These were the most popular Voice of San Diego stories for the week of Dec. 29-Jan. 5.
1. How California’s Plan to Protect Undocumented Immigrants Will Play Out in San Diego
California’s new law restricting how and when local law enforcement agencies can work with federal immigration officials is now in effect. Here’s how it’ll work in San Diego. (Maya Srikrishnan)
2. San Diego’s Economy is Fine Without the Chargers – Some Businesses Aren’t So Lucky
A year after the Chargers decamped for Los Angeles, San Diego’s economy is doing just fine. But without the economic activity from the team’s former fans, some local businesses are struggling. (Jonah Valdez)
3. Deal Between City and SDSU to Keep Playing Football at SDCCU Stadium Still Elusive
The city of San Diego and SDSU are still trying to hammer out a deal so the university can keep playing football at SDCCU Stadium after 2018, but it’s only getting more complicated. (Scott Lewis)
4. The Year San Diego Unified Established Itself as the Agency Most Hostile to Transparency
Over the last year, through outright denials or staggeringly slow responses to public records requests, refusals to discuss important decisions and misleading public statements, the district established itself as the public agency most hostile to transparency in San Diego. (Mario Koran)
5. Chula Vista Offered Free Land and Tax Relief to Amazon Based on Nothing
Leaders in the South Bay community would be happy to host Amazon’s new headquarters. But their real goal? To be taken seriously by tech companies. (Jesse Marx)
6. Chula Vista Redefines Affordable Housing, and Cuts Deal to Build Less of It
Chula Vista struck a deal to have a developer build new dorms for the Olympic Training Center instead of providing affordable housing in a nearby project. But now, a state agency has determined the dorms don’t count towards the city’s low-income housing obligations. (Ry Rivard)
7. What to Watch on the Homelessness Front in 2018
San Diego leaders rushed to implement a flurry of short-term solutions to a growing homelessness problem in 2017. Here’s what to watch in 2018. (Lisa Halverstadt)
8. City Council Republicans Call for Council Leadership Selection Overhaul
Fresh off a selection process that left him without a key chairmanship, City Councilman Scott Sherman and fellow Republicans are pushing for a change in how the City Council selects its leader. (Lisa Halverstadt)
9. So Say Them All: A Look Back at 2017’s Wackiest Quotes
A look back at scary Slurpees, nutty 911 callers, a foul-mouthed congressman, terrible tacos and much more. (Randy Dotinga)
10. Opinion: Want to Stop that Foul Odor? Give the Homeless More Bathrooms.
As a hotel manager, I learned that keeping the homeless out of the lobby bathrooms was the wrong approach. It’s time that businesses and philanthropic organizations step up and consider longer-term solutions to the city’s growing problem. (Tom Cartwright)