Women with stolen underwear made plea deals

Loss-prevention-officer Chris said two women refused his requests to give up their stolen goods, even after he showed them his “badge.” Several Walmart employees pursued Megan and Chastity through the parking lot after they were allegedly seen putting merchandise into …

Victim was walking his dog when three pit bulls approached

San Diego Sheriff Deputies and Imperial Beach paramedics were called to the 1000 block of Georgia Street in Imperial Beach early Wednesday morning October 16, after receiving a 911 call that a pit bull was attacking a man. According to …

Adam Brown turned himself in to authorities five years ago

After one day’s deliberations, a jury unanimously agreed that 48-year-old Adam Brown was insane when he plunged a knife into his mother’s head. Seventy-seven-year-old Leonore Brown died in her Oceanside home in June 2008; her youngest son Adam turned himself …

A local cycling event coming up later this month aims to replace hundreds of thousands of dollars for cancer research and treatment eliminated by federal budget cuts colloquially known as sequestration that have plagued many sectors of the economy in …

Woman was hit by a car in June of this year while riding along Santa Fe Street

It's bad when cities like Billings, Montana and Sioux Falls, South Dakota beat out San Diego on the list of 50 of the Country's most bike-friendly cities, considering the sunny climate and all. It's even worse considering San Diego didn't …

Arkansas discount giant that bought its Oceanside liquor license from "Papa Doug" Manchester flexes political muscle using cash from North County-based 501 (c) 4 non-profit

In a possible preview of things to come in San Diego's big money mayoral contest, retail giant Walmart has employed an Encinitas-based dark money non-profit to convey more than half a million dollars to a campaign for a new Walmart …

The Port of San Diego recently awarded San Diegan CiCi Sayer top prize in its first “Port for All” photography contest celebrating the organization’s 50th anniversary. Entrants were given four themes in which to submit their shots: maritime trade, recreation, …

Edit, 12:05 a.m. - Cheyssial has been found along the 3300 block of Harbor Drive downtown and will be returned to his family. Sheriff’s deputies in Santee are looking for help from the public in locating 12-year-old Eric Alexander Cheyssial, …

Defendant Robert Owens claims driver cut him off and then ran into his bike

The witness said, “I was going to McDonald’s.” As Charles Ferraro turned onto South Santa Fe Drive in Vista, he saw an SUV pull out of a parking lot and almost hit a passing motorcyclist, right in front of him. …

Workers use report release as opportunity to repeat call for higher wages

A host of activists gathered this afternoon (October 15) outside a Mission Valley McDonald’s restaurant touting the release of a new study from the University of California, Berkeley, finding that $7 billion is spent by taxpayers each year on providing …

31 year-old Lance Rodgers of El Cajon was caught burglarizing a vehicle outside the Grossmont Center Walmart store in La Mesa and arrested after running into police while walking away from the scene of the crime. Shortly after 7:30 Saturday …

Some suspended for periods, too

San Diego County lawyers have been disciplined by the State Bar of California. Thomas William Smith of Oceanside was placed on two years of probation and suspended from practice for 30 days for failing to perform legal services for 15 …

Victims not named. Details not released

The Union-Tribune and local TV stations are reporting that former Mayor Bob Filner pleaded guilty this morning to one criminal count of false imprisonment by violence, fraud, menace and deceit, and two misdemeanor battery counts. Further details have not been …

Long running state political watchdog's investigation of controversial conduct of education office ends with a whimper as agency told not to break law again

The San Diego County Office of Education has long been a troubled patch on the corpus of local government. http://www.sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/oct/15/54782/ As reported here in February 2010 by Dorian Hargrove, whistleblower Roger Hartnett has spent years in a legal battle with …

Local officials including County Supervisor Greg Cox and interim Mayor Todd Gloria gathered in Chula Vista over the weekend for a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the opening of a new publicly-funded parking lot sited on private property that will allow …

