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
San Diego Opera head says all want to save company
I remember an opera cruise advertised on the radio. It's difficult to think of a level of expense account abuse that would put the Board at legal risk for debts as suggested. Management abuse of expense accounts and excessive self awarded pay often leads to attachment of personal assets in bankruptcy, as readers of this column are aware, but directors usually are creditors in such lawsuits.— April 12, 2014 11:52 p.m.
San Diego Opera head says all want to save company
If salaries are making heads explode now, there may be more fireworks when the Campbell's entertainment budget is revealed. The Arts typically raise money through extravagant entertaining, pouring hundred dollar bottles of wine into million dollar donors, is actually reasonable, but itemized can look ridiculous. There might be serious abuses of expense accounts, once again because the books aren't open we can only speculate. Truly wild and unreasonable spending might explain two persisting mysteries, why board members might think they could be sued for opera debt, and why so many still back the Campbells. If some enjoyed extravagant vacations on the Opera credit card, that should have been reserved for heavy spending donors, that's the sort of thing that allow creditors to pierce the corporate veil, and go after management in spite of incorporation. I remember vacations being advertised, but I'm not certain when exactly. Someone who saves Opera programs might have a document. Once again, if the open books show no hanky panky, the Campbells should be bought off in negotiation, they won the poker game, Opera and the City lost, let's move on. So long as the books are closed let's keep asking questions and snooping based on the limited information we have.— April 12, 2014 2 p.m.
San Diego Opera head says all want to save company
I was among the very first to question the dubious reasoning for the shutdown. One reason for that is that the generous buyout terms of Mr. Campbells contract was discussed in an article in the UT years ago. If I knew, who can't afford to go to the opera, board members certainly should have known, when they ponied up millions in donations for their posts on the board. Mr. Campbell has swindled millions fair and square, and getting angry isn't going to help settlement talks that should end this fiasco. If an audit of the books shows no malfeasance, he should paid the terms owed under a parting by mutual agreement. That might be millions, but unavoidable.— April 11, 2014 11 p.m.
Opera: Campbells could get up to $3 million more
We're forced to speculate, but from the start my smell said Ian Campbell wanted out of town in a hurry for an unknown reason, but also wanted all his contract money. Normally an artist or athlete in this situation acts like a jerk until they pay him to leave, but as artist-manager Mr. Campbell couldn't buy himself off. So he concocted the scheme of laying himself off by closing the company, thereby triggering the buyout clause in his contract. This basic outline seems confirmed on every point, in spite of repeated denials, but so much is unknown. Why does Ian Campbell want to leave town so quickly?— April 9, 2014 1:54 p.m.
Opera: Campbells could get up to $3 million more
If I thought it highly likely that someone would be indicted for a crime, I would be more careful in my statements, even opera killers deserve a fair trial. But it's far more likely the perps will leave town with the bags of loot in their hands, so I scream bloody murder, asking that the books be dug up and examined. Even though Mr. Campbell has confessed deception, unless the hidden books contain something nastier than his clever scheme to lay himself off thereby triggering a generous buyout of his contract, he likely will dance out of town laughing. The difference between a leading citizen and a common thief is often four zeros in the amount stolen. Mr. Cohn's statements, that his wife and others might be liable for corporate debts, would be true if they were treating the corporation as personal assets, if proven, creditors could go after officers and board. I've never heard of board members of a charity being sued this way, but the lawyer telling them this presumably has looked at the books.— April 9, 2014 10:21 a.m.
Opera: Campbells could get up to $3 million more
That was art, I loved it. Dada lives!!!— April 9, 2014 8:48 a.m.
Opera: Campbells could get up to $3 million more
When politicians take campaign money, and just spend it on themselves, they get in trouble. Money collected for cancelled campaigns must follow rules to be spent legally. We may know soon what the rules for folded non profits are. Apparently they're complex enough to hire a legal team.— April 8, 2014 6:44 p.m.
Opera: Campbells could get up to $3 million more
Last year the Virginia Opera presented five operas, on three stages, before 60,000+ attendees, for a budget of 6.2 million. Twice the attendance on half the budget of San Diego Opera. When this farce is over, we can expect and demand an Opera that wins fans on a budget.— April 8, 2014 10:43 a.m.
Opera: Campbells could get up to $3 million more
Those ripped off for the most money are generous donors, a group much beloved by politicians of both parties.— April 8, 2014 10:04 a.m.
Opera: Campbells could get up to $3 million more
Singing cowboy originally, reprised that in later movies.— April 8, 2014 9:58 a.m.