Gloria’s staff fly for free Assemblyman Todd Gloria’s 2020 reelection fund, which drew a lawsuit from a critic who pointed out that the Democrat was running for San Diego mayor, not the Assembly, has quietly …

An audit by the Pentagon's Office of Inspector General has concluded that the Navy's Arleigh-Burke class of destroyers, including two San Diego-based warships, has been unprepared for battle due in part to repeated training lapses …

How San Diegans reacted to 9-11 “Where were you when the World Trade Center was hit?” “At home.” “And you happened to have the TV on?” “No, my little sister called. She woke me up …

Old California politicians never die; they just set up ballot measure committees and start raising more campaign cash from special interests. Such appears to be the story of termed-out San Diego mayor Kevin Faulconer, who …

Cheap enough for Facebook Backers of San Diego Republican mayor Kevin Faulconer’s proposed hotel tax hike to expand the downtown convention center and pay for homeless relief programs are courting Democrats on Facebook. “Democrats, labor …

San Diego Republican Mayor Kevin Faulconer and his strange bedfellows in the form of big labor Democrats appear to be counting on more than a few left-right jabs from out of town to put their …

Are donations of the past about to haunt the final months of termed-out San Diego mayor Kevin Faulconer in the form of a confrontation between would-be city ambulance providers? Eager for political advancement despite years …

Rancho Peñasquitos boys, charged with hate crime The teenagers shot at Roman from the Subaru with the BB gun during three or four passes. They took turns shooting at him as they drove by, but …

Was Jesse Ventura a SEAL or a UDT guy? Well, I thought, Jesse certainly looks and sounds like many SEALs I’d known during my 16 years in the Teams. But I’d never known or even …

Family fat cats Political bloodlines run deep in San Diego, as evidenced by an emailed fundraising pitch by congressman Juan Vargas on behalf of supervisorial hopeful Terra Lawson-Remer. “I am excited to invite you to …

Childhood's End: Dr. Spock at 94 53-year-old Morgan, Dr. Spock’s second wife, has been relentless and inventive in her search for ways to keep her husband youthful and healthy. For his 75th birthday, for example, …

Turn out the lights. The latest matrimonial party is over for ex-Union-Tribune owner and would-be ambassador to the Bahamas Douglas Manchester. The million-dollar-plus Trump donor, called out by the Washington Post last year for having …

City corruption running rampant Water is no longer free for an unnamed San Diego business following an investigation by interim city auditor Kyle Elser. “An allegation that the City has provided water to a non-residential …

Proprietors of a right-leaning San Diego cable news operation that has the eyes of President Donald Trump may be about to cash out in a big way, thanks to a takeover attempt by a group …

Mafia in San Diego before World War II (first in series of six stories) “The raids, all made with search warrants, started soon after noon and were not completed until early evening. All of the …

Too poor to pass? With just two months left until California primary election day on March 3, fundraisers for San Diego mayor Kevin Faulconer’s convention center expansion and homeless tax boost still have plenty of …

A little bit east of Eden When I was living in Los Angeles years ago, a door-to-door solicitor pitching San Diego vacations and tours showed me a brochure of local attractions. Included on the list …

A tsunami of political TV spots may be about to hit San Diego airwaves, thanks to Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg and House hopeful Sara Jacobs, granddaughter of Bloomberg's longtime friend and associate Irwin Jacobs. …

Faulconer’s unpublic records acts The city of San Diego’s handling of public records requests submitted during the reign of termed-out mayor Kevin Faulconer has been woefully deficient, a December 13 report by interim city auditor …

The battle to determine who will rule San Diego's establishment news roost is on between KPBS, owned and operated by San Diego State University, and the non-profit Voice of San Diego news and opinion website. …

Satan chasers San Diego has many experts in the field of Satanism who say the county is a hotbed of Satanic activity. The hidden canyons of the back country, Ramona, Santee, Escondido, even Oceanside, are …

SDSU’s cellular super soak There will be state-of-the-art Internet at San Diego State’s new stadium, but don’t expect it to come cheap. SDSU, which is in the end-stages of wrapping up a lucrative deal with …

DeMaio’s prenuptial agreement Is it helpful to know the ropes around the House of Representatives to avoid disclosing your assets and income until the very last minute? Such seems the case with Darrell Issa, the …

A flack from San Diego's political past has popped up on the list of maximum-dollar campaign contributors to Assembly Democrat Todd Gloria, currently running to succeed termed-out Republican mayor Kevin Faulconer in next year's March …

San Diego Polo Club site developed by Heaven's Gate Exclusiveness breeds itself, so it’s little wonder that when the San Diego Polo Club in Rancho Santa Fe needed a Web page designed, they turned to …

