Author Image: Diane Bell

Diane Bell

Diane Bell was a longtime columnist for The San Diego Union-Tribune. She chronicled life in and around the city of San Diego for The San Diego Union-Tribune starting in1995. In prior years, Diane was opinion pages editor and an editorial writer, and served as president of the National Association of Opinion Page Editors. She received her masters in journalism from the University of Missouri, followed by stints as an editor and a reporter covering various news beats, including education, features, general news and consumer issues. She won the national Penney-Missouri award for consumer reporting. Before becoming opinion pages editor at the U-T, Diane was senior deputy editor of U.S. News & World Report in Washington, D.C.

All Stories

Former San Diego City Councilman Mark Kersey has a new line of work — making bourbon as CEO of Cask & Coast Spirits Co.

Former S.D. councilman takes a shot at making bourbon

For eight years, Mark Kersey was a San Diego councilman dealing with budgets, policies, potholes, backlogged infrastructure needs and every other issue that came before the council.It was good preparation...
San Diego, CA - October 06: Working from his home office on Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2021 in San Diego, CA., Jesus Morales, is happy he’s found his new calling. Morales has tied his social media popularity with public donations that in turn are donated to street vendors. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

TikToker is a viral smash helping others

Local TikTok influencer, Juixxe, has done it again.He gave $1,000 to another hard-working San Diego taco vendor and created a tear-jerking video that went viral, generating 1.1 million "likes" within...
Cecil Steppe, gazes at a new honorary street sign bearing his name, Cecil H. Steppe St., on 47th Street in Chollas View.

Two San Diego leaders turn 90 years young

Two San Diego civic leaders with giant footprints are celebrating their 90th birthdays — and neither seems to be slowing down.Cecil H. Steppe, San Diego County Probation Department chief for...
The Dalai Lama and a giant panda star in a new book co-created by the Tibetan leader and Mutts' cartoonist Patrick McDonnell.

Dalai Lama and Mutts cartoonist pen a book

A chance discussion on a starry evening in Botswana, Africa, in 2019 launched an unlikely writing project that teamed the creator of the Mutts comic strip with the Dalai Lama...
Jenina Peraza, r, with her mother Stacey Foxworth, of Olivenhain, has a lot in common with Celine Dion: stiff person syndrome.

Celine Dion puts spotlight on stiff person syndrome

When Céline Dion made an emotional video post revealing her battle with a rare neurological disorder called stiff person syndrome, many fans had never heard of the disorder.Jenina Peraza was...
S.D. Symphony V.P. Lea Slusher married Steve Hornsby, right, on Rady Shell stage with Rev. Greg Batson and dog, Johnny Cash.

Rady Shell is a scenic setting to stage a wedding

In its 2½ years, the stage of Rady Shell already has hosted a hit parade of talent performing for concerts and private events — Jennifer Hudson, Bernadette Peters, The Beach...
San Diego CA - January 8: Tyler Schutz, 26, made a double eagle on the par four, 236-yard fourth hole at the Lomas Santa Fe Executive Golf Course last year in Solana Beach. Tyler, who has Kabuki syndrome, is blind in one eye and has a blind spot in his good eye, shown here teeing off on the hole where he it the hole in one on January 8, 2023. (K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Casual player drives his way into annals of golf

Michael Christensen, founder of the U.S.-based Double Eagle Club recognizing golfers who score three strokes under par on a single hole, is very familiar with the name of Tyler Schulz.The...
San Diego CA - January 8: Tyler Schutz, 26, made a double eagle on the par four, 236-yard fourth hole at the Lomas Santa Fe Executive Golf Course last year in Solana Beach. Tyler, who has Kabuki syndrome, is blind in one eye and has a blind spot in his good eye, shown here teeing off on the hole where he it the hole in one on January 8, 2023. (K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Casual player drives his way into annals of golf

Michael Christensen, founder of the U.S.-based Double Eagle Club recognizing golfers who score three strokes under par on a single hole, is very familiar with the name of Tyler Schulz.The...
San Diego CA - January 8: Tyler Schutz, 26, made a double eagle on the par four, 236-yard fourth hole at the Lomas Santa Fe Executive Golf Course last year in Solana Beach. Tyler, who has Kabuki syndrome, is blind in one eye and has a blind spot in his good eye, shown here teeing off on the hole where he it the hole in one on January 8, 2023. (K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Casual player drives his way into annals of golf

Michael Christensen, founder of the U.S.-based Double Eagle Club recognizing golfers who score three strokes under par on a single hole, is very familiar with the name of Tyler Schutz.The...
San Diego, CA - December 29: Chelsea Coleman with a photo of her dog Mabel at Mabel's Gone Fishing restaurant on Thursday, Dec. 29, 2022 in San Diego, CA. (Eduardo Contreras / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Mabel’s Gone Fishing gets a national plug

A North Park eatery created by Chelsea Coleman and her business partner, Rae Gurne, was spotlighted by Eater.com as one of the top 15 U.S. restaurants to open in 2022.The...
Al Abdallah, president-select of the local Urban League, s three of its Diversity awardees: from left, LaShanda Robertson, Pamela Payton and Roxanne Petteway.

