Summer with Susan Davis Democratic House member Susan Davis, accustomed to partaking of free travel to exotic world locations courtesy of the Aspen Institute, stuck closer to home for her most recent all-expense-paid junket, two …

What's a termed-out city councilwoman - or at least one whose reelection eligibility is being challenged in court - to do? In the case of Second District Republican Lorie Zapf, she sets up a legal …

U-T’s bitter medicine San Diego’s Union-Tribune, beset by plunging circulation and falling advertising, is filling its pages with display ads from a controversial new sponsor closely tied to billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong, who acquired the struggling …

When it comes to new San Diego city hires, filling the high-profile job of chief of police is always most contentious, with supporters and detractors emerging from the municipal woodwork to expound their opinions of …

A newly-arrived principal in a homeless consulting outfit run by the spouse of state Senate leader Toni Atkins has been told by a San Diego ethics official that work for the firm on city contracts …

Bums away Kept under wraps at city hall are punishments meted out to miscreant employees caught by complaints to the city auditor’s hotline. “An allegation regarding a City employee parking at a restaurant for extensive …

It's been a busy few months for veterans of the tumultuous San Diego Union-Tribune newsroom, which has now seen two former managing editors move into influential positions at two of America's most famous, if deeply …

Critics who have suspected San Diego city hall of being in cahoots with electric scooter interests may raise their eyebrows at an email response by mayoral staffer Almis Udrys regarding a California bill allowing scooter …

Murder at the Meridian? Downtown’s Meridian condo tower on Front Street is getting some help from San Diego cops in covering up the details of a mysterious death at the building, fueling growing speculation that …

Following disclosures here regarding cash from private prisons making its way into campaigns of both local Democrats and Republicans — and San Diego GOP mayor Kevin Faulconer's convention center tax hike bid — California Democrats …

With its main newspaper in the hands of a Los Angeles billionaire and its TV stations mostly acquired by national mega-corporations — the latest KFMB, the venerable local broadcaster taken over by Virginia-based Tegna last …

Norm’s staff omissions Seventy-five-year-old ex-Time Magazine honcho Norm Pearlstine, who took charge of the Los Angeles Times when it was finally purchased by billionaire physician Patrick Soon-Shiong last month, has handed the San Diego Union-Tribune, …

A deputy commanding general of the First Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton – an ex-Marine Corps Inspector General - has been called out for breaking ethics rules by using a female officer aide to …

The convention center expansion tax hike initiative backed by Kevin Faulconer has gotten some last-minute cash from an Airbnb-funded political committee, weeks after the San Francisco-based short-term rental outfit pronounced its satisfaction with the mayor's …

County’s nepotism An investigation by San Diego County’s Chief of Audits Juan Perez has found that certain unnamed key employees have failed to disclose their financial holdings, as required by state conflict of interest law. …

The late Democratic boss and Assembly Speaker Jesse "Big Daddy" Unruh got credit for the aphorism "Money is the mother's milk of politics" back in the 1970s, but its truth has never been more painful …

Pete Wilson grins at a homeless man sprawled near Horton Plaza mall, the downtown shopping center he muscled through city hall in the late 1970s. Wilson’s eyes never blink; the coattails of his tailored suit …

Soon-Shiong’s Chargers suite Now that Los Angeles billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong has finally secured control of the Los Angeles Times and San Diego Union-Tribune from the Chicago newspaper chain tronc (which is said to be about …

County auditors had to do some detective work in the District Attorney's office to find a range of missing county property after they were called in to conduct a changing-of-the-guard review triggered by the departure …

On June 17, after the announcement that billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong had closed a $580 million deal to take over the Los Angeles Times and San Diego Union-Tribune, USC journalism professor and former Wall Street Journal …

Big contributions, bar none GEO group, the controversial private prison outfit from Boca Raton, Florida that operates a downtown lockup called the Western Region Detention Facility for the United States Marshal’s Service and the Midway …

CoreCivic, the private prison-owning giant out of Nashville, Tennessee that runs the Otay Mesa Detention Center for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, has been drawing heat as a result of president Donald Trump's immigration crackdown, but …

While a granddaughter of a La Jolla billionaire Democrat spent a chunk of her sizable inheritance coming in third in the North County open primary to replace departing Republican Congressman Darrell Issa, a fund with …

Big Oil and gas A group of well-heeled oil companies from Texas had a mixed record of success in last week’s California primaries after spending nearly $400,000 in the Golden State on campaign hits against …

Trump lobby San Diego County’s Board of Supervisors, which voted in April to back president Donald Trump’s legal war against California sanctuary laws, is seeking to acquire more muscle for its battle to boost federal …

