Relocation notice!
Effective October 17, 2013, News Ticker has moved out of the blogs and into the News & Stories section.
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Entries
Stock swindler sentenced to 15 years
His lending scheme smacked of a Ponzi
Douglas McClain Jr. was sentenced to 15 years in prison today (Sept. 23) and ordered to pay $81.7 million in restitution for his lending scheme which defrauded people in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Panama, China, England, and Belgium. According to …
Ex-Qualcomm exec vp charged with insider trading
Former Merrill Lynch broker charged; they used offshore account
Jing Wang, a former executive vice president and president of global business operations at Qualcomm, was today (Sept. 23) charged with insider trading in stock of Qualcomm and Atheros, a company Qualcomm bought. As a senior Qualcomm executive, Wang was …
Billboard cash attempts mayor's race influence
Money from one of nation's biggest billboard companies flows to GOP's Faulconer and Democrat Alvarez as battle to loosen city's outdoor advertising regulations comes to mayoral campaign
The future of San Diego's restrictions on billboards could be determined by cash pouring into the current race for mayor, judging by campaign disclosures filed by two top contenders. On September 19, Christopher Tavarides of Washington, D.C. based Capitol Outdoor, …
San Diego home prices keep rising and remain very high
Values up almost 24% from year ago
In August, San Diego County home prices were up 23.7% from a year earlier -- one of the biggest gains in the country, according to Zillow.com. Of the top 30 metro areas, only 5 did better. Sacramento values rose 34.1% …
Pharmacist loses license for stealing dangerous drugs
Mario Olivares caught on concealed camera
The state Board of Pharmacy has revoked the license of Mario G. Olivares, who worked as a pharmacist at Kaiser Permanente Pharmacy on Avocado Boulevard in La Mesa. Audits revealed that large amounts of Restoril (temazepam), a controlled substance used …
Former Fallbrook Klansman involved in town takeover attempt
Tom Metzger and fellow white supremacists want to occupy tiny North Dakota town
Tom Metzger, former Fallbrook white supremacist and losing Congressional candidate, is involved in an attempt by neo-Nazis to establish an all-white beachhead in Leith, North Dakota, population 24. The town is resisting. The group intends to "plant the seeds of …
Nuclear Regulatory Commission finds fault with Mitsubishi's calculations on failed San Onofre generators
Shuttered plant operator Southern California Edison downplays responsibility to oversee work of their preferred contractor
Southern California Edison, majority owner and operator of the failed San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station in northern San Diego County, announced Sunday (September 22) that the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission has “identified flaws in how Mitsubishi Heavy Industries used its …
Magazine tells clearly how NFL fleeces taxpayer
Article tears apart the tax-free status of the league, and subsidies it receives
The October issue of The Atlantic magazine is "must" reading for San Diegans. Title: "How the NFL Fleeces Taxpayers," by Gregg Easterbrook, who is writing a book on the topic. The article focuses on taxpayer screwings that have been covered …
Chinese hackers gathering info on drone technology
San Diego center of U.S. drone manufacturing
A story in today's (Sept. 21) New York Times tells how Chinese hackers have been gathering information about drone manufacturing. China wants to expand its drone-making capability in a big way. San Diego is the nation's biggest drone-making location, dominated …
Repeat DUI driver admitted manslaughter after head-on collision
Brian Joseph Webb II expects 15-years-to-life when sentenced
After more than a year in custody, a repeat DUI offender admitted gross vehicular manslaughter, resulting from a head-on collision in which he killed a man on a motorcycle. Brian Joseph Webb II, now 35, was driving the wrong way …
“They were putting in work for their gang” prosecutor said
Alleged Escondido gangsters made plea deals
Two young men from Escondido made plea deals in which they admitted assaulting other young men in their community, in San Diego’s North County Courthouse this past week. Diego Nunez, 18, and Alvaro Rangel, 18, had both faced felony assault …
Real estate and casino money gushes to GOP and Faulconer as mayoral cash race heats up
Douglas Manchester's mini media empire may be part of political play as newspaper omits mention of publisher's big money contributions
Does San Diego have the best politicians money can buy? It's not clear just yet, but based on a flurry of campaign disclosure filings over the past forty-eight hours, and a report in a newspaper whose publisher is a major …
Heath Bell claims insurance salesman ripped him off
Former Padre says local agent talked him into too big a policy, didn't disclose costs
Major League Baseball All-Star and former Padres closer Heath Bell says in a lawsuit filed Tuesday (September 17) that he was duped into buying an extravagant $25 million life insurance policy by San Diego resident Jason Huntley, an agent with …
Civic San Diego wants permitting and processing responsibilities in former redevelopment areas
Letter from an attorney for the Municipal Employees Association warns city officials against behind the scenes discussions without MEA's knowledge
Civic San Diego, formerly known as Centre City Development Corporation (CCDC), wants to assume control of permitting and processing responsibilities in the 14-former redevelopment areas. To accomplish that task, executives at Civic San Diego are working behind the scenes with …
Local unemployment rate falls to 7.4%
County adds 2900 nonfarm jobs in August
The San Diego County unemployment rate dropped to 7.4% in August from a revised 7.8% in July, as 2900 jobs were added. Over the year, employment rose by 14,800 jobs, according to the California Employment Development Department. Leisure and hospitality …
Mother of drowned children arrested, four months later
1-and-2-year-old son and daughter found in pool outside La Mesa house used as marijuana farm
After over four months of investigation, Tassie Behrens was arrested yesterday (September 19) on a host of charges related to a tragedy on May 13 that left her infant children, Harley and Jason Bradford, dead. On the morning of May …
Is the party over for rising real estate values?
Housing sales numbers from the California Association of Realtors and foreclosure-tracking outfit Property Radar are in, neither painting a particularly optimistic picture. Following rising interest rates, overall home sales slumped in August, and the median home price in San Diego …
San Diegans remain mired in low incomes, poverty
A full 28.4% of individuals earn less than the minimum it takes to exist in county
The Center on Policy Initiatives, working with 2012 U.S. Census Bureau data just released, says that the top-earning 20% of households raked in half of all income in the county, as inflation-adjusted income declined. Almost 30% (28.4%) of persons working …
California homes remain nation's most expensive
San Diego's homes among the least affordable
The affordability of San Diego County homes is eighth worst in the nation, according to a new study by Kelly Cunningham, economist for the National University System Institute for Policy Research. The National Association of Home Builders measures the percentage …
Toxic sludge set to be dredged from San Diego Bay
NASSCO, the massive General Dynamics shipbuilding arm that occupies 124 acres of waterfront along the San Diego Bay, has agreed to pick up a portion of the cost to conduct a cleanup project estimated to cost approximately $50 million, the …