The Morning Report
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Ride through the San Pasqual Valley blindfolded, Rob Davis reports, and you can still tell what roads belong to the city of San Diego and what roads are maintained by other governments.
“If it’s smooth, you’re in the unincorporated county or the city of Escondido,” Davis writes. “If it’s potholed, you’re in San Diego.”
He spent last week taking spins around the Fifth District and the ride in San Pasqual was, well, pretty bumpy. Roads in the valley are overgrown, potholed and flooded, but the city hasn’t made the repairs that residents want. One farmer in the rural stretches says he drives on the center line “just so I don’t take my dog’s face off.”
Davis will be taking the concerns of District 5 residents — that’s San Pasqual, Rancho Bernardo, Scripps Ranch and other northerly neighborhoods — to lone City Council candidate Mark Kersey this week.
Meanwhile, reporter Keegan Kyle begins his week in District 1 today. Calling all residents of La Jolla, Torrey Pines, Carmel Valley and University City. What issues are important to you?
The Basics of the Sherman Heights Walmart Controversy
We put together a primer on the brewing controversy over Walmart’s construction at the iconic pink Sherman Heights Farmers Market building.
Essentially, the lawsuit brought by activists boils down to two things, Sandy Coronilla reports: “whether the building is historic and whether Walmart has the proper authority to be doing what it’s doing.”
She wades through all the different shades of “historic” and the different permits that authorize different things. A ruling will be made in a court hearing scheduled to take place later this morning.
Whatever is decided, Walmart lawyers here are probably just happy to not be working on the company’s Mexican bribery scandal exposed in the New York Times this weekend. That one is probably going to sting a bit.
Catch the Next Mayoral Debate Tonight
We’re teaming with our news partner NBC 7 San Diego for tonight’s mayoral debate. Make sure to tune in or set your DVR to NBC 7 San Diego tonight at 6 p.m. After last Thursday’s heated scuffle, it is bound to be a doozy.
The Lost Brewery Art of Barrio Logan
If you missed our big series on the lost brewery art of Barrio Logan or just want more, arts editor Kelly Bennett appeared on KPBS’s Evening Edition to discuss the post-Prohibition era murals from the old Aztec Brewing Co.
The works are representative of an interesting period in San Diego’s brewing history that predates our current status as a microbrew mecca by more than 50 years.
Part one of the series focuses on the wild history of the artwork at Aztec Brewing Co., which was slated for demolition but saved in the 1980’s. Part two discusses the proposed future plans for the long-hidden masterpieces.
Spanish language versions of part one and part two appear courtesy of the US-Mexico Border Philanthropy Partnership.
Schools and Money
• U-T San Diego asks whether a recent San Diego city schools initiative to promote the state legislation would be an illegal use of public funds for political gain. The bill would allow schools to retain the profits from the sale of surplus property instead of contributing the revenue to a state fund.
The San Diego Unified School District has been sending emails to parents urging them to support the proposed law for the ballot initiative.
• Then again, maybe schools could use better political organizing.
The $640 million jackpot from last month’s enormous lottery winnings will have little effect on state schools.
Officials claim that more than $130 million dollars were raised for California schools in the recent lottery fever, but unfortunately, less than 2 percent of those earnings will be seen by schools in San Diego. The North County Times explains how lottery earnings are divided amongst local districts.
Oh No You Didn’t: North County Supervisor Race Is Getting Ugly
The race for the District 3 seat in the San Diego County Board of Supervisors is getting ugly, reports the North County Times. The supervisor position will have major influence on construction of shopping malls and nearly all development projects in rural areas of eastern North County.
Candidates are throwing jabs related to the misuse of campaign funds, state-funded vacations, and the ultimate low blow: ties to disgraced former Rep. Duke Cunningham, the political equivalent of smack-talking a man’s mother.
Labor Quote of the Decade
The union group A Better San Diego held a community forum last week to discuss the pros and cons of Propositions A and B, two labor-unfriendly measures on the city of San Diego ballot this June, the San Diego Reader reports.
Reporter Dave Rice should probably win an award for his quote of labor leader Michael Zucchet, which reads, “From a political standpoint, it’s pretty likely that this is going to pass in June. And when I say pretty likely, I mean we’re [expletive].”
Correction: The original version of this post incorrectly attributed the above quote to Tom Lemmon. We regret the error.
You can reach Colin Weatherby at colin.weatherby@gmail.com.