Night Caldo in Chula Vista
Ed discovers a primo birrieria, and he hasn't even crossed the border
We're in the Deep South of Chula Vista, near Palomar. Just walked the dusty sidewalk-free sidewalk of Industrial Boulevard, looking for La Taquiza, cute little place I'd spotted from the trolley, but whack! Closed. Guy in Lucy's Liquor Store next …
Tonga Ross-Ma'u Trio + 1
Nice opportunity to catch some rising stars.
One of the coolest things about Chuck Perrin and Dizzy's, is the opportunity he provides San Diego's next wave of improvisers to showcase their abilities. Tonga Ross-Ma'u is an emerging talent who capitalized on that exposure on Sept. 12, fronting …
Trailer Park: Rocky Stallone vs. Jake DeNiro in Grudge Match
It's "bash DeNiro Friday" at
This is not the celluloid Visine needed to cleanse my eyes of the retinae-burning The Family. This is a joke, right, Bobby D? You can't be doing it for the green. Stallone is happy to devour any piece of meat …
Hotel owners behind police clashes with union give big to newly minted Democrat Fletcher
Newport Beach-based Tarsadia Investments family gives major money to Ex-Republican Qualcomm executive; Unite Here Local 30 vows Hilton boycott
With union-backed mayor Bob Filner deposed, the epic battle between labor and capital for control of San Diego's city hall has resumed with a vengeance, based on campaign cash disclosures filed by two putative major candidates. http://www.sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/sep/13/53124/ Yesterday, as reported …
Paul Schrader 'likes' me!
Halfway through the screening of Luc Besson's dismal mob comedy The Family, an image from one of Robert DeNiro's early, funny films flashed through my brain. Miami, 1962, and they've just tossed a bloated Jake LaMotta in the cooler where …
Indian casino makes run at obscure world records
Alpine’s Viejas Casino is celebrating Friday the 13th of September by attempting to break two obscure Guinness World Records. For the first stunt, the tribal gambling facility intends to play the world’s largest game of blackjack – dealing out cards …
Review: The Family
I’d issue a SPOILER ALERT!, but how does one go about curdling something as putrescent as The Family? By now we have all grown accustomed to THE GREATEST ACTOR OF HIS GENERATION using the eeny-meeny-miney-moe method of script selection. With …
Labor Council to support David Alvarez for Mayor
Labor council organized a campaign committee on behalf of councilmember David Alvarez
What's an election without an endorsement, and major campaign contributions, from big-labor? On Thursday September 12, San Diego and Imperial Counties Labor Council, AFL-CIO, hinted at their endorsement of who they want to see replace former-mayor Bob Filner. Despite dogged …
New releases opening this week: Short Term 12, some other stuff
Look, Destin Cretton went to SDSU film school and made good. And he even had the grace to put up with grumpyman Marks on the whole jigglycam thing. Go see his film, Short Term 12! (It's good!) There really isn't …
Senior San Diego Police captain departs for greener pastures
Low rates of pay have long been a complaint among San Diego Police officers, with many lured away to other departments after undergoing a costly training process. Yesterday (September 12), the City of Eureka in northern California announced it would …
Heading into the jazz weekend
It all starts on Sept. 12, with multiple choices ahead.
There is compelling jazz and new music to experience three nights in a row this weekend. Sept. 12, Tonga Ross-Ma'u at Dizzy's Multi-instrumentalist Ross-Ma'u will be playing the piano, focusing on his original material with a trio of top-flight improvisers, …
Dig a hole: Noise reduction pioneer Ray Dolby
"I was never a gold-digger, or an Oscar-digger, or anything like that. I just had an instinct about the right sort of things that should be done in my business. So all these things just fell into place." -- Dr. …
Crazy over bread sticks again
Bread sticks are like lovers: you think you're through, then you taste them again, for the first time
I have always been disappointed by bread sticks. I mean they look so tempting, but when you bite in they're usually doughy, maybe a little cheesy, but just not very tasty. And carbs? That's what you're eating: pure carbs. Only …
Downtown San Diego Partnership takes $100,000 in assessments for defense in lawsuit over misuse of assessments
The Clean and Safe advisory board voted to allocate $100,000 to fight lawsuit
Let's start with a general summary: A non-profit paid to administer an assessment district is sued for misusing assessments collected from local property owners. Members of the assessment district's advisory board, which includes the President and treasurer of said non-profit, …
His T shirt revealed his illegal profession
He admitted it in court today
Martell Davis admitted in federal court today (Sept. 12) that he transported a 17-year old girl from San Diego to Yuma so she could engage in commercial sex acts. He had been arrested when he picked up the prostitute at …
Baby steps in Baja: Day One - Puerto Nuevo
Navigating Baja's lobster capital is easier than you think
We planned our road trip with a lunch stop in Puerto Nuevo for langosta, their famous spiny lobsters, in mind. Thanks to a remarkably fast border crossing, we made it to the city entrance just after noon. Puerto Nuevo is …
GOP and Koch-backed think tank operative gives Nathan Fletcher funding assist
Republican fundraiser who worked with Dick Cheney and Rudy Giuliani now pulling in dollars for newly minted Democrat
Sometime it's hard to tell a Republican from a Democrat in San Diego's mayors race without a program. As reported here yesterday, Irwin Molasky, an old friend of the late mobster Moe Dalitz and a big backer of Nevada Democratic …
Wells Fargo beats the Vista merchant who can't speak or read English
Forum selection clause upheld, but case will be appealed
North County Superior Court Judge Timothy Casserly ruled in favor of Wells Fargo Bank in a case that I wrote about in my July 31 column. Vista's Casiano Hernandez-Venegas, who neither speaks nor reads English, was pitched by a Wells …
Repeat felon expects 8 years for assaulting woman
Kenneth Wayne Welch made a plea deal
A repeat felon accused of trying to run down his girlfriend with his truck last June, this morning pleaded guilty to one felony assault charge. Kenneth Wayne Welch, 42, reportedly got into an argument with his girlfriend while they were …
Phoenix lobbying firm opens in San Diego -- with baggage
Ron Ober has history with DeConcini, Keating
Policy Development Group, the lobbying, public affairs and crisis communications firm based in Phoenix, has hired Paul Worlie to head its new California office in San Diego. The firm has a client list including Toyota Motor Sales and promoted the …