SD Union-Tribune News

San Diego’s first city-owned City Hall, which began life in the 1800s as a bank and is now a restaurant and apartment complex, has been sold for $3.3 million to a family investment group after a failed effort to turn it into condos.

It’s not looking good for San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders’ bid to privatize the city’s computer services. A proposal to hire an outside firm and save the city nearly $1.5 million annually ran into opposition yesterday as several City Council members gave it a tepid response during a committee hearing.

When Santee sheriff’s Deputy Ken Collier decided to turn around and pursue a suspected drunken driver heading the wrong way on a freeway last month, it proved to be a risky move that cost him his life, but it was a decision that was ultimately his to make, sheriff’s officials said.

A man who authorities say stabbed and shot his former wife to death after an acrimonious divorce almost two years ago and then tried to kill himself with a shotgun has died.

A federal court jury awarded an immigration agent $2.2 million yesterday for injuries he suffered at the hands of Chula Vista police while he was working on an undercover surveillance job three years ago.

Grossmont College sophomore Luke Whitmore has the same dream as most baseball players his age: He would like to play in the major leagues.

La Mesa unveiled extensive renovations to one of its older fire stations this week after nearly a year of remodeling. Mayor Art Madrid joined community members at a ribbon-cutting ceremony Monday to celebrate the reopening of Fire Station 13, a nearly 50-year-old building on Grossmont Boulevard that had been closed since December 2008 for renovations.

Three men vying to become Chula Vista’s first elected City Attorney spelled out their differences during a candidates’ forum this week at the Civic Center Library.

Doubts are being raised over a consultant’s proposal to spend $4.3 million to renovate the troubled East County Performing Arts Center and bring star attractions that would reduce the city’s cost for operating the theater.

The race for two seats on the San Diego school board is poised to shake up established political alliances and perhaps the notion that incumbents are virtually impossible to unseat.

The Serra Mesa-Kearny Mesa Library’s newest addition is meant for children such as 16-month-old John Vattuone.

A group of Otay Ranch condominium owners are fighting plans to pave over a greenbelt in front of their homes and turn it into rapid-transit bus lanes.

The Otay Water District is issuing $51.3 million in bonds to pay for building and replacing pipes, pump stations and other equipment needed by the sprawling district.

In the early 1900s, Southern Californians reveled in auto road racing. One of the most popular events was the annual Los Angeles-Phoenix road race. As a test of fragile machines running on barely existent trails, nothing else compared to the dash across the desert.

When Pat Setzer walks the aisles in his guitar class, he leads with his ear. “Good” he says, upon hearing a piece of music that is in tune and has the correct meter. “Good.” But every so often a note rings flat and the professor’s ear perks. “That’s off,” he says.

The Kitzman family is the force behind a much-debated development that could lead to an 18-story building on a prominent corner near the heart of La Mesa. The family has owned the property for about 50 years, since it was bought by the late Andy Kitzman.

In the face of growing criticism and a declining budget, two San Diego County supervisors are proposing a 50 percent reduction to a program that allows supervisors to distribute $10 million a year to community programs of their choice.

ESCONDIDO: More than 200 people have volunteered to help clear overgrown brush from the trails of the 283-acre Kit Carson Park from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday.

Three teenagers were arrested yesterday morning in connection with the beating of an 18-year-old Grossmont College football player.

Firefighters reported that flames were shooting out of the roof of the garage.