Category: San Diego

by Michael Casey / Associated Press – Fox5 San Diego / Dec 2, 2025 /

The Justice Department on Tuesday, Dec. 2, sued six more states in its ongoing campaign to obtain detailed voter data and other election information.

The department announced it was suing Delaware, Maryland, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington over their “failure” to produce statewide voter registration lists. It has portrayed the litigation as part of an effort to ensure the security of elections, but Democratic officials have raised concerns over how the data will be used and whether the department will follow privacy laws in protecting it.

Tuesday’s actions bring to at least 14 the number of states the Justice Department has sued in its quest for the voter information [including California].

“Our federal elections laws ensure every American citizen may vote freely and fairly,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon of the department’s Civil Rights Division. “States that continue to defy federal voting laws interfere with our mission of ensuring that Americans have accurate voter lists as they go to the polls, that every vote counts equally, and that all voters have confidence in election results.”

The department has requested the voter data from at least 26 states, according to an Associated Press tally. It’s prompted concerns among some election officials because states have the constitutional authority to run elections and federal law protects the sharing of individual data with the government.

By OB Staff 

David Garrick, the San Diego Union-Tribune’s City Hall Reporter, will give a Saturday, December 13 presentation on “This Just In: Covering the City Hall Beat.”

The forum, part of a series organized by the San Diego Community Coalition, will take place from 12 noon to 1:00 p.m. at the Logan Heights Library, 567 S. 28 Street. Following Garrick’s brief remarks, the floor will open for questions from the audience.

Garrick has had a front row seat in San Diego politics for more than a decade. When he started covering City Hall in 2014, Kevin Faulconer was the new Mayor, Todd Gloria was City Council President, and Sempra Energy occupied the tower at 101 Ash Street.

San Diego County Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer held a community meeting in Encinitas Thursday, Dec. 4, to urge the public to take a stand against the Trump administration’s plans to expand Califonia’s offshore drilling. She was joined by Solana Beach Mayor Lesa Heebner. The meeting had been organized by the environmental groups California Coastal Protection Network, Oceana, Surfrider Foundation and Wildcoast.

The Thursday gathering followed the Nov. 20 announcement by the Trump administration that it will reopen ocean waters off the Pacific Coast to oil drilling leases, generating rapid opposition from California officials and environmentalists.

Lawson-Remer said she and others are united in defending the San Diego region, and told President Donald Trump and oil executives to “go pound sand.”

“We are not going to go backwards,” no matter how much Trump calls clean energy “a con job,” Lawson-Remer said during the meeting.

Once again, we return to Letters to the Editor for the truth — and it’s so much more fun to see letters written by people  you know. So, here’s a couple from today’s Union-Tribune, one from Rag writer Kate Callen and another from Ralph Teyssier, a commenter on the Rag.

Re “Campillo’s reforms a smart response to Gloria’s trash fee machinations” (Nov. 30):

Thank you for pointing out that San Diego has one elected official with a functioning moral compass. Yes, Raul Campillo is pushing the reform rock up the hill — for now. But widespread disgust with the mayor’s mendacity and the connivance of eight City Council members is changing the political landscape. We see this in the overflow crowds at council meetings and the scores of angry letters you print.

by Michael J. Stepner and Mary Lydon / Times of San Diego / Dec. 4, 2025

City of San Diego officials implemented a complicated fee structure for parking in Balboa Park, set to begin Jan. 5, without fully vetting its unintended consequences.

The City Council approved the proposal despite the concerns and testimony of park users, park institutions and park organizations big and small. Together, they expressed an emerging general consensus: It is not right to use San Diego’s Crown Jewel to fill a tiny piece of the city’s budget gap.

This rushed decision risks what the World Cities Culture Forum called “the heart of thriving cities” — culture.

“It is a crucial part of a city’s fabric, a golden thread that runs through all aspects of urban policy,” the UK-based nonprofit wrote.

Culture is an expression of community, shared values and creativity. Balboa Park is San Diego’s soul.

The paid parking implementation did not take into consideration any understanding of what Balboa Park is, or what the park provides to a rich tapestry of our citizenry.

There’s been a spike in detentions of Afghans living in San Diego recently and it’s being condemned by the local chapter of America’s largest Muslim civil rights group, CAIR, which stands for Council on American-Islamic Relations.

In a statement issued Dec. 3, the Executive Director, Tazheen Nizam of San Diego’s CAIR said:

“This past week, our office has seen a spike in calls from Afghan community members suddenly facing new threats to their status and safety. This morning, I accompanied an Afghan evacuee to what ICE claimed was a routine check-in in San Jose; despite full cooperation, he was detained immediately. We’re hearing the same fear from long-time green card holders, already-vetted refugees, and families who have waited years to reunite with loved ones now trapped in limbo.

By David Garrick / San Diego Union-Tribune / December 3, 2025 

Ridership on local buses and trolleys is recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic much faster than the national average, but San Diego transit officials say that progress is jeopardized by a looming financial crisis.