Urban League leader takes aim at systemic racism

After the pandemic gripped America in March 2020, many nonprofit organizations shut their doors. The Urban League of San Diego County was not one of them.Its City Heights office, located...
Sarah Trott left "The Bachelor" show last year to help care for her dad, Tom Trott, in San Diego, who was suffering with ALS.

‘Bachelor’ contestant finds caregiver calling

Sarah Trott was on Matt James' season of "The Bachelor" for only four episodes, but her reality TV appearance was memorable.The Scripps Ranch High graduate fainted mid-rose ceremony which, instead...
Sarah Trott left "The Bachelor" show last year to help care for her dad, Tom Trott, in San Diego, who was suffering with ALS.

‘Bachelor’ contestant finds caregiver calling

Sarah Trott was on Matt James' season of "The Bachelor" for only four episodes, but her reality TV appearance was memorable.The Scripps Ranch High graduate fainted mid-rose ceremony which, instead...
Sarah Trott left "The Bachelor" show last year to help care for her dad, Tom Trott, in San Diego, who was suffering with ALS.

‘Bachelor’ contestant finds caregiver calling

Sarah Trott was on Matt James' season of "The Bachelor" for only four episodes, but her reality TV appearance was memorable.The Scripps Ranch High graduate fainted mid-rose ceremony which, instead...
In 2016, pitcher Gaylord Perry displayed the hat he wore when pitching his 300th winning game in 1982 with his note to Paul Nestor.

Gaylord Perry is ed for more than his pitches

Baseball Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry pitched for the San Diego Padres for only two seasons, but during that memorable 1978-'79 stint, he won his second career Cy Young Award,...
Evan Mendelsohn, co-CEO/co-founder of Tipsy Elves, wears a smaller version of the ugly Christmas super sweater his firm made.

An ugly Christmas sweater – on a massive scale

Imagine the Statue of Liberty wearing an ugly Christmas sweater.On second thought, don't imagine that. Instead, picture an ugly Christmas sweater that's big enough to fit Lady Liberty — 30...
Kevin McGinty, audio engineer at the Grand Ole Opry, with interviewer Dan Del Fiorentino, was 5,000th NAMM oral history profile.

Music history is being made in Carlsbad

Rocker Lita Ford made her own guitar amplifier out of her father’s reel-to-reel tape machine when she was a teenager.Elvis Presley played the electric bass on “Baby You’re So Square”...
Kevin McGinty, audio engineer at the Grand Ole Opry, with interviewer Dan Del Fiorentino, was 5,000th NAMM oral history profile.

Music history is being made in Carlsbad

Rocker Lita Ford made her own guitar amplifier out of her father’s reel-to-reel tape machine when she was a teenager.Elvis Presley played the electric bass on “Baby You’re So Square”...
Kenny Mintz walked up Banner Grade toward Julian with a flag honoring his U.S. Army infantry battalion in Afghanistan in 2011.

Crossing America one step at a time

It was inevitable that folks compared Army combat veteran Kenny Mintz to Forrest Gump when Mintz traversed U.S. back roads from coast to coast.But there are major differences.Gump embarked on...
Kenny Mintz walked up Banner Grade toward Julian with a flag honoring his U.S. Army infantry battalion in Afghanistan in 2011.

Crossing America one step at a time

It was inevitable that folks compared Army combat veteran Kenny Mintz to Forrest Gump when Mintz traversed U.S. back roads from coast to coast.But there are major differences.Gump embarked on...
Kenny Mintz walked up Banner Grade toward Julian with a flag honoring his U.S. Army infantry battalion in Afghanistan in 2011.

Crossing America one step at a time

It was inevitable that folks compared Army combat veteran Kenny Mintz to Forrest Gump when Mintz traversed U.S. back roads from coast to coast.But there are major differences.Gump embarked on...
Kenny Mintz walked up Banner Grade toward Julian with a flag honoring his U.S. Army infantry battalion in Afghanistan in 2011.

