Journalism won’t die if you donate. Support Voice of San Diego today!
The other day, we told you about a local artist who got personal permission from the mayor to sell his wares at the beach without needing city paperwork. The artist says his work, handmade jewelry, is an example of free speech so he doesn’t need pay for permits; the mayor essentially wrote him a get-out-of-a-ticket-free card to the chagrin of the local business association.
You can guess what happened next: the artist got ticketed, as our Andrew Keatts reports in a new story. But you may not guess the next couple of twists.
• VOSD Radio has more about the mayoral permission slip kerfuffle along with details about other stories in the news.
Wanna Buy a House? Get in Line
VOSD’s real-estate and economics guru Rich Toscano, our resident chart aficionado, offers a series of graphs that show you how things have changed. We’re at a new kind of low. This time, with how many homes are for sale.
Toscano: “The inventory decline that started in early 2012 hinted at the price increases to come. Since then, months of inventory has dropped relentlessly, recently hitting a new low in the history of the data I have. If the typical relationship between months of supply and home prices remains intact, we can expect further upward price pressure in the months immediately ahead.”
Hey, Hey, It’s Election Day
Voters in the City Council’s District 4, which covers much of southeastern San Diego, go to the polls today to choose a new council member from a pair of Democrats.
Here’s all you need to know in the race and we profiled both Myrtle Cole and Dwayne Crenshaw. And Fact Check TV offers a look at a misleading campaign claim.
Quick News Hits
• The Stumblr, our blog on decrepit sidewalks, has new entries from North Park and India Street.
• Our new website and its social media features are getting attention from the journalism technology blog 10,000 Words and Media Innovations.
Remember to check out The Plaza, where VOSD users can post links to outside content and spark conversations about it. Reader Jed Sundwall started a thread about a Navy dolphin discovered a torpedo, while reader Andy Kopp takes note of CityBeat’s ongoing coverage of the city’s difficulties in developing public restrooms.
• It’s beginning to look a lot like former Councilman Carl DeMaio will be running for office again. As we’ve noted, national and local pundits have speculated he’s running for Congress against U.S. Rep. Scott Peters. CityBeat has the details about his website’s spiffy campaign-friendly makeover.
It included this tell-tale event listing.
• Doug Manchester, the publisher of U-T San Diego, acknowledged to us in a 2012 interview, he was an unfaithful husband. The hotel magnate’s bitter attempt to divorce his wife of more than four decades drew attention in 2009.
Now, the Reader reports that Manchester is once again trying to get divorced.
• Mayor Filner went on rock station KPRI the other night and offered a playlist of 12 of his favorite songs, all except one from earlier than 1973. The U-T has the full list, including well-known classics from Simon & Garfunkel, Carole King, James Taylor and Frank Sinatra.
It’s pretty easy listening for the most part. Not so easy listening: Hearing from whippersnappers on Twitter who say they aren’t familiar with these tunes because they’re ancient.
Kids these days. Why can’t they get off my lawn and my Twitter?
Voice of San Diego is a nonprofit that depends on you, our readers. Please donate to keep the service strong. Click here to find out more about our supporters and how we operate independently.