February 2017

OB Planning Board Agenda – Alcohol Permits and a Remodel on Santa Monica – Wed. March 1st

February 28, 2017 by Frank Gormlie

The Ocean Beach Planning Board has a few spicy items to juggle at their upcoming monthly meeting, held this Wednesday, March 1st, over at the OB Recreation Center, 4726 Santa Monica Avenue.

Alcohol Permits

One of the more juicy agenda items on the agenda is a Board review of an application for a new alcohol permit for OB’s latest beer pub – which hasn’t opened yet – Little Miss Brewing Company, at 4861 Newport Ave.

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Construction Crews Take Over Newport Avenue in Ocean Beach

February 28, 2017 by Frank Gormlie

Two blocks of Newport Avenue were nearly closed down today, Tuesday, Feb. 28th as construction crews and their equipment took over OB’s main street and some nearby streets as well in the downtown area.

Part of it all was the beginning stages of the re-paving of Newport Avenue – the widening of Newport Ave’s two mid-block crosswalks. One crew worked on that.

Another separate crew was re-asphalting Cable Street, while a third crew cleaned out a main sewer line between Newport and Niagara.

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“Special Prosecutor, Special Prosecutor, Who’s Got the Special Prosecutor?”

February 27, 2017 by Frank Gormlie

There’s some kind of a sick and nefarious game being played out on national politics right now. It’s called, “Special Prosecutor, Special Prosecutor, Who’s Got the Special Prosecutor?”

Even as Congressman Darrel Issa walked back part of his solitary Republican call for a special prosecutor to look into Trump’s ties to Russia, White House press spokesguy Sean Spicer, was denying the need for one and that it would all be a waste of time. When pressed by a reporter to respond to Issa’s call for a special investigator, at a news briefing Monday, Feb. 27, Spicer said:

“ A special prosecutor for what?”

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On Tuesday, House Republicans Will Betray Their Oaths, Their Country, and the American People

February 27, 2017 by Source

They’ve made the calculation that most of their constituents won’t care

House RepublicansBy Dartagnan / Daily Kos

On February 28, 2017, the United States will witness the what may be the single greatest act of collective treachery by its elected government officials since the Confederate States voted to secede from the Union in 1860 and 1861.

And in all likelihood, the U.S. media will completely ignore it.

On Tuesday the Republican-dominated House Judiciary Committee is expected to reject House Democrats’ Resolution for a formal inquiry into the the potential ethical and legal violations committed by the Trump campaign apparatus in its contacts, communications and financial transactions with Russia during the run-up to Trump’s election last November, and throughout the transition since then.

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Indivisible San Diego Targets Issa and Hunter for the Week

February 27, 2017 by Staff
Thumbnail image for Indivisible San Diego Targets Issa and Hunter for the Week

Indivisible San Diego, the network of county groups who have adapted the format and organizing techniques of the guidebook, Indivisible, are targeting Congressional Republicans Duncan Hunter, Jr. and Darrel Issa the week of Feb. 27th. Most actions this week are on Tuesday, Feb. 28th (only 10% chance of rain).

The document was written by congressional staffers who experienced the Tea Party’s impact. They put together the 23-page Indivisible: A Practical Guide for Resisting the Trump Agenda,

Thousands of groups have formed nation-wide as well as several dozen within San Diego County. At my last count, there were 44 groups, including 2 in Point Loma and 3 in Pacific Beach – Mission Bay area.

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Save Peninsula Trees Group to Hold Tree Advocacy Class

February 27, 2017 by Source

By Save Peninsula Trees

Save Peninsula Trees is at it again!

Last fall we began assembling information for a citizen’s guidebook on how to protect our community trees. What started a few months ago as some hastily scribbled notes over a pleasant, afternoon coffee at the New Break cafe has now become an honest to goodness handbook. And we’re pretty excited … because …

We are now ready to launch our draft San Diego Tree Advocacy Handbook.

Plus we will be holding a Tree Advocacy class on Saturday, March 25, 2017, 9:30 to 12:00 noon .

