Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed
Big Screen — Movie commentary
Blurt — Music's inside track
Booze News — San Diego spirits
Classical Music — Immortal beauty
Classifieds — Free and easy
Cover Stories — Front-page features
Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes
Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts
Feast! — Food & drink reviews
Feature Stories — Local news & stories
Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore
From the Archives — Spotlight on the past
Golden Dreams — Talk of the town
The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it
Letters — Our inbox
Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites
Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans
Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists
Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news
News Ticker — News & politics
Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated
Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna
Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated
Poetry — The old and the new
Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers
Reading — The hunt for intellectuals
Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails
San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds
SD on the QT — Almost factual news
Sheep and Goats — Places of worship
Special Issues — The best of
Street Style — San Diego streets have style
Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves
Theater — On stage in San Diego this week
Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative
Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work
Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego
Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads
Your Week — Daily event picks
City's pension liability zooms up by $937 million
Don and Don, See what happens when don't listen to Aguirre.— December 22, 2016 4:35 p.m.
Smaller One Paseo project heads toward approval
Astroturfing is easier when the Chairman of the Carmel ValleynPlanning Board and the President of the City Council fail to ask speakers if they are on Kilroy's payroll. The same woman spoke repeatedly during a five-year period on behalf of One Paseo - even while she had a big website where she advertised her services on behalf of developers to create fake grassroots astroturfing and campaigns of writing letters to the editors of local newspapers in favor developers throughout Western States. This is unfair competition. It is illegal. Find out who "speakers" are. Request hearing officers to inquire about financial ties to the developer. A bona fide resident is not getting paid to speak. That's astroturfing. The "revolving door" tactics of hiring the former head of the Development Services Department was also used by Kilroy when they hired Marcella Escobar Ecke as their chief lobbyist. A local war chest to effectively oppose developers would include costs for a website, environmental lawyers, a traffic engineer, and a media consultant. These costs would amount to at least one-half million dollars, not invluding gathering 63,000 signatures, going to trial, appeals, etc. These costs could amount to one and one-half million dollars or more. If all 60,000 people in the area contributed $20 a piece, this could be done. I think one person actually contributed $20. Her same $20 bill was returned to her. The owners of the Del Mar Highlands Centre paid undisclosed amounts to reduce retail competition. The cheap-skate residents paid zero. A few dedicated residents fought back for more like six years without any pay or favors whatsoever. Some of these were professionals. They reduced the traffic of the project significantly. Same number of condo and some retail and business and commercial will be approved, but will less retail that brings in traffic from all over the county. When the developers come to your neighborhood, get a legal defense fund going. Hire a good environmental lawfirm. Put up a website. The metric now is vehicle miles traveled, not additional daily automobile trips. If your neighborhood has convenient access to an established system of public transportation, you are looking at Smart Growth and Transit-oriented Development ("TOD") policies that encourage density along established transit corridors. Parking is to be restricted to force use of bikes, pedestrian and public transit modes to reduce greenhouse emissions. These policies have already become law in Sacramento. One Paseo grandfathered in under widening streets and paying into a fund. If you live in an area where you have even bus service, get ready for high-rise, little parking, dense development, and a change in the character of your neighborhood. Be prepared to walk, bike, or use public transportation. That is the law. You must educate yourselves as to the new policies for Smart Growth and TOD.— June 15, 2016 1:14 p.m.
Utilities commission omission
The judge will examine emails in camera. Aguirre and Severson also want emails that went to the Governor's office - at least from what I remember reading in the UT.— January 26, 2016 7:26 p.m.
