Grassroots and Progressive views on local, national and world news

Veterans for Peace Stage ‘Hometown Arlington West’

by Source on November 11, 2019 · 0 comments

in San Diego, Veterans

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New Ocean Beach Tattoo Shop Vandalized Twice

by Frank Gormlie on November 11, 2019 · 1 comment

in Ocean Beach

Apparently someone is trying to send a message to the owner of a brand new tattoo shop that opened in Ocean Beach a week ago.

The Southbay Blackwater Tattoo – which opened in the former site of the Black Bead at 5003 Newport Avenue – had an explosive taped to its front window early Saturday, which blew a hole in the front glass window. Then early Monday morning, somebody threw something through that same window.

Mike Kellerman is the owner of the new shop and he reports that right after he opened up he had a confrontation with another tattoo shop owner last week, who threatened him about opening the shop in the community.

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The Toll of Endless War on American Veterans

by Jim Miller on November 11, 2019 · 0 comments

in Under the Perfect Sun, Veterans, War and Peace

By Jim Miller

As America’s endless wars grind on, largely out of view, we have become good at bombastic displays of patriotism at ballgames and other public venues, but underneath our ritualized nods to the service of our veterans the unseen psychic toll suffered by those who fight our wars remains mostly invisible.

In fact, in the age of the all-volunteer military, most of us don’t really need to think that much about it.

Still the suffering is deep and pervasive, like it or not. Many of us don’t know that one out of ten homeless people on the street is a veteran (with some estimates putting it much higher). Thus, despite our official love of veterans, as a society we are clearly quite comfortable treating them like disposable people. Think about that the next time you see somebody sleeping in a storefront doorway: perhaps that person risked their life for your country.

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Ocean Beach Planners Parry Attacks from ‘Reformers’, Bicycling ‘Radicals’, and Code ‘Revisionists’

by Staff on November 11, 2019 · 15 comments

in Ocean Beach

By Geoff Page

It was an unusually long Ocean Beach Planning Board meeting Wednesday, November 6, at three hours, but there was a lot to talk about. The political attack on the planning boards was one of two major issues that involved some lengthy discussion.

Community Planning Group “Reform”?

There is a document posted on the OBPB website, attached to the November Agenda, titled “Taskforce on Community Planning Group Reform Draft Findings & Recommendations.”

In a nut shell, this document contains a list of 31 reforms the Task Force believes are necessary for the planning board system. The Task Force is a group of people representing planning groups, small businesses, a Planning Commission member, a Development Services Department employee, someone from Mass Transit, a member of an Environment/ Climate Change advocacy organization, and an infill developer. The document states:

“The Taskforce on Community Planning Group Reform convened to review existing recommendations that were proposed in the City Audit, the Grand Jury report, and the Democracy in Planning report produced by Circulate San Diego.”

Apparently these people think the planning boards are a mess.

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Here’s Your — Updated — Ocean Beach Holiday Event Calendar for 2019

November 7, 2019 by Source

Here’s the Ocean Beach Holiday Event Calendar for 2019.

Restaurant Walk – Tuesday, November 12, 5 -9pm

Craft Fair at Veteran’s Plaza – November 13, 9am – 4pm

Holiday Tree Arrives at the Beach – Lower Newport – December 3

OB Library Special Events – November 2019

November 5, 2019 by Source

Green Events for November 2019 – from the Ocean Beach Green Center

November 5, 2019 by Source

November Events Compiled by the Ocean Beach Green Center
4862 Voltaire Street, Ocean Beach 92107
oceanbeachgreencenter@gmail.com

Events at the Ocean Beach Green Center

November 7th Thursday 7 pm Jim Bell’s Legacy meetings. If you are interested in keeping Jim Bell’s legacy alive please come to our monthly meetings. We will be brainstorming and working on projects to carry on his vision of making our region water, energy and food self-sufficient. More info: oceanbeachgreencenter@gmail.com

November 14th Thursday 7 pm. Film Night “The Biggest Little Farm” The film chronicles the eight-year quest of John and Molly Chester as they trade city living for 200 acres of barren farmland and a dream to harvest in harmony with nature. Free of charge

Every Saturday at 10:00 a.m. Climate Mobilization Coalition Meeting.

With Virginia Legislature Flipping, ERA Poised to Become Law – Despite Hurdles. Finally!

November 7, 2019 by Frank Gormlie

On election night, Tuesday, the Virginia state legislature flipped – and now the state is blue. Virginia Democrats have been out of power in the legislature for a quarter of a century but the voters have spoken.

This turn-over now creates a road for the ERA, the Equal Rights Amendment, to become law. Virginia is now – with the first woman to serve as speaker in the body’s 400-year history, Democrat Eileen Filler-Corn – poised to pass the ERA. And when it does, Virginia becomes the crucial 38th state to ratify the measure. This would be the three-fourths of the all 50 states threshold needed to add it to the Constitution.

