Tom Blair: City that never sleeps…

Tom Blair is an SDNN columnist.

TUNE IN TOMORROW: Caitlin Rother, whose book on San Diego husband-killer Kristin Rossum, Poisoned Love, just went into a sixth printing, calls it “the crime that keeps on giving.” Followers of the bizarre murder triangle will recall that “the other man,” former San Diego coroner Michael Robertson, took off for his native Australia shortly after Rossum was charged in the murder. That was nearly eight years ago. Last author Rother heard, police and the D.A. were still pursuing a case against suspected accomplice Robertson. In the past, both offices have cooperated with media covering the case. But when producers of TV’s Investigation Discovery were here recently researching for a new documentary on the murder, the police and D.A. declined interview requests. Soap opera sidebar: Rossum is doing life in prison. Rother says an Australian friend e-mailed not long ago with news that Robertson recently had a baby with another woman. He’s long-since divorced his wife from the days of the Rossum affair.

THE NEWS NOSE: More changes afoot in the increasingly competitive local restaurant market. Epazote, a longtime anchor tenant at Del Mar Plaza, is morphing again. What began more than a dozen years ago as a Southwest-style eatery, then switched to steakhouse five years ago, is at it again. It reopens June 8 as Sunset Bar & Grill-a casual restaurant featuring comfort food (think meat loaf) and lots of TVs tuned to sports . . . Also new at Del Mar Plaza: Rumi Café (light lunch and dinner) and an “Asian-infused” eatery called Shibashi Izakaya (try pronouncing that after two sakes) . . . Call it Mayberry West. Coronado Police Chief Lou Scanlon shares the shocking crime stat from his upscale enclave: There were 45 cars stolen last year in Coronado. An average of 1,100 a month were stolen in San Diego . . . Popularity contest: The count on planned farewell parties for retiring County Sheriff Bill Kolender now stands at four.

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FAMILY AFFAIR: It was a reunion, of sorts, last Thursday when Miss California Carrie Prejean’s mom, Francine Coppola, turned up at KUSI-TV to watch her daughter interview comic Joe Piscopo, who invited them both to his Saturday gig at Anthology. As the world knows by now, Prejean isn’t particularly a fan of same-sex marriage. Her mother’s position may be somewhat foggier. The day after the TV appearance, the Web world was buzzing with the allegation from a northern California woman that she’d once “dated” Coppola. Had Prejean heard the rumor? Unclear. But Carrie didn’t show for the Saturday-night performance. Her mother did. And Piscopo introduced her from the audience.

LIKE NO BUSINESS: The ABC summer series Here Come the Newlyweds (Channel 10, Mondays at 10) co-stars San Diego this season. All eight episodes were shot here this spring, making the local hospitality industry happy. The producers filled 4,000 hotel room nights and pumped a cool million into the local economy . . . British comics Simon Pegg and Nick Frost will film at the convention center and environs this summer on Paul, a comedy feature costarring Sigourney Weaver . . . Meanwhile, the Travel Channel cameras will be rolling for a documentary called Tattoo Culture. Get ready, Ocean Beach.

QUOTEWORTHY? So you thought Padres ace Jake Peavy nixed his trade to the Chicago White Sox on Thursday because he loves San Diego? Keep that thought. And ignore the Chicago’s Tribune’s Steve Rosenbloom, who has a somewhat different take on the subject: “It also might be that the guy doesn’t want to pitch in the American League because it’s tougher. The National League is filled with six-man lineups (or three- or four-man lineups if you’re the Cubs this week), while the AL is nine men, no innings off.” Point killer: Rosenbloom wrote that on a day when the AL White Sox lost 20-1 to Minnesota.

Tom Blair is an SDNN columnist.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 27th, 2009 at 6:31 am and is filed under Columns, Lifestyle, Local News . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.