Free Republic

Some 40 people have been killed in drug-related violence in the past week in Tijuana, bringing the total so far this year to more than 400. On Monday, 12 bodies were found outside an elementary school and an additional four victims were discovered in another section of the city. Nine more bodies were discovered near a day care on Thursday and two other bodies were found elsewhere.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 1, 2008 – Wounded servicemembers and their families in San Diego will have a second “home away from home” during the recovery process when Naval Medical Center San Diego celebrates the grand opening of Fisher House II on Oct. 3. Fisher House II, the second Fisher House facility serving Naval Medical Center San Diego, stands ready for its Oct. 3, 2008, grand opening. Courtesy photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The Fisher Houses provide respite and accommodations for families of active and retired military patients who have been admitted for medical care. “This facility represents the...

The stakes in last night's presidential debate could not have been higher. But our guess is that neither John McCain nor Barack Obama changed many minds, including those of the relatively small slice of voters who remain undecided. There were no defining moments in the 90-minute encounter, no knockout blows, no campaign-altering gaffes. Both candidates fell back on the familiar themes and well-worn rhetoric of an often-unilluminating campaign. Although the debate initially was to focus on foreign policy, moderator Jim Lehrer quite properly did his very best to pin Obama and McCain down on the crisis roiling the credit markets....

<p>Daniel Andreas San Diego grew up in a safe and quiet suburb of San Francisco, the son of a city manager in California's affluent Marin County. Now 30, he swore off drugs and drink as a young man — and even milk and meat — but the straight-edge San Diego was no straight shooter.</p>

Completion of fence along U.S.—Mexico border hinges on Congress approving the transfer of $400 million in existing infrastructure and technology funding Washington, D.C. – U.S. Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-CA) today commended the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) proposal to reprogram available border infrastructure and technology funding for the completion of physical fencing on the U.S.-Mexico border. Congressman Hunter also received confirmation from DHS that such action, if approved by Congressional Appropriations Committees, will not impede the fence construction project at “Smugglers Gulch” in San Diego, California. I strongly support the proposal by DHS to take money from virtual fence and...

A math teacher sued his school district after the principal told him the words "In God We Trust" and "All Men Are Created Equal, They Are Endowed By Their Creator" must be removed from his homeroom wall because they convey a Judeo-Christian viewpoint. In January, Principal Dawn Kastner told Westview High School math teacher Bradley Johnson that a banner he had posted in his classroom for 25 years, and another that was posted for 17 years, needed to come down. The older banner, measuring 7 feet by 2 feet, contained the words "In God We Trust," "One Nation Under God,"...

Muslim beliefs are barely understood in the United States, if not intentionally distorted. It can also be hard for outsiders to know who speaks for Muslims, a diverse and complex group still finding its footing in America. **snip** Leaders hope that someday they will create a statewide body, a coalition for what may be the largest Muslim population in the nation.

080828-N-2420K-001 SAN DIEGO (Aug. 28, 2008) The conventional-powered aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) departs San Diego Harbor as she makes the voyage to her new homeport of Bremerton, Wash. At 47 years old, Kitty Hawk is the Navy's second oldest active-duty warship and was replaced this summer by the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73) as the Navy's only permanently forward-deployed aircraft carrier. Kitty Hawk is expected to arrive at Bremerton's Puget Sound Naval Shipyard Sept. 2 for decommissioning in early 2009. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Jonathan Kulp /Released) 080828-N-2757S-005...

SAN DIEGO, Aug. 20 (UPI) -- The University of San Diego has withdrawn its offer of an endowed chair to a Catholic feminist scholar who supports abortion rights. The announcement that Rosemary Radford Ruether had been appointed to the Monsignor John R. Portman Chair in Roman Catholic Theology was greeted with dismay by many Catholic and anti-abortion groups, the San Diego Union-Tribune said Wednesday. Ruether sits on the board of Catholics for a Free Choice.University spokeswoman Patricia Gray Payton said that one person who did not object was the anonymous benefactor who endowed the chair."Her public position and the symbol...

Petition signers want University of San Diego to reverse course, re-invite “feminist theologian” to honorary professorship An online petition signed by thousands is asking the University of San Diego to again change its position and re-invite “feminist theologian” Rosemary Radford Ruether to take an honorary, yearlong professorship at the Catholic school. [[ATaylor081408.jpg]]Ruether, a supporter of abortion rights, contraception and the renaming of God, had been invited to hold the Monsignor John R. Portman Chair in Roman Catholic Theology at USD for the academic year 2009-2010, a decision that prompted a flood of complaints after California Catholic Daily first reported news...