SDG&E attempts brazen caper #2
Aguirre is acting as a "private Attorney General." That means that he looks after the interests of the people of California as a private citizen and attorney by setting important legal precedents and addressing fraud. Setting aside the SONGS settlement is an example. The courts will award Aguirre his fees and costs in the SONGS case if he wins on appeal and the matter is remanded to the Federal District Court and he wins at trial. Setting important legal precedents permits an award of fees and costs. The PUC awards fees and costs to intervenors if the intervenor and his attorney "make a contribution." Unfortunately, the PUC itself decides if a contribution has been made. The PUC is a hard nut to crack. Aguirre has tired to get the federal court to prevent an unconstitutional taking by private utlitities without due process or just compensation. This protection is found in the 5th Amendment to the US constitution in the SONGS settlement. Governor Brown is pro-utility. The legislature does not have jurisdiction over the pending PUC matters. Courts have no general power of review either. This is a similar situation to commissions in Texas whose job it is to oversee oil drilling. The commissioners become little kings. Some federal courts have intervened under the taking without due process or just compensation when state commissions saddle ratepayers with the costs of private utility screw-ups and grant rate raises arbitrarily. If the Democrats lack the political will to clean up this mess, you can bet that the Republicans never will. Democrats receive huge campaign contributions and can find nice jobs on the boards of directors of large energy companies or as lobbyists upon leaving office. Meanwhile, damages incurred by private utilities due to lack of prudence or safety violations will be foisted on ratepayers to protect investors (shareholders). Legislative efforts to reform the PUC are being blocked by lobbyists. Only the federal courts can change this. An initiative placing reform of the state general ballot should be attempted by consumer groups. Millions of signatures would be needed and lots of television time. This is an unlikely scenario.— September 26, 2015 7:16 a.m.
Doctor enjoyed 'shrooms and ecstasy
Physicians are given a choice of recovery programs/therapies.— September 5, 2015 2:37 p.m.
CPUC chief decries lawmaker's deadline for release of emails regarding San Onofre deal
We need transparency to achieve some measure of public safety. These energy cartels cannot police themselves with their incestuous relationships with the CPUC. No excuses.— August 10, 2015 7:48 a.m.
Fraud suit filed against Edison
Don Bauder, That is right! Exactly. But they can't cover every base. The other shoe fell. You have to admire Aguirre & Severson, Lutz and Langely and all the activists. This will help reform the CPUC. When Gavin Newsome is Governor, I can reason with him, hopefully. Governor Brown - you know the story about his relationship with Peevey and the utility companies. He failed to intervene. We tried him back in 2013. No use. You have written about the recent failure of the legislature to reform the CPUC. Maybe an initiative on the ballot is needed. Democrats receive political contributions from these private utilities. When they leave office, there is a nice job sitting on the Board of Directors over at Sempra waiting. Just like Republicans. The lobbyists claimed that there has never been judicial review of the CPUC. So what? That's why they can get away with all this. Time to change all that. Thanks for covering this issue, Don.— August 7, 2015 9:54 p.m.
Fraud suit filed against Edison
Root cause of reactor failure is going to be subject to discovery, especially where fraud is concerned. What did you know and when did you know that? When did you first know that the design of the replacement steam generators tubes would not work? Did you inform the shareholders? Was this problem discussed in the annual report?— August 7, 2015 4:28 p.m.
Fraud suit filed against Edison
I saw the shareholder action coming two-and-one half years ago but the information has been effectively withheld. So long as the settlement was favorable, these was no damage to stock prices. The settlement would further the cover up and shift losses to the ratepayers and to Mitsubishi. Edison tried to sprinkle money around in political donations and "worthy" charities. Edison worked with the PUC. But rhe bad news keeps coming for Edison. Now the shareholders are damaged, not just ratepayers and Mitsubishi. Security laws were probably violated by false statements in connection with the purchase and sale of a security. I still want to see all the certifications by engineers in connection with operating those reactors. Those are sworn statements, too. Aguirre told Peevey that there would probably have been indictments if he were still a Deputy Assistant US Attorney. There will now be more discovery about the ROOT CAUSE. Edison has to learn not to mess with San Diego attorneys. Just when they thought that they were getting away with it.... As soon as those replacement steam generator tubes started to shatter, a loss of coolant event was possible. The reactors were doomed. When we see the data being withheld, the nature and magnitude of the risks that were taken will be revealed to the public. Edison was "experimenting" with a new design of the replacement steam generators, according to the expert reports I've seen..— August 7, 2015 3:36 p.m.
Judge spanks Edison for unreported meetings
The Randolph Declaration is a game-changer, says Aguirre. Today's Union Tribune article explains.— August 7, 2015 9:02 a.m.