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It’s Back! “Hugo’s Cocina” (formerly “Rancho’s”) Is Open

February 27, 2017 by Judi Curry

Hugo’s Cocina
(formerly “Rancho’s”)
1830 Sunset Cliffs Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92107
619-370-1603

Coming home from a bitterly cold birthday trip to Fargo, North Dakota, I disembarked the aircraft at 11:34am. And as I was being driven home by Michael from Uber, I noticed the “Grand Opening” balloons and signs in front of the old Rancho’s. For five months I have been craving their salsa, and I was in the house for only a few minutes when I grabbed Hitomi and we drove to “Hugo’s Cochina.” But … there were no parking places, and the place was jammed, so we went home to return after the rush hour was over. And I am so glad that we did!

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The Real Fake News

February 27, 2017 by Jim Miller

Fact-checking is a feeble response in a world where what we think we see and know is more important than the actual truth.

Fake News 1 and 2By Jim Miller

Donald Trump’s continued attacks on the American news media as “the enemy of the American people” have generated quite a stir in mainstream media circles as one might expect.

And surely there is good reason to be disturbed by this administration’s punitive stance towards the press.

But what virtually none of the analysis of Trump’s attacks on “fake news” or Steve Bannon’s assaults on what he calls “the corporatist global media,” which both he and the president label “the opposition,” note is the irony that while the new regime is attacking the power of the corporate media, they are also busy installing corporatists in nearly every position of power and pushing an agenda that is every right-wing billionaire’s wet dream.

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This Cannot Stand! Trump’s War on the Press Just Got Real as White House Bars Select Media from Briefing

February 24, 2017 by Frank Gormlie

Donald Trump’s rhetorical war on the press just got very real.

Today, Friday, Feb. 24th, hours after Trump threatened the press – again – this time at a conservative activist confab, the White House barred select media organizations from a press briefing.

Reporters from CNN, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, BuzzFeed, and Politico were prohibited from being in a press briefing at the White House on Friday afternoon. The briefing – in Press Secretary Sean Spicer’s West Wing office – was a so-called “gaggle”— an informal, off-camera question-and-answer session between the press secretary and reporters. The Hill, the BBC, the Guardian were also denied entry.

However, right-wing media outlets were allowed in. These included the white nationalist Breitbart, the arch-conservative The Washington Times and One America News Network.

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OB Town Council Spotlights Unsung Heroes in Graffiti and Trash Wars

February 24, 2017 by Frank Gormlie
Thumbnail image for OB Town Council Spotlights Unsung Heroes in Graffiti and Trash Wars

During Wednesday’s Ocean Beach Town Council’s monthly meeting – Feb. 22nd -, the Council cast a spotlight on and honored some of the unsung heroes of OB’s graffiti and trash wars.

Representatives of two groups – OB Clean Streets Initiative and the OB Graffiti Task Force – were on hand to give updates and overviews of their efforts to clean up the village.

Greg Crowley of OB’s CSI told the gathered audience of some 70 people that his group’s motto is “Not talking spotless, just a little bit cleaner,” and how the group has organized 5 clean-ups in OB over the last year. They and the volunteers they organized collected over 600 pounds of trash – with the main items picked up being cigarette butts. One of the differences between CSI and other clean-up efforts, Greg said, was that his group goes into the alleys and away from the beaches to find their trash.

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Reader’s Rant: Will New “Smart” Led Street Lights on Newport Ave in Ocean Beach Write You a Parking Ticket?

February 24, 2017 by Source
Thumbnail image for Reader’s Rant: Will New “Smart” Led Street Lights on Newport Ave in Ocean Beach Write You a Parking Ticket?

By Not Amused in OB

Are “smart” led street lights coming to Ocean Beach to surveil you and write you a parking ticket? I heard Newport Avenue is slated to get new led lights.

The evening news on Channel 10 covered this, and it appears that our mayor, Kevin Faulconer , just rolled out on Wednesday a program of installing new street lights in San Diego and Ocean Beach. The mayor announced he’s expanding this program of putting in “smart sensors” which will be able to “gather and disseminate data on things like traffic, parking availability, public safety and air quality.”

And Kevin said that his city has partnered with a company from back east called Current which will install 3200 of these “Smartlight Sensors”, powered by GE.

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Climate Change: An Islander’s Experience

February 24, 2017 by Source
Thumbnail image for Climate Change: An Islander’s Experience

By Shanty Asher / SanDiego350.org

I am a proud Pacific Islander. Over the years, I have witnessed and stood alongside many of my fellow islanders and leaders, combating climate change and its impacts on the islands. Though the percentage of people in the U.S. who believe that climate change is real and human-caused is rising, it still only amounts to around half. I have no doubt that if Americans had seen what we have seen, had lived what we have lived through, I believe that percentage would be higher. Much higher.