Annual ridership on Metropolitan Transportation System buses and trolleys rose more than 7% to 81.2 million during the fiscal year that ended in June — only 4.2 million lower than the pre-pandemic ridership of 85.4 million.

MTS’s ridership recovery of 95% is the second highest for large transit systems in the nation and is well above the national average of 85%, according to surveys by the American Public Transportation Association.

Buses and trolleys have also begun to attract more riders who have cars and aren’t transit-dependent. Trips by such people, which MTS calls leisure rides, jumped by 44% in fiscal 2025 compared to fiscal 2024.

MTS officials attribute the improving ridership numbers to new services — including an express bus connecting downtown and the U.S.-Mexico border — and to more frequent trolley service and enhanced security at stations and on trains.

From the City of San Diego website:

December Nights is back for 2025!
Join us on December 5 and 6 for the City of San Diego’s largest free holiday festival in beautiful Balboa Park. The family friendly event brings San Diegans together to enjoy the lights, the sounds, the attractions and of course, the amazing food.

For Entertainment, go here.

Museums and Organizations

Balboa Art Conservation Center:
Come celebrate the season by making stamp art with Balboa Art Conservation Center! Using cochineal dye, guests of all ages will be able to combine science and art to make prints inspired by the History Center’s Poinsettia Tree. Located in the San Diego History Center: 5 p.m. to 9 p.m

Comic Con Museum:
Guests can participate in a FREE activity called “Paint and Take”. Each guest (ages 5+) can choose a small miniature figure to paint and take home. Activity takes about 30 minutes per guest once seated. Minors must be accompanied by an adult. Supplies limited. Retail shops are open. Museum exhibits closed. Friday: 3pm-8pm & Saturday: 2pm-7pm

Fleet Science Center:
Join us for December Nights, San Diego’s largest holiday festival in beautiful Balboa Park on December 5 & 6, 2025! This free, family-friendly event brings San Diegans together to enjoy all of the lights, sounds, attractions, and amazing food that Balboa Park has to offer. At the Fleet, guests can experience over 100+ interactive exhibits and discover the power of science free of cost from 3 p.m.- 9p.m.

Japanese Friendship Garden and Museum
The Japanese Friendship Garden & Museum will be opening the upper garden for free from 3:00PM-8:00PM on December 5th and December 6th. *Paid admission 10:00am-2:00pm; View the garden’s decorations, participate in fun crafts for the family, and enjoy festive drinks in the beer garden!

by Ernie McCray

Oh, as I looked back at pictures
of the “No Kings” protesters
in San Diego
I so wished that I could take to the streets
as I’ve done so many times before
over my lifetime
but standing and walking
for a longtime
would not treat me very kind.
But it’s plain to see
that this kind of massive togetherness
is the key
to our surviving the mess
we find ourselves in,|
chaos brought to us
by a madman
whose goal in life
is to do us in

Joe Adamantly Still Supports 30-Foot Height Limit and Opposes Turquoise Tower

By Madison Beveridge / PB Monthly SDU-T / December 1, 2025 

Large-scale, controversial housing projects and people staying overnight in vehicles were the top concerns voiced by Pacific Beach residents during a recent town hall meeting.

The Pacific Beach Town Council hosted the Nov. 5 meeting with City Council President Joe LaCava at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in PB.

With attendees ranging from locals to government officials, the primary focus was a question and answer session with LaCava.

The councilmember, whose District 1 includes Pacific Beach, La Jolla, Carmel Valley, Torrey Pines and Del Mar Mesa, served as a sounding board for the community during the meeting. The evening was a chance for locals to connect directly with their elected city representative and address the region’s short- and long-term goals.

“Several of the most notable topics discussed were the two large project developments happening in Pacific Beach right now,” said PB Town Council President Charlie Nieto. “The first is the Turquoise Tower, which is a 23-story residential tower. The other is a newer project called Chalcifica, a 136-unit project.”

“The world needs more independent bookstores.”

By Roxana Popescu / San Diego Union-Tribune / November 26, 2025

When Patrick Stewart walked into the vacant building that would become the new Library Shop Mission Hills bookstore, he was hit by two feelings: It’s perfect. And oh, boy. The empty bookshelves lining the walls spoke volumes.

But things needed to be spruced up and brought up to code. The building had housed the Mission Hills library from 1961 to 2019 and then sat unused for about five years, not counting the occasional squatter.

“We saw a lot of potential,” said Stewart, the chief executive officer of Library Foundation SD, which supports the library system through outreach, philanthropy and advocacy. “To be able to be in a community that is super, super supportive of the library, and super supportive of the Library Foundation, I think you couldn’t be in a better environment, a more welcoming environment, a very literary environment.”

By Steve Rodriguez

First comes the sighting of a Venezuelan boat.
Just about any fishing boat will suffice.
Next, fixing the target in a missile’s
crosshairs. Followed by a dramatic
blasting of the vessel. Bright flash
of light ensues, conveniently captured
by camera for later media airing.