<p>SAN DIEGO - Scrapers and bulldozers began filling a deep canyon Friday to make way for a border fence in the southwestern corner of the United States after 12 years of planning, environmental reviews and legal challenges.</p> <p>The 3 1/2-mile stretch extends from a state park on an oceanfront cliff through a canyon known as Smuggler's Gulch. The gorge was overrun by illegal immigrants until U.S. authorities launched a crackdown in the 1990s that pushed traffic to the remote mountains and deserts of California and Arizona.</p>

SAN DIEGO — The officer in charge of a Navy flight squadron that provides the president and the defense secretary the airborne ability to command and control the nation's nuclear submarines, bombers and missile silos has been relieved of duty, FOX News has confirmed.

DOWNTOWN SAN DIEGO – Social and environmental groups yesterday challenged a multistate proposal to trim greenhouse gas emissions because they fear it would harm low-income communities and be vulnerable to fraud. Protesters showed up outside a meeting of the Western Climate Initiative in San Diego, where leaders from several states and Canadian provinces discussed their pollution-reduction compact. California supports the blueprint, which aims to drop climate pollutants 15 percent below 2005 levels by 2020. The most controversial aspect is a plan to create a cap-and-trade system for atmospheric pollutants. Once emission limits are set by the 11 participating governments, high-polluting...

In a bizarre effort to balance California's budget, state officials listed San Diego on EBay yesterday. Gov. Schwarzenegger said he was initially reluctant to authorize the sale, but decided "nobody will really miss the city anyway. It's not like the Padres or Chargers have ever won a World Series or Super Bowl." Although San Diego is the nation's eighth-largest city, it has often endured second-class treatment in its home state. The Los Angeles Times, for example, regularly refers to "Southern California" as a region that doesn't extend below Orange County. Even the Border Patrol has essentially written off the city,...

SAN DIEGO -- San Diego Republican Congressman, Duncan Hunter's name was popping up in blogs and cable news shows Thursday. Hunter's staff was reported to have contacted the U.S. embassy in the African country of Chad to see if Hunter could distribute food at a refugee camp. Hunter also wanted to hunt Wildebeest in Chad and distribute the meat to refugees. The embassy staff reportedly said they were happy to hear about the Congressman's interest in helping refugees, but as far as hunting goes, there are no Wildebeest to hunt in Chad and the government there does not permit the...

SAN DIEGO – The parent company of The San Diego Union-Tribune announced Thursday that it has hired an investment banker to look into the possible sale of the company. Copley Press engaged the New York-based investment banking firm Evercore Partners, which also represented the publishing company in the sale of newspapers it owned in Los Angeles and in the Midwest in 2006 and 2007. In a statement, The Copley Press, Inc., cited the tough times in the newspaper industry as its motivation in deciding to explore the company's strategic options. “The last couple of years have been a difficult period...

SAN DIEGO (Reuters) - San Diego City Attorney Michael Aguirre said on Wednesday he had filed a lawsuit against Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) and its Countrywide unit to prevent the mortgage lenders from foreclosing on homes in his city, which he aims to make a "foreclosure sanctuary."

A hotel owner’s $125,000 donation to support a ballot initiative banning same-sex marriage in the state has become a flashpoint, with opponents calling for a boycott of two of his hotels and supporters highlighting the donation in a fund-raising letter. The hotelier, Doug Manchester, donated the money to support the collection of signatures to qualify the initiative, which would amend the state’s Constitution to prohibit same-sex marriage, for the November ballot.

DOWNTOWN SAN DIEGO – The National Council of La Raza spends most of its time protecting and advancing the rights of Latinos through advocacy and community work. But as it wraps up its convention downtown, it has found itself defending its name. That's because activists who oppose illegal immigration are saying in e-mails, during street protests and through the media that “La Raza” means “The Race,” and have been calling the organization a hate group. The accusations have prompted soul-searching among NCLR supporters as to what the name actually means and stands for. Most say the situation is the result...

"But I do ask for your trust that when I say, I remain committed to fair, practical and comprehensive immigration reform, I mean it. I think I have earned that trust." —John McCain

DOWNTOWN SAN DIEGO – Abel Moreno sat at a table yesterday at the National Council of La Raza convention, answering questions from a volunteer at a citizenship clinic. Is his wife a U.S. citizen? Yes. How long have they been married? Thirteen years. Moreno, a maintenance engineer at a downtown hotel, became eligible for U.S. citizenship in 1998. But between work and raising two children, the legal permanent resident said he kept putting it off for “tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow.” Finally yesterday, after a relative learned of the convention's free citizenship clinic on television and alerted Moreno, he jumped at the...