Today, I will share that story with you through an islander’s lens and maybe, just maybe, my story will paint a different picture of climate change, one that you may not have heard before, one that you can relate to because it is not a scientific prediction, but based on actual events.

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The 10 Core Social and Political Beliefs of a Boomer Feminist

February 24, 2017 by Source

My 10 Core Social, Political Beliefs

By Anne Haule / Musings of a Boomer Feminist

Anne Haule

The election of Trump has caused me to focus on my core beliefs and work toward advancing them. I recommend this exercise for everyone. It is a useful way to clarify where you stand and to focus your energies.

So, in no particular order and subject to further additions, here they are.

Reproductive Rights and the Right to Die

Nothing could be more fundamental than the notion that the government has no place making healthcare decisions for individuals.

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The Michael Moore Easy-to-Follow 10-Point Plan to Stop Trump

February 23, 2017 by Source

By Michael Moore

First, let’s acknowledge what we all know to be true: Trump is in deep, deep trouble—in the pocket of Russians, surrounded by alt-right idiots, alone in his bathrobe in a mostly empty White House—and caught inside a disgusting “shit-sandwich,” so said his supporter who turned down the NSA job.

Only one month into his so-called presidency—and yet there is good news, as this is what the American landscape looks like:

• Tens of thousands of citizens across the country have stormed congressional district offices and town hall meetings to express their rage at the Trump agenda (a dejected Republican congressman, after a three-hour verbal assault from his angry constituents, said on TV last night, “Let’s face it—they [the Obamacare supporters] have won”).

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Ocean Beach, Peninsula and Midway Planning Boards All Have Elections in March

February 23, 2017 by Frank Gormlie

All three of the planning boards that make up the Point Loma planning areas have their annual elections coming up in March.

The Ocean Beach Planning Board holds its election on Wednesday, March 15th, the Peninsula Community Planners hold theirs on March 16th, and the election for the Midway – Pacific Hwy Planning Group will also take place March 15th.

Here are details for the various planning committee elections:

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OB’s Electric Car Charging Stations Promoted as San Diego Surges to Become Green Leader

February 23, 2017 by Frank Gormlie

San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer and Councilwoman Lori Zapf were in Ocean Beach last week promoting the two new electric vehicle charging stations installed in the Life Guard parking lot. Both politicos feel that with the City’s surge in offering stations to the public – now up to 68 – shows that San Diego is becoming a municipal leader in dealing with climate change.

“Move over Portland, San Diego is growing greener and we’re growing smarter,” Zapf said, as it has been reported than there are currently an estimated 13,000 electric vehicles on the road in San Diego.

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Vehicle of Woman Missing Found Near Sunset Cliffs

February 23, 2017 by Frank Gormlie
Thumbnail image for Vehicle of Woman Missing Found Near Sunset Cliffs

Amanda Cruz Visiting From Arizona Vanished Over the Weekend

A young woman visiting San Diego for the first time from Arizona has reportedly gone missing – and her car with her purse and backpack were found near Sunset Cliffs on Monaco Street.

30-year-old Amanda “Mandy” Cruse vanished over the weekend. At her hotel in Point Loma, there is surveillance footage showing her leaving about 4:30 a.m. Sunday. Her family presumes she left early to photograph the sunrise – as her high-quality digital camera was missing. This was the last time she was seen and no one has heard from her since.

Mandy is described as 5 feet 3 inches tall, weighing 115 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. When she left the hotel, she was wearing a gray sweatshirt, blue jeans, and black and white Converse shoes.

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Alternative Fact: There Ain’t No Such Thing as Global Warming

February 23, 2017 by John Lawrence

2016 Breaks 2015’s Record Which Broke 2014’s Record

By John Lawrence

Global WarmingFor the third year in a row planet Earth has set records for hottest year on the planet. It is the first time in the modern era of global warming data that temperatures have blown past the previous record three years in a row.

Meanwhile, President Trump took down the White House climate change website. He has called global warming a hoax and a Chinese plot, and staffed his administration with global warming deniers.

