News | San Diego County probation officials withhold evidence from civilian oversight board By Jeff McDonald October 13, 2024 at 5:01 a.m. Twice officials have challenged the board’s request for documents, and without the evidence, the cases...
SUBSCRIBER ONLY News | SANDAG writes off $67M in uncollectible fees, pushes toll fixes back months By Jeff McDonald October 12, 2024 at 5:01 a.m. The announcements came as the agency's board publicly vented that they had been misled, again,...
SUBSCRIBER ONLY News | San Diego rejects local businessman’s $10M offer to buy 101 Ash, convert it to homeless housing By Jeff McDonald October 7, 2024 at 3:02 p.m. After months of negotiations with the mayor's office, the supportive housing project was passed over...
News | Who is subject to civilian oversight? Sheriff argues board lacks jurisdiction over her department By Jeff McDonald October 6, 2024 at 5:05 a.m. She said the board can only issue misconduct or other findings against individual deputies, not...
News | Sheriff introduces new jail safety efforts, and faces critics, in first oversight-board appearance and in-depth interview By Kelly Davis October 6, 2024 at 1:38 p.m. If no one else dies in San Diego jails this year, it will be the...
News | Oceanside treasurer candidate arrested, subject of emergency gun order By Jeff McDonald October 5, 2024 at 5:01 a.m. The case against Jack Fernandes, one of two people challenging incumbent Treasurer Victor Roy, remains...
Education | Another major report recommends charter school oversight reforms after A3 fraud case By Kristen Taketa October 2, 2024 at 5:01 a.m. A court-ordered task force recommended several changes for charter school audits and auditors.
News | In 5 years since investigation, little progress in stopping deaths in San Diego County jails By Jeff McDonald October 2, 2024 at 11:33 a.m. Many of the deaths have been preventable, and some are disturbingly similar, raising questions about...
SUBSCRIBER ONLY Education | San Diego teens’ scrutiny of nonprofit spurs district-wide audit of school foundations By Kristen Taketa September 30, 2024 at 6:35 a.m. 'To support the continued success of our foundations, recent questions regarding its operations must be...
SUBSCRIBER ONLY News | San Dieguito school trustee subject of state political investigation By Jeff McDonald September 28, 2024 at 12:53 p.m. That means FPPC enforcement officials completed a first-look review of the complaints and determined there...
Politics | Fletcher under investigation for paying defense lawyers with Senate campaign funds By Jeff McDonald September 24, 2024 at 9:08 p.m. Disclosures show he paid more than $500,000 in campaign funds to his legal team in...
SUBSCRIBER ONLY Education | Long before legal claims, San Diego Unified fielded at least 3 other complaints about its now-fired chief By Kristen Taketa September 23, 2024 at 12:28 p.m. The district deemed two of the complaints rumors that did not merit an investigation. A...
News | In unusual rebuke of sheriff, medical examiner rules diabetic man’s jail death a homicide by neglect By Kelly Davis September 20, 2024 at 1:07 p.m. Keith Galen Bach's insulin pump had likely been beeping nonstop for nearly 24 hours, an...
Politics | San Diego mayoral candidate Larry Turner fined $500 by ethics commission By Jeff McDonald September 17, 2024 at 4:40 p.m. According to a stipulation posted on the commission’s website, the committee controlled by Turner distributed...
SUBSCRIBER ONLY Education | Two San Diego teens investigated their high school foundation’s finances. Then one got called in to the principal. By Kristen Taketa September 20, 2024 at 9:42 a.m. The school principal and foundation blasted the report as untrue.
Politics | Federal regulators question San Diego GOP financial reports, seek new details on spending, fundraising By Jeff McDonald September 17, 2024 at 4:39 p.m. The U.S. Federal Elections Commission wants to know why local party officials reported a negative...
Politics | State elections regulators receive new complaint against DeMaio campaign for state Assembly By Jeff McDonald September 14, 2024 at 12:34 p.m. The allegations are unrelated to an FPPC investigation opened earlier this year.
Courts | Weeks after San Diego investors sue over alleged gold scam, judge orders firm into bankruptcy By Jeff McDonald September 13, 2024 at 12:58 p.m. The decision ordering Oxford Gold Group into a Chapter 7 case came after company executives...
News | Judge rejects effort to reinstate city workers’ asbestos lawsuit against San Diego By Jeff McDonald September 11, 2024 at 3:14 p.m. She said the newly submitted testimony was not different enough from evidence provided earlier to...
SUBSCRIBER ONLY Education | Understaffed and underprepared: Behind San Diego Unified’s failures on Title IX, and how it’s been working to fix them By Kristen Taketa September 10, 2024 at 12:09 p.m. Since last year, the district has reorganized its investigations office and brought in new investigators...