But there are two main hurdles.

For one, Congress set a deadline of 1982 – but by that date, only 35 states had ratified the ERA.

And two, some states have withdrawn their approval.

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City Pushes Million Dollar Ramp to Nowhere onto Ocean Beach Against Community’s Will

November 7, 2019 by Frank Gormlie

The issue of the City’s million dollar ramp to nowhere at Dog Beach in Ocean Beach is heading to a full City Council vote later this month. Because of that, local mainstream media have picked up on the issue with headlines that emphasis “controversy in Ocean Beach” – always a head-turner for the television audiences.

It is true that the Ocean Beach Planning Board “is going toe-to-toe with the City of San Diego over the city’s plans to spend $1.1 million upgrading an accessibility ramp onto Dog Beach in Ocean Beach.” The OB Rag has been covering the issue since it appeared before OB planners in early August (see our report here) and was shot down with a 12-1-1 to vote, and our writer, Geoff Page, examined the issues involved and came up with this conclusion:

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‘The Hippie Speed Ball’: Coffee, Weed and Exercise

November 7, 2019 by Source

How cannabis, coffee, and exercise can put your brain in its most productive place

By Chris Taylor / Mashable / Nov. 7, 2019

I’m at the bar in what appears to be an Old West saloon, shooting the breeze with a guy from Nevada who sits on a stool in a dark corner, hiding from his fans, casually crumbling marijuana into his roll-up tobacco. As he does this, Nevada guy explains why weed, alongside the other drug we had that morning at camp, the psychoactive bean juice commonly known as coffee, provides a way into a brain state prized by athletes, monks, and every creative person ever.

The saloon and campground are actually on a business property — sorry, Institute — in the middle of Mendocino, California, ground zero for old-school outdoor pot production. The pot company is Flow Kana, which pitches itself as an organic farm-to-table service — a weed middleman, basically, and a rising star in the cannabis world.

‘Java with Jen’ in Ocean Beach – Come Have Coffee With Councilwoman Campbell – Sat. Nov.9th at Hugo’s

November 7, 2019 by Source

Come hang with Councilwoman Jen Campbell in OB on Saturday, November 9th. It’s happening at Hugo’s Cocina at 1830 Sunset Cliffs Blvd, from 10am to Noon.

Now’s your opportunity to offer our rep on the San Diego City Council some ideas, or complaints, or just to say ‘hello’. It’s a ‘first-come-first-serve’ arrangement but hey, if you have ideas about gentrification, short-term vacation rentals, those scooters, the OB Library, the OB lifeguard station, the poisons being sprayed in our parks, beaches and playgrounds, ….

A Letter to a Little Boy Who Had His Life Taken Away

November 7, 2019 by Ernie McCray

by Ernie McCray

I came across a letter the other day. A letter I had written to a boy who had his life taken away. A two-year old. Anthony was his name.

It was a letter which my heart insisted I write to maintain my sanity after sitting, as a juror, in a courtroom, where an attorney, a lawyer who was but a wielder of smoke screens on a clear windy day, trying to sway our opinions with what amounted to bullshit by any definition.

I mean I had sat for days being blown away, looking at pictures with arrows pointing

San Diego Mainstream Media Downplay Suspected Serial Killer of Homeless People

November 5, 2019 by Frank Gormlie

For some reason, San Diego’s mainstream press is downplaying the fact that the man in court is suspected of being a serial killer of people who were homeless.

On Monday, a preliminary hearing opened for Jon David Guerrero, 42, who is charged with four counts of murder with a special-circumstance allegation of multiple murders. He is accused of killing four people, three men and one woman during a murderous crime spree in 2016. Plus he may be charged for another murder, as one of the badly injured victims has since died. He also faces charges of attempted murder, arson and assault with a deadly weapon likely to cause great bodily injury.

That’s still a lot of murders. So many I thought of asking the ol’ citadel of wisdom, wikipedia: “How many random murders does it take for it to be a serial killing? ”

Here was my answer:

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November 5th: Guy Fawkes Day

November 5, 2019 by Frank Gormlie

November 5th is Guy Fawkes Day.

Many Americans know Guy Fawkes through the movie “V for Vendetta“, or at least recognize the mask, popularized by the film, and which then used by activists in the Occupy Wallstreet movement back in 2011, which was modeled after his face.

We have a basically positive view of Fawkes.

But in England, it’s the other way around. Fawkes is seen by many as a traitor and they celebrate his death.

You’re familiar with the John Lennon song, “Remember” where he sings “remember, remember, the 5th of November….”? Listen to the rest of the words.

Biggest Things to Know About New Rent Control Law

November 4, 2019 by Frank Gormlie

Whether you’re a tenant or a landlord, you need to be up to date on the new rent control law coming to San Diego and the rest of California in 2020. [The following is taken largely from the San Diego Union-Tribune of Oct. 27, 2019.]

