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Tuesday's primary produced some surprising, and some not-so-surprising results. As expected, Mayor Kevin Faulconer's particular polite brand of politics was validated by voters, but other races slapped political insiders right across the face. Co-hosts Scott Lewis and Andrew Keatts were joined this week by two guests who helped offer some insights into how things parsed out. Laura Fink, who runs a political consulting firm, and Aimee Faucett, who helps run the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, agreed that the two contests with the most unexpected results were the races for City Council District 1 and city attorney office. "Those two really stood out in my mind because conventional wisdom was defied," Fink said. Deputy City Attorney Mara Elliott was the underdog in both donations and endorsements, but she shocked everyone Tuesday when she sailed through the primary. And in a crowded race that wasn't expected to produce a clear winner until November, votes are still being counted but businesswoman Barbara Bry is getting very close to the more than 50 percent needed to secure a seat. "That in and of itself seemed to defy political gravity," Fink said of the big turnout for Bry. Faucett told Lewis that if Bry does win, the folks the Chamber of Commerce represents have some questions. "The business community does have concern about how far she will go relating to pension reform," Faucett said. Also on this week's podcast, Keatts and Lewis talk about their late-night election coverage and dive deeper into some of the results. Plus, they reveal the newly organized opposition to the Chargers' plan. Hero of the Week The folks behind a new nonprofit created to save the crumbling Starlight Bowl in Balboa Park get a big thumbs-up this week. Save Starlight is working to revamp the large outdoor amphitheater, which is one of the many assets in Balboa Park in need of some care. Goat of the Week Poway Unified School District is on its way to earning the most goat awards ever. The district is in the news again for its questionable financial dealings. VOSD's Ashly McGlone highlighted some big questions about a contract with the financial firm Dolinka Group. The contract surpassed a not-to-exceed amount by a lot of money, and while district staff are defending it, a few board members are asking for an audit.

The Sweetwater Union High School District is the largest secondary school district in the state. A few years ago, the district decided to move its schools onto the same calendar system. On this week’s podcast, Karen Janney, superintendent of...

Scott Lewis and Andrew Keatts talk about Tuesday's big election and speak with David Loy, from the ACLU, which has questions for police about how far they pushed protestors away after the demonstrations against Donald Trump.

The Barrio Logan College Institute is an after-school program that serves low-income disadvantaged students from across the county and prepares them to go to college. One way the organization says it transforms students’ lives is by educating and...

Today, Tribune Publishing announced it would stake its future on artificial intelligence and a new name. In a special quick podcast, Scott Lewis called up futurist Amy Webb to talk "tronc."

The primary is right around the corner, so co-hosts Sara Libby and Ry Rivard tackle some of the biggest local races and issues that'll be on the ballot. VOSD staffers join the podcast this week to help break things down and give listeners useful information in advance of the June 7 vote. Andrew Keatts talks about a few of the San Diego City Council races and the five-way city attorney race. He also shares some important background and details about Rebuild San Diego, the measure put forward by San Diego City Councilman Mark Kersey that promises to finally deal with the city’s large infrastructure funding dilemma. "Somewhere along the line someone dropped the ball or somebody lost their nerve," Keatts said of the measure, which the city's independent budget analyst has said lacks a new source of revenue to actually make a dent in the city's crumbling infrastructure problem. "One thing or another happened, but the plan that was sketched out never happened and instead what we have is Proposition H." Also on the podcast, VOSD's Ashly McGlone shares some insight about the city's raging debate over vacation rentals and what the candidates for City Council District 1 are saying the city should do to regulate them, education reporter Mario Koran discusses the unusually exciting race for the San Diego County Board of Education, Scott Lewis explains the lackluster mayoral race and other staffers discuss more races and measures. Favorite Things • Ry Rivard's favorite thing this week is "All the Way," an HBO movie based on the life of President Lyndon B. Johnson and his work on the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Rivard says the series takes a good look a a politician who decided to do something bold with his time in office. • Sara Libby's favorite thing this week is San Diego's growing love of cold brew coffee. She specifically names Barrio Logan cafe Por Vida's horchata cold brew and North Park's Holsem Coffee's  banana bread cold brew.

Has the historically conservative San Diego Union-Tribune editorial page shifted to the left? Mathew T. Hall, the new editorial and opinion director at the San Diego Union-Tribune, joined the podcast this week to talk about some of the paper's recent surprising political endorsements. But Hall wasn't ready to let co-hosts Scott Lewis and Andrew Keatts paint the U-T's changing editorial page in such black and white terms. "That's just not how we view things," he said. "Right, left, liberal, conservative – those are titles and labels that others use and clearly use a lot, but that's not how we view things and that's not how we're going to be making our decisions." San Diego lawyer Cory Briggs also makes an appearance on the show. Briggs, who's part of the coalition backing the Citizens' Plan, breaks down the initiative that in part rethinks the city’s hotel-room tax system, prevents a waterfront expansion of the Convention Center and paves the way for a new stadium. "One mistake people make is thinking the Citizens' Plan guarantees a stadium," he said. "The only thing the Citizens' Plan did to assist the Chargers is to authorize the use downtown next to Petco Park." Briggs also shares his thoughts on local media, provides insight into the North Park Jack in the Box case and more. Also on the podcast, Lewis and Keatts talk about mayoral candidate Ed Harris' about-face when it comes to building housing near transit. Hero of the Week The San Diego Unified Board of Trustees, which voted to change the name of the Robert E. Lee Elementary, gets credit for finally getting rid of the offensive name. Goat of the Week San Diego Unified School District also gets dinged this week for missing its local hiring goals when it comes to bond-funded construction. District officials adopted a project labor agreement for its bond program and made big promises to hire local workers. There's been some shortcomings.

Every kid learns at his or her own pace. They each need something different when it comes to education.  has emerged as a response to kids' individualized needs and their varied pace of learning. It's a radically different...

In this episode, we tried for a debate between candidates for the obscure but important board and got this instead. ◆◆◆ This week, we're running the latest episode of Good Schools For All—Voice of San Diego's education podcast—in place of VOSD Radio. Good Schools For All is one of four shows currently offered offered by the Voice of San Diego Podcast Network. Our podcasts cover news and politics, education, arts and culture and more. To learn more about the Voice of San Diego Podcast network, click here. To subscribe to Good Schools for All on iTunes click here. Get the RSS feed here.

Normally, the County Board of Education race isn’t one that makes it into headlines. But this year, four of the five spots on the board are up for grabs. And  The folks elected to the County Board of Education wield some power. They do...