Ku Klux Klan 's John Metzger talks of hate and tears "My father was in the Crusaders, a national organization that was pretty powerful in San Diego, which was part Christian Identity. It’s a church …

Million-dollar lawyering Attorney Cory Briggs, a perennial target of local developers who is taking on San Diego city attorney Mara Elliott in next year’s primary, owns at least a $2 million interest in rental property …

As local utility rates soared, the rush to dump San Diego Gas & Electric as the area's sole energy distributor grew into a political frenzy, capped by the October 2018 acquiescence of San Diego mayor …

Facing at least two challengers in next year's rapidly approaching March primary, San Diego City Attorney Mara Elliott has put former Union-Tribune reporter Lisa Petrillo on the city payroll as the office's assistant for "community …

Non-freedom of speech The surprise death of Union-Tribune biotech writer Bradley Fikes, at 62, brought forth a sentimental obituary in the paper, which labeled the scribe “part Dr. Dolittle, part Inspector Gadget,” and “a walking …

With the final year of Kevin Faulconer's term dawning, the revolving door at the San Diego mayor's office continues to twirl. As previously noted, six-figure public relations guru Greg Block, who most famously grappled with …

The revolving door turns Another staffer for mayor Kevin Faulconer has quit the city to join the ever-growing special interest circuit of government persuaders. Felipe Monroig, who was the Republican mayor’s deputy chief of staff …

As the termed-out administration of San Diego mayor Kevin Faulconer continues to grapple with the explosion of so-called e-scooters, another kind of e-mobility device likely to hit congested city streets is spending big to assure …

Death of good taste The November 12 passing of Gerald Hirshberg at the age of 80 of glioblastoma has rekindled memories of the days when San Diego’s cultural aspirations, at least in tony La Jolla …

Add another name to the growing roster of ex-staffers for termed-out San Diego Republican mayor Kevin Faulconer ahead of next year's November election, widely expected to result in a top-to-bottom political house cleaning by whoever …

San Diego city council candidate Kelvin Barrios, a former aide to city councilwoman Georgette Gomez, vacating her District 9 seat in a bid to replace fellow Democrat Susan Davis in Congress, is being hit with …

Honey, I shrunk the subscriber goals As advertising and circulation falls at the San Diego Union-Tribune year over year, Norman Pearlstine, executive editor of the U-T’s parent Los Angeles Times, is less optimistic than his …

What is the city of San Diego up to with its controversial installation of 4200 streetlights that spy, reported here in February? Although the city council has yet to take up questions of privacy regarding …

Are reparations due to those most impacted by police busts back in the day when marijuana was illegal? Such is the question pending before the Economic Development and Intergovernmental Relations Committee of San Diego's city …

Pay for praise San Diego mayor Kevin Faulconer is gassing up his One San Diego charity operation, thanks to a $5000 contribution on September 27 from New York recycled methane maven and city lessee Mark …

It was January 1975, and San Diego was making big news in the New York Times, as violence from a notorious polygamous cult spilled into the county from Baja California. "A search centered on San …

Non-transparent travel Jamie Hamrick, the fast-traveling senior investment officer of the San Diego City Employees Retirement System, hasn’t been as swift in filing so-called behesting reports revealing to the public who paid for all those …

Add another campaign cash disgorgement to the pile of payouts made since last year’s revelation that private prison giant Geo Group was a donor to San Diego GOP mayor Kevin Faulconer, Assembly Democrat Todd Gloria, …

High school hijinks An October 11 Union-Tribune op-ed by San Diego Unified school board trustee Richard Barrera argues for keeping San Diego High School in Balboa Park, citing voter approval in 2016 of a measure …

Members of the wealthy Jacobs family, heirs to the Qualcomm fortune created by billionaire patriarch Irwin Jacobs, are chipping in big for the 53rd District House race of his granddaughter Sara, fresh filings with the …

Matt Potter has been a staff writer and editor at the Reader since 1989. He reports on politics and local institutions such as the Union-Tribune, UCSD, SDSU, and the City and County of San Diego. …

Blind eye to fentanyl Back in July, U.S. Attorney Robert Brewer proclaimed that San Diego was facing a desperate public safety crisis caused by the proliferation of the synthetic opioid known as fentanyl. “That heroin, …

The traditionally Republican bastion known as the Lincoln Club of San Diego County, which has long denied being partisan, now can boast of a flesh-and-blood independent among the raft of GOP candidates it has boosted …

Sara’s PAC blow-up When 75-year-old Democrat Susan Davis announced she was finally going to give up her seat in Congress, House Armed Services Chairman Adam Smith was quick to dispatch a press release of praise. …

Hueso’s county payday California Senate Democrat Ben Hueso, off and running for the First District county supervisorial seat currently held by termed-out Republican Greg Cox, is tapping controversial out-of-state cash for his bid. Hueso, a …