The heat extremes were especially noticeable in the Arctic region where temperatures are running 20 to 30 degrees Fahrenheit above normal. Sea ice is melting at a rapid pace and coastal communities are dealing with rapid beach erosion. Polar bears are losing their habitat and starving.

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Organizers of Spelling Out “Impeach” on Sands of Ocean Beach Issue Mission Statement

February 22, 2017 by Frank Gormlie

The good folks who are organizing the “OB March 4 Impeachment” have issued a Mission Statement (the OB Rag is co-sponsoring the event) on the facebook page – and as of this posting, nearly 400 people pledged their participation, with another near 2,000 interested.

Here is the statement:

Mission Statement:

Welcome to the resistance!

The March 4 Impeachment is just one of thousands of events to promote the efforts to resist the Trump agenda. We resist his misogynistic, xenophobic, and climate denial policies to name a few.

Why Impeach?

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Trump Still Won’t Say the Words: ‘Radical Anti-Semitism’

February 22, 2017 by Doug Porter

“The President’s sudden acknowledgment is a Band-Aid on the cancer of anti-Semitism that has infected his own Administration.”– Anne Frank Center

By Doug Porter

For the second time this month, The Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center in La Jolla was evacuated in response to a bomb threat this morning. San Diego Police searched the facility following a 6am phone call.

On Monday there were 11 new bomb threats against Jewish community centers, from New York to New Mexico. Over the weekend, vandals toppled and damaged as many as 200 headstones at a St. Louis-area Jewish cemetery.

Prior to Tuesday morning’s threat, the Jewish Community Center (JCC) Association of North America has documented 69 incidents at 54 centers in 27 U.S. states and one Canadian province since the start of 2017.

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PLNU Student: “Marches Are Effective”

February 22, 2017 by Source

by Julia Shotwell /The Point – lomabeat.com

Since Trump’s inauguration, America has witnessed both feminist pro-women marches in the streets and pro-immigration protests at airports. The result is that these demonstrations have rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. Not everyone likes the idea of people walking around with signs and shouting into the void.

After I walked through Downtown San Diego for the Women’s March, I experienced the people I am closest to telling me that my marching was stupid and my signs were silly.

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Restaurant Review – “Noodles & Company” in the Midway District of Point Loma

February 22, 2017 by Judi Curry

Restaurant Review

“Noodles & Company”
3650 Rosecrans
San Diego, CA 92110
619-223-3200
Noodles.com

On this day, after a busy whirlwind trip to purchase items that I needed for my trip to Fargo this week, Hitomi and I found ourselves to be quite hungry. I hadn’t been to “Noodles and Company” for quite some time and since we were in the Midway district decided to give the restaurant a try.

It was relatively late for lunch – 2:00pm – and a few of the tables outside had patrons eating, but only one table was occupied inside. (While we were there I noticed a steady stream of take-out orders, and two Uber drivers picking up deliveries.)

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OB Town Council Meeting on Wednesday Feb 22 – Clean Up OB & Pie with the President

February 21, 2017 by Source

A variety of clean-up and graffiti abatement neighborhood groups and efforts have sprung up over the last few years to help polish up our community. The OB Town Council will be inviting representatives from these cleanup groups (CSI-OB and The OB Graffiti Taskforce) to attend their next Town Council meeting 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 22 at the Masonic Hall at 1711 Sunset Cliffs Blvd.

We’ll also conclude our meeting with the 4th Annual Pie with the President – bring you favorite pie and share a slice with your neighbors and friends

 

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News from Ocean Beach and Point Loma – Late February 2017

February 21, 2017 by Frank Gormlie

* Friends of the OB Library to Hold Booksale – Sat. Feb. 25th
* Kellogg Beach Developer’s Connections to OB
* Surfer Rescued off Sunset Cliffs – Sat, Feb. 18th
* Almost a Million Bucks for That?
* Starbucks Sign Routed Non-Customers to Other Businesses
* DId LA Times Foodie Just Diss Ocean Beach?
* OB Puffery from New York Times
* Fish for Free
* Roberto’s Shows Solidarity with Immigrants
* Point Loma Has a New Book Store
* Voltaire and Chatsworth Changes?
* Shuttered Hospital Lot Transformed into Outdoor Gathering and Green Space
* Props for Dog Beach
* Choral Group Performs “Slave Narratives”
* Power Outages Hit Point Loma and OB

COME INSIDE FOR THE STORIES

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Peninsula Planners Vote on Controversial Move by Sunshine Liquor

February 21, 2017 by Source

By Geoff Page

A large crowd attending a planning board meeting usually means something controversial is on the agenda; attendance at these meetings is normally sparse. This proved to be true at the February 16, 2017, Peninsula Community Planning Board’s regular monthly meeting at the Point Loma Library.

