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The bunkers of Point Loma
In 1943, the Army decided that any threat to US coasts and ports was small. A great many troops were staffing guns all along the Pacific, Atlantic and Gulf coasts. So, it decided to take those artillerists and move them to the field artillery. (While the guns used were different, guns were guns, and those trained people could quickly transition. Many of them ended up overseas before the war ended.) Then at the end of the war, the Army took a long, hard look at the need for coastal artillery and decided that it was obsolete. The conclusion was that aircraft could attack and eliminate invading enemy ships far out to sea, and that guns would not come into play. And so the Coast Artillery branch of the Army was eliminated in the 1940's.— May 30, 2018 9:37 a.m.
City workers cheat and lie for disabled spaces
Several years ago there was a case of a doctor who was enabling a woman to park in handicapped spots for many years. I think that she ended up with thousands of dollars of fines, and the doctor may have been put on probation by the state medical board. It got plenty of play in the U-T, unlike most of these abuses that never get any reporting at all in the rag. I think there are grounds to fire them. But the city government should have fired a large percentage of its workforce over the years, generally for non-performance, and did nothing.— May 29, 2018 2:09 p.m.
Water polluted by tossed bikes
Maybe it is working. Are they really in business to rent bikes, or is it something else? When the bikes are rented, they know much about who is renting them, and where they are riding. One of the other comment makers says they are mining for data about consumer behavior, trip patterns, and all sorts of other things. If they are just renting the bikes and hoping for a profit from that, no, it isn't working. But it could be tweaked to make it profitable. A good place to start would be to charge more for an hour of riding.— May 29, 2018 6:59 a.m.
So how's the beer?
Ian, you say you "honestly looked forward to commending these beers." Really? This is the biggest of the Big Beer purveyors, and some how you thought they would have really decent craft beers? Ya' gotta be kiddin'. The flagship product of Anheuser Busch, Budweiser, is a strange product. They say is it beer, but it tastes like no other beer; it is hard to describe it. Yet, it is still the nation's largest selling "beer." Howcum? The massive advertising campaign, now at least sixty years old, keeps telling everyone how good it is. Spend enough on the big lie, and it takes on a momentum that seems unstoppable. This experiment in trying to imitate the new age of brewing is likely to fail. Even if the place in San Diego succeeds, will it transfer to Peoria? Or Honolulu? Or Seattle? They sell beer with imagery, not taste, not anything genuine. Craft beer is just the opposite; who cares about the slogan, the label, the name? How it goes down is what the drinkers care about. I'm not the slightest bit surprised at your impressions. If anything, I would have expected worse.— May 28, 2018 7:58 p.m.
99 Cent Only gets green light for booze
You are right about the fair trade laws and the fact that almost all alcoholic beverages had fair trade minimum prices in California. There were retailers who fudged the prices for certain favored customers--who generally bought a lot at one time and hauled the stuff home in the trunks of their cars. So, maybe I don't remember Red Mountain for 99 cents a gallon. Even with what a dollar would buy fifty years ago, that seems just too cheap.— May 28, 2018 4:11 p.m.
99 Cent Only gets green light for booze
You bring back memories. Seems there were places, circa-1967, that actually sold gallons of it for a buck, on special. It had to be the cheapest drunk available, regardless. I had friends who nicknamed it "Red Death." They drank it but didn't love it. How did we survive to become senior citizens?— May 27, 2018 7:01 p.m.
Cleaning up at Parks and Rec
All that effort to track down a petty theft? The auditor may have a philosophy that if the small losses are stopped, the big ones will not start. But in the city government, that's an iffy claim.— May 23, 2018 7:37 a.m.
Georgia Street Bridge — now promised for September
So, what's new here? The city promises something, and it takes far longer than it should have, and costs far more. Typical City of SD mismanagement. And you have to note how often the municipality doesn't end up picking up the tab for street improvements and/or repairs. In this case it is providing less than 20% of the total. Why the heck is the federal government, running a huge deficit, picking up the tab for local projects? While the bridge was graceful, I'm not sure its appearance was beautiful. I would call it iconic and interesting.— May 23, 2018 7:35 a.m.
Despite Jack in the Box's hypnotic tacos
You put it so well, JW. So bad they're good--perfect description. I haven't eaten one for two years or more, even though I hit J-I-B once a week or so. But every time I look at that menu board, I do consider them. My native San Diegan wife actually worked for J-I-B many years ago. She now asks for Secret Sauce when she orders a burger, and has some fond memories of how the food tasted 'way back when.— May 22, 2018 5:47 p.m.
One million dollar houses atop San Pasqual Valley
The real fire hazard unknown is when a fire moves fast. Duh! The really bad ones have moved faster than you can run. Cedar Fire, Paradise Fire, Witch Fire and a host of others were creations of abnormal wind conditions. Now that we've seen real firestorms in action, such as in Santa Rosa recently, we know that they can roar through neighborhoods. (It used to seem that the homes lost were at the edge of the developed areas. No longer is it an assumption we can make.) So, yeah, an area like that is in the crosshairs of every little fire that breaks out in the vicinity. BTW, that school district is the San Pasqual Union School District, and is a k-8 district. It is not a "unified" district, because it does not have its own high school.— May 21, 2018 1:39 p.m.