These were the most-read stories for the week of April 11-17.
1. How Boltman Became a Fan Favorite and the Chargers’ Nemesis
Even as the self-proclaimed “No. 1 Bolts fan” attends public meetings and privately counsels the mayor on a plan to keep the Chargers in San Diego, the team itself hates his guts. (Or rather, hates his glorious, rippling biceps.)
2. City Council Deal Could Pump Millions Into an Endangered Qualcomm
The Chargers may abandon Qualcomm Stadium but the city’s prepared to let a food and beverage company sink $6 million into building upgrades – and taxpayers could be on the hook to pay that company back if team leaves.
3. Qualcomm VP Told San Diego Politicians Seeking Stadium Help to Pound Sand
Qualcomm’s head of facilities told a city councilman, the city attorney and others that the region’s largest company is so frustrated with the city it will never again build anything in San Diego.
4. VOSD Podcast: The High Drama of California’s Epic Drought
A years-long battle between the county’s Water Authority and Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. Plus, a dramatic interpretation of a tense meeting between Qualcomm and stadium boosters and more on this week’s podcast.
5. Mission Hills Undergrounding Buries Deadlines and Keeps on Digging
Mission Hills residents were initially told the process of moving utility lines underground would be finished in 2008. Fast-forward several years and the neighborhood’s experience is illustrating why the process often takes so long, and how new measures recently approved by the City Council could lessen delays in the future.
6. Meet the Rookie Activist Leading San Diego’s Racial Justice Conversation
As the city grapples with community-police relations and gang prosecutions, Mark Jones has catapulted to the forefront of the public discussion just a few months after dipping his toe in the activism pool.
7. The Next Bond Money Fight: Swimming Pools
San Diego Unified’s plan to build pools at or near several schools is remarkably similar to its use of bond money to fund new stadium lights – an approach a court has rejected. The taxpayer group that successfully sued over the field lights has put the district on notice that it plans to sue again once a drop of bond money is spent on pools.
8. Opinion: Taking a Wide Lens on Mission Valley
Mary Lydon: Those of us in the Citizens’ Stadium Advisory Group knew early on we needed to take a holistic approach to focusing on Mission Valley as a part of any stadium plan.
9. Reality Check: Stadium Events Don’t Cover Stadium Costs
Stadium boosters often claim a new Chargers stadium could bring in hundreds of events. But many of those events don’t make that much money and they’re not being counted on to finance a new stadium.
10. Four Things to Know About the New Year-Round Homeless Shelter
Replacing the city’s winter tents is a 350-bed, year-round, bricks-and-mortar homeless shelter in St. Vincent de Paul’s Paul Mirable Center in East Village. A continuation of the winter tents — let alone a year-round shelter — wasn’t supposed to be in the city’s future, and the move has been questioned for a few reasons. Here are four things to keep in mind amid all the changes.