Too Short’s Bash cut What used to be known as the Back to Session Bash changed its name to simply Bash this year, but the extravagant blowout, funded by special interests, still draws a big …

Yet another radical change may soon be in sight for one of San Diego's biggest news sources, depending on the outcome of a titanic battle in Washington, D.C. between a controversial hedge fund owner and …

It may be the dog days of summer, but San Diego's pro-Republican Lincoln Club is casting a wide net for cash with which to knock off an effort by Tiffany Boyd-Hodgson to unseat Fifth District …

Toni Atkins plays the NFL A political committee run by state Senate Democrat Toni Atkins has been spending lavishly on what is named by its semi-annual state disclosure report as fundraising. The fund, formerly known …

Fat cats’ voting scheme Proponents of an “instant runoff” voting scheme that once appeared destined for San Diego’s November ballot ultimately failed to convince the city council of its merits — despite the influence of …

When the flow of lease revenue once used by the city to maintain Mission Bay and its environs dried up during the Covid 19 pandemic, the cash wasn't replaced, leaving the one-time municipal jewel vulnerable …

Weeklies masquerading as dailies When is a daily newspaper no longer a true daily? That’s the too-close-to-home question that’s been raised by the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University in Chicago. “Across the country, …

Whatever Ernie wants "I call it economic feudalism,” she says. Mondot contends that the successful redevelopment of the western portion of downtown, with Hahn’s Horton Plaza shopping mall as its crown jewel, was accomplished at …

Three days after a dispatch here Monday about the long-delayed naming of a permanent Chief Operating Officer by Mayor Todd Gloria, the San Diego Democrat has finally revealed his pick to run the city. The …

Does San Diego scromit? London’s tabloid The Daily Mail, which spends considerable time and ink on Britain’s royals, has a new target: San Diego pot users. “How California’s legal cannabis dream became a public health …

Last week's San Diego city council vote to hand out $15,000 hiring bonuses to cops poached from other government agencies is just the latest public money-throwing action of a costly panic over diminishing police ranks. …

San Diego Unified’s wall of stone The San Diego Unified School District’s board of trustees has been playing fast and loose with Covid-19 testing money handed out by the federal government. But despite its best …

Olaf Wieghorst trusted the wrong man Almeida got his start at George Thackeray’s gallery in the late ’50s. He and his wife Grace agreed to talk to me at their house in Ocean Beach, a …

An ex-coordinator of the San Diego County Office of Education's Pre School for All program is set to pony up a $5000 conflict-of-interest fine to the state's Fair Political Practices Commission, but one witness argues …

Late mail call As Christmas approached last fall, an upbeat account of mail handling at the U.S. Postal Service’s huge Margaret L. Sellers Processing and Distribution Center on Rancho Carmel Drive appeared on TV station …

Sometimes Child Protective Services works “When I got back to Stepping Stones from Vista Hill, I decided, ‘Okay, this is it.’ All the people there were the only friends I had. I got in drug …

Todd Gloria’s $350K public culture vulture Seeking to culture up his political future, San Diego mayor Todd Gloria is out looking for a “qualified consultant or team of consultants” to run a “comprehensive cultural planning …

ICE’s absconders Immigration and Customs Enforcement is spending $2.2 billion on a contract to make sure undocumented migrants waiting for immigration court don’t “abscond” before their legal fate is decided. But flight risk is growing, …

Digital World Acquisition Corp, a company with deep San Diego ties seeking to merge with Trump Media & Technology Group Corp in a deal valued at $1.3 billion, has disclosed in a regulatory filing that …

Why the mother of Balboa Park is the mother of us all Sure, there’s a school and park named after her, and careless admirers credit her, rightly or not, with planting any large tree growing …

Getting audit done Facing a possible torrent of negative ink over a pending audit of the city’s so-called Get It Done app, the administration of Mayor Todd Gloria has turned to the Union-Tribune to paint …

Another somber bit of news for locals hoping to see the San Diego Union-Tribune remain independent of its northern big sister, the Los Angeles Times, has come via the departure of U-T digital creative director …

After months of gossip predicting an impending shutdown, the Union-Tribune ran a house advertisement on Sunday, January 19 with a bombshell: on July 4, the U-T will skip the first print edition of its 153 …

Billionaires served One of San Diego’s most politically influential couples has had a notable run of late, thanks to a campaign contribution of nearly $100,000 from billionaire Qualcomm co-founder Irwin Jacobs and his wife Joan, …

Can a Ventura County supervisor legally use campaign money to sue a San Diego company called Dick at Your Door to force it to identify the sender of a chocolate penis during a nasty recall …

CSU San Marcos’ wayward sabbaticals California State University San Marcos has allowed its professors to take off on inadequately reviewed sabbaticals, says a March 18 audit report from California State University vice chancellor and chief …

