Public schools in wealthy neighborhoods of San Diego often get a boost thanks to parents who donate money to private foundations. And in poor neighborhoods, public schools often get a boost from federal funding designed to help low-income kids.
Is one of these not like the other? We decided to take a look since private foundation folks like to say that the two types of funding balance each other out.
The truth: This argument is a red herring. They’re indeed not equal. And there’s something else to consider: Some schools that are neither rich nor poor end up with the least money.
Incubate or Accelerate: Let’s Call the Whole Thing On!
Blair Giesen, our tech industry blogger, offers a primer on the difference between incubators and accelerators in the land of start-ups. “Do you want to be king or rich?” explained entrepreneur Neil Senturia, meaning startup honchos must decide whether they care more about total control, or getting big money fast. Hmm. King or rich? I’ve watched enough “Game of Thrones” that I now want to be both!
Commentary: Quit Spreading Opera Falsehoods
When it comes to burgeoning myths about the troubled San Diego Opera, you-know-who hasn’t sung yet. That’s the message from Eduard Schmiege, a local opera fan who’s written a commentary for VOSD about misconceptions about the organization’s decline and fall.
Among the myths, he writes, are perceptions that the opera here is “world-class” (nope), that hundreds of jobs are in jeopardy (nope), that the top guy’s salary is an issue (nope) and more.
Commentary: Padres Make the Right Call
“The Padres just gave a lot of money to a young player,” writes VOSD’s Andrew Keatts in a new post about the latest big Padres deal, which keeps second baseman Jedd Gyorko on the team. “That’s exactly what should have happened.”
Spending major bucks on a star: Isn’t that a totally obvious strategy? Not necessarily. The Padres have tried this approach — with dubious results — and are adopting it again: “They can find surplus value to mitigate their inability to compete on the free agent market.”
Politics Roundup: The Debacle for Dems
• How does a Democrat candidate for mayor lose in a city with more Democratic voters than Republicans? Democrats are trying to figure out what happened, KPBS reports.
• There’s a new sexual misconduct lawsuit against former Mayor Bob Filner. (Reader)
Torrey Pines Murders Get National Airing
Two horrific and gruesome murders of teenage women on Torrey Pines State Beach are the topics of an Investigation Discovery TV show called “Dark Minds” tonight, CBS 8 reports. Police are re-examining evidence in at least one of the cases.
The first case, the murder of a 15-year-old girl in 1978, has deeply disrupted the life of her boyfriend, who was nearly killed in the attack. The North County Times profiled the man, then 51, in a remarkable 2011 story titled “A Deadly Night that Has Lasted 33 Years.” The reporter, Brandon Lowrey, will appear on the TV show.
Culture Report: The Ken’s (Possible) Demise
Alex Zaragoza, the arts writer who compiles our weekly Culture Report, isn’t thrilled about the suicide of the San Diego Opera, but she’s even more upset by another cultural institution that seems ready to give up the ghost: The Ken Cinema, a lovable relic of bygone single-screen glory. “This one, well, this one really stings,” she writes in this week’s Culture Report.
There’s more news in the Culture Report about a honey of a scavenger hunt, an odoriferous art exhibit, Megadeath’s encounter with the San Diego Symphony and this week’s Record Store Day.
And now I shall remember all the local record stores that I used to frequent: Blue Meanie Records, The Wherehouse, Assorted Vinyl and Tower Records. Rest in Pretenders. (Or, if they prefer, Rest in Fleetwood Mac.)
Quick News Hits: Stanching the Stench
• The head of a veterans home in Chula Vista has been given the heave-ho. (U-T)
• “Former City Attorney and consumer advocate Mike Aguirre announced Monday he is filing legal documents opposing the proposed settlement that decides who will pay for the closure of the San Onofre nuclear power plant,” KPBS reports.
• The spring housing market has not sprung. (U-T)
• Now here’s a grabber for you: “It looks like the manure dumped on a dead North County golf course has officially hit the fan.” That’s courtesy of the U-T, which explores how manure disposal stunk up a community in Escondido.
County air pollution officials have a “smell scale” — who knew? — and the poop topped it at Level 5.
Why did chicken manure end up in a defunct golf course whose owner is in a snit with neighbors? Good question. Interesting answers too. Let’s just say that it looks like more than one kind of fertilizer is being flung around.