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 …
Coronado News & Stories
2022 San Diego Reader writing contest winners, part 1
How Jimmy Carter helped Jim Koch launch the American craft beer movement
“OMG,” says my friend Erik. He’s calling me from McP’s Irish pub on Coronado’s Orange Avenue. “Get your butt down here right now. A beer god has descended!” He clicks off and I go on …
February 16, 2022
Bait bikes work in Coronado
On January 28, before 10 am, the Coronado Police Department noticed their bait bike moving away from where it was initially locked. So they sent an officer down the Silver Strand near Leyte Road, north …
February 15, 2022
San Diego's freedivers have the freedom to die
The history of freediving is so rich in La Jolla that diving in its cove is akin to a Catholic visiting Rome: maybe it didn’t all start there, but that’s where it really hit big. …
February 2, 2022
Shirtless at Danny’s in Coronado
“Attention!” It’s midnight on Friday. A shirtless, tattooed guy jumps up onto the counter at Danny’s, the Coronado bar in which Navy Seals and other special ops types like to gather to let off steam. …
January 19, 2022
Cinderella at the shoe store
“Can we be serious!” That’s me, trying to get a shot of Allison (“Allie”) Demers, 22-year-old stage actress, singer, composer, veteran of acting school, recipient of an MFA degree in musical theater from Indiana University, …
December 22, 2021
California Pepper Tree sprouts Tiny Town in Coronado
I’ve always been a tad cynical about anything cute. Think portraits of children with giant Disney eyes. But I do have chinks in my armor. Here’s one: ambling down C street in Coronado t’other day, …
December 8, 2021
Village Pizzeria value in Coronado
Unexpected pleasure! Here, in the midst of Coronado’s Golden Quarter-Mile, is one of the secret bargains of the Sceptered City. I come across it as I’m loping north on the western side of Orange Avenue. …
Last night at the Coronado’s Bistro d’Asia
It’s the evening of September 8 at Coronado’s Bistro d’Asia; everybody’s happy, in a gallows good-humored sort of way. Like passengers appreciating the band playing on the Titanic. And as the evening sky turns cerulean, …
September 15, 2021
Coronado’s Crown Manor mansion: designed by Marston House architects Irving Gill and William S. Hebbard
Crown Manor, the palatial 24,000-square-foot mansion at 1015 Ocean Boulevard in Coronado, is billed in its Zillow listing as “the most iconic estate in Southern California.” Originally built in 1902, the home was designed by …
July 14, 2021
Tortillagate debate at Coronado High School
“Storm in a teacup!” says my friend Eric. It’s a quiet Saturday evening. Noisiest things around are the crows. We’re talking — of course — about the flying tortilla incident a couple of weeks ago. …
July 7, 2021
Two F-18 Hornets: from Top Gun to tin can
Coronado: you’d think we’d be pretty jaded when it comes to Top Gun planes thundering overhead in this town. Happens every day, right? Especially when a carrier’s returning from a WestPac. And yet I can’t …
June 23, 2021
Feast and Fareway: public golf course with sliders
“This is our sport,” says Annie, “and don’t you Sassenachs forget it.” Did I mention? My friend Annie is Scottish. “Sassenachs” (“Saxons”) basically means anyone who’s not Scottish. We’re standing at the entrance to the …
The problem with Coronado’s 4x4 accelerated learning
Real estate investor and father Steve Rauber is trying to explain why he’s fighting his school district (Coronado)’s plans to make up for covid by squeezing two years of education into one. “The 4x4 [plan] …
May 12, 2021
Pepper tree fight spreads beyond Kensington
In the past two months, the city has cut down four of Kensington's historic pepper trees that are as old as the subdivision itself. Since there are only about 32 left, neighbors wonder where will …
March 30, 2021
Tortilla soup for the soul
I used to have a conscience about this: eating at a place that I knew was kind of working the system. I felt, ‘What about all the others who are staying closed down, playing by …
Gruesome Newsom
She’s standing on the street corner at Isabella and Orange in downtown Coronado. It’s a sunny morning. Helen Locker’s dressed in red, white, and blue — flag cap, flag top, red sweater, and she’s holding …
January 6, 2021
The history of the San Diego Union’s James MacMullen and his Coronado home
The majestic MacMullen Home at 382 Glorietta Boulevard is the first building visitors to Coronado encounter when crossing the Bay bridge from downtown San Diego. Built in 1914, the home was first occupied by James …
November 19, 2020
Shark Bait Mamas: synch or swim
Just up from the shipwreck, the Shark Bait Mamas are counting down to the music they use to, uh, swim to. Dani Grady leans over and switches on a recorder. “1, 2, 3, 4, 5, …
November 18, 2020
Seen these weird lights on the Coronado bridge?
As the Port of San Diego has moved forward with its San Diego-Coronado Bay Bridge Lighting Project, the vision for lighting up the bridge is coming more into focus. For one week which started Sunday, …
November 16, 2020