Rent control was signed into law when Gov. Gavin Newsom put his signature on the legislation – Assembly Bill 1482 – about a month ago, in early October.

The basic rule of thumb: rent increases will be capped throughout California from 7 to 8 percent a year. It’s especially important for renters to know the law – as many landlords will get special briefings from their associations. The rent cap will expire in 10 years, but lawmakers are likely to extend It.

Rent is now capped: Landlords cannot raise rent more than 5 percent plus inflation as of Jan. 1, 2020.

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OB Planning Board to Review ‘Nix on the Cannabis’ Code Proposals and Establishment ‘Reforms’ to Neighborhood Planning Groups – Wed., Nov.6

November 4, 2019 by Frank Gormlie

This Wednesday night, November 6, the Ocean Beach Planning Board will hold its monthly public meeting. The volunteer panel of community members has one development project to review, but also will review issues from the weighty to the more lightweight. This all happens at 6 pm sharp at the OB Recreation Center at 4726 Santa Monica Ave. Here are the agenda items of note:

1776 Cable Street

The Board will review a Coastal Development Project application for 1776 Cable Street, one which seeks to add and alter an existing one story single-family residence and its detached garage. ….

‘Nix on the Cannabis’ Update to the Land Development Code

We’re told there are 41 proposed amendments to the City of San Diego’s Development Code.

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Building a New World Out of the Ashes of the Old

November 4, 2019 by Jim Miller

By Jim Miller

One day last week, I was sitting at a table in a public space in San Diego doing political advocacy around education funding. And while the young activists I was with had a productive day and talked to a good number of engaged citizens, the thing that stood out to them the most, the thing we joked about, was the “zombie walk.”

This was the blank-faced, numb carriage of the majority of people closed off by ear buds or zoned out on their phones who couldn’t be bothered to even grant us (or anyone else for that matter) human recognition.

We were dead to them as they were to themselves.

That’s what you notice if you spend a lot of time watching people in public. It’s not that folks are angry or even alienated; they’re beyond alienation.

Of course, in the virtual world on our screens and on social media, we are full of animation, thrilled at our representations of ourselves or angry, very angry about the latest outrage usually committed by those outside of our self-selected silos.

News from Ocean Beach and Point Loma – Early November 2019

November 1, 2019 by Frank Gormlie

DUI While Sailing?

A 34-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of boating while intoxicated after running his sailboat into the shore in Ocean Beach on Sunday night, Oct. 27, authorities said.

Suspect in OB Murder Case of Mother Has Prelim Set

The preliminary hearing for a man suspected of killing his mother in Ocean Beach was set on Oct. 28 for Jan. 14

Point Loma High Has Broken Retaining Wall

Argument Over Stolen Scooter Leads to Stabbing in Midway District

OB Street Stewards Take Off

Ocean Beach Street Stewards are sweeping into town ushering in a new era in community beautification.

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Company Leases Entire Apartment Complexes in San Diego and Turns Them Into Vacation Rentals

November 1, 2019 by Source

Communities of Point Loma, Downtown, North Park and Little Italy All Suffer Loss of Housing

From abc10News

In the midst of a housing supply crunch, San Diego is seeing apartments taken off market and reserved for short-term vacationers.

The units would add to the estimated 16,000 vacation rentals now available in the City of San Diego, according to a recent audit.

Now, a company called Sonder has signed master leases at apartment complexes and towers in locations including downtown, North Park, Little Italy, and Point Loma. Instead of renting them full time, the company leases them to visitors, charging more than $100 per unit on an average night.

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San Diego Group Creates Modern Humanitarian Speed Rail for Asylum Seekers

November 1, 2019 by Source

Speed Rail to Love

By Terrie Best / October 31, 2019

After watching my friends at the Minority Humanitarian Foundation create a modern humanitarian speed rail – nightly trips getting asylum seekers off the side of the road where ICE dumps them and on to airplanes where their sponsor families collect them – I have been profoundly moved by their ability to fill in the many gaps to care along the way.

Using social media, several resourceful people have created a moving system of care that is changing everything.

The gaps to care are addressing a devastating humanitarian crisis and the folks struggling to fill them are laying down tracks from thin air.

Last Summer’s ‘Mysterious’ Nuclear Explosion in Russia

November 1, 2019 by Michael Steinberg

Nuclear Shutdown News October 2019

By Michael Steinberg / Black Rain Press

Nuclear Shutdown News chronicles the decline and fall of the nuclear power industry and highlights the efforts of those working to create a nuclear free world.

Last Summer’s “Mysterious” Nuclear Explosion

As this year winds down a nuclear weapons explosion last summer still begs for our attention. What does this incident, half way around the world in another country, have to do with the nuclear power plants in this country?