News | ‘So happy to be back’: After seven months in turmoil, these flood victims are finally home By Emily Alvarenga September 7, 2024 at 4:01 p.m. At least half a dozen families displaced in January are home again. But restrictions on...
San Diego County agrees to pay $1.1M to settle lawsuit over juvenile hall death By Jeff McDonald September 5, 2024 at 12:00 p.m. Negligence by county officers alleged by the boy’s family in a federal lawsuit will cost...
Lawyers for alleged gold-scam victims seek involuntary bankruptcy for firm By Jeff McDonald September 5, 2024 at 3:54 p.m. A hearing is set in October for a petition aimed at protecting Oxford Gold Group...
‘Unsanitary, unethical, unprofessional’: San Diego sheriff’s oversight board dismisses complaints due to lack of jurisdiction By Jeff McDonald September 5, 2024 at 3:19 p.m. The allegations submitted to the Citizens’ Law Enforcement Review Board, or CLERB, were summarily dismissed....
SUBSCRIBER ONLY News | Days before criminal sentencing, former Chula Vista councilwoman faces new investigation, state officials say By Jeff McDonald August 25, 2024 at 5:00 a.m. Andrea Cardenas is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday. Her brother, political consultant Jesus Cardenas,...
News | Doctor involved in Elisa Serna jail death loses medical license By Jeff McDonald August 24, 2024 at 4:34 p.m. Carol Ann Gilmore did not show up at a hearing to defend herself, the state...
News | State regulators’ fight to revoke Ash Street broker’s license delayed until February By Jeff McDonald August 22, 2024 at 6:22 p.m. Jason Hughes will have until next year to prepare his case.
Business | A San Diego couple thought they’d invested in gold. Instead, they and hundreds of others say they were scammed. By Jeff McDonald September 4, 2024 at 12:03 p.m. Their new proposed class-action lawsuit accuses a Beverly Hills company of closing its doors and...
Politics | Furor over virtual public comment highlights a quandary for San Diego — participation or efficiency? By David Garrick August 18, 2024 at 5:01 a.m. Council President Sean Elo-Rivera abandoned an effort to do away with Zoom and phone comments...
News | As cannabis license deadline looms, county applicants warned of potential scam By Jeff McDonald August 17, 2024 at 5:00 a.m. Consultants are pushing contracts that assume a huge proportion of future profits.
News | Sheriff details new enhanced jail screening to curb drug deaths. Will it be enough? By Jeff McDonald August 17, 2024 at 6:05 p.m. Advocates still hope the department will go further to protect incarcerated people, after a series...
News | Get free or reduced-fare transit? A crackdown is coming — and could be especially tough on kids By Maura Fox August 11, 2024 at 5:02 a.m. The new requirement is meant to ensure that reduced fares are available only to those...
SUBSCRIBER ONLY News | Here’s how much big legal payouts are costing San Diego — and what’s costing it the most By Jeff McDonald August 11, 2024 at 11:04 a.m. 'One of the common denominators is the lack of accountability,' says one lawyer whose clients...
News | Consumer group can intervene in insurance rate cases, after state’s unusual invitation to challenges By Jeff McDonald August 7, 2024 at 6:15 p.m. A usually routine annual certification had been delayed by regulators, in what Consumer Watchdog charged...
Politics | Weeks ahead of criminal sentencing, former Chula Vista council member admits civil violation By Tammy Murga August 7, 2024 at 7:04 p.m. Andrea Cardenas will pay a $100 fine to resolve the complaint that she violated state...
Gloria administration, predecessor approved millions in public contracts without council approval, audit finds By Jeff McDonald August 5, 2024 at 4:29 p.m. Recommendations from prior audits were never fully implemented, new report says
News | Criticized for restricting public comment, city council vows to respect the Brown Act By Jerry Wu August 4, 2024 at 10:07 a.m. It’s not the first time San Diego has faced accusations of violating public transparency laws.
News | Who’s gotten $15M in community grants since supervisors ended public approval? Here’s what our review found By Jerry Wu July 29, 2024 at 6:38 p.m. The San Diego Union-Tribune identified eight awards to seven charities that were out of compliance...
News | Corporate landlord agrees to $20M settlement of local businessman’s False Claims Act lawsuit By Jeff McDonald July 28, 2024 at 5:02 a.m. Neil Senturia, whose machine-learning program scanned thousands of building-permit records around California, will share the...
SUBSCRIBER ONLY News | Shelter lease negotiator’s dual roles raise questions about conflicts of interest By Jeff McDonald July 28, 2024 at 5:00 a.m. Cushman is a paid consultant on the mayor's controversial plan. He also serves on San...
