address: 4747 College Avenue, College Area, 619-582-7222 Founded locally: 1891 Senior pastor: Carlton Harris Congregation size: 1300--1500 Staff: 45 full-time and 30--35 part time Sunday school enrollment: 300 Annual budget: not …
'I'm not a vegetarian, and I don't want to live in the College Area," says Rodney Johnson, explaining why he is not interested in joining either of two local communes. Johnson would rather form his …
I found my notes on parties I went to in December that I forgot to write about. I figured when I wrote about New Year's I was done with 2004. But this night of partying …
"Faith Presbyterian Church is one of the more liberal churches in the county. We believe there are a lot of folks who want to find a place where the message is one of inclusiveness. Our …
I wanted to chat with the best dancer I saw. He was a dead ringer for George Hamilton with whiter hair. I saw him dancing with two different women at various times. The women had the biggest smiles.
When I heard another guy talking about smacking his girl around if she "don't listen to what I say," it made me wonder if theme parties have problems with guys who "stay in character" too long.
College Billiard Center 5303 El Cajon Boulevard, College Area 619-583-6361 The "billiards" moniker tells you this great barn of a pool hall has been around awhile. Thirty years or so. Fact is, only two of …
Etta's Place 6179 University Avenue, College Area 619-582-6730 Etta's Place books bands five nights a week, and owner Etta Keeler is proud that she's given first-time exposure to local acts including Beer Money, the Fremonts, …
Effin's Pub & Grill 6164 El Cajon Boulevard, College Area www.effins.com 619-229-9800 The great thing here is you can swagger up to the five-sided bar and blurt "Gimme an Effin beer!" and nobody's going to …
I see Asian gang cars some nights, in a long caravan down the Mira Mesa Boulevard. They meet at In-N-Out Burger before heading off for illegal street races on Kearny Villa Road or in Sorrento Valley.
As soon as you leave the SDSU district, where College Avenue collides with El Cajon Boulevard, libraries and frat houses give way to liquor stores, check-cashing places, 99-cent emporiums, and plenty more clear signposts that …
The High Road 6166 El Cajon Boulevard, College Area 619-265-1410 1463 Garnet Avenue, Pacific Beach 858-273-7501 Everybody smokes those Marlboro reds and GPC longs, but you want to stand out from the smoky clouds surrounding …
The Living Room 5900 El Cajon Boulevard, College Area (619) 286-8434 Sick of hoarse whispering in the library? Falling asleep dredge something new out of Aristophanes' Lysistrata? Pick up your books! Leave the library! Depart …
D.Z. Akin's 6930 Alvarado Road, College Area (619) 265-0218 An egg cream is a soda containing neither egg nor cream, which was once more popular on the East Coast than any bottled brand of soda. …
Wunderland Electric Castle 5871 University Ave, College Area (619) 582-5518 Home systems and the Internet have wiped out most public arcades, but the Wunderland chain has several locations where both vintage and current video machines …
The Wherehouse Records Ticketmaster outlet 4585 College Avenue, College Area (619) 286-5011 The only way to get good tickets before the scalpers is to buy them as they go on sale. If you've tried to …
Daily Grind Coffee House & Cafe 6695 El Cajon Boulevard, College Area (619) 697-0750 The backlash against the kudzu-like spread of generic coffeehouse chains has enabled eclectic mom-and-pop caffeine shops like this to thrive, especially …
Kelly's Pub 6344 El Cajon Boulevard, College Area (619) 286-0400 Located next to Inkers Tattoo Co., this SDSU-area dive is the watering hole for local bikers who don't mind four-wheelers and rice-rocket riders slumming in …
Venus 7200 El Cajon Boulevard, College Area (619) 501-8368 The owners of Venus wanted to be open when nearby SDSU let out for summer last May, but delays caused them to just miss their target …
Music Trader 6663 El Cajon Boulevard, College Area (619) 462-2274 This growing chain has over a dozen locations: P.B., Miramar, Poway, El Cajon, Chula Vista, Santee, and elsewhere. The college-area shop has the most knowledgeable …