Sexta and violence The article (“Tijuana desensitized to violence”, Neighborhood News, December 4) stated there were more than 2176 murders in Tijuana. From when to when? I assume from the start of the year until …

How much is that bobcat in the window? “And if these animals are so happy and so tame, then why are they kept in cages?" asks Martha Hall, who runs a wildlife rescue center in …

Rescue mission After supper we lined up by bed number and were marched upstairs where we stripped, stepped under a scalding hot shower for a few seconds, and climbed into our nightgowns. I got a …

Tearing down the house I enjoyed reading Elizabeth Salaam’s article in City Lights, “Homeless invade, pollute, ignite Fox Canyon” (City Lights, December 5) and do not dispute it whatsoever. It is the job of an …

Heck on wheels Of the large registered bikes, an unspecified number belong to “outlaw" clubs, the local variants of which include the Hell’s Angels, the Mongols, the Axemen, and the semi-outlaw Nuggets. There are also …

Thorn in the mayor's side When Hubbard and Wilson squared off in the 1974 mayoral campaign. Hubbard's big donors were land developers. construction engineers, realtors, building material suppliers, and builders: Wilson's contributors were primarily business …

Corky’s Frankenstein As they go off into the sunset with their $71M, Scott McMillin (son of Corky) remains behind to develop the Liberty Station Arts District’s last four undeveloped barracks into a boutique hotel! (“Liberty …

Sales of a death man “You bet it’s an emotional decision. I wouldn't want to argue that for a minute. But you tell me how much emotion you’re going to feel when you see the …

Just grin and hit the buzzer The group of twenty-nine had been narrowed down to eighteen, she said, and she thought the chances of our all getting on were now excellent. We had to do …

Welcome to south L.A Dense, crowded, gridlock, haphazard - all these things describe how Los Angeles has chosen to develop their city. This is the result of decades of a spoils system style of development …

One woman, one man, no baby I was in Los Angeles when Kelly called. My decision was made: I wanted the abortion. However, I wouldn’t tell her what to do, not because I’m benevolent, but …

Revenge We both worked for a now-defunct trucking company that was based in San Diego. He was definitely a strange bird. He talked in CB lingo when he was talking to people in person and …

Painfully uneventful One of my favorite mid-week pick-me-ups is walking to our local La Jolla coffee shop, picking up a hot-off-the-press Reader, and sitting by the sea while perusing the events section. Imagining all the …

Baja's tough-love drug rehab I’ve heard there are Americans down here kicking drugs the tough Mexican way, because the more coddling, more expensive American clinics didn’t work. As soon as you got out, you went …

40 percent of U.S. avocados come from San Diego Alternate bearing is particularly pronounced in the Fuerte variety, and for this reason North County growers are increasingly planting the Hass. The Hass is a relatively …

What is Faulconer doing? I love San Diego. Your perfect weather, friendly people and exceptional natural amenities are forcing me to consider keeping a vacation home in SD County. Nevertheless, Mr. Faulconer’s feckless policing policies …

La Jolla's Bohemian rhapsody Isn’t that a little-known Renoir sitting there coyly in a comer all by itself? An unfamiliar one to be sure. but. well, there is the poppy field, and there is the …

The Cinderella story of Maureen O'Connor Maureen’s twin, Mavoumeen, reacted to the idea dubiously. ‘‘Oh God, Maureen,” she told her sister. ‘‘We don’t know anything about government.” Yet Mavoumeen promised to think about it and …

Father of Fitness It is possible one or two other “lone nuts” might also have been jogging somewhere in the county back then. But he knew of none, and the common wisdom in 1948, he …

Stick-up on Clairemont Mesa Boulevard Fear rolled in and swept away his jumble of thoughts. Derek forced calm upon himself. “He’s not going to hurt us if we cooperate. He only wants the money. He’ll …

Reverend Moon Wants You The van was ready to leave at exactly eleven o’clock. This time, the load was considerably smaller — just myself, two drivers, several cases of vegetables and other foodstuffs, and a …

Don’t turn back the clock I am writing to oppose Prop 7, the proposition that Daylight Saving Time (DST) be abandoned for the state of California (“Daylight Saving Time: Deal with it,” Ask a Hipster, …

The Marstons of San Diego In early 1974 he went to the city council and told them that he and his aunt, Mary Marston, would put up $10,000 to cover the cost of having an …

Gas tax invasion In connection with gas tax initiatives on ballots (“GOP gov. candidate Cox was major donor of gas tax repeal,” News Ticker, July 13), who recalls the time when California had a multi-billion …

