A Bit Hung Over. . .

Tom Blair's i On San Diego

THE MORNING AFTER: Word of La Mesa Mayor Art Madrid’s well-publicized police escort home after a night marked by public vomiting and presumed drunkenness apparently didn’t reach everybody at City Hall. The next day, the city of La Mesa released the following press advisory announcing a police check point: “This checkpoint serves as yet another reminder to the citizens of our community that the La Mesa Police Department will not tolerate drunk drivers.”

THE BEST REVENGE: As executive director of the Hotel-Motel Association and Mission Bay Associates for long decades, Rose Marie Starns suffered the egos of more politicians than we could count. And she led the charge for more key issues revolving around San Diego’s tourism industry than anyone we know. In 2000, she was diagnosed with cancer and underwent extensive chemotherapy and surgery to remove a lung. But when friends expressed concern about her health, she typically sought to put them at ease. “Don’t worry,” she’d say, “I’m not going anywhere. I’ve got too many people to get even with.” Rose Marie was re diagnosed with cancer in 2006, and when she died last month, she’d lived a full year longer than her doctors gave her. Still too soon, but maybe enough time to get even.

BY THE NUMBERS: This time, San Diego can take pride in not making a top 10 list. U.S. News & World Report’s latest take on “America’s Most Miserable Airports” puts Chicago O’Hare at the top of the list for stressful travel——based on percentage of delayed flights (33.5) and average load factor (83 percent). San Diego is way down at number 28 . . . And Forbes magazine weighs in with its list of the most unhealthy traffic commutes, based on pollution, stress and fatalities. San Diego/Carlsbad/San Marcos cracks the top 10, coming in at number 9. Worst: River side/San Bernardino/Ontario . . . Kassim Osgood, who’s been a bit testy about not moving up to wide receiver with the Chargers, is getting respect from others, at least. He’s one of 12 chosen by the NFL Players Association for a 2008 JB Award celebrating commitment to team and community. One of the 12 will receive the Byron “Whizzer” White Award, named for the former NFL running back and U.S. Supreme Court justice.

SAN DIEGANS’ INK: Although the characters in author/ex-cop Joseph Wambaugh’s novels work out of Hollywood Station, he writes from his aerie atop Point Loma. And though the hilarious scenes in his newest, Hollywood Crows (due this month from Little, Brown), play out on the streets of Los Angeles, the anecdotes come in large part from the cops at SDPD. Wambaugh’s acknowledgments page for Crows lists no fewer than 25 San Diego officers who contributed their tales . . . Mike Gotch, the former San Diego city councilman and state assemblyman, has taken a upturn in his gutsy battle with cancer. After four rounds of chemotherapy, he’s looking forward to a new head of hair. Meanwhile, says a friend, he’s compensating with a handsome mustache and beard . . . San Diego Charger LaDainian Tomlinson is one of 11 sports stars with their own covers on ESPN The Magazine’s 10th-anniversary, 11-cover issue. L.T. is featured among six athletes from various sports representing the best of the past decade. On the magazine’s flip side: five athletes of the next decade.

PICTURE THIS: The recession hasn’t slowed the San Diego Film Commission. Among a wave of TV and film activity on the books: The Golf Channel is doing an 11-day shoot at a long list of local golf courses, including, of course, Torrey Pines, site of the U.S. Open in June. And Disney is scouting locations here for a feature film starring Robin Williams and John Travolta. Meanwhile, the A&E Channel has a new project called Crime 360: Top 10 List that would chronicle the activities of our police department and local crime labs.

MATTER OF PERSPECTIVE: With his unrelenting e-mail blasts, former deputy city attorney John Kaheny has become something of a self-appointed truth squad stalking City Attorney Mike Aguirre. And Kaheny doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to media coverage of Aguirre, either. His latest target: Union-Tribune reporter Jennifer Vigil, whose recent story about new polling data reported Aguirre would best all of his challengers in a primary race——getting 25 percent of the vote in a crowded field. She also noted Aguirre would lag behind any of three challengers in a runoff. But Kaheny let loose anyway: “Only Jennifer Vigil could put a positive spin on an incumbent whose voter support is at 25 percent. . . . By this standard, Bush is on a roll,” he wrote. “Reminds me of the two-car race between the Soviets and the Americans. The New York Times headline was “Big Race——Soviet Union takes second place; Americans next to last.”

AND THEN AGAIN: San Diego Councilman Brian Maienschein, who won high praise from his constituents in the wake of two devastating firestorms, asked why he thought he’d be the best candidate to succeed incumbent City Attorney Mike Aguirre: “Well, I do have some experience cleaning up after disasters.”

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