John McCain today is poised to make the biggest mistake of his 2008 presidential run. The presumptive Republican nominee will address the annual convention of the National Council of La Raza in San Diego. La Raza is billed by too many as simply "the nation's largest Hispanic rights group." But this is perhaps the most radical apologist group for illegal immigration and the "rights" of illegal aliens -- and worse.

Presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama will be using the National Council of La Raza convention, which begins tomorrow in San Diego, as a platform for courting the increasingly significant Latino vote. Convention organizers hope to press the senators for answers on some of the thorniest issues affecting Latinos, among them immigration policies and solutions to the nation's health insurance and mortgage crises. This week, as they prepared to participate in the four-day event at the San Diego Convention Center, some local groups said they were optimistic about what they would hear from the candidates and in convention sessions,...

The San Diego City Council will vote next Tuesday to declare July 8 “National Council of La Raza Day.” Well, they already gave their blessing to “Happy ACLU Day” despite the litigious group’s long-standing efforts to take down the Mount Soledad cross. Might as well put their weight behind the ethnic supremacist group fighting against assimilation, funding reconquista schools, advocating speech suppressiong, and promoting lawlessness, too!

OCEANSIDE ---- A federal judge on Friday ordered the state Transportation Department to let a controversial group of anti-illegal immigration activists pick up litter near a Border Patrol checkpoint. In a 34-page order, Judge William Q. Hayes granted the San Diego Minutemen's request for a preliminary injunction that gives Caltrans 30 days to reinstate the group's Adopt-A-Highway permit for a 2-mile stretch of Interstate 5 near San Clemente. The state also must restore the courtesy sign bearing the Minutemen's name, the judge ruled. The judge's decision enables the North County group to once again pick up trash alongside the busy...

Demonstrators march peacefully Saturday outside the Robert Hoehn Honda dealership in Carlsbad to protest reports that Hoehn is helping to finance a campaign to place an initiative on the November ballot to stop gay marriages. Records kept by the California secretary of state show that through March, $337,000 had been contributed to the initiative effort by San Diego County residents, including $25,000 from Hoehn, president of Hoehn Motors in Carlsbad

At least 14 employees in the San Diego County Clerk's Office raised religious objections to performing gay wedding ceremonies but were told by their boss they couldn't pick and choose between marriage applicants. Clerk Greg Smith said last month that he would allow employees with religious objections to avoid performing the ceremonies, but the response was apparently more than his office could accommodate. “It would unfairly burden other employees and would directly compromise the services we provide to the public, particularly given that so many employees have requested the same arrangement,” Smith's office told 14 employees by e-mail. ... “The...

SAN DIEGO -- Employees who refuse to perform gay wedding ceremonies at the San Diego County Clerk's Office are facing reassignment. At least 14 employees who raised religious objections to performing same-sex weddings have been told they cannot pick and choose between marriage applicants. California began gay marriages this week. Clerk Greg Smith had told workers earlier that those who object on religious grounds wouldn't have to perform the ceremonies, but 14 employees balked and that was more than his office could accommodate. Only 30 workers in the clerk's office perform wedding ceremonies. Smith's office said in an e-mail to...

SAN DIEGO - If there's pain at the pump in the U.S., Mexico may just have a remedy. A gallon of regular unleaded gasoline in San Diego retails for an average price of $4.61 a gallon. A few miles south, in Tijuana, it's about $2.54 — even less if you pay in pesos. More and more people appear to be taking advantage of the lower price. "I used to buy exclusively in the U.S. before gas started really going up," said Patrick Garcia, a drama teacher at an elementary school in San Diego who lives in Tijuana. "Since then, I've...

McCain to attend; Obama was invited By Hiram Soto UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER June 6, 2008 San Diego will be at the center of the Latino world next month. The National Council of La Raza is set to announce Monday details about its upcoming national convention in San Diego. Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain is expected to appear, and Sen. Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential nominee, is considering an invitation. NCLR, the largest Latino organization in the nation, will hold its annual conference July 12-15 at the San Diego Convention Center. More than 20,000 people attended last year's convention in...

SAN DIEGO (AP) - A federal judge Wednesday ordered the city to allow military contractor Blackwater Worldwide to begin using a new counterterrorism training center in a warehouse outfitted with an indoor firing range. District Judge Marilyn Huff ruled that the company would suffer irreparable harm if it could not begin holding classes there for Navy sailors. Blackwater sued last month to force the city to issue final occupancy permits after the required inspections were already approved, claiming officials upended normal procedures because they feared a political backlash. The city responded that the company misled officials about the nature of...

