OBcean present in Minneapolis while verdict was read.
Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter by a jury Tuesday for his role in the murder of George Floyd last May outside of a local convenience store.
Floyd’s death, and the video that showed Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck for about nine minutes, became a catalyst for the country’s racial and social justice movement last summer.
A jury of six white, four Black and two multiracial jurors deliberated nine hours over two days — five hours on Monday; four hours Tuesday — before rendering a verdict.
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The Sports Arena site provides an incredible opportunity for showcasing what can and should be done on public properties in California.
By Susan Baldwin/ Voice of San Diego – Patch / April 19, 2021
Imagine a 48-acre site, ripe for redevelopment near the Old Town Trolley/Amtrak/Coaster station, and where a 30-foot height limit has been removed.
Now imagine this prime piece of real estate is owned by the city of San Diego — a public agency that could and should take this unique opportunity not to solicit a development project focused on making the most profit possible, but one that would create a model balanced community that provides housing affordable for individuals and families of all income levels, not just the 10 percent of low-income housing required by the city’s inclusionary housing program. A planner can imagine, right?
To someone who worked much of their professional planning career on solving the region’s housing crisis, the Sports Arena site provides an incredible opportunity for showcasing what can and should be done on public properties in California to provide a true range of housing types for people of all income levels not the primarily market-rate housing affordable only to those who make higher incomes as currently proposed.
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T
here’s more in the ocean than just water, Part II
by Steve Tatro
Have you ever looked at a mirror with a snorkel on? And a mask? Well don’t, you’ll have nightmares, but for fish watching there’s nothing better. Fish don’t care what you look like; they might giggle, or turn away disgusted, but as long as you don’t try to spear them or catch them, they’re cool.
Ocean Beach fish are particularly cool because they let you swim right up to them, and the orange Garibaldi’s will swim up from their caves just to say “Hi!” Maybe they’re overconfident because of their protected status as our state fish. They really are cute, and they know it.
The Sardines and Anchovies are understandably skittish, but they will allow you within three feet, and in schools of thousands they can envelope you like a flowing silver cloak. They’re mesmerizing, and disorienting if they block out the light, because you can’t tell which way it is to the surface and fresh air! If this happens, use a little precious breath to blow bubbles, and follow them up, no matter which way you think they’re leading you.
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Happy 420!
Cannabis aficionados celebrate today as a near-holiday – today being April 20, 420. And doubtlessly, there will be plenty of parties today at 4:20 pm around OB and Pot Loma. And remember, California had the nation’s first ballot initiative attempting to legalize cannabis (Proposition 19) in 1972 (it failed), and then was the first state to legalize medical cannabis with the passage of the Compassionate Use Act of 1996 (Proposition 215). Then, of course, in November 2016, California voters approved the Adult Use of Marijuana Act (Proposition 64) to legalize the recreational use of cannabis.
Don’t forget, though, it was our County DA, Bonnie Dumanis, who used taxpayer monies to take the issue all the way to the California Supreme Court in a failed effort to get the law overturned. Yet, sadly, the war against marijuana continues. Un-certified cannabis dispensaries are still raided by sheriffs right here in San Diego County; costs to establish a certified one are nearly prohibitive; local governments still make regulations so restrictive as to make the process costly, time-consuming, and discouraging. Our “liberal” California legislature still has not set up a banking system for the billion dollar industry, forcing all transactions to be in cash – fostering a dangerous atmosphere for dispensaries. And not until marijuana is de-listed as a Schedule 1 narcotic, will federal laws come up to speed. But hope remains eternal.
So, where did the code or number “420” as a pot signal come from. Chris Conrad, curator of the Oaksterdam Cannabis Museum in Oakland, California, says 420 started as a secret code among a group of friends at San Rafael High School in the early 1970s (one part of the story is that they called themselves “the Waldos”). They would often meet at 4:20 p.m. to get high. Their code gradually spread — possibly via Grateful Dead followers — across California and beyond. It’s even the number of a California Senate bill that established the state’s medial marijuana program. Happy 420.
International Hostel on Udall Sold
A former international hostel on Udall Street in Point Loma was sold recently for $1,300,000. The 2-story building at 3970 Udall was built in 1954, and its lot size is 4,825 square feet.
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Mayor Todd Gloria’s new budget proposal would cut two days, over 150 employees and 10% of the city’s library budget. He also proposes, at the same time, to give over $10 million to the Convention Center.
Now, sure there are trade offs in the library arena. There would be additional monies for library activities, books and videos. Plus, there are other positive aspects of Gloria’s budget – like pay increases for city employees.
But, the point is, this is the first proposed slash of San Diego libraries in more than a decade. Gloria wants to take $5.6 million out of the library budget, going from $59.7 million to $54.1 million.
He wants to eliminate Sundays and Mondays, a 23% reduction in hours for libraries. All 36 branches would be open 42.5 hours per week instead of 55 hours per week. The budget also calls to lay off 153 people, many of whom are hourly and part-time.
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It’s incredible. A San Diego-based right-wing cable channel still questions whether Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election. As recently as March 28, one of the correspondents at One America News Network said, “There’s still serious doubts about who’s actually president.” This statement was made by “correspondent” Pearson Sharp.
To go by much of OAN’s reporting, it is almost as if a transfer of power had never taken place.
OANN is currently located at 4757 Morena Blvd, San Diego, CA 92117 and its public phone number is (858) 270-6900.
Reportedly, OANN is available in some 35 million households. And it has become “a kind of Trump TV for the post-Trump age, an outlet whose reporting has aligned with the former president’s grievances at a time when he is barred from major social media platforms.”
Earlier in March, we reported:
In January 2020, just as the election campaign had geared up, OAN ran a one-hour of program titled “The Ukraine Hoax: Impeachment, Biden Cash, and Mass Murder with guest host Michael Caputo.”
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