While blasting Jacobs-backed Democrat Fletcher for "disdain" of Arkansas retail giant, Faulconer-favoring GOP publisher quietly sells $65,000 liquor license to Walmart

U-T San Diego, the mini media empire of La Jolla’s Douglas Manchester, has become noted in local political circles for putting its words where the money of its wheeler-dealer GOP publisher is. http://www.sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/oct/14/54740/ From a bid to install a huge …

Newest disclosure shows conservative group not letting up in their attack on Fletcher

The Lincoln Club is anything but shy about their disdain for democratic mayoral candidate Nathan Fletcher. In a lobbyist disclosure today, the conservative group revealed it spent $22,364 on a new round of mailers aimed at discrediting the former Republican …

Two arrests were made related to a gang fight and shooting in eastern El Cajon that occurred Friday night (October 11). Sheriff’s deputies originally received a call reporting a fight involving several individuals on the 8500 block of Rosada Court. …

Eastern Indigo Snake could thwart its expansion plans

As reported here since 2004, Scripps Institute in North Palm Beach has been setting records for corporate welfare. Beginning in 2003, La Jolla's Scripps Research Institute wangled a $600 million subsidy from the State of Florida to set up a …

Thief was sentenced to 38 years in 2006

Seven years after being sentenced to prison for a series of La Jolla hotel burglaries, Donald McNeely is fighting for a new trial because the foreman on his convicting jury failed to disclose he had worked as a lawyer and …

California Senate Bill 322, sponsored by state Senator Ben Hueso, was signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown this week. The bill will expedite the research and development of water recycling efforts, dubbed “toilet-to-tap” programs by skeptics. “Finding ways to …

Big data maven from Berkeley business school specializing in crunching numbers on individual voters gets $11,500 so far from newly minted Democrat

The campaign of Ex-Republican Assemblyman turned Democratic mayoral candidate Nathan Fletcher has paid a San Francisco Bay area start-up run by an Obama campaign veteran who drills down on the habits and predilections of individual voters, giving Fletcher-backing billionaire Democrat …

Group has created a separate campaign opposed to Fletcher's candidacy for Mayor of San Diego

The Lincoln Club is not letting up on their attack on mayoral candidate Nathan Fletcher. The conservative pro-business political organization has launched a separate campaign whose mission is to slam Fletcher in hopes of steering voters to their candidate of …

In July, AG asked for documents from San Diego's Bridgepoint

The California Attorney General's office filed suit today (Oct. 10) against Corinthian Colleges, a Santa Ana-based for-profit university, accusing the company of false advertising, misrepresentations to students, and securities fraud. Corinthian identified its core demographic with words such as "isolated," …

New charges were dismissed in three South Bay school districts' alleged pay-to-play charges--the bulk still hold

Twenty-two charges were dropped for defendants in a South Bay corruption case during hearings held on October 8 and 9. Twenty charges were dropped by the people, as represented by Deputy District Attorney Leon Schorr, in a pre-trial paring of …

Ignores staff's negative recommendation

The California Coastal Commission this afternoon (Oct. 10) approved the proposed expansion of the convention center. The commission's staff had recommended the project be turned down, greatly because it would block access to the bay. But the commission decided that …

U-T San Diego publisher and hotel magnate chips in $5000 to Carl DeMaio committee owing big money to the candidate himself.

