Re “Readers fear the worst as San Diego City Hall readies new trash fee” (Nov. 25): I agree with the writers and would add that the city employed envy and greed to divide city residents between those paying for private collection in condo communities and those of us who were receiving the service for “free.”

Ask yourself, if the city has been collecting refuse all this time, it was being funded by us somehow, correct? Now it will collect a dedicated fee for the service, but where will the previous funds go? Hint: unionized public employees. That’s why city leaders endorse every tax and fee increase. Wise up —  this will not change as long as voters continue to elect Democrats.

— Charles Riley, San Diego

Robert Blackledge

OBITUARY

Robert (Bob) D. Blackledge, of El Cajon, CA passed away on June 4, 2024, at home with his family after a short illness.

He was born in Manila, the Philippine Islands, on February 8, 1937, the son of William Clinton Blackledge and Helen Louise VanCuren Blackledge. He is survived by his spouse Sally McCollum Blackledge, his three children, James Blackledge, Andrea Beach and Stephanie Henry, and seven grandchildren. He is also survived by his brother David William Blackledge and nieces, nephews and great-nieces and nephews.

Bob was an avid basketball player and was a member of the Citadel Bulldogs team in college. Graduating with a degree in chemistry, he served two years in the US Army and then went on to teach chemistry and physics. He subsequently turned to a life of crime, becoming a criminalist for the state of Florida, working in the crime labs in Tallahassee and Fort Pierce. He later worked for the Dept. of Defense Criminal Investigation Division as a criminalist stationed in Frankfurt, Germany. He wound up his career working for Naval Criminal Investigative Services (NCIS) in San Diego, CA. Bob was a passionate and well-published scientist and mentored several young scientists over the course of his career. He developed novel techniques for the detection and characterization of condom lubricants in cases of sexual assault, earning him the nickname “the Condom King.” During his time at NCIS, he was a consultant for the television series in the early years, and appeared as himself in one of the Harry Bosch novels by Michael Connelly. He remained active in independent forensics research well into his retirement.

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — There’s no rain expected in the next week and the extended forecast hints at drier than normal conditions and above average temperatures in the next five days. 

Southern California are seeing a mostly cloudy Friday as a low-pressure system well off the coast funnels some high clouds into the weekend. These clouds will intermittently pass through this weekend with Sunday looking mostly sunny.

From Friday through the weekend, the region will also be getting a gradual warming trend into early December. Offshore flow is still present, but weak Santa Ana winds will let up for mountains and valleys later this evening.

High pressure over northern Baja will build and bump afternoon temperatures up slightly day by day. 

Saturday at the coast will hit temperatures around the low to mid-70s in the afternoon, with upper 70s in the valleys, mid-60s for the mountains and low 70s in the deserts. Some areas like Ramona, El Cajon and Escondido could get close to 80 degrees!

Patchy fog returns to coastal areas for Sunday and Monday morning.

Enjoy the mild weather over the holiday weekend!