The newspaper dreams of Rancho Santa Fe's colorful John Lynch, one-time vice-chairman and CEO of the Union-Tribune under Republican kingpin Douglas Manchester, appear to have been shattered by the latest development in the tortured saga …

As a bitterly fought primary campaign for county supervisor finally grinds to an end, a pair of high-ranking San Diego legislative Democrats have been loading up on last-minute campaign cash from two of America’s mightiest …

The day before San Diego city councilmembers Chris Ward and Barbara Bry rolled out a sure-to-be-controversial proposal to ban so-called expanded polystyrene food and beverage containers in the city, an American plastics heavyweight weighed in …

Doing fundraising time State Senate Democrat Ben Hueso, running for reelection in next month’s primary against retired Republican Superior Court Judge Luis Vargas, is seen as the likely winner in the majority Democratic 40th district, …

Hot on the tail of San Diego's meter-reading scandal comes word that at least two city Public Utilities Department workers have illegally used Disabled Person Placards to park in handicapped spaces, and similar abuse may …

With San Diego's nastiest race of primary season 2018 hitting new lows almost daily, a political committee funded by Sacramento's oil lobby checked into the contest with $35,000 on May 18 to help pay for …

Gassed-up recall San Diego’s Toni Atkins, leader of the state senate, has been digging deep into one of her campaign kitties in a rough-and-tumble effort to save the seat of fellow senate Democrat Josh Newman …

San Diego city auditor Eduardo Luna has gotten to the bottom of a case involving some long-missing cleaning supplies and water theft: the custodian did it. "Our Office received an allegation that a Parks and …

The public persona of Nathan Fletcher, Republican-turned-Independent running for county supervisor as a Democrat, is embodied in the photo atop his Facebook page as a portrait of a happily blended family: he and second wife, …

Whether settling past scores or anticipating future favorable votes from the county board of supervisors, a host of well-heeled special interests funded from outside county borders are pouring big money into the race to replace …

Job of Voice The Voice of San Diego news and opinion website is seeking “an investigative reporter to dig into issues of education quality, inequity, youth issues and related criminal justice storylines.” Adds the online …

So far short of sufficient cash to pay the seven-figure price of the average San Diego initiative drive, the group seeking to raise the city's hotel tax to fund a convention center expansion and accompanying …

SDSU’s costly Confucius Officials at San Diego State University have had to address negative findings made by state university system auditors about cost overruns plaguing campus construction projects. “We found that although one of the …

It helps to have a political spouse with clout, and plenty of special interest money. So, it appears with the political pairing of one-time Republican Assemblyman, now Democrat, Nathan Fletcher and his wife, current 80th …

Britain's Cambridge Analytical is shutting down in the wake of its Facebook privacy scandal and German justice minister Katarina Barley is calling for the social media site to crack down on personal data abuse. But …

As next month’s primary election grows near, it’s open season for political advertising at San Diego television stations. Early off the blocks has been Sheriff Bill Gore with a $9100 purchase of 47 spots from …

Following news earlier this month that Cox Communications has filed to lobby against the issue of so-called network neutrality, its cable competitor AT&T has joined the cause, disclosing in an April 19 statement that it …

Word on the street has it that the current effort by labor unions and downtown hotels to qualify a tourist tax measure for the November ballot has hit a funding wall, with a paltry $630,531 …

How safe is it for students and faculty in the laboratories of San Diego State University? Not enough, concludes an April 24 report by California state auditor Elaine Howle blasting the school and three other …

San Diego City Auditor Eduardo Luna is out with a report slamming city officials for inadequately vetting the backgrounds of the city’s youth sports league referees. “In general, there are Citywide procedures to require individuals …

Taxpayer-funded San Diego State University, locked in battle with privately-run SoccerCity over who will get to develop the choice city-owned parcel once known as Qualcomm Stadium, has rolled out a glossy mail piece touting its …

San Diego cash arena As word percolates that AEG Management, the Los Angeles-based operator of San Diego’s city-owned Valley View Casino Center (formerly known as the San Diego Sports Arena), is lobbying for a lucrative …

Is the ailing San Diego Union-Tribune fated to return to something akin to its days under the lash of La Jolla-based mega-millionaire and Donald Trump donor and ambassadorial nominee Douglas Manchester? Nearly three months ago, …

Downtown's Horton Plaza shopping mall, which used millions of tax dollars to level acres of historic buildings in the late 1970s, has itself been hollowing out of late. Multiple levels of vacant storefronts bear grim …

Caremark RX, the Rhode Island-based pharmacy benefit management subsidiary of drugstore giant CVS, kicked in a total of $6300 on April 4 to the 2020 re-election fund of Democratic California Senate leader Toni Atkins, disclosure …