By Mike Madriaga On October 13, as we neared The Westin San Diego Gaslamp Quarter, next door to Horton Plaza, the chants of the strikers in red shirts became louder. At the glass door entrances by the hotel loop, there were stanchions separating us from two protestors. “We are on strike and we ask you […]
By Mike Madriaga Bonnie Anderson is a 76-year-old business and property owner from Webster. Like many San Diegans, she’s rented part of her house near Federal and Euclid to pay for bills and the balance of her home’s mortgage . “The rent is only $1,200 a month, and I pay all utilities,” Anderson said to […]
By Mike Madriaga When word reached me that the walls of Writerz Blok, the first legal graffiti art park in the United States, were knocked down, I had to hear it and see it to believe it. On October 9, I pulled up to the Walgreens on Euclid and Market and parked my car. Writerz […]
By Mike Madriaga Martial arts instructor Matt Armstrong and his “Trash-Vengers” crew picked up thousands of pounds of trash from their Azalea Park streets and canyons in the last couple of years — free of charge. On June 5 at about noon, I rolled with Armstrong and his buddy Cindy Lapio — half of the […]
“Downtown Chula Vista is developing right now,” Ruben Torres said, “you can see all of the breweries and cafes opening and finding their own identities.” Torres, the outreach director for the Light Church, is branding their congregation in a similar fashion to their hipster neighbors on Third Avenue just a block away. Every Sunday at 10:15 […]
Matthew Philbin just turned 30 years old on March 18. He celebrated his birthday by hopping into his lifted Dodge Ram truck and picking up one of his new tenants. “I pick them up with their backpack, suitcase, duffle bag, shopping cart or whatever — drive them to their new apartment, and I give them […]
Over the weekend (November 18–19), Matt Armstrong says he pulled out 350 pounds of trash from Manzanita Canyon — by himself. “I usually like to go out in the late morning/early afternoon, as there is very little homeless contact during that time, as they are all out foraging [for food and other stuff],” he said. […]
On October 9, Tom Davis from Kensington received a letter from AT&T. It read: “Boundary Area Code Elimination Overlay Approved for the 619 and 858 Area Codes,” followed by an explanation and new procedures for dialing within our local area codes. “It’s an inconvenience, but it’s just a side effect on our reliance of technology,” […]
By Mike Madriaga The American flag barely moved on August 2. The sound of thunder wasn’t from the gloomy skies above but from a caravan of motorcycles here in town for national Bikers for Christ weekend. “Close to 400 bikes showed up to our gathering this day,” said Pastor Z, the organizer of the meeting […]