Meet Vicki Estrada. She's a San Diego businesswoman and she used to be named Steve.

Camp Pendleton is cleaning up contaminated soil from the base with lower-polluting construction equipment. The goal is to do the cleanup work without fouling the air. KPBS Environmental Reporter Ed Joyce explains.

San Diego City Council accepted a report on preparations for the U.S Open to be held at Torrey Pines Golf Course in June. The Golfing Championship promises to be as big a sporting event for San Diego as the Super Bowl. KPBS reporter Alison St John has more.

The City of Tijuana is struggling with mountains of trash. As KPBS Reporter Amy Isackson explains, some neighborhoods haven't seen the trash man in three months.

San Diego's violent crime rate dropped for the fourth year in a row last year. New data from the FBI and the police department show overall crime is down more than 2 percent. KPBS reporter Andrew Phelps has details.

Local journalist Tony Perry visits Iraq for the sixth time as an embedded journalist with local Camp Pendleton Marines. We get a weekly update from Tony about life in a war zone as he lives full-time with local Marines.

San Diego parents and community members are mounting a campaign to end a Junior ROTC program that allows high school students to shoot guns at campus firing ranges. KPBS Reporter Ana Tintocalis has more.

That the government wanted to put Mel Kay behind a prison fence is an irony, though one that neither he nor his accusers would find amusing.

The California Assembly has rejected a bill some call a cynical attempt to restrict women's reproductive rights. The measure would have required doctors to tell women seeking an abortion that fetuses can feel pain. KPBS Reporter Kenny Goldberg has more.

The San Diego City Council holds a special public meeting tonight to try to hammer out a compromise on an issue that has divided interest groups at City Hall for years. KPBS reporter Alison St John has more.

On the bright side, the event was over quite painlessly in less than thirty minutes. On the bad side, the improvised quips were painful but writers for awards shows don't generally offer anything much better. Awards show may honor writers in best screenplay but they certainly don't showcase writers excelling at their craft. So while I hope the writers' strike ends soon and with the writers getting the fair treatment they are demanding, it's not because I want to see a three-hour, badly written Oscar telecast.