Downtown San Diego Stories
On July 26, three uniformed San Diego police officers, their supervisor, and a detective responded to a theft report near Horton Plaza to investigate another in a series of ten to fifteen mobile-phone thefts in …
An estimated 50 people showed up in front of the downtown Federal Courthouse on Wednesday, July 25, to protest the closing of medical marijuana dispensaries countywide. The rally, held at noon, was directed against federal …
There’s a fine line that Onyx Room bartenders walk between time and taste. According to Onyx Room bartender Nathan Colonero, this nightclub’s bartenders pride themselves on being able to deliver smart concoctions and efficient service. …
San Diego is home to a couple of speakeasy bars, including Prohibition and Noble Experiment. These places are exclusive, and hidden. My husband reserved 4 spots a couple months back at Noble Experiment, and it …
What’s with this “Urban” thing? There’s “Urbn,” the bar-eatery in North Park, “Urban Eats” on Fifth Avenue in Hillcrest, and now “Urban India,” near the Gaslamp. I noticed it walking down Fourth toward Broadway the …
The newspaper business, not to mention the art world, has come to this: a former reporter and editor with the San Francisco Chronicle and copy editor with the New York Times turned performance artist has …
San Diego police arrived at the Santa Fe Depot on Kettner Boulevard at about 12:40 a.m. on April 11, after an Amtrak employee called 911 to report a man sitting on the rails underneath a …
Since October of last year, the Hard Rock Hotel has hosted a once-a-month concert featuring headliners that would normally play Casbah or Belly Up. And the shows are free. The Soundcheck concert series is held …
The Downtown San Diego Partnership, a pro-redevelopment lobbying group run by Kris Michell, ex–chief of staff to GOP mayors Susan Golding and Jerry Sanders, quietly settled up with the City’s Ethics Commission last month. Seems …
I wasn’t sure what to think when I first heard about Gaijin Noodle + Sake House. Taken literally, the word “gaijin” means “foreigner.” In actual usage, it means “non-Japanese.” But growing up in Hawaii, “gaijin,” …
"Kurios arene,” says Dave Rawley. He’s a Bible scholar carrying three heavy, worn Bibles. At least one’s in classical Greek. He’s been sitting and studying them over his Greek chicken, in the corner of the …
Being a hockey fan in San Diego is like being a cow tipper in Delhi, which is to say, lonely. Sure, despite their Cool Runnings disadvantage (watch the movie), the Gulls were an impressive flock …
Construction has begun on the Ariel Suite Apartments, a 22-story downtown development in the parking lot of the U.S. Bank (formerly San Diego National Bank) building at the corner of Kettner and Beech. An artist's …
“The Atmosphere” low-income apartment complex planned for the long-abandoned Cortez “hole” site may not be built. The nonprofit Wakeland Housing & Development Corporation is the developer. Wakeland previously purchased the dirt-filled site, then resold it …
It’s the word that stops me. A new word on the awning of this old place. “Cremalose.” Huh? This is the San Diego Hardware building. The 100-year-old curved-glass windows of what was once a Woolworth’s …
In 2009, a few downtown residents discovered that they, along with over 2600 other downtown property owners, had been overcharged by the property and business improvement district in which they lived. The assessment district, also …
Anastasia from Vladivostok brings my waffle. Melissa — her family is from Guam — hands me my coffee. The coffee’s Kona, from Hawaii. The waffle is from…heaven. Sigh. Love a surprise. Here I was, ambling …
"Don’t rush me!” Dion’s voice cuts through the noise. She’s barking at a customer who wants to pay up and go. “Besides, you haven’t drunk enough yet. We have rules!” Dion walks away muttering, under …
Occupy San Diego’s three-month anniversary on January 7 was a cause for celebration for dozens of activists who marched from Children’s Park to the Civic Center to participate in a rally. Activists, however, are calling …
Analog Bar’s slogan — “Good Food Strong Drinks” — is spot-on. The nu-retro music-themed bar’s cocktails are mixed (and priced) aggressively. The food is creative and, yeah, good, but not great, especially at prices that …
"Even in the face of the current economic downturn, the San Diego Convention Center continues to deliver significant benefits to the greater San Diego region,” boasted the center in its 2010 annual report. Do not …
The U.S. government may be laden with debt, but that hasn’t kept the feds from looking for an artist to help ornament the soon-to-be completed Broadway courthouse downtown. “In addition to a new courthouse, the …
Ali Nilforshan says he will be taking back 4th&B, the downtown venue he owned from 2003 to 2009. The current owners, Vince and Judy Puma, say that is not going happen. Nilforshan says he sold …
An El Cajon firm headed by former Democratic state senator Steve Peace has been raking in big bucks from the California Correctional Peace Officers Association. According to state campaign finance disclosure records, J.S. Peace & …
The Greyhound bus terminal — at 120 W. Broadway for the past 80 years — moved to 1313 National Avenue on November 14. Greyhound’s lease expired on October 1, so the company has leased a …
“We were the first bar to have Arrogant Bastard,” says Downtown Johnny Brown’s owner Todd Alexander. “Stone had their release party here. John Brown really embraced the local beer movement. When I bought the bar …
