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Margaret Hunter Pleads Guilty To Misspending Campaign Finance Funds | Morgan Cook, Jeff McDonald Jun 14, 2019

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Years of cavalier spending of her husband’s political contributions culminated in a guilty plea Thursday for Margaret Hunter, the wife of Republican Congressman Duncan Hunter who was co-indicted last year in a sweeping campaign-finance investigation. During a change-of-plea hearing in the federal courthouse in San Diego, Margaret Hunter formally admitted that she illegally used thousands of dollars in campaign donations for her personal expenses. Specifically, Margaret Hunter pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiracy. She faces up to five years in federal custody and a $250,000 fine when she is sentenced Sept. 1. She also could receive up to three years of supervised probation following her release from prison.

California Theatre To Be Transformed Into Downtown's Biggest Residential Tower | Phil Molnar Jun 13, 2019

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There may be new life for the nearly 100-year-old California Theatre on C Street. Preservationists have struck a deal with a developer that intends to construct a multi-million dollar 41-story condominium tower on the site of the historic theater. The compromise will preserve more of the building’s exterior and lobby, as well as use original ornamentation. A dispute between preservation group Save Our Heritage Organisation, or SOHO, and the developer halted the demolition in March 2018. The new plan still calls for tearing down the heavily dilapidated building, but more of its exterior will be saved and a stronger effort will be made to faithfully reconstruct the building. The California Theatre, made up of a 2,200-seat theater and nine-story office building, closed in 1990.

Kellen Winslow II Found Guilty Of Rape, But Mistrial Declared On 8 Other Counts | Teri Figueroa Jun 12, 2019

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A Vista judge declared a mistrial on eight counts in the case of ex-NFL player Kellen Winslow II, who was accused of committing several sex crimes against women in North County last year, including rape. Although the Superior Court jury was split, it leaned in favor of convicting Winslow on all remaining charges. The District Attorney’s Office likely will announce Friday whether they plan to retry Winslow on any or all of the deadlocked charges.

Eddie Gallagher's War Crimes Trial Divides The Military Community | Andrew Dyer, Kate Mannion Jun 11, 2019

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The war crimes charges against a San Diego-based Navy SEAL will stand, a Navy judge ruled Friday. However, the SEAL and his defense team will benefit from other decisions the judge made. Chief Special Warfare Operator Edward R. Gallagher is facing charges that he killed a wounded teenage ISIS fighter brought to the SEAL's Mosul, Iraq compound for medical treatment in 2017. Gallagher also is accused of shooting at civilians, posing for photos with a corpse, and holding his reenlistment ceremony next to the body, according to court documents and prosecutor statements. Gallagher has denied all the charges and pleaded not guilty. On Thursday the judge, Navy Capt. Aaron Rugh, moved Gallagher's trial date from June 10 to June 17 at defense lawyers’ request. Rugh's ruling Friday contained details about how the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and former lead prosecutor, Cmdr. Chris Czaplak, sent emails containing a hidden tracking link to defense attorneys and a Navy Times reporter in May. The link allowed them to see when the emails were opened and forwarded. The tracking was supposed to help detect leaks. Navy prosecutors said the link, which they called an "audit tool," did not meet the legal threshold of a wire tap and so did not require a search warrant. Defense attorneys called it prosecutorial misconduct and filed four motions with the court last week, including motions to get the prosecutor disqualified and to have Gallagher's charges dismissed. Rugh granted some of their requests.

New Crime Data Shows Community Crime Hot Spots | Lyndsay Winkley, Greg Moran Jun 08, 2019

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From 2014 through 2018, violent crime has doubled — or more — in about 17 percent of all census block groups in the city. That’s an increase from the previous five-year period examined in the first “Crime Counts” story published in March, which showed 13 percent of census block groups had violent crime go up by 100 percent or more from 2013 to 2017. The updated analysis includes data from 2018, and shows the average number of violent crimes among city census blocks was 27. The San Diego Union-Tribune examined neighborhoods with violent crimes at or above that average and calculated a percent change from 2014 through 2018 to focus on areas with a sharp increase or a large raw number of crimes. Story: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/public-safety/story/2019-06-05/more-city-neighborhoods-see-increase-in-violent-crimes-new-data-analysis-shows