Is an eye-popping scoop by the Los Angeles Times regarding allegations of gang rape involving five unnamed San Diego State University football players another sign that San Diego's hometown Union-Tribune is on the ropes? Labeled …

Lincoln Club’s Little Nikita money man Some of the big money players during this year’s political season have yet to play their hands, as evidenced by a committee calling itself The Community Leadership Coalition, sponsored …

Who is behind a political committee aiming to throw second place in San Diego's city council District 2 election to a Republican? The Union-Tribune isn't saying, or somehow missed the information posted on the campaign …

Deputies under cover The GOP-dominated Lincoln Club is, as always, among the big spenders this campaign season, with $16,242 spent May 16 on a mail piece on behalf of Sheriff’s office hopeful Kelly Martinez, and …

When giant Sempra Energy, which maintains one of Sacramento's biggest influence peddling operations, quietly funds a campaign group mailing out anti-lobbyist hit pieces, it must be political season. At the center of the latest political …

Editorial sex talk A Pulitzer Prize to the Union-Tribune recognizing the newspaper’s long string of exposes regarding ex-Sheriff Bill Gore’s jail deaths debacle wasn’t to be. But a controversial former editorial chief at The Evening …

Landlords’ April 26 giving spree As post-pandemic controversy over eviction law still swirls in Sacramento, a political fund benefiting San Diego Democrat Toni Atkins, the state Senate’s Pro Tem, received a hefty contribution of $50,000 …

Will an abrupt cool-down of L.A.'s red hot studio-building boom save the print version of the San Diego Union-Tribune from premature demise? Such are the peculiarities of the once-staid newspaper business in the online age. …

Border mortalities stable but rescues up Droves of undocumented immigrants may be dying as they try to make their way north in the deserts and mountains east of San Diego. But, per a team of …

Gay pride, marathon experience better for Balboa Park? After getting by as a car-confined, drive-by-only event for the past two years, Balboa Park’s traditional December Nights celebration is anticipating a full-scale reopening in 2022. But …

Juan’s easy path to power After years of coasting through easy re-election battles, House Democrat Juan Vargas — running in California’s newly redrawn 52nd District and facing a challenger from his party’s left — is …

The Navy is keeping sloppy track of its errant shipbuilding and repair contractors – including San Diego's National Steel and Shipbuilding subsidiary of General Dynamics – causing massive cost overruns and chronically crippled vessels, says …

Anti-cop ice cream What’s for dessert? San Diego politics, judging by a March 30 $1800 contribution by ice cream kingpin Ben Cohen of Williston, Vermont, co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s. The out-of-town cash went to …

Vegas lawyer and a super gift giver SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment, currently welshing on paying $10 million in back rent to the city, last year came up with a free ticket worth $80 for Ninth …

With much of San Diego media quiet on the costly Democrat-on-Democrat battle to fill the Assembly seat of departed Democrat Lorena Gonzalez we noted here last week, the Sacramento-based CalMatters online nonprofit is filling the …

How San Diego lost its pueblo land Five years after the two lone bidders won the La Jolla Shores acreage, General Atomic was able to pick up similarly desirable property on Torrey Pines Mesa for …

Russia's invasion of Ukraine, ongoing battles with homelessness, last year's January 6 Capitol Hill riot, and a host of festering budget issues confront the United States Congress. Perhaps it's no wonder first-term House Democrat Sara …

Dem-on-Dem race gets expensive Serious special interest money continues to pour into the Democrat-on-Democrat 80th District special election race to replace resigned Assembly Democrat Lorena Gonzalez on April 5. Georgette Gomez, an ex-member of the …

Toni’s kidney cash With another bitter initiative battle over the regulation of kidney dialysis coming up soon, the so-called ballot measure committee of state Senate Democratic honcho Toni Atkins picked up a hefty $62,000 from …

It’s March, the long-traditional time for an annual accounting of the previous year’s gift receipts by California legislators. Assembly Republican Marie Waldron of Escondido indulged her passion for golf courtesy of the Association of California …

Pradeep’s new palace Will UCSD Chancellor Pradeep Khosla have better luck the second time around building his botched behemoth Triton Pavilion, a pricey new office and alumni complex with posh space for university executives that …

Growing, growing, gone (part of 1977 in review) Hahn's December announcement that Buffums and Montgomery Ward were interested in the downtown shopping center seemed, in the minds of many, to be closely linked to Hahn’s …

Special election shuffle Fundraising in the April 5 special election battle to replace Democrat Lorena Gonzalez, who earlier this year quit her seat in the state Assembly, is underway, with ex-city councilman and mayoral candidate …

A newly released audit report blasts a now-retired warden of San Ysidro's Donovan state prison and higher-ups at the California Department of Corrections for abusing disabled inmates and then stalling an investigation of alleged misdeeds. …