He's come under fire by San Diego State University-owned and operated KPBS, the public broadcast operation heavily funded by Qualcomm billionaire Democrat Irwin Jacobs, but Carl DeMaio and his "Reform San Diego with Carl DeMaio" political fund has recently gotten …

Christopher James Selena claimed it was self-defense

The 42-year-old defendant took the witness box and admitted stabbing the 23-year-old man to death. Christopher James Selena said that just a few minutes before, he had gotten a phone call from his ex-girlfriend. “She just called me to come …

Ocean Beach resident Nichole Gideon has filed a lawsuit against the City of San Diego following the denial of a $500,000 damage claim blaming the city for negligently maintaining the seawall she fell off of in September 2012, suffering back …

Daughter of Democratic Nevada ex-congressman Jim Bilbray, cousin of San Diego's Brian Bilbray, is a candidate for swing district congressional seat

Anyone thinking that the long congressional run of the Bilbray family ended with the ousting of the GOP's Brian Bilbray from his long-held San Diego seat by La Jolla Democrat Scott Peters will have to stand by a bit longer: …

Say glut won't hit San Diego. But local center already slashing prices

Local convention center expansion touts are saying in media that the glut of convention center space around the nation shouldn't hurt San Diego, because it is such a desirable location. Carol Wallace, head of the center, said in some publication …

Will show up at Coastal Commission meeting on convention center expansion

The executive director of the Coalition for Fair Employment in Construction, which represents non-union construction workers, will show up at the Coastal Commission hearing today to try to show how unions abuse the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) to win …

Bar reinstates him after suspension

Kerry Steigerwalt, who once ran the most heavily advertised law firm in San Diego, has been reinstated by the State Bar of California. As of Oct. 6, he is eligible to practice law again, according to Bar records. His address …

Qualcomm founder and La Jolla Democratic billionaire antes up for Nathan Fletcher as war of the super rich white guys glows white hot

As reported earlier today, Qualcomm's Jacobs family may be taking off the gloves against the local Republican establishment, comprised of some of the most powerful San Diego old boys, including U-T San Diego owner and real estate magnate Douglas Manchester, …

Qualcomm CEO defends virtue of cell phone giant and its newly minted Democratic executive, demands "full apology and retraction" of "slanderous attack on our company"

The political proxy war between billionaire La Jolla Obama Democrat Irwin Jacobs and his Koch brothers-linked Republican rival Douglas Manchester just got a lot hotter. http://www.sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/oct/09/54585/ In a letter dated yesterday, Irwin's son Paul, chief executive of Jacobs-founded cell phone …

Audited figures contain digital, branded data that inflate results

Since the 19th century, publications have been required to reveal their ownership in a United States Postal Service report. Since 1960, that report has had to include information about circulation, too. Monday (Oct. 7), the Union-Tribune printed its postal service …

Murder case against Frederick Hengl will be dismissed next week

“He really lost the will to live after his wife died.” The attorney for Frederick Joseph Hengl said the 69-year-old man was found deceased on Sunday morning, September 29. Hengl was being held in the medical ward of San Diego’s …

A 75-year-old El Cajon resident shot and wounded a burglary suspect while on the phone with police Monday morning (October 7), officers are reporting. Around 11 a.m., the unnamed resident of the 700 block of Terra Lane in the Granite …

Building industry gave $50,000 and the Restaurant and Beverage PAC contributed $60K to pro-Faulconer San Diegans to Protect Jobs and the Economy

David Alvarez's political action committee has the unions, which to date have contributed more than one-half of a million dollars to be used for television spots and phonebanking efforts. Nathan Fletcher's outside committee has its support in for-profit university system …

Wealthy Republicans target Qualcomm's Nathan Fletcher, and by implication, firm founder and billionaire Democrat Irwin Jacobs in season's first hit piece

Subtle it isn't. Ex-Republican Assemblyman turned Democrat Nathan Fletcher, duded up in a tuxedo and wearing a red rose, hoists a glass of the bubbly in front of an executive jet on which some very white looking corporate types are …

Patient wins own case for access to nurses, but no precedent for others set

After a lengthy battle with California’s Department of Health Care Services dating back to 2010, Chula Vista resident and muscular dystrophy patient Raul Carranza announced today (October 8) that he has reached an agreement with the state that will restore …

Former U-T owner got $88 million for collapsing firm, say plaintiffs

Beverly Hills-based Platinum Equity, a private equity firm that formerly owned the U-T, is being sued for phony accounting it allegedly employed to pump up earnings of an allegedly dying company it was selling. The suit was filed in Philadelphia …