Learning How to Confront Hate From Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein | Kristina Davis, Mark Platte Jun 07, 2019

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When asked to reflect on the tragedy that forever changed Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein 39 days ago, he thinks back to advice he received from a spiritual leader as a 17-year-old student of the Jewish faith: the way to push away darkness was with light. That advice has never been more significant than now, as Goldstein heals from physical wounds to his hands as a result of the shooting at the Poway synagogue he founded, and as he rises to meet a call to action. “I chose to react in a very specific way,” Goldstein told a packed auditorium at the University of San Diego on Wednesday night. Rather than leave him paralyzed, the trauma that left him without an index finger, killed a congregant and wounded two others has transformed him. https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/story/2019-06-05/chabad-poway-hate-forum-usd

This 97-Year-Old WWII Veteran Jumped Out Of A Plane To Commerate D-Day | John Wilkens Jun 06, 2019

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Re-enacting a parachute jump he made 75 years ago in the early hours of D-Day, retired Coronado school teacher Tom Rice, 97, invaded Normandy again Wednesday. The tandem jump, strapped to the chest of a younger parachutist, came as world leaders and thousands of spectators gathered in England and France to commemorate the June 6, 1944 assault that was a key turning point in World War II. “It went perfect,” Rice told reporters after landing in a field of flowers near Carentan, not far from where he landed the first time. “I feel great. I’d go up and do it all again.”

Addison Nets San Diego's First Michelin Star | Michele Parente Jun 05, 2019

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San Diego joined the world’s dining elite Monday, when the city’s first Michelin star was awarded to the luxurious Carmel Valley restaurant Addison. At a ceremony for the inaugural Michelin Guide California in Huntington Beach, which was attended by a who’s who of the state’s top chefs and restaurateurs, Addison executive chef and San Diego native William Bradley accepted the illustrious award for the 13-year-old bastion of fine dining at the Fairmont Grand Del Mar. “We’re just so happy and so honored to be part of such a prestigious guide representing San Diego and Addison. It’s just amazing,” Bradley said after the awards were given out. “It was surreal. To be standing on that stage with that backdrop and with all those amazing chefs. It’s a dream.” Among the celebrated chefs in attendance were José Andrés, Michael Cimarusti, Michael Mina, Niki Nakayama, and Ludo Lefebvre. A total of 90 California restaurants were awarded stars at Monday’s reveal event, 69 with one star (for “High quality cooking, worth a stop”), 14 with two stars (“Excellent cuisine, worth a detour”) and seven with three stars (“Exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey”). Among the three-star recipients, all were repeat winners; no new three-star designations were given. Story: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/entertainment/dining-and-drinking/story/2019-06-03/san-diego-joins-dining-elite-as-first-michelin-star-goes-to-addison

Border Dispatch: Asylum Court Cases Overwhelming San Diego's Court | Kate Morrissey Jun 04, 2019

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Local judges are pushing back on what they see as potential due process violations in the implementation of the Trump administration’s Migrant Protection Protocols. Read the story: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/immigration/story/2019-05-31/san-diego-immigration-court-overwhelmed-by-remain-in-mexico-cases

Border Dispatch: Trump's Tariff Threat Scares The Region | Lori Weisberg, Rob Nikolewski, Wendy Fry May 31, 2019

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Exasperated by reports of a flood of illegal border crossings, President Donald Trump summoned his top immigration advisers to demand action. Responding to his mounting concern, including his extreme threats to entirely close the U.S.-Mexico border, they prepared an alternative but still-inflammatory plan to levy escalating tariffs on all Mexican imports to the United States. Thursday night’s surprise announcement of the plan by Trump, threatening to upend ratification chances for his own revised North American free trade pact, demonstrated the lengths to which the risk-taking president is willing to go to crack down on illegal immigration, even in the face of bipartisan criticism, legal challenges and polarized public feelings. He’s setting the tricky politics of immigration and trade — the two issues that defined his candidacy and bedevil his presidency — on a collision course and injecting new tensions into his relations with political allies as he struggles to show results in his campaign for a second term.

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