SAN DIEGO — A San Diego Superior Court judge on Wednesday ruled two strip clubs can remain open and operating during the most recent COVID-19 shutdown orders from the state, in a ruling that appeared to extend to the county’s beleaguered restaurant industry and allow those businesses to reopen to some extent. The ruling by Superior Court Judge Joel Wohlfeil came in a case filed by two San Diego strip clubs. And while the clubs prevailed in earning an injunction that allowed them to continue to offer live dancing, the judge went a significant step further and said the injunction can apply acros...

SAN DIEGO — The estranged wife of former U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter has filed for divorce after 22 years of marriage and more than a year of separation amid a corruption prosecution that netted them both felony convictions. Margaret Hunter is seeking a divorce because of “irreconcilable differences,” and requests joint legal custody of their two minor daughters, ages 17 and 14, according to court records filed Nov. 20 in San Diego Superior Court. She seeks physical custody of their daughters and reasonable visitation with their father, according to court records. Their son is an adult. She also a...

SAN DIEGO — Think America is divided now? Eighty years ago, the country couldn’t even agree on when to hold Thanksgiving.The controversy in 1939 split the nation in half, with some states following decades-old tradition and sitting down for turkey on the last Thursday in November, while the others heeded a [directive](In hindsight, the furor may seem overblown — in San Diego, the Union newspaper editorialized against it three times — and its details quaintly humorous. The governor of Maine was so upset he refused to eat turkey at a public event and opened a can of sardines instead.But then, li...

CHICAGO — Illinois senior Sen. Dick Durbin said Monday he’ll seek the position of top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee — a spot that could become the chairmanship following two Georgia contests early next year that will decide party control of the chamber.Durbin, who won a fifth term in the Senate on Nov. 3 and turned 76 on Saturday, made the announcement after the ranking Democrat on the committee, Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, announced she would not seek a return to her role in the next Congress.The 87-year-old Feinstein had come under internal party criticism for not playi...

Jerry Falwell Jr., recently resigned president of Liberty University, had allegedly ranked students with his wife, Becki Falwell, that they’d see on campus and ranked the one whom they most wanted to have sex with.The scandal broke when a former student of the university told Politico that “[Becki] and Jerry would eye people down on campus. She didn’t go into specifics, but said, ‘Oh, me and Jerry play games all the time, like ‘Would you rather?’ with people on campus.’ I’ll never forget that.”The student was in a band with Trey Falwell, their son, at the time, and was 22 years old.Becki repor...

TIJUANA, Mexico — The first female mayor of Tijuana served for less than a month before her previous boss returned on Thursday, demanding his old job back.Arturo Gonzalez Cruz, the elected mayor of Tijuana, stepped away from office in mid-October, after appointing his education secretary, Karla Ruiz MacFarland, to serve in his absence. Then, in a turn of events that was bizarre even by Baja California standards, Gonzalez Cruz announced Thursday he plans to temporarily resume his mayoral duties — at least for the next few weeks.The 66-year-old real estate executive said he plans to continue ser...

Former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) have pulled ahead of President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania, according to CNN, by 5,587

The Democratic Party ticket of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have moved ahead of President Donald J. Trump, according to an early Friday morning call by CNN, by 917 votes.

SAN DIEGO — San Diegan Alfredo De Jesus applied to become a U.S. citizen toward the beginning of 2020 — as soon as he was eligible.He thought his application would be processed in plenty of time to vote in this year’s election. But he’s still waiting.De Jesus is among many citizens-to-be whose applications stalled in large part because of COVID-19. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency responsible for processing naturalizations, shuttered at the beginning of the pandemic for several months and is still working to catch up.De Jesus said he feels frustrated and disappointed.“Peop...

Author Dan Benbow has compiled the most comprehensive overview to date of how President Trump failed in protecting Americans from the coronavirus pandemic. It's a must read — and we're giving it away to new Raw Story Investigates subscribers for free.

Screenshot of the FSO (Floating Storage and Offloading Unit) Nabarima, the vessel in danger of sinking and creating a huge oil spill in the Gulf of Paria, taken from a video uploaded by Fishermen and Friends of the Sea, the Trinidad and Tobago-based non-governmental organisation that raised the alarm about the situation.This article was originally published on Cari-Bois News. An edited version is republished here with permission. The FSO Nabarima, a huge oil tanker containing approximately 1.3 million barrels of crude oil, has taken on water and is leaning to one side off a remote stretch of V...

SAN DIEGO — Former Rep. Duncan Hunter will serve his 11-month sentence for conspiring to misuse campaign funds at a West Texas prison camp, his attorney said Friday.Hunter is scheduled to report to Federal Correctional Institute La Tuna on Jan. 4. The prison is in the El Paso suburb of Anthony, on the Texas-New Mexico state line. He will serve in its adjacent minimum-security satellite camp, according to CQ Roll Call.Hunter’s attorney, Devin Burstein, on Friday confirmed the report that Hunter had been assigned to the facility.Hunter fought a 60-count indictment for more than a year before ple...

As the US election approaches, a new ad campaign starring famous actor/comedian Billy Crystal and Republican commentator Bill Kristol will attempt to rally Jewish voters in support of Democratic candidate Joe Biden in the upcoming US elections.The purpose of the ad is to show why Jewish voters with different political perspectives should not vote for should reject president Donald Trump and vote for Democratic candidate Joe Biden.“This ad is aimed at mobilizing a key segment of the electorate, Jewish voters, many of whom live in swing states where their votes could determine the outcome of the...