These were the most popular Voice of San Diego stories for the week of Sept. 29 to Oct. 6.
1. The Move Is on to Push the Homeless Out of East Village
A deadly hepatitis A outbreak has given city officials an opening to clear some of its entrenched homeless camps, and new shelters could bring more police enforcement too. (Lisa Halverstadt)
2. County Won’t Share Many Details on Where Hepatitis A Cases and Deaths Are Happening
County public health officials have released only simple maps revealing clusters of a hepatitis A outbreak that’s sickened more than 480 people, citing privacy laws and other challenges. Without more specific location data from the county, cities are basing sanitation efforts on public complaints and areas where their homeless populations cluster. (Lisa Halverstadt)
3. San Diego’s Economy Is Doing Worse Than Everyone Realized
Recently released numbers indicate San Diego’s GDP growth between 2003 and 2005 was much higher than formerly reported, and the recession came sooner and significantly worse. The past few years also show much weaker growth than previously estimated. (Kelly Cunningham)
4. County Puts Up Port-a-Potty Next to Actual Public Restroom at Waterfront Park
The county’s Waterfront Park has great public restrooms. So why is it putting up temporary toilets? (Scott Lewis)
5. The Six Ideas Taking Hold in Innovative San Diego Schools
While the San Diego County schools exploring personalized learning all have their own idea of what it means, there are common threads that run through all the models. (Maya Srikrishnan)
6. Time to Enforce the Law and Ban Short-Term Vacation Rentals
The proliferation of short-term vacation rentals across San Diego has consumed housing stock and destroyed entire neighborhoods. (
7. SANDAG Staff Says 2004 Promises Can Only Be Met With Two More Gas Tax Hikes
SANDAG leaders say they figured out how the agency can finish all the transportation projects it promised voters as part of a 2004 tax increase. They just need California legislators to raise the gas tax two more times. (Andrew Keatts)
8. I Made it in San Diego: The Man Who Helped Sell San Diego on Fish Tacos
It’s hard to imagine, but there was a time when San Diego wasn’t so sure about fish tacos. Ralph Rubio helped change all that. (Sara Libby)
9. San Diego DA’s Prosecution of Pot Attorney Has Sent Chills Through the Legal Community
Lawyers in San Diego and beyond worry the prosecution of a lawyer who represents a marijuana business could force a central tenet of practicing law – attorney-client privilege – to go up in smoke. (Jonah Valdez)
10. Months of Emails, Then a Mad Scramble: How the Hepatitis A Crisis Unfolded Behind the Scenes
Emails show county and city officials exchanged sporadic, cordial emails about the hepatitis A outbreak for months. Even when officials did express concern about the virus, those concerns remained mostly private. (Lisa Halverstadt)