Lakeside's Lisa Zouhar woke up to a fire at her home on Shamrock Lane by Woodside Avenue on May 26. She, her husband, and two dogs made it outside, but she said she lost her …
Back to profile
Stories by Eric Bartl
San Diego book clubs – what's the point?Perhaps it’s the idea of the book club book that we find unbearable. It brings to mind that women’s marketing motto, “Pink it and shrink it.” Pink it: …
Poway – why the rodeo still does well It’s rodeo time: seven seconds of hell on an angry bull. That’s what many San Diegans picture when they think of Poway. But times have changed in …
Santee – where everyone wants to live Most people who drive past the old green and white Dutch-style barn on North Magnolia Avenue in Santee, on their way to one of the freeways or to …
The Cajon Valley Union School District board of trustees voted January 31 to give former board president Tamara Otero a $50,400 consulting contract. After 12 years on the board, she lost her bid for reelection …
On January 11 Rebecca Phillips told the Santee City Council about an experience she had two weeks prior at Santee’s Cameron Family YMCA on Riverwalk Drive. When she walked out of the shower, she said …
On September 12 Encinitas Union School District sent an email to all district parents advertising a “family-friendly” drag show for their kids, setting off a month-long firestorm of complaints that led to a protest at …
Ammar Campa-Najjar campaigned for votes from Temecula to El Cajon as an East County congressional candidate in 2018 and 2020, and has shifted south to ask Chula Vista voters to elect him mayor this November, …
On January 2 of 2021, a Patriot March in San Diego was announced on social media, to begin at 2 pm on January 9 at the foot of Crystal Pier in Pacific Beach. The flier …
An Instagram post and a Reader cover photo helped police identify five Antifa activists who allegedly attacked people in Pacific Beach on January 9, 2021, according to redacted transcripts of the May 2022 grand jury …
San Diego’s groundbreaking Antifa criminal conspiracy case was reinforced on May 23 when a grand jury indicted eleven alleged Antifa militants with conspiracy to riot and various assault charges, for the attacks on pedestrians in …
The San Diego County Human Relations Commission held a special meeting June 9 to consider expelling Commissioner Dennis Hodges, a Christian pastor, for controversial statements he’s made about transgenderism. Commissioner Cara Dessert, the CEO of …
On May 9 Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher accused Carl DeMaio of plotting to trick black and brown voters into voting for a black candidate for fourth district county supervisor on June 7, instead of her incumbent …
On April 22 San Diego Union Tribune columnist Charles T. Clark wrote East San Diego County has an “appetite for racism.” The U-T published the warnings he said a barber gave him when he arrived …
On January 7 Dr. George Fareed of Brawley and Dr. Brian Tyson of El Centro published Overcoming the Covid Darkness, their story of treating 7,000 Covid patients in the Imperial Valley since April 2020. What …
On December 6 San Diego District Attorney Summer Stephan announced felony conspiracy charges against eleven alleged Antifa militants. The DA blames Antifa for the January 9 Pacific Beach attacks against pedestrians on the boardwalk and …
On a sunny day in September 2020, a 45-year-old public school teacher drove to the Stater Bros. grocery store on Main Street in Ramona to meet someone he thought was a 14-year-old boy he had …
Saturday, January 9th: a warm and sunny winter afternoon in Pacific Beach. The boardwalk was bustling. A man and his Rottweiler were on a routine walk when, as they passed the Baja Beach Café at …
On Tuesday, January 12, parents and teachers from Gompers Preparatory Academy pleaded with the San Diego Unified school board to restore on-loan agreements the district made with four of their founding staff members 15 years …
“You painted a black person” Last year, while exiting an MTS bus at the El Cajon Transit Station, I heard a man yell, “Imagine a world without black people!” A black girl walked away from …
More than a thousand protesters marched outside the La Mesa Police Department Saturday, May 30. Stretching down University Avenue and Baltimore Drive they held signs that read “Black Lives Matter” and “I Can’t Breathe,” words …
The Covid-related business shutdown and stay-at-home orders issued by Governor Newsom and San Diego County public health officer Wilma Wooten have led to civil disobedience and lawsuits. A local protest movement began April 18 at …
The slow end of the Kalasho regime At a city council meeting in September Elia spoke publicly to Kalasho: “Ben, you need help. It hurts me to see fellow Chaldeans spiral like this. It might …
Hillcrest: gayborhood or ghetto? “I was only in West Hollywood for four years and I came from the East Coast by way of Las Vegas,” he says. “To me, Hillcrest is just normal. At least …
I Crawled Inside Brenda van Dam's Head and Tried to Guess What Went on in There Dad’s is probably the most famous barroom in America, at least this week, and what goes on here is …
