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UPDATED Dave Shelly and Chainsaw looking for a new radio home.
Other than the cost of the trio and the three support personnel, this comes across as absurd. If they can command that sort of listener-ship in a lucrative time slot, why not keep them on board until the station is peddled to an unsuspecting buyer? Let the buyer decide about keeping them and their costly contracts. Who knows, the buyer may know radio well and conclude that they are an asset. (This is all spoken as a media buyer from a long time ago.) BTW, I've never heard them--not once. So, I have no emotional involvement in this dust-up.— July 5, 2018 5:20 p.m.
ALDI's sixth San Diego County store
ALDI is doing some things right, but US shoppers will find that it takes some getting used to it. Close to half the store isn't food, but a variety of hard and soft lines that seems to change week to week. Their ads use more space to feature those non-food specials than the food offerings. Yes, some of their prices are far below those at the legacy, unionized supers and the non-union operations, too. It seems to run two or three meat specials every week, but if you don't get there on Wednesday (preferably in the morning) you won't find them. The fine print in the ad says "while supplies last", and they seldom last all week. Don't confuse ALDI with Trader Joe's; they may have common ownership, but that's about all they have in common. Let me alert readers to another food seller that is newly arrived in the county. That's Winco, and anyone who goes there should be pleasantly surprised. Their prices are lower than most, the selection is huge, and the help are helpful. (I bought a half-gallon of their brand of nonfat milk there yesterday for $1.26.) I understand Winco has a second store planned for the county, but I don't remember where specifically. The current one is in San Marcos on San Marcos Blvd, right near the spot where it crosses under 78. Winco and Hobby Lobby split the space vacated by Lowe's a few years ago.— July 5, 2018 9:51 a.m.
Edison, SDG&E, lies, and double dealing
Alex, I wish I could sign on to your confidence in public ownership of the electric grid. But it implies government with the built-in inefficiencies that go with it. The model of regulated private ownership that encourages efficiency with the profit motive makes sense, and does work well in much of the nation. Then there's the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, which isn't something that anyone can hold up as an example. It is the largest of nearby "ratepayer owned" utilities. If you study the history of that operation over the past 30-40 years, you'll see that it is out-of-control, with even a "strong" mayor system in place.— July 4, 2018 8:41 a.m.
Edison, SDG&E, lies, and double dealing
Your point was clear, Don, and I would expand on it. Shouldn't there be some rules/regulations/laws that define the special nature of a public utility? If there were, then when a move like that proposed merger comes along, the board can cite the special nature of the corporation and then apply common sense. The utilities, despite the recent moves to deregulate some of them, have been given a monopoly over a vital resource in their service areas. The rules for businesses that lack any such granted special status should be, and are, different. The role of a board out in the dog-eat-dog private sector is to maximize shareholder value. But, as you point out, if the corporation is a public utility with a government granted lock on a service area, the board is responsible for the stockholders along with the ratepayers, public agencies, local government, and a host of others. SDGE/Sempra had wrestled with those competing demands for decades, and usually come down in favor of the shareholders, regardless of the obvious conflicts with ratepayer fairness.— July 3, 2018 7:56 p.m.
Edison, SDG&E, lies, and double dealing
Charles "Red" Scott was not a paragon of business virtue, but he had it right when he opposed the takeover. That SDG&E board of the time read like a who's who of local power brokers and establishment figures. Yet, if they were public spirited, it wasn't showing up in local utility bills. We had those highest-in-the-nation (or very close to it) electric rates 'way back then, and much earlier too. Nobody ever explained the "why" of that to my satisfaction, especially in the 70's when Edison DID have lower rates and a more reliable system. As for the long-term effects of the turn-down of the merger on local rates, could we be any worse off than we are now? Ans: Yes, no matter how bad things are, they can always be worse. But I don't see that the benefit was anything to brag about, or that there's anything to feel good about. Tom Page was a weak nincompoop, who was not CEO material at all. If you want a caretaker president, a guy like he was fills the bill. But he sure folded when Edison growled, and I was at his first "coming out" appearance after the merger proposal. His talk was sickening and groveling.— July 3, 2018 4:10 p.m.
When San Diego fat cats run out of cash
It's not a new practice. Other forums for comments have been plagued with them for a long time. The Reader needs to be on the lookout for them, and when they pop up, delete them. They are stupid, annoying spam. But they must get a few recruits, and so they show up. Note that those we have been seeing here recently came in via Facebook.— July 3, 2018 2:09 p.m.
When San Diego fat cats run out of cash
Not that it is any big deal, but I recall that "mother's milk" quote coming from Dan Rostenkowski, Illinois congressman, back in the 80's. It's likely that both used it, and others too.— July 3, 2018 7:04 a.m.
The missing wallet
Unfortunately the victim was "felony dumb", keeping his wallet in the center console of the truck. There's about only one thing that is worse, and that is keeping the car keys (or a spare key) in the car. And locking the doors, always a good idea, doesn't mean the vehicle is truly secure, as was the case here.— July 2, 2018 9:12 a.m.
Woman claims assault on Fallbrook street
Making the punishment fit the crime? Nevahappen!— July 1, 2018 5:32 p.m.
Woman claims assault on Fallbrook street
Now that the judge has allowed the felony charge to stand, they'll likely cop a plea to a misdemeanor, and he'll get 30 days in the county slammer.— July 1, 2018 10:45 a.m.