News | Facing mounting questions and persistent opposition, Gloria delays homeless shelter plan By Jeff McDonald July 25, 2024 at 6:41 p.m. The council will consider a revised lease later this year, rather than next week, after...
News | Probation officers faulted for beating disabled boy in juvenile hall By Jeff McDonald July 14, 2024 at 5:00 a.m. Three officers used excessive force against the boy, the San Diego County Citizens’ Law Enforcement...
News | Man died in San Diego jail after deputies wrongly placed him in cell with violent offender, outside review finds By Jeff McDonald July 14, 2024 at 4:50 a.m. The first-degree murder case against the killer is scheduled for a hearing this week, with...
News | Transparency or retaliation? State insurance chief accused of targeting critic By Jeff McDonald July 14, 2024 at 5:55 p.m. The advocacy group Consumer Watchdog has yet to receive what has historically been a routine...
News | Sheriff boosts jail safety protocols but stops short of body scans for all By Jeff McDonald July 11, 2024 at 7:13 p.m. Her announcement comes after calls for routine drug screening from the county's civilian oversight board...
News | Search under way for new San Diego Ethics Commission chief By Jeff McDonald July 12, 2024 at 12:26 p.m. Sharon Spivak is leaving after 19 years of city service
News | City attorney employee says she was sexually harassed, assaulted at work By Jeff McDonald July 10, 2024 at 5:52 p.m. Her lawsuit accuses the city of hiring a former San Diego police sergeant despite a...
News | After record $15 million settlement, San Diego County still confronts a slew of other jail-death lawsuits By Jeff McDonald July 8, 2024 at 10:00 a.m. Many of the lawsuits over people's deaths in local jails accuse the Sheriff’s Department of...
News | San Diego OKs $287,500 payout to 2 people injured on damaged road, sidewalk By Jeff McDonald July 5, 2024 at 1:38 p.m. And according to city budget records, the office in charge of managing claims is growing.
News | His cancer surgery was delayed for months while he was in jail. Now he’s sued the sheriff. By Jeff McDonald July 4, 2024 at 11:26 a.m. Clarence Hightower underwent his surgery last July, days after The San Diego Union-Tribune reported on...
News | ‘We will be watching’: After historic settlement, Elisa Serna’s parents look to reform deadly jails By Jeff McDonald July 2, 2024 at 10:27 p.m. 'I don't see change,' her mother said Tuesday, just after agreeing to end a lawsuit...
News | San Diego County settles Elisa Serna jail death lawsuit for $15 million, and limited federal oversight By Jeff McDonald July 2, 2024 at 7:57 p.m. 'The dollar amount doesn’t matter,' said her mother, who plans to keep advocating for other...
News | Deputies wrongly allowed drugs into San Diego County jails, investigation finds By Jeff McDonald June 29, 2024 at 5:01 a.m. The sheriff's oversight board has sustained two more misconduct findings in recent jail deaths.
News | Man dies in San Diego jail one day after arrest, marking 6th in-custody death this year By Jeff McDonald June 27, 2024 at 4:59 p.m. The man was found dead Wednesday night on the floor of a shower inside the...
News | Days after Union-Tribune report, feds agree to pay $4,000 for damage to teen’s car By Jeff McDonald June 27, 2024 at 6:24 p.m. The owner of a Honda Civic hit by a federal employee was given no explanation...
SUBSCRIBER ONLY Energy | SDG&E agrees to pay $71,000 fine over 2021 power shutoff By Rob Nikolewski June 24, 2024 at 4:04 p.m. SDG&E agrees to pay nearly $71,000 in fines related to power shutoff during Thanksgiving 2021
How California agencies are keeping misconduct investigations secret despite transparency laws By Kristen Taketa June 23, 2024 at 6:19 a.m. School districts and other public agencies are using attorneys to conduct fact-finding investigations for misconduct...
Politics | A park, a migrant center and help for victims of violence: What’s changed in the county’s revised $8.5B budget By Emily Alvarenga June 20, 2024 at 10:10 a.m. The revised budget adds almost $46.9 million in spending, nearly all of which will go...
News | E-bike nonprofit CEO accused of faking program data, mixing public and private business By Jeff McDonald June 18, 2024 at 7:38 p.m. A former Pedal Ahead manager makes the allegations in claims filed this week with SANDAG...
News | Hundreds of vacancies at San Diego city and county boards hobble missions, delay work By Jeff McDonald June 17, 2024 at 10:19 a.m. With more than 1,800 seats and rules tailored to each of the nearly 200 bodies...
