SAN DIEGO -- Melodie Holmen really wanted to have her hair cut and colored Saturday, and her hairdresser was eager to comply. But Holmen's spouse is a cancer survivor. Spending time with another person, the San Diego resident felt, was just too risky. "So when I mentioned my husband's health as a concern, she immediately understood," Holmen wrote in a recent online exchange. "But she needs to pay her bills, too ... " What to do? In the coronavirus era, business owners are not the only ones...

Left jab, left jab, right hook. Right jab, right jab, left hook. It was an epic mismatch, this bout between Emily Serapio, a 14-year-old Sweetwater High School freshman, and Antonio Ybarra, a 49-year-old National City police lieutenant. Ybarra was doomed. “Don’t hurt me, girl!” he called out. Serapio smiled and — pop! pop! pop! — unleashed another rapid-fire combination. Saturday’s “Box With a Cop” brought 18 local kids and 14 police officers to National City’s Community Youth Athletic...

There’s an old saying: ‘It takes a lot of good beer to make good wine.’ Beer in the Vineyards In the vineyards, there’s an old saying: “It takes a lot of good beer to make good wine.” Last weekend in Temecula, we sampled both beverages yet barely scratched the surface. Of the dozen-plus breweries in this wine-centric valley, I visited only three. Like the wines we sipped, the beers were a mixed bag: 8 Bit: Sitting near the Temecula/Murrieta border, this brewpub impressed with a diverse...

SAN DIEGO — At 9:12 a.m. on April 12, 1963, the nuclear-powered submarine Thresher issued its final coherent message. “Experiencing minor difficulties,” it began. “Have positive up angle. Am attempting to blow. Will keep you informed.” The first and last sentences were unduly — and tragically — optimistic. After a garbled message from the boat at 9:17 a.m., none of the 129 aboard Thresher were ever heard from again. The difficulties had not been minor. They had been fatal, taking the vessel...

For San Diego County breweries, the crisis means business as not-quite usual Liquid crisis Colby Chandler flew to Hawaii last week, bringing fresh brews from San Diego’s Ballast Point to the 25th annual Kona Brewers Festival. “I landed,” he said Tuesday by phone from the Big Island, “and three hours later, they canceled the festival. Now I have to figure out how to get home.” Like other large gatherings, beer festivals are casualties of the coronavirus crisis. There’s an old saw that people...