For-profit university corporation gives Fletcher's Restoring Trust in San Diego $25k

If there's one lesson to be learned from the last few election cycles, it's the rising influence of independent political committees. The outside support groups and the people who run them are becoming more and more adept at raising big …

Sacramento paper breaks story about troubles of fabled mega million-dollar influence peddling firm founded by SDSU alum

One of San Diego's proudest claims to political fame in California's capital is the lobbying and "governmental affairs" firm of California Strategies, founded by Bob White, standout San Diego State alumnus and longtime aide to ex-San Diego mayor, U.S. senator …

A warrant sweep for individuals failing to make their court appearances on Friday (October 4) resulted in 14 arrests in La Jolla, Mission Beach, Pacific Beach, and downtown San Diego. Suspects arrested face charges ranging from drunk driving to domestic …

But ResMed gets big part of its revenue from government programs

Peter Farrell, founder and executive chairman of San Diego's ResMed, maker of sleep equipment, is quoted in afr.com, the Australian Financial Review, saying that the partial U.S. government shutdown is positive for business. "Any time you can stop any government …

Leaves CNBC, rejoins TheStreet.com, but will still do TV

Herb Greenberg, who recently left CNBC as senior stocks commentator, is moving back to San Diego with his wife. They will live in North County. He will rejoin TheStreet.com as editor of Herb Greenberg's Reality Check, a subscription newsletter focusing …

Furloughed 400,000 to return to work next week

In a surprise announcement today (Oct. 5), Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel said he will recall to work next week almost all of the 400,000 Defense Department civilian employees who had been sent home when the government shut down, according …

Free family fun daily in Valley Center, California

There is a lot of outdoor fun to be had this weekend during the Bates Nut Farm traditional Pumpkin Festival. The sprawling farm has many delightful and imaginative scarecrows propped up here and there, as they ramp up for a …

Will gut insides of $24.75 million ocean-front home, says gossip columnist

San Diego-based motivational speaker Anthony (Tony) Robbins will shell out $8 million to $10 million upgrading the $24.75 million Palm Beach home he bought earlier this year. The house is only a year old. This is reported by Jose Lambiet's …

Committee which hopes to overturn the bill includes more than a handful of local residents.

A new bill aimed at improving access to resources for transgender, gay and lesbian students in California's public schools is coming under fire by "Pro-Family" groups and religious institutions. Now, a group which calls itself the "Privacy for All Students- …

Comments by aide to GOP's Hunter suggest shutdown of Marine air show backed by military contractor cash is Obama political move

It's a tale of two air shows. Up in Sacramento, according to a report in today's Sacramento Bee, the stunt flying will go on as scheduled this weekend at the California Capital Airshow, while San Diego's famous Miramar air show …

Adam Brown re-trial for sanity, five years after mother was stabbed

“Mister Brown killed his mother,” the defense attorney immediately told the jury. Adam Brown has been held in custody since June 2008, after he surrendered himself to authorities. Brown approached a deputy in San Diego’s downtown courthouse and told the …

Biotech cooked up price-capping scheme, says shareholder suit

A shareholder has filed a derivative action against biotech Sequenom in federal court, according to Courthouse News Service. The suit claims that doctors were hesitant to prescribe the company's prenatal test for Down Syndrome because insurers were reluctant to pay …

Group will clean streets three times weekly for the cost of private contractor's semi-annual visits

A new partnership with the Urban Corps of San Diego County will lead to much more frequent pressure washing of sidewalks and the local seawall, the City of Carlsbad says. Under a previous contract with a private company, the Carlsbad …

Appeals court can't believe it. He's on his way to prison

Bryan Laurienti was a broker for the now (mercifully) defunct Hampton Porter brokerage house, one of San Diego's smelliest, which went out of business a dozen years ago. According to Courthouse News Service, the 9th Circuit appeals court ruled that …