Raoul Marquis – mayor of India Street Marquis was into the “penicillin culture’’ of theater, in which theater thrives on itself and expands; the more it is produced, the more it will be produced. And …

Squandered taxes Why am I supporting Proposition 6, the gas tax Repeal initiative (“GOP gov. candidate Cox was major donor of gas tax repeal,” News Ticker, July 13)? It galls me that the state government …

The blood upon his hands In May of 1979, while he was a teaching assistant at UCSD’s drama department, he won the role of Agamemnon in Orestes! Orestes!, an adaptation of the ancient Greek tragedy. …

Men's summer swimsuit issue "I feel really good in a swimsuit. I could look better. I used to look a little better, more in shape. But then, you know, kids, job, the passage of time. …

Farewell to Don Bauder Best wishes for health & happiness in retirement(“Farewell to a professional love,” News Ticker, September 17). I have enjoyed your columns ever since you arrived in San Diego. You always ‘called …

A bump on the head could kill Chris O'Rourke One in three persons survives Hodgkin's disease, but O'Rourke's chances appear not to be that good, because his case was discovered in its advanced stages. he's …

The unbearable rightness of being Roger Hedgecock I could try it on as a character study, say; a little third-person warmup, workout; a final stretching exercise before switching (forever) to fiction. The heart of darkness …

Diss not Donald Trump Just reading the review of the blackkklansman (“BlacKkKlansman,” Movie Reviews). Real classy. Why do you have to diss the president? I think he’s doing a pretty good job. So sad. Mike …

Soil, water, light, and money “If you grow chrysanthemums in your garden, they’ll always bloom in the fall,” he explains. “Here we artificially manipulate them to make them bloom according to our schedule. Our biggest …

Members of the Keyboard Nash and I and some 3000 other people subscribe ($8 per month, $3 per hour) to The WELL, a four-year-old computer conferencing system. Such a system permits an individual to sit …

Fuchida’s journey I first met Stu Hedley (“Grenades, rockets, bombs, machine gun fire in San Diegans’ ears,” Cover Story, August 29). some time in the early 2000s on/around Pearl Harbor Day when my wife and …

There's trouble down the runway “For the runways alone you need a hunk of flat ground two miles long and half a mile wide. It should have enough acreage to accommodate terminal and parking, and …

You are looking at a free man “The sea boundary of the Soviet Union in the Far East was known to me. I knew that . . . Japan is far, and North Korea extradites …

Builders’ fire sale Its all about money and property taxes!( “San Diego builds itself into danger”, Neighborhood News, August 24) To continue to build after half of the state of California has burned, do we …

The long arm of ABSCAM reaches San Diego At 5:15 the morning after his return to San Diego, the phone rang in Gulve’s home. At the other end of the line the emir’s familiar voice …

Gimme shelter: all this for a cot and a meal Someone wrapped a newspaper around one ceiling light fixture to dim the glare. I took a top bunk. Removed my hat and sneakers, otherwise stretched …

One member would later be mocked on Mystery Science Theater 3000

The short career of Gary Puckett and the Union Gap It was the following spring that Puckett and his band reached the pinnacle. “Young Girl,” written by Jerry Fuller, was released in February of 1968 …

P.S., your car is gone “Our guy finds [another] wrecked Datsun 4X4 in a junkyard, changes over all the numbers from it to the one he found in the canyon. But when he took it …

Reality gap? When Mr. Joe Deegan approached one of the parents about doing a write-up (“Power Surge San Diego’s impressive girls,” City Lights, August 8) on this team it was with the understanding that it …

Watches and rings and people and things Pawning, generally, is something other than a lopsided contest between loansharks and the destitute. Most of Smith’s customers, he says ninety percent of them, come back to redeem …

Del Mar's horse vet Jack Jocoy has seen it all With that big break — caring for a Derby winner — Jocoy’s career began to soar, other trainers reasoning that if Jocoy took care of …

An author speaks over the noise In response to the letters regarding my story “Airport Noise - From La Mesa to La Jolla” (Cover Stories, August 1): The FAA and San Diego have the ability …

Not with a flood but with a trickle The city’s per capita consumption of 192 gallons a day in fiscal 1981 is well above the national average of 170. Every day 17 million gallons of …

Free to move about in noise While I sympathize with residents who have been frustrated dealing with the FAA on this issue, (“Airport Noise - from La Mesa to La Jolla,” Cover Stories, August 1) …

Aboard the Blueback "Our people need to know what the bad guys are going to sound like — if they ever become bad guys .... Excuse me,” Fargo says suddenly. “Chief, do you smell smoke?” …