A plan for owners of downtown San Diego office buildings to pay into an assessment fund, with the money going toward programs to retain and attract tenants, received an initial green light today from the City Council.

Marine Gunnery Sgt. Daniel J. Price, 27, of Holland, Michigan died July 29 in Afghanistan. Price was assigned to 1st Marine Special Operations Battalion at Camp Pendleton. He had been awarded the Bronze Star in November 2011.

A bill working its way through the California legislature would allow a child to have more than two legal parents.

Plans to revamp Balboa Park with new roads and a parking garage have sparked heated debate and threats of lawsuits. But he controversy isn’t anything new for San Diego.

Pfc. Jose Oscar Belmontes, 28, of La Verne, California was killed on July 28 in Wardak province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered from enemy small arms fire, according to the Department of Defense.

City Attorney Jan Goldsmith, who ran unopposed for re-election this year, said he is preparing to help the city of San Diego through some big changes, including a new mayor, a new council district and two new propositions.

Rep. Bob Filner, D-San Diego, edged out Councilman Carl DeMaio, his opponent in the San Diego mayor's race, in a poll released today.

For years, Marines and Navy corpsmen participating in combat trauma training have practiced on live animals. But new devices that simulate the look, feel, and smell of emergency medical practices could one day replace the 6,000 live animals used by the military each year.

At 2 p.m. Monday, the San Diego Zoo's Panda Cam will begin offering live streaming video of its giant panda den, where a cub was born Sunday.

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told reporters today that America is ready to "exercise all options" when it comes to keeping Iran from developing nuclear weapons. But first, Panetta said, sanctions need to be given enough time to work.

The Old Globe Theatre's production of the 1955 play "Inherit the Wind" (running through Sept. 25 at the Lowell Davies Festival Stage in Balboa Park) hasn't dated as much as you might think ... or hope.

Governor Jerry Brown last week endorsed plans for an underground water delivery network that he hopes will end the state's water wars.

Last week a team of graduate students from Scripps Institution of Oceanography were mapping the sea floor about 20 miles west of Del Mar when they found what they thought to be the first methane seep off the San Diego County coastline.

Reports that Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said at a fundraiser in Jerusalem that "culture" is among the reasons Israel's economy is much stronger than those in "areas managed by the Palestinian Authority" have led a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to accuse Romney of racism.

Many of the athletes representing the United States in the 2012 London Olympic Games have recorded video shout-outs for U.S. troops as a way of thanking them for their service.

Colorado prosecutors on Monday charged a former neuroscience graduate student with 24 counts of murder and 116 counts of attempted murder in the shooting rampage at the midnight showing of the new Batman movie.

Ex-Camp Pendleton Marine Gary Stein, who was kicked out of the Corps in April after writing anti-Obama Facebook posts, has announced plans to run for elected office. Stein, a Tea Party Republican, says he will run for a seat on the Murrieta City Council.

President Obama has announced a new initiative focused on academic excellence for the country’s African-American student. A similar effort within San Diego city schools just completed its first year.