The Union-Tribune’s Nick Canepa grades the Chargers following Sunday’s 17-10 loss to the Chiefs: 

 Quarterbacks: A

Justin Herbert probably shouldn’t have started with his bad ankle and severely depleted offensive line, but he did, and he hit his first seven throws, one for a touchdown. Presnap penalties — not unexpected with the problems up front and noise from Chiefs fans — constantly had him in a hole. Nothing much after the first quarter, but he gets an A for a mighty effort.

Running backs: C

It didn’t figure running would be a thing with that O-line, and it wasn’t. J.K. Dobbins, Gus Edwards & Co. were running in a little room.

Receivers: D

There simply is not enough danger here, and not much separation from an inexperienced group. Ladd McConkey, improving by the minute, made a pretty catch for a TD at the end line. Tight end Will Dissly caught a big 22-yard screen early. Josh Palmer actually surfaced. Quentin Johnston finally had a catch at the end of the third quarter.

Offensive line: Incomplete

Presnap penalties? How many would — you like? A nightmare after the first quarter. Both — BOTH — starting offensive tackles (Rashawn Slater and super rookie Joe “Delete” Alt) were in the nurse’s office, which normally means … not good. Trey Pipkins started at right tackle, Jamaree Salyer at left tackle. Sam “Ah,Who?” Mustipher started at guard and chop-blocked right away.

Defensive line:  C+

The D got tired. Teair Tart had a sack (he limped off in the fourth). But the guys in the middle — Poona Ford, Otito Ogbonnia and Tart — are stout.

Linebackers: B

Joey “Big I’m Hurt” Bosa was out. Again. Tuli Tuipulotu forced an early fumble and batted down a pass. Bud Dupree had an early sack. Troy Dye and Tarheeb Still split a sack. Dye later got juked out of his tighty whities by Patrick Mahomes. Khalil Mack had an important stop when the DBs had blown coverage, then a nice batdown.

Secondary: C+

Star safety Derwin James should not have been — but was — suspended for this game for tackling too hard. Replacement A.J. Finley immediately allowed a pass to Travis Kelce. Elijah Molden recovered the first fumble. Kristian Fulton picked Mahomes and then allowed a long TD, despite interfering. But he’s skilled.

Special teams: B

Cameron Dicker The Kicker’s 50-yard field goal put his side up 10-0, but he later missed a 55-yarder. Derius Davis, who simply can’t learn, had a fair catch at the 5. JK Scott is a really good punter.

Coaching: B

Teacher had no problem with Jim Harbaugh going for it with the game tied 10-10 in the fourth quarter and the ball at the goal line, but the pass play call stunk (after refusing a challenge that might have overturned a play). But it’s hard to find many flaws in his plan. He held the Chiefs to 17 points. He will have something going here.

Next opportunity — bye: A++

Bye the bye: never, in the history of byes, has one bye meant so much to so many.

Originally Published: September 29, 2024 at 5:21 p.m.

San Diego county already has one of the highest cost-of-living burdens in the nation and working families are being crushed by recent spikes in inflation.

Despite this, San Diego local politicians want to make things even more expensive by putting 35 separate tax hikes on the November 2024 ballot.

What’s worse, many of these tax hikes are hidden behind deceptive ballot titles that the politicians write to fool voters into approving them.

That’s why in each election, Reform California publishes a “Plain English” voter guide to flag all the tax hikes on the ballot and expose the deceptive word games being played on these measures.

In San Diego county, there is one county-wide sales tax hike on the ballot, 11 city sales tax hikes, and 23 local property tax hikes – mostly tied to bonds.

Measure G is a half-a-percent sales tax hike countywide that backers say will fix our roads. But not a single penny of Measure G is legally earmarked for roads.

Worse, the funds in Measure G will go to SANDAG – the same agency that raised your taxes in 1988 and 2004 promising to fix roads, but has repeatedly raided those road funds ever since.  Recent SANDAG audits have also uncovered millions in waste, fraud and abuse at the agency.

Just like with Measure G, backers of city-specific sales tax hike measures also make false claims on where the funds from their tax hikes would go.  Every city measure has been placed on the ballot claiming the funds will go to specific purposes – with the magic words of “police, fire, 911, road repairs, etc.” being used in almost every measure. Yet none of the city measures contain language legally earmarking the funds for these popular programs.

All of the city tax hike measures go into the general fund of the cities – and politicians can spend the money any way they want. In fact, the fiscal forecasts for each of these cities prove that a massive portion of funds are being diverted by city politicians to cover bloated and overly-generous pension payouts to city workers.

With the exception of a National City property tax hike for their general fund, the 23 property tax hikes on the ballot across the county are tied to bond measures that include parcel tax assessments.

