Grassroots and Progressive views on local, national and world news

Money Stolen from ‘Pennies for Pets’ Fundraising by Point Loma Students Replaced by Strangers

by Source on December 8, 2023 · 1 comment

in Education, Ocean Beach

By Michael Chen/ 10News / Dec. 7, 2023

Some grateful students in Point Loma are reflecting on a rollercoaster journey after money from a fundraiser was stolen.

For much of October, the fifth grade classes at High Tech Elementary led a school-wide fundraiser, ‘Pennies for Pets,’ as students and families filled jars with spare change and cash to benefit the San Diego Humane Society.

“The students spent a lot of time advertising for the fundraiser. They gave speeches to other classes to let them know what the fundraiser was all about. They worked hard,” said fifth grade teacher Jenny Merrill. The result? More than $2,000 was raised, including $700 in coins.

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The Post-Apocalyptical Fiction Section

by Staff on December 8, 2023 · 3 comments

in Election, Environment, Ocean Beach

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ACLU Pushes for Transparency and Inclusion of Community Stakeholders in Hiring of Most Powerful Non-Elected County Position, Chief Admin Officer

by Source on December 8, 2023 · 1 comment

in Civil Rights, San Diego

Unelected CAO’s Powerful Role in the County’s Future Demands a Hiring Process Consistent with Our Shared Values as a Democracy

By Norma Chávez-Peterson, Executive Director, ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties

The nonprofit, nonpartisan American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has a 103-year legacy of protecting and expanding civil rights and ensuring full and equal access to education, jobs, housing, voting and more. The ACLU fights to guarantee that “We the People” means all of us.

In this region, the ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties (ACLU-SDIC) is a proud member of the Invest in San Diego Families (ISDF) coalition. Together, we advocate for a county government that centers the rights, values, needs and aspirations of all people. We advocate for a government that is responsive and accountable to the needs of historically marginalized communities and ensures equitable policies and allocation of public resources.

On December 5, I joined with several of our ISDF coalition partners to testify before the San Diego County Board of Supervisors regarding the process of hiring the county’s next chief administrative officer (CAO).

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San Diego Planning Commission Approves Compromise Proposal to Redevelop Northeast Mission Bay

by Source on December 8, 2023 · 0 comments

in Environment, Ocean Beach, San Diego

By David Garrick / San Diego Union-Tribune / Dec. 7, 2023

Plans to transform much of northeast Mission Bay into climate-friendly marshland took a key step forward Thursday, December 7, when the San Diego Planning Commission approved a comprehensive proposal to redevelop the area.

Commissioners called the proposal a solid compromise between environmentalists, supporters of camping and advocates for recreational activities like golf, tennis, softball, soccer and water skiing. Those groups have been lobbying city officials for seven years — since the closure of a mobile home park prompted San Diego to explore how to revamp 505 acres of land and water in Mission Bay’s northeastern corner.

Thursday’s approval sends the proposal to the City Council’s Environment Committee for a hearing early next year. That could be followed shortly by approval from the full City Council, officials said.

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Geneviéve Jones-Wright Enters Mayoral Race Against Incumbent Todd Gloria

by Source on December 8, 2023 · 9 comments

in Election, San Diego

AOL / Dec. 6, 2023

Geneviéve Jones-Wright, a former San Diego public defender and proclaimed advocate for justice and social equality, has officially launched her bid for the 2024 mayoral seat against incumbent Todd Gloria.

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Historic Irony: While We Commemorate Dec. 7th Pearl Harbor Day, Trump Insults All Those Americans Who Fought Against Fascism During WWII

December 7, 2023 by Frank Gormlie

Today, December 7th, we commemorate Pearl Harbor Day, 82 years ago – the day the US entered World War II and fought against the Empire of Japan and the German fascists.

While my mother lived in San Diego during World War II, both her husband – my father – and her brother were in the US military fighting Japan, along with millions of other Americans fighting the Hitler Nazis and the Fascists of Italy. My uncle never made it back – having been wounded during the Battle of Corregidor and captured as a POW but dying on a Japanese transport ship.

Luckily for me, my father did make it back despite wounds in the battle to retake the Philippines. And I was born 7 years after Pearl Harbor.

Both have long since passed but I wonder what they would say now if they were able to listen to Trump, the GOP presidential front-runner for 2024.

San Diego Set to Institute ‘Redlining’

December 7, 2023 by Source

By Paul Coogan

The Flawed Housing Action Package 2.0

The City of San Diego, like many U.S. cities, is attempting to build its way out of homelessness and spiraling rents. This simple supply and demand approach to real estate economics is an oversimplification that does not take into account the market manipulations of large corporate interests.

The builders want “free dirt” and there are two ways to drive down the cost of land, depreciation of the parcel or increasing the revenue potential of what is built. The former only happens in California when half the lot falls into the ocean.

The most common method of maximizing parcel cost is to build as big as possible to the highest paying market.