San Diego, CA (AP) -- A federal judge ordered the city of San Diego Wednesday to allow military contractor Blackwater Worldwide to begin using a new counterterrorism training facility. District Court Judge Marilyn Huff ruled that the company would suffer irreparable harm if it could not begin holding classes for Navy sailors at a converted warehouse outfitted with an indoor firing range. Blackwater sued last month to force the city to issue final occupancy permits after the required inspections were already approved, claiming officials upended normal procedures because they were concerned about political backlash. The city responded that the company...

OTAY MESA – Blackwater Worldwide has asked a federal judge to order that San Diego officials issue the final certificate needed by the private security firm to open a training facility in Otay Mesa. Blackwater officials said their contract with the Navy requires them to open the facility by Monday, but city officials last week halted the certification of final permits for the center until the matter can be reviewed by the City Council and the Planning Commission. In a lawsuit filed Friday, the North Carolina-based company noted that city clerks and inspectors already had signed off on permits for...

SAN DIEGO, Calif. -- U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement says agents have arrested more than 900 people in California on immigration violations during a three-week sting targeting people who ignored deportation orders. The agency says 495 of the 905 people arrested were targeted in the operation. The other 410 just happened to be on the scene when agents arrived. Northern California accounted for the most arrests, with 441. The Los Angeles area followed with 327 arrests. The San Diego area accounted for the other 137. ICE agents increasingly have been tracking people who ignore deportation orders. When authorities visit a...

SACRAMENTO – A bipartisan measure that authorizes a large group of California Indian tribes to operate up to 2,000 slot machines each sailed out of the state Senate yesterday despite late opposition from San Diego County. The legislation would redefine terms of 61 compacts negotiated in 1999 to grant each of the tribes up to 2,000 slot machines. That includes local tribes such as Rincon, San Pasqual and Jamul, which are itching to expand or build new casinos. “It's a truth-in-advertising measure,” said Sen. Dennis Hollingsworth, a Temecula Republican whose district includes the Rincon and San Pasqual reservations. “The tribes...

San Jose, CA., May 18, 2008 / 12:40 pm (CNA).- One week ago today leaders of the Chaldean Catholic Church in California formally received into communion a bishop of the Assyrian Apostolic Church of the East, his clergy, and about 3,000 Assyrian Christians. The Assyrian Church, centered in modern-day Iraq, dates back to the earliest days of Christianity.  According to the California Catholic Daily, the church eventually embraced the teachings of Nestorius, the fifth-century Archbishop of Constantinople whose doctrines were condemned by the Council of Ephesus in 431.  Beginning in the sixteenth century, large numbers of Nestorian Assyrians came...

SAN DIEGO (AP) — An explosion rocked a hotel under construction Monday, ripping off part of the building's facade, sending debris flying and injuring 14 workers, five critically, authorities said.Some of the workers were burned and others were injured by debris, fire department spokesman Maurice Luque said. The building did not burn after the explosion, which Luque said appeared to be accidental.Matt McBride, general manager of the Tin Fish bar about 150 yards away, said he was setting up the outdoor patio bar when the blast occurred. He said he and other workers froze as they saw smoke come out...

SAN DIEGO - An apparent blast rocked a Hilton hotel under construction today and a fire official said a dozen workers were injured. Two of the injured were in critical condition, eight had serious injuries and two had minor injuries, said fire spokesman Maurice Luque. Injuries ranged from burns to impacts of flying debris, he said. However, the building did not burn, he said. About four lower floors of the waterfront skyscraper near the San Diego Convention Center showed serious damage and debris littered a driveway beneath the area.

Several floors of a Hilton hotel under construction in downtown San Diego have been badly damaged in an apparent explosion. There are no immediate reports of injuries. About four lower floors of the waterfront skyscraper near the San Diego Convention Center showed serious damage after the Monday afternoon incident.

Since 2002, taxpayers have entrusted San Diego community college leaders with $1.5 billion to transform three campuses, modernize six adult education centers and expand academic programs. So far, they have spent less than 15 percent of the money, constructing or renovating about a dozen buildings. The San Diego Union-Tribune analyzed thousands of district records and interviewed dozens of people and found that college officials missed many project deadlines and struggled with runaway costs for land and building materials. Failure to act quickly in the escalating real estate market cost the district millions. Delays in acquiring real estate cost millions of...

Lionel Van Deerlin, a nine-term Democratic congressman and journalist, died in his Point Loma apartment Saturday, with much of his family at his side. He was 93... Van Deerlin's career in the House came to an end in November 1980 when upstart lawyer Duncan Hunter unseated the nine-term representative...