These bonds are all being sold as improving school facilities – with all kinds of promotional language on improving academic outcomes.

The reality is these bonds and associated increases to your property taxes do nothing to improve the quality of instruction in our schools, but instead simply seek to build fancy new facilities.

What backers of these bonds do not tell you is we have a growing problem of underutilized facilities in school districts across the county. That’s because local public school enrollment has plummeted in the past five years – and is expected to drop even more in the coming years. Only a handful of our rural school districts have had stable or modest increases in enrollment.

Instead of building more facilities during a time of declining student enrollment, school districts should be required to do a comprehensive needs assessment of their existing facilities and right-size – using the proceeds from this process to invest in deferred maintenance and improvement of remaining facilities.

Several of these bonds are from school districts who have passed requirements that all of their contracts must be awarded using Project Labor Agreements (PLAs).

PLAs allow school districts to avoid fair and open competition on contracts in favor of union-only firms. In doing so, PLA’s discriminate against small and minority-owned businesses.

According to the Coalition for Fair Employment in Construction (CFEC), PLAs result in a 25-40% increase in the cost to taxpayers for projects while reducing the chance that hiring will benefit local workers.

Just who benefits from these discriminatory PLA contracts? School district politicians who receive campaign contributions from union political action committees funded by the dues generated by union-only projects.

So what will approving all 35 tax hikes on the San Diego County ballot cost you?

Our analysis shows the average San Diego household will be impacted by 2-3 of these tax hikes and will end up paying $200-300 more per year in higher cost-of-living. That’s simply too much for San Diegans who already are struggling with their finances.

Vote NO on all 35 tax hikes and tell San Diego county politicians to instead reform their wasteful spending!

Carl DeMaio is a former member of the San Diego City Council and a candidate for the California Assembly.

Joanne Bovee Hickey

OBITUARY

Joanne Hickey wife, mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, and friend to many passed away on September 17, 2024 in Cardiff-by-the-Sea, CA with her family by her side.Born on June 6, 1930 in Los Angeles, she was the oldest of four children born to Glenn and Helen (Hurst) Bovee. Joanne spent her early years, with twin sisters Merry and Jeri and brother Ronnie, in West Hollywood before moving to Point Loma. Joanne graduated from Point Loma High School (Class of ’48) before attending University of Southern California (Class of ’52), where she made many life-long friends as a member of Chi Omega Sorority.After graduation, Joanne began her 20+ year teaching career in Los Angeles before returning to Point Loma to teach second grade at Silvergate Elementary School and later, Fremont Elementary. Well beyond her retirement, Joanne loved reconnecting with old students and fellow teachers she spent so many special years with. She also never stopped teaching whether to her kids, grandchildren, or peers in Zeta Rho. Joanne’s passion for learning and sharing her knowledge never slowed down.Joanne married Frank Hickey in 1956, who she enjoyed 38 years with until his passing in 1994. While raising their daughter, Beth, and son, Glenn, their marriage was full of Chargers games, hosting dinner parties, and attending their children’s activities. Joanne also dedicated a lot of time volunteering within the Point Loma community. Throughout the years, she was active in the Juniors of Social Services, National Charity League, Point Loma Community Presbyterian Church, La Playa Trails Association, and Zeta Rho.After Frank passed away, she spent a lot of quality time with family, friends, and her wonderful companion, Ed Streicher. She loved taking her grandchildren to the San Diego Zoo and her favorite restaurants (Miguel’s and Pizza Nova), and sharing her favorite books (Anne of Green Gables and Little Women) with them. Joanne was also lucky enough to travel to all the places she dreamed of visiting, experiencing many new adventures with her closest friends, sisters, and Ed.Most of all, Joanne cherished the time she was able to spend with loved ones over a great meal, a glass of wine, and lively conversation. She was incredibly thoughtful, and loved hearing about what was going on in everyone’s life the life of any party.Joanne was preceded in death by her parents Glenn and Helen; husband Frank; brother Ronnie; sister Merry; and loving partner Ed. Joanne is survived by her daughter Beth and her husband Craig Hildebrand; son Glenn and his wife Zena; grandchildren Andrew (Matt Harnos) Hildebrand, Bryan (Kaci) Hildebrand, Sean Hickey and Paige Hickey; her sister Jeri Thompson; and many nieces and nephews.A special thank you to Juanita for the wonderful care you gave Joanne; the team at Belmont Village; her nephew Gregg who spent so much time with her in the last year; and to Anne, Elise and Dave for their weekly visits.A Celebration of Life will be held. Please reach out to the family for details if you would like to join them in celebrating Joanne’s amazing life.