Sunshine Liquor Move Controversial

The issue of a neighborhood liquor store moving from one side of Nimitz Boulevard to the other side apparently was much more controversial than the simple project description would suggest. Sunshine Liquor gained the PCPB’s approval for a Conditional Use Permit, one step in the process that will bring Sunshine Liquor to the west side of Nimitz.

The liquor store lost its lease at its former location, the small shopping center on the east side of Nimitz at the corner of Las Lomas St. and Voltaire.

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Scott Peters Holds Largest Town Hall Meeting He’s Ever Seen

February 21, 2017 by Frank Gormlie

He’s the Democratic Congressman for District 52 – the Congressional District that includes Ocean Beach and Point Loma – and his name is Scott Peters. Last night at the Islamic Center of San Diego, there were so many people crowded into the large room, that he called it the largest town hall meeting he’d ever seen – all because of Trump, he said.

Estimates of the crowd range from over 200 to about 150 – and included several OBceans at least – but whatever the number, the town hall meeting at Eckstrom Avenue in San Diego was lively as Peters fielded questions from the audience on immigration, Trump’s border wall, the EPA, and how to deal with the Trump administration.

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Union Density in San Diego Is Below State Average

February 21, 2017 by Source

union
By Murtaza Baxamusa / San Diego Free Press

There were about 185 thousand union members in San Diego, based on surveys by the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2016. About 110 thousand of these workers are in the private sector. There are additionally 20 thousand workers covered by union contracts in the region. The continuing employment recovery in the last two years contributed to an increase in union membership.

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Immigration Rallies and March in Downtown San Diego – Photo Gallery

February 20, 2017 by Frank Gormlie

Here are a few photos from the Solidarity with Immigrants rallies and marches held Saturday, February 18th in downtown San Diego – under the banner, “No Ban No Wall – Sanctuary for All” .

The demonstration began at the San Diego County Administration Building, and then the massive crowd poured onto Harbor Drive, turning and marching down Broadway to the Federal Building on Front Street. As the protest moved onto Harbor Dr., I stood on the median and personally counted 2,000 people in the street (give or take a hundred) – with another hundred or so stragglers or latecomers.

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Tyranny at Home – OB Rag Editorial in 1973 During the Days of Nixon and Watergate

February 20, 2017 by Source

Editor: The following is an OB Rag staff editorial from October 1973. It was published during the time of the Nixon administration and the Watergate scandal. As Nixon didn’t resign until August 1974, there were fears of what he would do in the months prior to the resolution of the Constitutional crisis. In reading this editorial written 44 years ago, many of the themes resonate with us today.

tyranny at home …

We of the OB Rag staff are appalled at Richard Nixon’s latest moves at establishing one-man rule n America. Nixon has stepped outside the bounds of his constituted authority … again. He has usurped the powers of the courts by refusing to comply with a court order to release the tapes. More, he has fired the one man, Archibald Cox, who had the legal authority to investigate the White House’s involvement in Watergate.

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An Answer For Election Depression : “House of Blues Gospel Brunch”

February 20, 2017 by Judi Curry
Thumbnail image for An Answer For Election Depression : “House of Blues Gospel Brunch”

“House of Blues Gospel Brunch”
1055 Fifth Avenue
San Diego, CA 92101
WWW:heretopraise.com

A Review

People that know me know that I have been extremely depressed over the outcome of the presidential election last November. Couple that with a birthday coming up this week, the depression only became deeper. And we can throw in another depressing situation in that the friend that I thought would be coming here to help me “celebrate” my birthday is unable to come after all. I have been walking around in my own “house of blues.”

However, just by chance, I happened to see that the “House of Blues” was having their monthly “Gospel Brunch” the weekend of my birthday and I called my daughter Michele to ask her whether the price of $50 included the brunch and entertainment.

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