Thom Senzee, author of this article, is a West Coast-based freelance journalist, and a regular contributor to San Diego LGBT Weekly. Restaurants fail every day. Each time one closes, there’s a good chance a restaurateur’s dream dies with it. But occasionally, a restaurant’s closure also means employees don’t get their final paychecks. That’s exactly what…
SACRAMENTO – Gov. Jerry Brown signed landmark legislation today addressing the growing epidemic of smartphone theft in California. SB 962, authored by Senator Mark Leno and sponsored by San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón, requires all smartphones sold in California to come pre-equipped with theft-deterring technological solutions to render the devices useless if stolen. The…
SACRAMENTO – The California Assembly today passed legislation that requires all smartphones sold in California to come pre-equipped with theft-deterring technological solutions to render the device useless if stolen. Senate Bill 962, authored by Senator Mark Leno and sponsored by San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón, addresses the growing epidemic of smartphone theft. It requires…
A phony doctor who claimed he could cure AIDS and cancer with expensive, ineffective treatments was sentenced March 14 to six years and four months in custody after his victims’ survivors described what he had done. Keith Allen Barton, 52, of La Mesa, was ordered to pay $50,107 to victims he defrauded by San Diego…
Bettie Lois Cain waved goodbye to her girlfriend and friends before she was handcuffed and went to jail after she won a delay in her fraud sentencing. Two attorneys for Cain, 68, of Normal Heights, won the delay in sentencing until April 9, but San Diego Superior Court Judge Charles Gill and the prosecutor expressed…
Two members of Russian punk band Pussy Riot were detained briefly Tuesday in central Sochi, after apparently being considered suspects in a theft at their hotel, and then released, CNN reported. Earlier in the day, band members Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova were meeting with journalists when police detained them, according to Tolokonnikova’s husband, Petr…
A prosecutor is seeking a 7-year 8-month prison term for a La Mesa man who was convicted of practicing medicine without a license and treating people with HIV/AIDS and cancer with expensive and useless treatments. Keith Allen Barton, 52, appeared Monday before San Diego Superior Court Judge Amalia Meza who re-scheduled his sentencing for March…
Bettie Lois Cain pleaded guilty Jan. 8 to grand theft auto and four counts of writing bad checks for renting property on closed bank accounts for a defunct business she ran in North Park. Cain, 67, of Normal Heights, has a history in North Park with starting coffeehouses or other businesses and not paying some…
A jury on Tuesday heard dramatic testimony from a mother who had her AIDS stricken young daughter treated by a La Mesa man who claimed to be a doctor with a cure for HIV. Keith Allen Barton, 52, was actually no physician and was impersonating another doctor with his same name, according to prosecutor Gina…
Eddie Chow was sentenced Nov. 26 to four years in state prison for stealing a red handbag from Nordstrom at Horton Plaza. The judge noted Chow’s long criminal record including a manslaughter conviction in which Chow stabbed a man to death in 1983. Although the theft was minor, it is a felony because of…