News | One San Diego teen’s fender-bender is a lesson in government accountability — and the lack of it By Jeff McDonald June 17, 2024 at 6:40 a.m. Some of the most basic tenets of American democracy are the ideas that we all...
News | In latest setback, San Diego’s utility office wrongly debits hundreds of auto-pay water customers By Jeff McDonald June 14, 2024 at 1:51 p.m. The announcement by city officials comes three weeks after a county grand jury report detailed...
News | Catholic diocese will seek bankruptcy protection from hundreds of sex-abuse claims By Jeff McDonald June 13, 2024 at 5:40 p.m. The San Diego diocese's Chapter 11 petition will be filed Monday, Cardinal Robert McElroy says
News | Poway Unified fired its superintendent for allegedly interfering in investigation related to her daughter By Kristen Taketa June 13, 2024 at 5:07 p.m. The district said it found that Marian Kim Phelps had leveraged her position to initiate...
News | Internship for daughter of San Diego mayor’s top aide raises questions about city’s nepotism policy, recruitment By Jeff McDonald June 9, 2024 at 12:01 p.m. SAN DIEGO — The daughter of the top adviser to San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria was awarded...
News | Sheriff won’t be deposed in class-action case challenging jail conditions By Jeff McDonald June 8, 2024 at 1:40 p.m. Sheriff Kelly Martinez will not have to sit for a deposition with lawyers suing her...
News | Effort to strengthen ethics panel moves toward full San Diego City Council vote By Jeff McDonald June 8, 2024 at 12:19 a.m. An effort to boost the independence and authority of the San Diego Ethics Commission is...
News | Who will lead civilian sheriff oversight? San Diego County board moves closer to finding new executive officer By Jeff McDonald June 3, 2024 at 12:01 p.m. A panel of residents from all five San Diego County supervisorial districts has been chosen...
News | San Diego County faces new lawsuit from UCSD professor in wake of Nathan Fletcher allegations By Jeff McDonald May 31, 2024 at 1:46 a.m. SAN DIEGO — The legal repercussions surrounding the sexual assault and harassment allegations against former San Diego...
News | San Diego officials misled the public on Chollas Creek flood-control work, new suit alleges By Jeff McDonald May 30, 2024 at 12:01 p.m. A new lawsuit accuses San Diego city officials of wrongly claiming in years of budget...
News | More independence, sharper teeth: Elliott’s ethics plan would overhaul how campaign, lobbying rules are enforced By Jeff McDonald May 30, 2024 at 10:14 p.m. More than two decades ago, the city of San Diego established an ethics board to...
News | San Diego’s unusual deal to settle asbestos violations? Planting thousands of trees By Jeff McDonald May 28, 2024 at 10:52 p.m. Last month, when San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria appeared at a Logan Heights park to...
News | Interim SANDAG chief executive to resign rather than return to position as deputy CEO By Jeff McDonald May 25, 2024 at 2:42 a.m. Coleen Clementson, the longtime deputy at the San Diego Association of Governments who stepped in...
News | No more tolls on SR-125? SANDAG is considering it – but making the road free would take years and cost millions By Jeff McDonald May 24, 2024 at 10:47 p.m. The San Diego Association of Governments could spend millions of dollars to do away with...
News | Jason Hughes, broker in 101 Ash St. deal, wins bid to stop his license from being revoked By Jeff McDonald May 17, 2024 at 2:20 a.m. A Superior Court judge has blocked the California Department of Real Estate from revoking the...
News | No immediate decision on whether sheriff will be compelled to testify in San Diego jails suit By Jeff McDonald May 16, 2024 at 4:05 p.m. Sheriff Kelly Martinez is not avoiding a proposed deposition in the federal lawsuit challenging her...
News | Judge dismisses lawsuit accusing San Diego officials of exposing city workers to asbestos By Jeff McDonald May 15, 2024 at 3:10 a.m. Early last year, just weeks before a jury was scheduled to decide whether the city...
News | Public school, religious instruction: Many San Diego County charter school students are also enrolling in religious programs By Kristen Taketa June 12, 2024 at 11:51 a.m. In San Diego County and across California, some K-12 school students are getting what their...
News | SANDAG, facing federal investigation, OKs $500,000 for outside lawyers to respond By Jeff McDonald May 10, 2024 at 5:44 p.m. Officials at the San Diego Association of Governments, the regional planning agency that controls a...
News | As deaths and lawsuits pile up, sheriff selects another medical provider for San Diego County jails By Jeff McDonald May 10, 2024 at 8:51 p.m. Tucked inside a lengthy declaration filed by one of the attorneys suing to impose reforms...
