“Be still and the earth will speak to you." ~ Navajo saying Monument Valley. Just the name conjures up images of the majestic, iconic buttes and classic western landscape so often seen in movies and …
United States
Doug Manchester versus a killer pizza oven
Beset by a Washington Post exposé of his questionable behavior as Union-Tribune publisher, his nomination to be president Donald Trump's Bahamian ambassador stalled in the Senate, and the downtown Navy Broadway complex continuing to languish …
March 2, 2018
Life goes on in Las Vegas
Heading to Las Vegas two months after the Mandalay Bay shootings – the deadliest (civilian) mass shooting in American history – you’d have to be a sociopath not to think of death. But eventually, like …
February 25, 2018
Titters over Chargers' Twitter numbers
“The Chargers almost doubled Twitter followers since L.A. move, but 45 percent of total are now fake.” That’s the headliine in thebiglead, a sports site that is owned by USA Today. Ryan Phillips says that …
February 23, 2018
The ol' annual Super Bowl shakedown
Today is the day economists identify as one of the major global scams: the Super Bowl. Last year, 106.7 million watched it, down from the record 114.4 million in 2015. Given that the Sunday-night, Monday-night, …
February 4, 2018
An L.A. brewery now open in La Jolla
Back in 2013, Reader Beer News reported that a planned local brewery, Absolution Brewing Company, had made the decision to join the unsaturated Los Angeles beer scene, rather than San Diego. Having thrived in its …
January 29, 2018
Ballast Point joins forces with Disney
They took San Diego beer to the World Series, and now they're going to Disneyland. Ballast Point Brewing has announced plans for later this year to open the first-ever brewery at the Disneyland Resort in …
January 25, 2018
Tronc’s Times newsroom blowback
Chicago wheeler-dealer Michael Ferro's tronc, which has been shrinking the staff and newsroom space of the San Diego Union-Tribune, is encountering resistance from Los Angeles Times staffers, worried about putative plans to move the U-T’s …
January 12, 2018
UCSD composer's opera a light amid the hate
“I’m very concerned about the future,” says composer and UCSD professor Anthony Davis, who has never shied away from controversial subjects. “That’s why it’s important for me to continue to write about political events because …
December 27, 2017
Merry tronc and a very happy Ferro
While the scribes at his oddly named newspaper chain continue to worry about their jobs, year's end has brought considerable new riches for Michael Ferro, the Chicago-based wizard of tronc. That jolly word for Ferro …
December 26, 2017
In pursuit of Nirvana
Former 91X DJ Marco Collins resides in Seattle now, but he still rents a storage space in San Diego. The unit is notable because it houses a large amount of unique music memorabilia that he …
December 20, 2017
Kill your boyfriend, go to jail
Twenty-seven-year-old David Enrique Meza of Imperial Beach was sentenced in federal court to life in prison today (December 11th). He had fatally stabbed and nearly decapitated Texas retiree Jake Clyde Merendino on May 2, 2015, …
December 11, 2017
Florida blues behind her
Although there are some decent surf breaks back home, pro surfer Lindsay Perry says Central Florida is nothing like San Diego. “My dad used to catch alligators with his hands,” she says about her upbringing …
December 6, 2017
Giant leak kills Manchester's grand-opening plans
Donald Trump may be plagued by more than his share of leaks, but nothing like those of La Jolla's Doug Manchester, the president's ambassadorial nominee to the Bahamas, who reportedly needed real plumbers to handle …
December 4, 2017
Hipster L.A.: Los Feliz, Echo Park, Silver Lake
In many different neighborhoods, L.A. is seeing a positive increase in the number of artistic and creative establishments: from hip clothing stores to shared workspaces to unique bars and cafes. Downtown, Highland Park, East Los …
December 1, 2017