U-T paperboy blues My first undercover story. I felt conflicted about it, but I wasn't getting anywhere by normal routes. (Aug. 31, 2018) Footnotes on assassination of Frank Bompensiero An interview for another article tried …
March 18, 2023
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Stories by Julie Stalmer
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Why was the Union-Tribune missing so many deliveries?
Tierrasanta trails – guerrillas vs. vigilantes
Trails of Tierrasanta paved with good intentions On weekends, in the canyons surrounding San Diego’s community of Tierrasanta, urban guerrillas hack through chapparal with picks and other tools, transforming once-narrow coyote paths into smooth, broad …
March 13, 2023
Piecemeal expansion of Del Mar Highlands
The Carmel Valley battle for square footage The bell has sounded in a heavyweight battle between two Carmel Valley developers and the City is caught in the middle of it all. Kilroy Realty, the Los …
February 27, 2023
Peutz Valley – the fire did not kill our spirit
Alpine's Secret Valley Here we could raise animals and grow a garden, learn the old arts of canning, butchering, milking, and cheese-making. The '70s provided this back-earth movement, and our few neighbors, like my family, …
January 30, 2023
Bay Park wants its own status
Bay Park remains a mere neighborhood Bay Park was around long before there was any movement in Clairemont. Bay Park has history going back to 1877. Clairemont wasn't developed until the 1950s. Ocean Beach lives …
January 2, 2023
National City – still up and coming
National City – a Mayor Daley-type political machine To the south of San Diego, within range of the shadows cast by the Coronado Bridge, lies National City. Frequently described as the “backlot" of San Diego, …
August 17, 2020
North Park – the prime quartier
Say goodbye to 30th Street as it is “You guys are just thinking about North Park residents shopping here and eating at your shops,” she said. “You’re not thinking about the people coming from down …
August 10, 2020
Miramar – Naval air station and a trash dump
FAA okays 150 fixed wing and 115 helicopter flying from Miramar For the first time since the 1978 PSA plane disaster over North Park, the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) is changing San Diego's air traffic …
July 27, 2020
Hillcrest, neighborhood of ghosts
Gayborhood or ghetto? “I still love Jesus, and I’m still a conservative,” Texana R., 17, tells me. “I just am — I don’t care what my mama or my aunt or my step sister or …
June 22, 2020
Mission Beach – true character
Tiny Island Court has 31 short-timers Bayside Walk listed 121 rentals spread out between 15 blocks, with 50 rentals on just two blocks. Mission Boulevard listed 81 rentals on 17 blocks. It then dropped to …
April 20, 2020
Kearny Mesa – not really a neighborhood
Giovanni's leaves cribbage fans homeless I used to come to Giovanni’s at the turn of the century when they were located at Balboa Avenue about a mile west from the I-805 freeway. I remember playing …
April 13, 2020
Little Italy – will the flavor last?
Tiny rooms in Little Italy On a Little Italy plot where a Victorian house stood for more than a century, construction of tiny apartments is underway. The house, built in the 1890s at the corner …
April 6, 2020
Normal Heights – you want to be involved
We the people of Normal Heights Adam Deutsch and his wife Claire moved to Normal Heights in 2014. Shortly after their move, the couple went to a meeting of the Normal Heights Community Planning Group …
March 30, 2020
South Park: not cut by high-volume road
North Park and South Park – say goodbye to 30th Street as it is The main roadway connecting North and South Park may be on the eve of a massive transformation. Councilmember Chris Ward is …
March 9, 2020
San Marcos – still growing
Night people of San Marcos Miss Rincon said it was her habit to spend the night in the public bathrooms at Richmar Park, at the corner of Firebird Lane and Richmar Avenue, around the corner …
March 2, 2020
Barrio Logan: if you want color
Jack's island: jewel of Barrio Logan Sometime this year, the city council is expected to decide whether to accept a low-ball $30,000 offer for the nearest thing Barrio Logan has to a flat iron building, …
February 24, 2020
Mira Mesa – what there is to love
Mira Mesa braces for mega population growth The decades-old Vulcan mining operation on nearly 300 acres of Carroll Canyon will be a huge housing project if developers' lobbying efforts are successful. Bordered by Mira Mesa …
February 3, 2020
Old Town – early and later stories
General store ledgers tell how people lived in Old Town Finding which store the ledger came from involved detective work. In 1864, there were only two general merchandise stores, one in Old Town, the other …
December 9, 2019
Don't let Linda Vista fool you
Butt out, Clairemont, says Linda Vista "I have a lot of respect for the Clairemont planning group and the other planning groups — they're citizens like us who are investing in their community," said Howard …
October 14, 2019
Rancho Peñasquitos, barely suburban
Beaner bashers They identify themselves as the border patrol. They demand money. The Mexican stranger drops the grocery bag and sprints into the valley. The teen-age boys shout taunts as the shadow disappears around a …
September 9, 2019
University City – UCSD's bedrooms
No trolley in my backyard A group of neighborhood conservationists in University City are hoping to put the brakes on a plan to extend trolley service from downtown San Diego's Santa Fe Depot to a …
August 12, 2019
Julie Stalmer and the Reader
How Stalmer came to write for the Reader: Taking my rescue dogs Zoe and Bailey for a walk on Fiesta Island in June 2015, I saw what looked to be baby lobsters covering the beach. …
August 10, 2019
Idyllic Tierrasanta
East Shepherd Canyon East Shepherd, or Greenbelt, trail is interesting in all seasons, with a combination of native coastal sage scrub and nonnative plants in the canyon. Walk north on Santo Road for about 160 …
August 5, 2019
Carmel Valley – the anxiety of a new suburb
Carmel Valley accidental pond to be drained More than 17 years ago, land owner Robert Barczewski had a grading crew push a pile of dirt into a dip in a dirt road on his private …
July 22, 2019
Bay Park – around long before Clairemont
Red balloon sent up in Bay Park "I am against high density,” says Johnson. “I think it’s wrong. I'm very unhappy with the way that this is going. We don't need more people [here]. That's …
May 27, 2019
Why so many pedestrian accidents in San Diego?
