Citizen pot bustI thought about the spring day my two hiking buddies and I were off-trail, crashing through dense thickets of tangled brush. It was growing dark, and the three of us had gotten separated. …

I live in Tijuana, SmugglersvilleI was hobbling back from the store with a liter of milk, when I saw three young men sitting on the steps in front of a house in my Tijuana neighborhood. …

The Chula Vista kidnapping of Eddy Tostado by Arellano cartelAt 3:39 a.m. on January 7, 2007, Columbia Street was almost deserted. Little Italy had been plagued with car burglaries — “It got where you couldn’t …

Spring Valley is the new North Park About three months ago, the bar donned a large sign reading “The Bancroft” next to Fannie’s old marquee, which now entreats — perhaps tongue-in-cheek — “I assure you …

What am I doing in Eastlake? The western end of the loop consists of a series of shopping centers, all butted up against Eastlake Parkway, and all bearing names that declare their neighborhood allegiance: Eastlake …

The squad descends at 8:30 on a Wednesday morning in late September. One at a time, the girls arrive, jumping out of their parents’ cars almost before they’ve come to a complete stop outside our …

Christmas Jerk I managed to avoid being homeless on Christmas Eve 1979, but just barely. Unemployed since that summer, I found a cheap flophouse on 12th and Island where 70 bucks a month got me …

It's Not a Race Thing... It's Style Jordan, 18, is black, and I saw him sporting swim trunks and sunglasses and hanging out on the beach with his white friend Alex, also 18. "There's pressure …

Mushballs! Contrary to popular belief, there is surf to be had off New York City. Just as one can purchase a bagel (or passable facsimile) in San Diego, one can ride a wave off Queens. …

Baja is back Hip and delicious. There’s no reason not to get in your car and go. By Elizabeth Salaam, July 24, 2013 | Read full article I was hit with the realization that half …

Look for the online list of Best Of voting winners soon. We have printed and re-stocked extra copies of this week's print version where the Best Of voting winners are listed. Best place in San …

Cheerleading Is More Dangerous than Fighting Cage-fightin’ rock stars. It’s Wednesday at 1:00 p.m., and I am waiting for amateur mixed martial arts fighter Jaime Reyes at the Lakeside Cafe. When he walks past me, …

The Ugly Trailer Park Across the Water Beauty and the blight on Mission Bay. Cityzella terrorizes humble trailer folk at De Anza Cove. By Ollie, Sept. 14, 2011 | Read full article What am I …

Afro Puffs ’Dos that don’t. I’m overjoyed that my daughter loves her hair. I’m also afraid there will come a day when she tells me she wishes it were long, straight, and yellow. By Elizabeth …

Smugglersville “The cops mess with us. The thieves mess with us. Everybody messes with us.” I was hobbling back from the store with a liter of milk, when I saw three young men sitting on …

Afro Puffs I’m overjoyed that my daughter loves her hair. I’m also afraid there will come a day when she tells me she wishes it were long, straight, and yellow. By Elizabeth Salaam, July 11, …

The Ugly Trailer Park Across the Water Cityzella terrorizes humble trailer folk at De Anza Cove. By Ollie, Sept. 14, 2011 What am I doing in Eastlake? I'm telling you it's a trap. And we're …

Spruce Street suspension bridge brings out demented thoughts It’s early, the marine layer still a veneer over the city, when we park the car just shy of the suspension bridge. The day promises to be …

Presidential candidate Mitt Romney roots deep and wide in San Diego It is Matt Romney who takes public credit for calling his part of the Romney clan to San Diego County. “My wife and I …

Dad was a bum Mike Elliott’s father disappeared when he was 13 years old. Not disappeared as in vanished mysteriously. Disappeared as in left and never came back. Some 27 years later, on a rainy …

Reader writers on why Christmas is magic By Dorian Hargrove, Elizabeth Salaam, Ernie Grimm, Jay Allen Sanford, Melissa Wiley, Ollie , Walter Mencken, Dec. 22, 2010 San Diego women who have converted to Islam Over …

Cynthia Luvlee-Austin is doing what she was told could not be done. Her non-profit organization, Shyne San Diego, seeks to equip survivors of human trafficking with tools and skills to improve their economic security. “Business …