Moneyman who gave $56,000 to Bob Filner, key booster of controversial sole-source "Bajagua" plan to treat U.S. sewage in Mexico, shows up on disclosure of Qualcomm-favored Democrat

During his final decade in Congress, Democrat Bob Filner and his Republican House colleague Brian Bilbray were doing some big favors for their mutual campaign donor, Rancho Santa Fe's Enrique Landa, who was promoting a plan to treat United States …

With more than one month remaining until special election, cash continues to flow from unions and large corporations

http://www.sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/oct/03/54148/ The pro-David Alvarez political action committee Working Families for a Better San Diego set up by the local Labor Council is collecting some major checks from their fellow union members. The United Food and Commercial Workers Union is the …

Counsel allegedly assured owner of two pot shops that federal agents would leave him alone

Ronnie Chang, a medical marijuana dispensary operator, has sued his former lawyer Jeff Lake in state court, claiming that Lake assured him that California state law would shield him from prosecution, only to have his shop raided by federal agents …

A deputy district attorney suggests criminal behavior by former DA

Paul Pfingst, a prominent criminal defense attorney and a former District Attorney for San Diego County, might face criminal investigation by California’s Attorney General, according to a prosecutor. Deputy District Attorney Keith Watanabe made a number of allegations in papers …

Most CBP employees considered essential

The vast majority of U.S. customs officials are expected to remain on duty throughout the United States government shutdown. According to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials, 52,673 of the 59,561 CBP employees will remain on duty. The 88 percent …

Evidence gathered from cell phones seized in 2012 prostitution raid

A 70-year-old man was arrested near La Jolla Tuesday (October 1) as part of a prostitution sting operation dating back to June of 2012. Last year, Michael Lustig was arrested in an Encinitas hotel sting aimed at catching “johns” soliciting …

Las Vegas developer, investigative focus of Iowa Republican senator in San Diego FBI building Chinese money intrigue, forks over for Faulconer and the GOP

A partnership linked to Las Vegas developer Irwin Molasky, friend and longtime business associate of late mobster Moe Dalitz and a focus of inquiries by Iowa GOP Sen. Charles Grassley over whistle-blower alleged irregularities in the financing of San Diego's …

Interim Mayor Gloria's Office says issue will be heard in the coming months by the Land Use and Housing Committee

Food truck owners in San Diego are serving up some criticism for Interim Mayor Todd Gloria. In the latest newsletter from www.sdfoodtrucks.com, the mobile food contingent slams Gloria's recent decision to ramp up enforcement against food truck owners who park …

Election remains more than a year out

Lest any constituents of California’s 52nd Congressional district forget that there’s an election just 13 months away, Scott Peters, the sitting Democrat, and Carl DeMaio, who’s been building his candidacy virtually since losing the mayoral race in 2012, have issued …

Qualcomm will love it but domestic engineers will not

In an article in the Washington DC publication The Hill, North County Congressman Darrell Issa and former San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders, now head of the local Chamber of Commerce, give hoorays for the H-1B program, by which foreign residents …

Despite the federal government shutdown triggered by an argument over funding for the Affordable Care Act, popularly dubbed Obamacare, California is moving forward this morning with the launch of Covered California, the new statewide insurance exchange called for under the …

Political party class uses public clout to obtain and distribute free admissions to fair and rock concerts

It's an annual ritual of summer, the running of San Diego officials, both elected and non-elected, out to the county fair in Del Mar for a slew of free admissions and related gratuities, courtesy of the state's 22nd District Agricultural …

Study shows cost-of-living-adjusted rate would be 50% higher than official San Diego estimates

New data from the Public Policy Institute of California suggests that 8.1 million Californians, or 22 percent of the state’s population, lives in poverty. These numbers contrast the official U.S. Census Bureau numbers, which put statewide poverty levels at just …