Finally – Widder Curry’s Book, ‘Liar, Liar’, Has Been Published

November 1, 2019 by Judi Curry

By Judi Curry

For those of you that have been following me for these past 9 years, and for those of you that have been following me for a shorter period of time, AND for those of you that have never followed me, never will, etc … you might be aware that after my husband passed away I was quite lonely and joined a variety of “On-line” dating sites.

In the past I have written about some of the experiences – and I have met some men that were fun to be with. Since I am still single, and still looking, it is obvious that I never met “Mr. Right”. But, I have met MANY “Mr. Wrong’s.”

About 4 years ago I began compiling the on-line conversations that I had with these men, and put it into a book entitled, Liar, Liar. And now, the book is published!!!!

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‘I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb’

October 31, 2019 by Source

While searching for the person who grifted me in Chicago, I discovered just how easy it is for users of the short-term rental platform to get exploited.

by Allie Conti / Vice / Oct 31 2019

The call came about 10 minutes before we were set to check into the Airbnb. I was sitting at a brewery just around the corner from the rental on North Wood Street in Chicago when the man on the other end of the line said that our planned visit wouldn’t be possible. A previous guest had flushed something down the toilet, which had left the unit flooded with water, he explained. Apologetic, he promised to let us stay in another property he managed until he could call a plumber.

More Debate Over San Diego’s Secret Streetlight Cameras

October 31, 2019 by Frank Gormlie

Recently – and to their credit – the editorial board of the San Diego Union-Tribune raised the question, “who’s to blame for San Diego’s secret streetlight cameras?” – and natch, they answered their own question.

In December 2016, when the San Diego City Council preliminarily approved a $30.3 million “Smart Streetlights” project, a key detail — that contractor GE would equip thousands of streetlights with cameras to monitor their surroundings — was never shared publicly. Awareness spread with the sensors themselves, and there is now a set of 4,000-plus cameras that are on all the time — and a sense of conspiracy. Critics complain the contract gave GE an “irrevocable, permanent, worldwide, royalty-free” right to use footage for its own commercial purposes.

SDG&E Refuses to Credit Ratepayers for Blackouts.

October 31, 2019 by Source

By Miriam Raftery / East County Magazine / Oct. 31, 2019

A day after Governor Gavin Newsom ordered the California Public Utilities Commission to create tough new rules limiting mass outages by utilities seeking to limit their liability for fires and mandating compensation for ratepayers, PG&E announced it will credit its ratepayers for blackouts, Newsom announced.

But San Diego Gas & Electric is refusing to do the same.

In respond to East County Magazine’s inquiry, SDG&E communications manager Wes Jones responded yesterday,

House of Representatives Votes for Rules for the Impeachment Inquiry Into Trump

October 31, 2019 by Frank Gormlie

The US House of Representatives – in an historic move – just voted to approve the rules to be used for the impeachment inquiry into president Trump. By a vote of 232 to 196, the House passed rule that will:

Search On for 2 Pit Bulls That Fatally Mauled Small Dog on Voltaire Street in Ocean Beach

October 30, 2019 by Source

From 10News:

San Diego Animal Control officers are looking for two large dogs that attacked and killed an 86-year-old woman’s beloved pet.

The owner of the dog, Ocean Beach resident Mary Cooper, said it was two large pit bulls that mauled her beloved pet, Gracie, a 10-year-old Bichon-Poodle mix. It happened Monday at around 11 p.m. on Voltaire Street.

“At night, just before I go to bed, we go out for her last potty break. And this is when it happened,” Cooper said.

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Civil Rights Are on the Chopping Block in New Supreme Court Term

October 30, 2019 by Source

By Marjorie Cohn / TruthOut / Oct. 15, 2019

This term, the U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether people can be fired for being transgender or LGBQ, if people brought to the U.S. as children can be deported, whether states can impose restrictions on abortion that disproportionately harm poor women, how firm the separation between church and state is, the scope of the Second Amendment and whether criminal defendants can be convicted by less-than-unanimous juries.

Millions of people will be impacted by the results of these cases.

After 4 Years, Possible Retaliatory Law Suit Against SDSU and Local News Source Dismissed

October 30, 2019 by Source

by Mary Plummer / inewsource / October 28, 2019

The California Supreme Court has dismissed a lawsuit challenging inewsource’s lease with San Diego State University, bringing to a close a four-year legal battle that inewsource’s editor contends was in retaliation for its investigations of attorney Cory Briggs, now running for San Diego City Attorney.

“The lawsuit is over, dismissed and inewsource won the war,” said Lorie Hearn, executive director and editor of inewsource, in a written statement. “It’s been a long and expensive four years, fighting a lawsuit that was filed against us for exercising our responsibilities as investigative journalists.”

San Diegans for Open Government sued inewsource in 2015 after it published 10 stories about attorney Cory Briggs.