The former owner of 4th&B, the 1500-capacity downtown concert venue, says he is in the process of taking the club back from its current owner and that he is suing Live Nation, the concert promoter …
It’s not exactly the way Leonardo da Vinci got his start, but the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority is looking for an “artist in residence,” to be paid “not to exceed” $8000 for three …
Downtown's Bank of America branch on B Street shut down early on the afternoon of October 20 out of safety concerns: approximately 25 protesters, most part of the Occupy San Diego movement, staged a peaceful …
The San Diego City Council voted 6-1 on October 4 to adopt a resolution, responding to the San Diego County Grand Jury report that a new city hall is not needed. The resolution authorized the …
After the Cortez “hole” was finally filled and chainlink-fenced in August 2010 (click here for background), the plan was to transform the empty lot owned by the San Diego Redevelopment Agency into a paved and …
About 2400 Comic-Con attendees crowded into a ballroom at the Manchester Grand Hyatt hotel every morning of the world’s largest comic convention July 21–24, some arriving as early as 1:00 a.m. They were there to …
On July 22 in downtown San Diego, several expensive cars and SUVs pulled up to the red curb in front of the Family Court building at 1555 Sixth Avenue and parked. A man who identified …
The San Diego County Regional Airport Authority’s master concession agreement with HMSHost is expiring next year, and the battle over a replacement has turned into a gold rush for local lobbyists. With the competition reportedly …
About a half dozen protesters raised a small ruckus outside the Electra high-rise condo building at 700 West E Street on the evening of Tuesday, June 28. Politicians and well-heeled supporters of Bonnie Dumanis were …
Erik Stage, owner of the Stage in the heart of the Gaslamp, calls the venue “three floors of entertainment in our haunted house of corridors and mezzanines.” In its third year, the Stage recently underwent …
An assortment of peaceniks, activists, war veterans, and their families gathered on the Sixth Avenue overpass of Interstate 5 at around 4 p.m. on June 14, Flag Day. They were there, in the words of …
About 40 people attended the June 7 San Diego County Board of Supervisors' public hearing on the 2011-2012 budget. Four women at the 2 p.m. session urged supervisors to fund social services, salaries, and staffing. …
The French urban artist Space Invader, famous for tile mosaics of characters from the video game he shares his alias with, has had a piece of his artwork vandalized. In 2010 he “invaded” San Diego …
Established in 1984 by restaurateur and bullfighter Paul Dobson, La Gran Tapa was the first dedicated Spanish tapas bar in San Diego. Seven owners later, the Sicilian proprietor of the Turquoise Café in Pacific Beach, …
Israel Puente, a retired Marine Corps veteran, appeared before the San Diego City Council on May 17 to express his disappointment with a Clean and Safe Program employee during an incident that occurred over the …
Formerly San Diego’s “skid row,” downtown San Diego’s core historic area was reborn in the 1980s under a new name: the Gaslamp Quarter. Actually, gas lamps were never used for outdoor lighting in San Diego …
"Please send some more tourists. The last ones were delicious.” This motto is on an Aussie license plate, one of their crocodiles smiling out from it. Shane is up on a stepladder, screwing in another …
Downtown nightspot 4th&B has among the most stringent security measures of any local venues, including a pat-down on entry, surveillance cameras, and security roaming inside and outside the club. On February 11, however, none of …
Even if it’s at the expense of the public, the City of San Diego wants to ensure that certain employees of America’s finest city have an appreciation for fine arts — or so it seems, …
Almost a decade ago, when I worked in a high-rise office building downtown, some coworkers and I stood at a corner window and counted the mega-sized cranes that dotted the scenery. “One, two, three, four,” …
About 60 people gathered shortly after 8 a.m. at City College’s Gorton Quad on Friday, April 15. Students, faculty, and community members spoke out against budget cuts proposed by Jerry Brown. Shortly after 9:00, the …
San Diego fat cats transformed the concept of redevelopment from help for the poor to welfare for the rich. They have a fear of Governor Jerry Brown, who wants to get rid of redevelopment agencies …
According to the Father Joe's Villages website, after 30 years of serving San Diego neighbors in need, "Father Joe Carroll has announced his retirement as CEO of Father Joe's Villages and its partner agencies, effective …
San Diego’s Embarcadero, the place of departure and arrival for vessels as small as fishing skiffs and as large as ocean liners, defines the city’s connection to the watery worlds of San Diego Bay and …
A loose coalition of medical marijuana advocates and supporters put together a protest march in front of the Federal Courthouse on Monday, March 28. Starting at 12 noon, an estimated 100 or so activists began …
Mel Katz, chair of the San Diego Public Library Foundation, says his foundation has identified 13 "actively engaged" prospects willing to donate $10 million or more for downtown's new central library. According to Katz, who …