The temperature drops steadily as I make my way east on Interstate 8 — 57 degrees, 54, 49. I have brought four hoodies and the down jacket I wear only when I visit my mom …

Pacific Highway doesn’t look like it sounds. The name calls to mind surfboard-topped VW buses, sunsets, and bike-riders in bathing suits, something like what you’d see on Highway 101 around Cardiff. But instead, it’s mostly …

I never take my phone out on the water in Mission Bay, where I go to stand-up paddle board a couple of times a week. Sometimes I wish I had it to capture a picture …

Dictionary Hill in Spring Valley got its name from encyclopedia salesman One of the oddest things about the Dictionary Hill area, also known as La Presa, is the way the streets were laid out on …

Peace east of Eastlake It was inevitable that there would be development. The Olympic Training Center sits on land donated by Eastlake, the sprawling development to its immediate west. Every time I pass through Eastlake, …

A mile east of all the beer Stacy Keck tells me she can’t function at 6 am. So we decide to meet instead at 8:30, and she gives me an access code so I can …

When I buy my ticket to True Romance at Rooftop Cinema Club, I have visions of vertigo from the thrill of the rise to the top of the Manchester Grand Hyatt. I am not yet …

A year and a half ago, one of Teri Siciliani’s neighbors called to alert her to a homeless encampment on the back side of Siciliani’s property in the Fox Canyon neighborhood of City Heights. From …

Monday At 7 pm on a Monday evening, the 20-foot ceilings in World Beat Cultural Center provide a feeling of spaciousness even though nearly all of the 100 or so chairs arranged in rows in …

Watlington’s farm Trish Watlington reaches into a bed of bright red-orange nasturtiums and picks off a couple of whitish green seedpods about the size of wasabi peas. “Here, try it.” She hands one to me …

At 11:30 on a coolish Saturday morning in April, I have the bench to myself. Sometimes when I pass by, a woman with a shopping cart stuffed and piled with her belongings occupies the far …

The Bro Tai and the Golden Swan My fancy friend Tina likes to get dressed up in lots of jewelry and perfume to drink martinis on leather bar chairs in the presence of men wearing …

The large picture windows at Lotus Garden Seafood and Noodles restaurant in City Heights overlook the corner of Euclid and University. Over a heaping plate of chicken chow fun, one can observe the comings and …

Every Power Rangers toy known to man The exact moment the sleigh bells stopped jingling — by Chad Deal Sister Santa’s once-a-year smile I adored American Christmas — by Tam Hoang We were ruthless Christmas-letter …

My Christmas miracle came in a highball glass filled with ice and equal parts rum and mai tai mix. At the time, it was clear that the drink had done what it was supposed to …

Holiday lights make the early darkness of winter a beautiful thing. One of my favorite displays in San Diego is the simple strings of colorful lights that wind around the railings on the streets above …

Canary Island pines, Australian tea, Moreton Bay fig, Kauri pine, Calif. juniper, Ilelo palm, dragon tree, elderberry, bunya nunya.

What you need to know about Margaret Parker (besides the fact that this is not her real name) is that when it comes to customer service, she doesn’t play. According to her own estimation, she …

Tipton’s rise to stardom began on season 14 of Project Runway.

“Why are all these foreclosed homes submitting ballots?”

Chrissy Seigler noticed a leaky water main valve on the sidewalk in front of her Point Loma home. The water was seeping out from the lid and dribbling down the street. In early June, Seigler …

Julian Duval is about to rock my world. The 68-year-old president of the San Diego Botanic Garden drives me around the garden in a golf cart talking my ear off and making me laugh with …

“I tried to figure out if I should suck it up and push through, because I really wanted to try and help these women.”

On February 14, 2015, the City of San Diego installed a new digital water meter at a University Avenue property belonging to Edwin Widjojo. The installation took place in the middle of a bill period, …

On Tuesday, June 30, the last of a 100-foot-tall Torrey pine was cut down at the San Diego Botanic Garden in Encinitas. It took six workers 35 hours to remove the tree, one of four …

Urban Adventures Beach Town Suburban Ocean & Bay Backcountry Mexico

“The Desert at Night” is the Natural History Museum’s attempt to engage Spanish and English speakers at the same time.

Half of them have holes in their mouths where their teeth used to be, and the other half have sets of some-large-some-small teeth.