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Spruce Street Suspension Bridge in Park West.

/ Kaitlin Schluter / Union-Tribune

Check it out: Spruce Street Suspension Bridge

If you’re afraid of heights, consider yourself warned. But for those craving a cheap thrill, the 98-year-old Spruce Street suspension bridge is one of Park West’s best kept secrets.

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15-year-old sings praises of summer camp

Thursday, July 29, 2010

This time, summer camp lived up to all of its praise. Chris Borst, 15, recently returned from 10 days at the Grammy Foundation’s annual Grammy camp for high school students at the Thornton School of Music at USC.

Plans for vuvuzela night blown out of stadium

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Steve Schnall, San Diego State’s associate athletic director for marketing, watched soccer’s World Cup this summer on TV and heard the incessant buzzing from the long, loud plastic air horns that South Africans call vuvuzelas. And started scheming.

Start your engines: Model Railroad Museum throwing a birthday bash

Originally published July 28, 2010 at 2:16 p.m., updated July 29, 2010 at 12:02 a.m.

The San Diego Model Railroad Museum celebrates 30 years of tiny-train fun Saturday with a big celebration. This is obviously good news to Thomas the Tank Engine-loving families everywhere, but you don’t necessarily have to be a railroad enthusiast to enjoy the festivities.

Get your cold sweets from these ice cream parlors

Originally published July 28, 2010 at 2:15 p.m., updated July 29, 2010 at 12:02 a.m.

Set air conditioners to “Arctic.” Crank pool chlorine levels up to “dissolve.” But nothing beats summertime body heat like something cold and sweet from an ice cream parlor. And as we say a farewell to National Ice Cream Month, we thank these ice-creampreneurs and purveyors for their sweet, frozen-butterfat service.

Pint of the Week: Blanche de Bruxelles, Quenast, Belgium

Originally published July 28, 2010 at 2:08 p.m., updated July 29, 2010 at 12:02 a.m.

Several Southern California breweries turn out ravishing beers inspired by the unique beverages of Belgium.

Rolling toward the end?

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

After 35 years of hosting first kisses and last dances, the city’s only remaining roller-skating rink is in danger of shutting down — the latest in a series of closures that has left the eight-wheeled set across the country reeling.

‘Survey Select’ displays many styles, all with a focus on narrative

Originally published July 28, 2010 at 12:01 a.m., updated July 29, 2010 at 12:02 a.m.

Mark Murphy considers himself a publisher, curator, writer, collector and promoter, among other things. So it’s no surprise his new exhibition, “Survey Select,” offers not just art, but a host of other activities, and was timed to begin with Comic-Con (where Murphy had a booth) and end with the San Diego Art Fair (where Murphy will have a booth).

SDSU campus among 20 most LGBT-friendly

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Was it the twice-yearly Big Gay BBQs or the Safe Zones ally training or the Queer People of Color Conference or the new minor in LGBT studies?

Study shows toning shoes don’t deliver

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Your wallet may be the only thing getting a workout if you buy one of the highly touted toning shoes hoping to increase your fitness.

Bottoms-up ‘Dream’ is worthy of a toast

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

It’s no easy feat both to be beautifully true to Shakespeare and stand the man on his head.

Mraz, Watkins lead list of locals vying for SD Music Awards

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Two multiple Grammy Award-winning San Diego musicians, Jason Mraz and Nickel Creek alum Sara Watkins, head the list of performers nominated in the Artist of the Year and Album of the Year categories for the 2010 San Diego Music Awards.

Taking the reins

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Since assuming the job just over three months ago, the Oceanside Museum of Arts new executive director, Ed Fossmire, has been in a “fact-finding mode.” But he’s reached a couple of conclusions.

Academy grad

Saturday, July 24, 2010

The first night Natalie Gore spent as a new agent trainee at the FBI Academy at Quantico, Va., a male classmate popped his head in her dorm room and said, “You know, they’ve lost four women in the last three months from the physical.” With that salvo, he was gone.

Dress-up, drama at Comic-Con

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Comic-Con is the biggest convention in San Diego, and Saturday was its biggest day. The action generated buzz in ways expected and surprising.

Celebration is precious, as is teen's time

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Young girls preparing for their quinceañera dream about all sorts of things: the dress, the party, possibly a limo. But for Stephanie Rosales, the key to her big day was having the best pictures — and video — possible.

Images of history

Originally published July 23, 2010 at 10:48 p.m., updated July 24, 2010 at 12:02 a.m.

Did you know that Mount Helix was named for helix aspersa snails found by Swiss scientist Louis Agassiz in 1872?

Horsing around with hats

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Annnnd they’re off. Off the grid and a little off their rockers, the faithful, the fearless and the fashionable descended on the Del Mar Racetrack on Wednesday for the annual adventure known as Opening Day.

Preview night kicks off the Con

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

There’s no escaping it; Comic-Con has arrived. San Diego’s signature geek fest (we say that fondly) brings with it hordes of celebrities, collectible schwag and visitors from all over the world.

A peek into Old Town lore

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Not a trace, so far, of Yankee Jim, neither spectral nor tangible.

With creativity, businesses get share of Comic-Con cash

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Travis Ahern had hoped to rent out his family’s downtown warehouse to a long-term restaurant tenant, but when Disney came calling last year to take over the 15,000-square-foot building to plug a couple of its movies during Comic-Con, it was an offer too lucrative to refuse.

90-year-old gets the drop on her birthday

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

To celebrate her 90th birthday Tuesday, Edna Baldwin dropped like a rock from 10,000 feet. A tiny dot way up in the sky, she hit about 125 mph. She fell ... And fell ... Then, the parachute blossomed. “That was something else,” the great-grandmother of 10, shouted.

ArtPower! announces a powerful season

Sunday, July 18, 2010

ArtPower!’s 2010-2011 performance schedule can be summed up in one word: robust.

A ‘Life’ inspired by Hans Christian Andersen

Sunday, July 18, 2010

From Disney to “Wicked,” local playwright Ruff Yeager has had much inspiration for his new musical “Come to Life!”

On stage at the source of her inspiration

Originally published July 18, 2010 at 12:02 a.m., updated July 18, 2010 at 9:52 a.m.

‘I want someone to pinch me.” It was a simple request, and one that was easily granted. But when Ashley Matte got her pinch a split second later, the priceless look on her face — sheer delight mixed with “Are you kidding me?” incredulity — conveyed what happens when dreams and hopes become a happy reality.

Forebears helped him; now he helps others

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Eric Smith’s curse-and-blessing kicked in after he began drawing demon smoke from homemade crack through a glass tube.

Nature painter inspired by his native Sri Lanka

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Conserving nature is not a cause, it is a way of life for internationally acclaimed wildlife artist Gamini Ratnavira of Fallbrook.

Artist’s goal: 101 scenes of Highway 101

Sunday, July 18, 2010

101 paintings of Highway 101.

'Top Model' hopefuls put on their best face

Sunday, July 18, 2010

The heels were high and the legs were long at Saturday’s local casting call for the “America’s Next Top Model” reality show. And the dreams? They were very big.

Artist Shepard Fairey, a rebel with a cause

Originally published July 17, 2010 at 4:04 p.m., updated July 17, 2010 at 7:05 p.m.

The mural’s message is clear, even if a few of the letters are blocked out by a stylish-looking woman and her umbrella: OBEY, CONSUME, REPEAT.