Crossing America one step at a time

It was inevitable that folks compared Army combat veteran Kenny Mintz to Forrest Gump when Mintz traversed U.S. back roads from coast to coast.But there are major differences.Gump embarked on...
Maxine Gellens, a season ticket holder since Petco Park opened, wore a Phillies shirt and Padres hat to show her loyalty to both teams.

Padres-Phillies series brings out friendly rivalry

A lot of people have allegiance to both San Diego and Philadelphia, so deciding how to dress for the Padres-Phillies National League Championship Series can be a daunting task.Maxine Gellens,...
San Diego County made a video, including this photo, that explains how its "Owner Alert" home title theft monitoring service works.

County moves to protect against home title theft

Surely you have seen former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich on TV speaking out on behalf of title lock insurance — a monitoring service to detect thieves stealing the title...
San Diego County made a video, including this photo, that explains how its "Owner Alert" home title theft monitoring service works.

County moves to protect against home title theft

Surely you have seen former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich on TV speaking out on behalf of title lock insurance — a monitoring service to detect thieves stealing the title...
"Fleeting Time" director/co-producer Ben Ferguson descends a Wyoming slope in his snowboarding film featuring some locals.

Snowboarding is all the rage in Southern California

Some of the world's top snowboarders gathered last weekend in Encinitas — a mecca for world-competing skateboarders, surfers and snowboarders — yes, snowboarders.The attraction was the screening of a new...
"Fleeting Time" director/co-producer Ben Ferguson descends a Wyoming slope in his snowboarding film featuring some locals.

Snowboarding is all the rage in Southern California

Some of the world's top snowboarders gathered last weekend in Encinitas — a mecca for world-competing skateboarders, surfers and snowboarders — yes, snowboarders.The attraction was the screening of a new...
A drawing from the new children's book by Johnny Tiersma, "If I Were a Teacher," illustrated by Ron Van Der Pol of Escondido.

Teachers team up to create fictional classroom chaos

Students creating explosions in science class, raising a foot to speak, sitting on their desks, getting awards for having the sloppiest handwriting or the messiest desk ...Sounds like an unruly...
A drawing from the new children's book by Johnny Tiersma, "If I Were a Teacher," illustrated by Ron Van Der Pol of Escondido.

Teachers team up to create fictional classroom chaos

Students creating explosions in science class, raising a foot to speak, sitting on their desks, getting awards for having the sloppiest handwriting or the messiest desk ...Sounds like an unruly...
Pat Libby, a consultant to nonprofit groups, wrote a how-to grassroots guide for citizens who want to get laws ed.

Does something bug you? a law

Teacher Pat Libby surveyed her class of graduate students at the University of San Diego and gave them their first instruction."Your assignment for this course is to a law."...
A drawing from the new children's book by Johnny Tiersma, "If I Were a Teacher," illustrated by Ron Van Der Pol of Escondido.

Teachers team up to create fictional classroom chaos

Students creating explosions in science class, raising a foot to speak, sitting on their desks, getting awards for having the sloppiest handwriting or the messiest desk ...Sounds like an unruly...
A drawing from the new children's book by Johnny Tiersma, "If I Were a Teacher," illustrated by Ron Van Der Pol of Escondido.

Teachers team up to create fictional classroom chaos

Students creating explosions in science class, raising a foot to speak, sitting on their desks, getting awards for having the sloppiest handwriting or the messiest desk ...Sounds like an unruly...
Darlene Shiley donated $1 million to modernizing the Sharp Mesa Vista Intensive Care Unit, which now bears the Shiley name.

Darlene Shiley and George Mitrovich leave new legacies

San Diego has Shiley Eye Institute, Shiley Center for Science and Technology, Shiley Marcos School of Engineering at USD, UC San Diego's Shiley-Marcos Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, and more institutions...
Army Maj. John J. Duffy (ret.), with eight Purple Heart and Medal of Honor pins on his cap, at Mt. Soledad veterans memorial.

Medal of Honor recipient returns to San Diego

In 1967, San Diegan Tom Duffy thought his brother, John, had been killed in the jungles of South Vietnam. The San Diego Union had reported a deadly Viet Cong attack...
Noah, who is "Fries" in "Mighty Ducks — Game Changers" on Disney+ TV, at his first gear fitting. He had to learn to play hockey.<br/>

San Diego has a new hockey star

Noah Baird had just finished a first-period test last March when his mother showed up at his Carlsbad high school to take him out of class to an ice skating...