A week doesn’t go by without news of a hit-and-run or a near miss caused by a speeding driver. Residents on the Mount Streets in Clairemont have reported parked cars in front of homes getting …
May 1, 2019
Pacific Beach leads the town in dog tickets
Pacific Beach dog lovers have been frustrated over the lack of off-leash options. Many go rogue and let their dogs run free in parks with rules against that. In January, increased enforcement led to residents …
April 2, 2019
Downtown San Diego's Plaza Hotel goes; homeless parking proposed on Mission Bay
Another SRO is about to bite the dust. Short for single room occupancy hotels, these cheap hotels have been dropping like flies from 123 in 2012 to 37 in October 2018. It's hard not to …
March 19, 2019
Container homes shipping into Logan Heights
An apartment building made out of shipping containers is coming soon to Logan Heights. Michael Copley (Makana Properties), third generation San Diegan and realtor, is embarking on this first for San Diego with partner Douglas …
March 12, 2019
Zapf's Swampland aka Cate's Litter Box
Joel Pointon in Clairemont has been calling his city council office about a messy median on Balboa Avenue at Mt. Abernathy and Mt. Alifan. He and others started making calls before Lorie Zapf was in …
March 4, 2019
Clairemont braces for density
Our mayor has a dream, a dream in which NIMBYs click their heels three times and turn into YIMBYs joyfully proclaiming, “Yes, in my backyard.” In this perfect world, constituents no longer have any anti-housing …
March 1, 2019
Clairemont still waits for Trader Joe's
On January 31, a lady walking her dog announced to me that "Trader Joe's is coming to Clairemont!" She said she knows someone that works for the Clairemont Town Square shopping center and that everything …
February 22, 2019
Less parking for San Diego's Old Town
‘It’s been vacant as long as I can recall” was the consensus I got when asking about the vacant lot on the corner of Congress and Harney streets in Old Town. An empty lot is …
February 11, 2019
Del Mar's project, Solana Beach's headache
The seaside Del Mar Resort, if built, would be the biggest project ever built in Del Mar. Some are wondering why a project atop Del Mar’s last open coastal bluff is even being considered. Others …
January 2, 2019
Tiny rooms in Little Italy
On a Little Italy plot where a Victorian house stood for more than a century, construction of tiny apartments is underway. The house, built in the 1890s at the corner of Union and Cedar, was …
November 28, 2018
San Marcos in crosshairs of Growthzilla
To North Country residents living near Merriam Mountains, it feels like Dr. Frankenstein is bringing that monster back to life. A monster called urban sprawl the community chased out of their backcountry in 2010. Back …
September 25, 2018
A tree survives in Bay Park
On August 15, Bay Park resident Laura Schumacher saw her husband's favorite ficus tree being cut down (above Mission Bay Park on Clairemont Drive between Denver and Galveston). The workers told her they were there …
September 5, 2018
U-T paperboy blues
It's 2:30 am on a Thursday, and I'm headed to a warehouse in Mira Mesa to learn the paperboy trade. When I arrive at 3 am, the parking lot is dark and full of double-parked …
August 31, 2018
Yard crimes in Clairemont blamed on Prop 47
Thieves are targeting whatever isn't nailed down in Clairemont's front yards. It's a big problem in Pacific Beach, too, according to one resident, "Yards are being picked clean of outdoor furniture, surfboards, and bikes. If …
August 17, 2018
Cate to Clairemont: Drop dead
As tensions wane over a homeless housing development on Mt. Alifan Drive, all eyes have shifted to a bigger affordable housing project on Mt. Etna Drive. Both are within one-half mile of each other by …
July 23, 2018
Faulconer vacation rentals voted down —UPDATED
The following is a July 17 update of story posted yesterday evening, July 16 After almost five hours of public testimony, the mayor's proposal was voted down 6-3 with councilmember's Mark Kersey, Chris Cate, and …
July 16, 2018