News | Plaintiffs challenging San Diego County jail practices want a court order to depose sheriff By Jeff McDonald May 7, 2024 at 1:27 p.m. Lawyers suing the San Diego County Sheriff's Department are asking a federal judge to compel...
News | Asbestos, city workers and high-rise renovations: Showdown looms in lawsuit that recalls 101 Ash St. By Jeff McDonald May 4, 2024 at 12:01 p.m. A downtown high-rise riddled with asbestos. Hundreds of San Diego city employees toiling away during...
News | Jury awards $1.8 million to family of man who died in San Diego County jail 10 years ago By Jeff McDonald May 3, 2024 at 5:35 p.m. The family of a man who died in a San Diego County jail more than...
News | San Diego County civilian oversight board struggles in wake of resignation and vacancies By Jeff McDonald May 3, 2024 at 12:01 p.m. The executive officer just quit, saying his findings and recommendations were not being taken seriously...
News | Flush with tax revenue and other income, San Diego County releases $8.5B spending plan By Jeff McDonald May 3, 2024 at 2:39 a.m. San Diego County unveiled its long-awaited proposed budget for the upcoming year on Thursday, a...
News | San Diego rejects proposal to limit corporate, labor union money in city elections with public financing By David Garrick April 25, 2024 at 12:01 p.m. SAN DIEGO — An effort to limit corporate and labor union money in San Diego city elections...
News | Would-be homeless shelter landlord borrowed millions against proposed 35-year deal, county records show By Jeff McDonald April 21, 2024 at 12:01 p.m. On the same day investor Douglas Hamm paid more than $13 million for the abandoned...
News | Years after Elisa Serna’s death in jail, newly unsealed records reveal damning details of serious lapses in her care By Jeff McDonald April 20, 2024 at 2:43 p.m. Witnesses saw her stumbling around her cell, wobbly and falling down. She was vomiting repeatedly,...
News | San Diego mayor to pay $10,500 fine for not disclosing donations he solicited, including to his nonprofit By Jeff McDonald April 18, 2024 at 8:38 p.m. One of the lesser-known privileges of being an elected official in California is the right...
News | San Diego’s dubious real estate track record slows down mayor’s proposed new 1,000-bed shelter By Jeff McDonald April 15, 2024 at 5:50 p.m. It is the biggest and most expensive effort yet aimed at tackling the persistent crisis...
News | SANDAG executives take responsibility for SR-125 toll failures but don’t explain why they waited to act By Jeff McDonald April 13, 2024 at 12:49 a.m. Senior managers at the San Diego Association of Governments accepted full responsibility for a series...
News | San Diego isn’t properly reporting or evaluating hundreds of millions in homelessness spending, state audit finds By Jeff McDonald April 10, 2024 at 4:03 a.m. San Diego city officials spent hundreds of millions of dollars over three years to fight...
News | One union spent heavily to remake county Democratic leadership in elected officials’ image. Party activists aren’t thrilled. By Jeff McDonald April 8, 2024 at 1:52 p.m. Historically, campaigns for seats on a political party's central committee were low-key, low-dollar affairs.The candidates...
News | Judge orders Elisa Serna jail-death evidence unsealed, after Union-Tribune moves to intervene By Jeff McDonald April 6, 2024 at 1:38 a.m. A San Diego federal judge ordered that dozens of video recordings, interviews and other evidence...
News | What charter schools and authorizers should be doing to prevent fraud, according to a new report By Kristen Taketa April 4, 2024 at 8:01 p.m. A new report calls for several improvements in charter school practices to prevent potential financial...
News | Should San Diego whistleblowers get more protections? Here’s what the city is proposing By David Garrick April 4, 2024 at 12:01 p.m. SAN DIEGO — San Diego city leaders say they want to strengthen the city's protections for whistleblower...
News | Union-Tribune, CBS 8 seek to intervene in Serna case in effort to unseal jail-death records, exhibits By Jeff McDonald April 3, 2024 at 8:27 p.m. In the five years since Elisa Serna died alone on the floor of her cell...
News | Repeated failures by San Diego County jail health provider prompt sheriff to order it to fix deficiencies By Jeff McDonald April 2, 2024 at 3:34 p.m. The prime contractor delivering health care services in San Diego County jails failed to pay...
News | How transparent are San Diego’s school boards? Some districts and charters aren’t making all their business public By Kristen Taketa March 31, 2024 at 12:01 p.m. Dozens of charter schools and a couple of school districts in San Diego County do...
News | Top deputy named interim executive officer at county’s civilian oversight board By Jeff McDonald March 30, 2024 at 5:09 p.m. The top assistant to the former executive in charge of the San Diego County Citizens’...