Editor’s Note: We unveiled our newly redesigned website yesterday and are happy to report that readers seem to like it.
We’re still working out various glitches, however. (Don’t even think about looking at our mobile-phone site just yet.) So please bear with us.
One big change comes in how we handle online comments from readers. We’re expanding them so you can now comment on all stories on the site.
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This is an unusual policy in the news industry, where anonymity and light monitoring provide forums for bullies and bigots. We won’t tolerate that here.
We will also continue to moderate comments. That means we’ll approve them before they’re posted to make sure they follow our rules regarding civility and taste, among other things.
Our goal is to encourage thoughtful and intelligent dialogue as we help you understand and improve the community we all share. All we ask is that you be passionate and polite.
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And now, to the news! — ANDREW DONOHUE
Remember the corruption scandal that engulfed the redevelopment agency that serves Southeast San Diego? The feds sure do.
Seventeen months after we broke the story of secret bonuses and unapproved compensation, we’ve discovered that at least two former Southeastern Economic Development Corp. staff members have received federal subpoenas.
Two ex-staff members called the agency’s current interim leader for advice. His response: “Why are you calling me?” (Talk about a wrong number.)
Meanwhile, we report on a couple other new developments regarding the fallout of the scandal, which cost several staffers their jobs.
In other news:
- San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders says he’s proposing to cut his own budget by 7.3 percent. We checked his facts. It turns out that the mayor oversees two departments, and while spending is down in one, it’s not nearly that much when higher retirement benefit costs are taken into account. And in the other department, proposed spending that includes those costs is actually up.
Also: San Diego’s budget for police is going up next year by $7.6 million. Wait, isn’t the city preparing for big cutbacks in departments all over the place, including the police? Yes. But as we explain, overall spending is growing because of higher payments for pensions and other benefits.
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- What happens if the library part of the proposed downtown schoobrary goes under? The San Diego school district is considering the possibility and wants to make sure its interests are protected.
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- The ACLU is suing San Diego, alleging city employees confiscated and destroyed possessions of homeless people as part of a campaign to harass them. The possessions allegedly included medications, family photos and blankets.
A city spokeswoman had no immediate comment.
CityBeat says Fresno has to pay $2.25 million in a similar case.
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- On the public-safety front, new crime stats will finally be available, and CBS News found out why San Diego Police haven’t tested 2,065 “rape kits.” (Other big cities test all of the kits, but San Diego doesn’t.)
- The subject of our Photo of the Day, a preview of next Monday’s People at Work profile, is a mean one. It’s a Two-Fer Thursday: we have a pair of photo soundtracks about this “three-decker sauerkraut and toadstool sandwich with arsenic sauce” (yum!), courtesy of Burl Ives and Aimee Mann.
Elsewhere:
- The NCT and U-T covered a rally demanding that the San Diego County Water Authority do more to protect illegal immigrants from drowning in an Imperial County canal.
As we reported earlier this week, hundreds of migrants and others have drowned over almost seven decades in the canal, which is near the border. The water authority is now involved because it helped pay $300 million to line 23 miles of the canal; activists say the project doesn’t include enough safety features.
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- In Congress, a bill to ban the importation of some kinds of radioactive waste got support from all local House representatives except Darrell Issa. It passed.
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- Forbes.com profiles the chief executive of the company that owns Applebee’s and IHOP. Now 54, she waited tables at the IHOP on San Diego’s El Cajon Boulevard when she was 16.
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- Finally, the U-T reports that authorities uncovered a cross-border tunnel equipped with lighting, an electrical system and, yes, an elevator.
What, no dishwasher?
mailto:rdotinga@aol.com“>– RANDY DOTINGA