New Law Will Make It Illegal for Employers to Discriminate Against Workers for Off-Duty Pot Use

December 7, 2023 by Source

By Kristina Houck / Patch San Diego / Dec. 5, 2023

After the New Year, employment discrimination for off-duty cannabis use will be illegal in California.

Assembly Bill 2188 and Senate Bill 700 amend the California Fair Employment and Housing Act to protect employment rights for people who use marijuana.

Beginning Jan. 1, it will be against the law under AB 2188, with certain exceptions, for California employers with five or more employees to discriminate against current or potential workers for cannabis use off the job and outside of the workplace. Workers can still be penalized for coming to work high or impaired.

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Pt Loma Nazarene Named as Unsafe for LGBTQ+ Students by Campus Pride – Again

December 7, 2023 by Source

By Ava Bailey-Klugh / The Point – LomaBeat.com / Dec. 6, 2023

An article from Campus Pride released on Oct. 2, 2023 named Point Loma Nazarene University once again an unsafe school for LGBTQ+ students.

Campus Pride, a website dedicated to making college campuses more safe for LGBTQ+ students, created a list called The Worst List in 2001. This list is used to call out colleges and universities that have committed actions that are not in support of the LGBTQ+ community. This year PLNU was named on the list for the 6th time.

SeaWorld’s Noisy and Dangerous Fireworks Return December 9

December 7, 2023 by Staff

Beginning Dec. 9, fireworks will return to the sky over SeaWorld.

Dubbed “A Christmas Wish Fireworks Show” it will return every Friday, Saturday and Sunday in December. And beginning Dec. 22, the show will take place daily through Dec. 31.

The loud explosions will begin 10 minutes prior to the park closing at 10:30 pm. Special fireworks displays will be held at 5:30 p.m. Dec. 9 to kick off the Mission Bay Boat Parade, as well as at 9 p.m. Dec. 31 to celebrate New Year’s Eve.

Local residents have been complaining about the fireworks for years – an online petition has been up — for years — and have been clamoring for the unsafe explosions to be halted — but to no avail. It doesn’t seem to matter despite 13,609 signatures.

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OB Gets Its First ‘Roman’ Restaurant — Elvira in Former Bo-Beau’s on West Pt. Loma

December 7, 2023 by Source

Times of San Diego has announced the opening of the first “Roman” eatery in Ocean Beach: Elvira in the former Bo-Beau’s at 4996 West Pt Loma Blvd.

The restaurant, which opened Nov. 19, is meant to carry on the Roman legacy of Niccolò Angius’s great-grandmother, Elvira Lippi. Angius is one of the trio of restaurateurs behind Point Loma Heights’ Cesarina Ristorante and Elvira. The other two are chef Cesarina Mezzoni and Giuseppe Capasso.

Mezzoni again will serve as chef, while Ignazio Tagliavia, a native of Palermo, Sicily, will oversee Elvira’s pizza program.

‘Off-site affordable housing plan will enforce segregation. Why is the mayor promoting it?’

December 6, 2023 by Source

By Geoffrey Hueter and Danna Givot / Op-Ed San Diego U-T / Dec. 5, 2023

Following the San Diego City Council’s postponement of the Housing Action Package 2.0 on Nov. 13, Mayor Todd Gloria launched a public relations campaign instead of providing thoughtful responses to the valid concerns of the City Council and community members.

The mayor is being disingenuous when he says that critics are opposing needed new housing. There were 11 proposals in the package — known as HAP 2.0 — and only one of them generated serious pushback. The remaining 10 proposals included measures such as affordable housing for San Diego’s burgeoning student population and single-room occupancy homes to replace the thousands of single-room homes that were torn down — when the mayor was on the council — to make way for Downtown redevelopment.

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OB Playhouse Hosts Its Last Show ‘Rent’ Because of Hefty Rise in Theater’s Rent

December 6, 2023 by Staff

After a little over a decade of hosting more than 30 productions of Broadway musicals, OB Playhouse will soon close following a hefty rent increase at its space at 4944 Newport Ave in Ocean Beach. And the current and last show at OB Playhouse is “Rent.”

The current tenants, Bill and Jennie Connard, own and manage OB eBikes in front of the theater, were given a commercial eviction action against them in March 2022 by Lyle and Linda Cocking, who own the playhouse property. However, the case was dismissed back then.

Bill Connard was quoted by Tyler Faurot in the U-T:

“The rent on the space is about $8,500 [per month] before utilities and the equipment, and the landlords were looking to raise it to about $14,000 a month.”

Liz Cheney: ‘The Country Is Sleepwalking Into Dictatorship’

December 6, 2023 by Source

By Colleen O’Connor

Former Rep. Liz Cheney’s new book, Oath and Honor, is just being released, garnering more press and more serious attention since her disciplined, singularly scholarly co-chairmanship of the January 6th Committee.

