Ben Larkin was careful when he parked his 2007 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon on the street overnight outside his Pacific Beach condo. No key or fob inside. Doors locked. Windows too. So it was a shock …
March 18, 2024
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Stories by Larry Keller
Pacific Beach – car thief's paradise
Mira Mesa has its critics
San Diego's most wretched neighborhoodIt is a bright, sunny Saturday afternoon in April and a small crowd has gathered in the Mira Mesa shopping center mall, the hub of a community that is as far …
September 17, 2023
No wedding or birthday bashes at new Kendall-Frost field station
Work has begun on a new field station and learning center at the Kendall-Frost Marsh Reserve that by year’s end will provide a more spacious and modern facility for academic researchers, K-12 students and community …
April 3, 2023
Island Court roommates turn dog abusers
A sad Mission Beach dog story The old woman who owned the apartment building did not know enough to kick out her tenants in the summer, jack up the rent, and lease the apartments to …
October 2, 2022
They work on San Diego's smog
San Diego starting to deal with its smog The natural broom sweeps the smog into the natural dustpan of Alpine. On days when the smog is particularly bad, you can drive east on Interstate 8 …
April 24, 2022
Traffic lights on Market Street, baseball card nostalgia, Surfer Motel attacked
Why 24th and Market got no traffic light It is an intersection that only God could love. Market and Twenty-fourth streets: its sidewalks are stuck about with telephone poles, shadeless palms, and a few eugenias …
April 11, 2021
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
San Diego's old trolleys, off season Mission Beach, lost colony of Mission Hills, an abused dog, Surfer Motel attacked, Baseball card obsession
The glories of San Diego's trolley system Buses are rough; the passengers fall down easier. With the streetcars, you knew where they were—smooth starts and stops. They weren’t swaying back and forth—therefore, less accidents. And …
February 2, 2019
The obsession and business of baseball cards
About five months ago I heeded years of pleadings from my mother and removed from her garage the baseball cards I had collected as a child. The cards, about 2000 of them, dated back to …
August 20, 1981
San Diego machinists union — chicanery, deceit, violence
Last month, at a dinner held at Vacation Village, Ray Bryant was honored as Labor Man of the Year. The prestigious award was bestowed on him by officers of the San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council …
April 30, 1981
San Diego's most wretched neighborhood
It is a bright, sunny Saturday afternoon in April and a small crowd has gathered in the Mira Mesa shopping center mall, the hub of a community that is as far from the consciousness of …
June 12, 1980
Mission Bay's enclave of movers and shakers
Former San Diego City Councilman Bob Martinet owns a home that would fulfill the fantasies of many urban dweller. Nestled at the end of a cul de sac in Pacific Beach, the two-story house features …
March 6, 1980