A collection of vivid 1930s-era murals of Aztec and Mayan scenes, which once adorned a local brewery’s walls, has languished in storage for decades after being saved from the wrecking ball.
Now the Barrio Logan murals are poised to come back to life.
In the second part of our joint series with KPBS, Kelly Bennett and Angela Carone report that the city of San Diego’s plans to restore the art and display it again in a local restaurant are finally coming to fruition after years of delays.
“But a lot is still up in the air — the Mercado’s developers have yet to find a restaurateur to move in to the space, and the artist who rediscovered the artwork to begin with cringes at the thought of installing it where people eat,” they say.
The story has color photos of the Aztec Brewing Co. murals and an architect’s rendering of what the new joint would look like. Tune into KPBS at 89.5 FM this morning for the radio version of this story. And click here to read and listen to part one of this series.
• Artwork isn’t the only thing being brought back from the dead. John Webster writes in to say he’s reviving the actual Aztec Brewing Co. name, too, in a Vista brewery.
“The Aztec Brewing Co. with its colorful history captivated our imagination. As artists and illustrators we are very excited to see the original murals renovated and brought back to life,” he says.
In Scripps Ranch, Talk of a City’s Failures
“We want our air clean, our roads black and our parks green,” says Bob Ilko, president of the Scripps Ranch Community Association.
Ilko says he’s only getting one of those. He showed off his community’s problems to our Rob Davis, who’s spending the week getting to know what’s important to people in City Council District 5 and the sole candidate there.
The city’s infrastructure is in poor shape, and not just because potholes make for bumpy rides on Pomerado Road. It turns out that there’s another fine mess near Scripps Ranch High.
A broken storm drain has created a garbage pile: pavement, earth, mattresses, buckets and a dead Christmas tree.
“Ilko warned the city when the drain got blocked a couple of years ago, he says, and nothing got done. Now, instead of a clogged drain, the end of the boulevard is a garbled mess.”
Do you have tips or concerns for Davis? Contact him directly at rob.davis@voiceofsandiego.org or 619.259.0529.
Frye Returns with Finance Concerns
Former Councilwoman Donna Frye has been out of office for a while now, but she’s still taking time to run the numbers and make a ruckus.
And she’s writing down her concerns, questioning Mayor Jerry Sanders’ declaration that the era of structural budget deficits are over. At the same time, she points out, the city is claiming it is too broke to pay for its bonds for the last Convention Center expansion.
“The City faces structural budget deficits in FY 2012 and beyond,” says a document that goes along with that push.
So, Frye wants to know, will the real city of San Diego please stand up?
The Powerful Bike Lobby: VOSD Radio
Samantha Ollinger has only been in San Diego for four years, but she’s already working hard to make a mark — and a bike lane or two. Or more.
Ollinger has transformed herself into a top advocate for bicycle riders and she’s managed to have an impact — all the way to the mayor’s race — with a simple approach. She’s writing regularly about her concerns and pestering candidates on social media.
She appeared on the latest episode of VOSD Radio to talk about how she became involved in public life here — take notes if you’d like to be heard — and how one candidate missed his chance to grab the bike vote.
On Fact Check TV, a Look at Pension Reform
Fact Check TV, the television arm of San Diego Fact Check, takes a look at an argument by opponents of Prop. B, the pension reform measure that would dramatically overhaul the way the city provides for municipal employees after they retire.
In a ballot argument that voters will receive, foes of Prop. B say one part of the initiative — a hoped-for pay freeze — won’t be any harder to override if the measure passes. According to the foes, city regulations already require a two-thirds City Council vote for negotiated pay increases.
The claim, in fact, is barely true. The truth is more complicated than the opponents let on.
Meet the Chart Toppers
Each week, we compile a list of our most-read stories of the week. Here’s the latest one, led by news about the possible departures of three top honchos at the Convention Center.
GOP vs. Fletcher
The local GOP has continued to hammer its former golden boy since he went indy two weeks ago. It showed off its alliterative skills last week by creating “Flip Flop Fletcher Friday.”
And the party took Fletcher to small-claims court over a $5,000 fundraising pledge, highlighting the ongoing feud between the two sides. (U-T San Diego)
What Poe Unleashed
Demoniacal, desolate, ghastly, grotesque, hideous, sullen, tremulous, wretched. No, those aren’t descriptions of my typical Friday night. (Close, though.) They’re words from the pen of Edgar Allan Poe, along with lesser-used gems like apothegm, Sexagesima, supposititious and surcingle.
As we continue our partnership with the organizers of the month-long Big Read: Shades of Poe celebration, we offer a tribute to Poe’s word powers by local author Charles Harrington Elster.
Maybe It’ll Settle Down with a Nice .Edu
We know what you’ve been wondering. What will happen to the “.org” that’s we’ve sliced off the name of Voice of San Diego to reflect the fact that we’re more than an online news organization?
Poor thing. Well, rest assured that the .org will be just fine. We’re sending it to a nice server farm in the country.
At least that’s what we’re telling the kids.
Please contact Randy Dotinga directly at randydotinga@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter: twitter.com/rdotinga.