OB Community Bulletin and Discussion Board: Sept 1 – Sept 7, 2009

OCEAN BEACH, CA.  This is the OB Rag’s weekly Community Bulletin and Discussion Board.  Discuss anything that is bugging you, or exciting you, or of interest. Do it in the comments section. Not only that, if you or your buds are having a meeting or event you would like to inform the rest of us about, do so here. If you want to get rid of something, like an old working TV, do it here.

Open Thread for Discussion Right Here (in the comments)

Here is where you can say it, and say it with finesse or say it with humility, but say it.

San Diego State University Rallies Against Education Cuts

August 31st – thousands of SDSU students joined faculty and administrators to protest cuts to the education budget.   San Diego State University students returned to school Monday with 2,000 fewer peers and in the words of former professor Gean Lamke, they are “madder than hell.”

SDSU leaders gathered together alongside thousands of students to rally against California legislators and cuts they’ve made to education. Lamke was emcee of the event.

Fewer Tourists Expected in OB Over Labor Day

With Labor Day arriving nearly a week later than last year, a group that tracks travel trends is predicting 13 percent fewer Southern Californians will hit the road or fly the friendly skies this holiday weekend. This means fewer tourists to hit OB on a traditionally packed weekend.

The opening of schools and the dismal economy have a lot of say in people’s travel plans.

Marie Montgomery, a spokeswoman for the Orange County-based Automobile Club of Southern California, which puts out travel forecasts in advance of each major holiday, said :

“Historically, when we have these late Labor Day holidays, there is a dip in travel,” Montgomery said in a telephone interview Monday. “By the second week of September, people are out of the summer travel mode.”

And most schools have reopened by then.  “So, then, you’re like, ‘I’m not going to go anywhere because the kids are back in school,'” Montgomery said.  Of course, it’s not just the calendar. The economy is playing a big role, too, she said. With unemployment approaching 12 percent in California many people cannot afford to take a trip.

Hurrican Jimena Unlikely to Hit OB

The hurricane that is barreling down on Cabo San Lucas is unlikely to have much of an effect on Ocean Beach. By time the storm blows over the hot land of Baja, and reaches half way up the peninsula to Southern California, it will have fallen off to some wind and rain.

Although local surfers are hoping there are waves from the storm.

This image provided by NOAA taken at Monday, Aug. 31, 2009 at 8 a.m. EDT shows Hurricane Jimena located near about 370 miles south-southeast of Cabo San Lucas Mexico. Jimena will be approaching the southern portion of the Baja California peninsula on Tuesday. Maximum sustained winds are near 145 mph with higher gusts. Hurricane force winds extend outward up to 30 miles. (AP Photo/NOAA)

Ocean Temps Dropping Soon

Jerry Schad, a famous writer of San Diego nature and columnist for the San Diego Reader is predicting that :

warm Water Temperatures, into the 70s Fahrenheit over the past several weeks, won’t last much longer. As fall approaches, shorter days and increasingly oblique solar radiation will mean that less and less energy will be supplied to the ocean waters offshore. These waters will soon be shedding more thermal energy than they receive, thereby keeping the coastal area comfortably balmy for several weeks after the end of the summer-vacation season. Don’t give up on the beach after Labor Day — the water’s often still quite warm, and the beaches are relatively uncrowded.

Slow Food USA Launches Labor Day “Eat-In”

On Labor Day, Slow Food USA will formally launch its Time for Lunch campaign with nearly three hundred “Eat-Ins” scheduled all over the country. Modeled on the sit-ins of the 60s, these Eat-Ins are potluck picnics to raise awareness.

In San Diego, events will include: Urban San Diego Slow Food Potluck Picnic at World Beat Center in Balboa Park on Monday, September 7, from 11 am to 2 pm Email to RSVP: candicew@gmail.com

City Stops Issuing Medical Marijuana Permits

We don’t know yet how this will affect the several permits to open new dispensaries in Ocean Beach that are on tap.  Here’s The Voice of San Diego:

In recent months, the city of San Diego received enough permit applications to almost quadruple the number of its active medical marijuana dispensaries. The city’s land development code, officials believed, was too unclear for it to handle that kind of increase.

Are medical marijuana dispensaries a retail sales issue? Pharmaceutical sales? A medical office use? A dental or health practitioner? These uses are allowed in just about all commercial and industrial zones as well as medium- and high-density residential zones.  Go here for the remainder of the article.

Peninsula planning group to hold forum on explosive-gas trucking issue on September 9th

In response to citizen complaints about plans to truck excess methane gas from the Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant through Peninsula streets, an open neighborhood forum has been slated by the Peninsula Community Planning Board (PCPB) for Wednesday, Sept. 9 from 7 to 8 p.m. at the Hervey/Point Loma Library on 3701 Voltaire St.

For more information, e-mail john.pedersen2@gmail.com, or visit www.pcpb.net.

OB Town Council meeting on August 26th still foggy

Actually, we’re still foggy about what happened at the latest OB Town Council meeting, held on August 26th at the Masonic hall.  We’re still not clear what was presented, what was accepted, what was discussed, and by whom, for what, and you get the picture how thinly spread out our staff is.   If anyone could be so kind as to even just outline what went down, we’d appreciate it.

Ocean Beach groups meet in September

Different neighborhood groups will be meeting this month.  If you are in one, let us know.