These were the most popular Voice of San Diego stories for the week.
1.District Discovers Docs Showing Teacher Suspected of Crime Received No Discipline
San Diego Unified said for years it had no records of complaints against La Jolla High School teacher Martin Teachworth. Now, it has provided documents showing school police believed he committed a crime against a student and that other students complained about inappropriate touching for years, yet officials took no action against him. (Sara Libby)
2. Sweetwater Agreed to Pay $2 Million to Former Student Abused by JROTC Teacher
The settlement not only illuminates the ways in which problem educators can move from school district to school district but the extremely high cost — morally and financially — such moves can have for districts that decline to thoroughly examine the backgrounds of the educators they hire. (Kayla Jimenez)
3. Opinion: Horton Plaza Project Would Breathe New Life Into Downtown
The Campus at Horton project could help position downtown as an adaptive and creative center with an eye toward a sustainable future. (Betsy Brennan, Mark Cafferty and Jerry Sanders)
4. As Resignation Pressure Mounts, Beiser Hunkers Down
Aside from an initial denial, San Diego Unified Trustee Kevin Beiser hasn’t made any public appearances or statements since four men accused him of sexual misconduct. The Board of Trustees plans to vote Tuesday on a resolution formally calling on Beiser to resign. But if Beiser continues to ignore calls for him to step down, the board won’t have many other options. (Andrew Keatts)
5. Labor, Allies and Mayor Take on a Councilman and the Left in Convention Center Fight
The mayor and labor leaders are rallying to move the Convention Center measure they jointly negotiated with business leaders to the March 2020 ballot, instead of putting it before voters in November 2020. But activists and one city councilman are working hard to thwart that plan. (Scott Lewis)
6. Environment Report: For Long-Term Water Supply, U.S. Officials Look to Mexico
Officials want to study the health effects of dust in the Tijuana River Valley, SoCalGas sees a threat from SoCal Edison and more in our biweekly roundup of environmental news. (Ry Rivard)
7. Signature-Gathering Lawsuits Bring Some of the Industry’s Biggest Tensions to Light
Three lawsuits — involving the San Diego Convention Center and the Chargers stadium ballot measures — filed in San Diego against a high-profile signature-gathering company shed light on some of the pay disputes and complaints of fraud that have long plagued the industry. (Will Fritz)
8. San Diego Unified Moved a Problem Principal to Districtwide Role, Then Paid Him to Leave
San Diego Unified determined former Serra High principal Vincent Mays harassed employees and faked his diploma. It gave him a central office job, then paid him not to work for 17 months and agreed not to tell future employers about his conduct. (Will Huntsberry)
9. SDSU Aiming for Mission Valley Discount
During the contentious campaign to decide the fate of Mission Valley last fall, SDSU and its boosters repeatedly promised to pay “fair market value” for the old Qualcomm Stadium site. Now, a top school official says the city should reduce the sales price by millions of dollars. (Ry Rivard)
10. Politics Report: The Way Things Are Now
Democrats are in charge and they’re getting a lot of what they want but new ruptures are appearing within the liberal coalition. (Andrew Keatts and Lisa Halverstadt)