What’s it like, being Muslim in San Diego? The question arose for me earlier this year when I decided to hit Ocean Beach on maybe the worst night of the winter. It was Wednesday, the end of market day. Rainstorms exploding in off the Pacific, marquees flapping, most market folks packing up, re-boxing their fruit. But not the guys in the black tent near where Bacon crosses Newport. From inside the gust-wrenched canvas, half a dozen men shouted to scurrying passersby to come on in for the ultimate hand-warmer. Guled and Mohammed and Abdi and Hamza and a bunch of...

An FBI probe into the May 4 bombing of a federal courthouse led to a woman being charged Friday with using a false identification to try to obtain explosives. Authorities said, however, that no one has been charged with the bombing, which damaged the courthouse lobby and sent more than 100 nails and other shrapnel flying as far as two blocks. No one was injured. Rachelle Lynette Carlock, 31, was arraigned in federal court in El Centro on an eight-count complaint charging use of false identification to obtain explosive materials, being a felon in possession of explosive materials and fraud....

SAN DIEGO (AP) - The FBI has released surveillance video of a powerful pipe bomb explosion that shattered big windows at a federal courthouse and filled the lobby with smoke. FBI spokesman Darrell Foxworth says the agency hopes anyone with information about the explosion early Sunday feels compelled to contact investigators after seeing the video. The bomb caused significant damage to the lobby but no injuries, and forced the courthouse to close for one day. The FBI recovered more than 100 nails and shrapnel up to two blocks from the courthouse, Foxworth says. Investigators believe the bomb may be linked...

Police have arrested 96 people – 75 of them students – in a drug bust at San Diego State University, law enforcement sources say. Police picked up the individuals for charges stemming from possession and sales of cocaine, marijuana, ecstasy and other drugs. Authorities say among those arrested was a student who worked as an employee of the campus police and was one month away from graduating with a masters degree in Homeland Security. Another suspect found with 500 grams of cocaine and two guns is a criminal justice major. As part of the investigation, the Drug Enforcement Agency and...

Dozens of San Diego State University students were arrested after a sweeping drug investigation found that some fraternity members openly dealt drugs and one even sent a mass text message advertising cocaine, authorities said Tuesday. Two kilograms of cocaine were seized, along with 350 Ecstasy pills, marijuana, psychedelic mushrooms, hash oil, methamphetamine, illicit prescription drugs, several guns and at least $60,000 in cash, authorities said. Of the 96 people arrested, 75 were students. Eighteen of the students were arrested Tuesday when nine search warrants were executed at various locations including fraternities, said Jesse Rodriguez, San Diego County assistant district attorney....

The Border Patrol has discovered 61 suspected illegal immigrants from Mexico inside a tractor-trailer on Interstate 8 near San Diego. Border Patrol agents discovered them inside the eastbound truck during a vehicle stop Saturday night, about 45 miles east of San Diego. They were hiding behind bales of cardboard. The agency said Monday that it arrested the driver, 29-year-old Jose Pina Flores, who will be charged with immigrant smuggling. The Border Patrol says the Mexican man admitted being in the U.S. illegally. No injuries were reported.

SAN DIEGO — An early morning explosion at the federal courthouse in downtown San Diego left a door damaged and blew out a window. Sgt. Bob Dare of the San Diego Police Department says the loud blast occurred at about 1:40 a.m. Sunday. Streets in the area have been closed. No injuries were reported. The explosion is under investigation. FBI Special Agent Darrell Foxworth told a local TV station it appears the explosion may have been caused by a pipe bomb.

U.S. Wary Of Small Boat Terrorism As boating season approaches, the Bush administration wants to enlist America's 80 million recreational boaters to help reduce the chances that a small boat could deliver a nuclear or radiological bomb somewhere along the 95,000 miles of U.S. coastline and inland waterways. According to an April 23 intelligence assessment obtained by The Associated Press, "The use of a small boat as a weapon is likely to remain al Qaeda's weapon of choice in the maritime environment, given its ease in arming and deploying, low cost, and record of success." While the United States...

SAN DIEGO – A pipe bomb or series of pipe bombs exploded at the Edward J. Schwartz Federal Courthouse downtown early Sunday morning, sending shrapnel into a courtyard and to the eighth floor of a building across the street. Two guards with the Federal Protective Service, who were inside the building, called authorities when they heard the explosion at 1:40 a.m. on Front Street near Broadway. The guards were not injured. Firefighters, police, FBI and Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents arrived minutes later to find the front entrance and the lobby of the building damaged. The cause is believed to...