Xavier Cajica-Bautista, a former San Diego Unified special education assistant and soccer coach, was arrested by the Irvine Police Department November 16 for assault with intent to commit rape, sexual battery, obstructing use of a …
On September 21, Arabic-speaking immigrants gathered at the Ninevah Club in El Cajon (at Main Street and Mollison Avenue) for a conference hosted by Protect our Kids, a group spreading awareness of California’s required instruction …
The Reader’s August 28 story “Shark Bait” told of Sara, Monet, Julia, and other girls from Lincoln High School who say Nick Cannon, host of comedy show Wild 'N Out, served as the bait for …
On October 14 former San Diego city councilman Carl DeMaio, former congressman Darrell Issa and state enator Brian Jones joined congressman Duncan Hunter at Mission Valley’s Town and Country Hotel for the San Diego Republican …
On September 24 the San Diego Unified school board passed a resolution in support of a state bill (AB 331) that would add one semester of ethnic studies to California public high school graduation requirements …
On September 10, Francisco Soto and Xaime Aceves Equihua (stage names “Barbie-Q” and “Raquelita”) presented Drag Queen Story Time to a reported 300 adults and children at the Civic Center Chula Vista Public Library on …
Fourteen years ago Rancho Bernardo resident Robert D. Fausner had four pet cockatiels. He kept them in his one-bedroom apartment cage-free and by January of this year they had reproduced into 83 free-flying birds, plus …
The three-year saga at Balboa Park’s San Diego Junior Theatre, a city-funded operation, continued May 7 when former theatre parent Matt Valenti and his family went to City Hall to confront city attorney Mara Elliott. …
Girl v. world, mother, teacher On October 15, 2018, Lincoln High School psychologist Freddy Moreno summoned Sara to his office. A teacher wanted him to find out what was traumatizing her “shy, sweet, and respectful” …
The Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions warned in an August 12 press release they are planning the “nation’s largest walkout since 1997.” Coalition spokesman Sean Wherley says over 80,000 Kaiser Permanente employees in six states …
After being accused of sexual assault a former Lincoln High School soccer coach, Said Cajica, continued coaching youth soccer teams and on February 21 changed his name to Xavier Cajica-Bautista. Said’s path to becoming Xavier …
It’s early Friday morning in City Heights. Nearly 30 boys flock to Wilson Middle School an hour before school starts to spend time with their mentor Roosevelt Johnson. They enter his classroom and greet one …
Friday, June 14, 4:40 pm. I got off the bus in El Cajon at Washington and Magnolia. From a distance I see what I think is a grandmother, mother and children crossing the street. We …
Researchers from the UCSD School of Medicine are in the market for human organs that are "fresh" and "fetal," according to emails published by the Center for Medical Progress, a citizen journalist/medical ethics watchdog group …
On March 7 a group of parents represented by San Diego attorney Charles S. LiMandri, chief counsel of the Freedom of Conscience Defense Fund, settled a lawsuit — Citizens for Quality Education v. Richard Barrera …
Last week four men publicly accused third term San Diego Unified school board trustee Kevin Beiser of sexual harassment. Now others are saying they too were preyed upon. On March 18 a John Doe plaintiff …
On December 11 the San Diego Unified School District board of trustees got rid of a thorn in its side — the non-agenda public comment segment at the beginning of their meetings. Trustees Richard Barrera, …
Two events drew out civic exhibitionists in San Diego on Saturday, January 19, each expressing a different view about what it means to be pro-woman. An estimated 20,000 participants in the Women’s March gathered at …
Schools in San Diego County have a problem. Many teachers, administrators, and staff are not reporting suspected child abuse to the proper authorities, despite a legal requirement to do so. And some who do report …
Visitors to La Jolla Nursing and Rehabilitation Center on Torrey Pines Road a couple blocks northeast of La Jolla Parkway put their lives in danger when they park across the street, say a nursing home …
A father of two former Lincoln High School students says San Diego Unified School District filed false criminal charges against him after he started speaking out against the district for their failures to protect children …
On November 9 Clayton Marlow Anderson, Jr., a former attorney from La Mesa, was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for “defrauding clients and investors,” according to a U.S. Department of Justice press release. …
“Assault a U.S. law enforcement officer – expect to be held accountable,” said chief border patrol agent Rodney Scott in a press release November 3. On October 31 a federal jury in San Diego found …
Tuesday’s votes have been tallied and the race with the largest margin of defeat in San Diego County was for El Cajon’s first district city council representative. Previously elected to citywide council positions, Ben Kalasho …
Proposition 6 may not get the response at the ballot box its supporters were hoping for. Asking voters to reduce what they have to pay for gas was a sure bet, but state Attorney General …