She has appeared in extensive primetime interviews on the major networks, in dozens of op/eds in the world’s press, and drummed up enough attention to make Taylor Swift envious.

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Mayor Gloria’s Rejected Housing Package Will Return to City Council on December 12th

December 6, 2023 by Staff

A controversial package of housing measures rejected by the San Diego City Council on November 13 will be quickly revised and returned to the city council for potential approval this month — Tuesday, December 12.

Not too long after that contentious council hearing in Nov. where Mayor Gloria’s sponsored initiative went down to defeat, he and Council President Sean Elo-Rivera issued a joint statement declaring they’re moving quickly to revive the package because the city’s housing crisis is so urgent.

Ocean Beach Holiday Parade Slideshow

December 6, 2023 by Source

Here’s a wonderful slideshow of the OB Holiday Parade on Saturday, Dec. 2 from the Pt Loma-OB Monthly online mag: go here. The shots are by Milan Kovacevic.

8 Unit Apartment on Del Monte Sells for $3.6 Million

December 5, 2023 by Staff

An eight-unit apartment property located at 4840 Del Monte Ave. was sold for $3,650,000.

Apparently the layout of the units (?), the apartment’s location and the abundant off-street parking were the factors that pushed the buyer, 9 Mendridge LLC, to clench the deal from seller The Gilbert K. & Sheila A. Sloan Family Trust. The buyer was represented by Graeme Henderson.

OB Planners to Review App for 3 ADUs on West Pt Loma — Wed., Dec.6th

December 5, 2023 by Staff

The Ocean Beach Planning Board meets Wednesday night, Dec. 6, at the OB Rec Center, 4726 Santa Monica at 6 pm.

Two notable items on the non-project agenda includes a board review of the application for an appointment to the board by Denise Larson for the empty District 1 seat. Also, somewhat controversial, the board will vote on whether they want to change the traditional monthly meeting of the board from the first Wednesday of the month to the first Tuesday.

The board will also form an election committee for the annual board election in March 2024.

The Supreme Court May Be Poised to Kill the Voting Rights Act Once and for All

December 4, 2023 by Source

A federal court said only the government, not civil rights groups or individuals, can enforce the Voting Rights Act.

By Marjorie Cohn / Truthout / December 1, 2023

The Voting Rights Act, which Congress passed to enforce the 15th Amendment, has been targeted by the right wing since it was enacted in 1965. In the last few years, the Supreme Court has weakened the Voting Rights Act but has never ruled that civil rights organizations and aggrieved individuals could not sue to enforce its provisions.

Driving Range on E. Harbor Island Lease Up for Approval by Port of San Diego — Tues., Dec.5

December 4, 2023 by Source

San Diego Union-Tribune for subscribers only

Topgolf International and the Port of San Diego are close to reaching an agreement on preliminary lease terms for a 9.5-acre site on East Harbor Island, opposite San Diego’s airport, where the entertainment company is looking to a build a flagship, driving-range venue with panoramic views of the bay and downtown.

Tuesday, December 5, Port of San Diego Commissioners will vote on whether to sign a non-binding term sheet with Topgolf, as recommended by the agency’s staff.

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December 2023 Events from the Ocean Beach Green Center

December 4, 2023 by Source

December 7th Thursday 10 am – 11 am To Buy or Not To Buy: The Dos and Don’ts of Sustainable Fashion Webinar

December 7th Thursday 5pm -9 pm 2023 Joy Ride and Golden Gear Awards

December 9th Saturday 9 am – 12 pm Annual Sock Drive

December 9th Saturday 10 am – 1 pm Introducing The People Corps – Event by Black Panther Party of San Diego

December 9th 10 am – 11 am Rain Barrel & Water Harvesting Workshop –

December 9th Saturday 2 pm – 4 pm The 30th Annual La Posada sin Fronteras/

December 9th Saturday 3 pm Amnesty International Group 137 San Diego.

December 9th Saturday 6 p.m. Music Brings Us Home: A Soulful Benefit Concert

December 9th Saturday 4:30 pm – 5:45 pm 11th Annual Vigil Honoring Survivors and Remembering the Victims of Gun Violence.

The City Is Exaggerating Its Damage — The OB Pier Does Not Need to Be Closed Till Spring

December 4, 2023 by Source

By Geoff Page

As recounted in The Rag’s November 22 story, the city has decided to keep the OB Pier closed until the winter storm season is over.

The Lifeguards closed the pier October 20 because of high surf. The San Diego Fire Department announced the closure in a Tweet. The Lifeguard Department is part of the Fire Department now. The Tweet said the pier would probably open the next day.

City Staff’s Failure to Enact Coastal Commission Options on Bike Paths Leads to Higher Costs and Dangers on West Pt Loma Blvd.

December 4, 2023 by Source

Here’s KPBS writer Andrew Bowen’s take on the dangers on West Pt Loma Blvd. and its lack of safe bike paths.

Bowen blames the California Coastal Commission on delaying the city’s efforts to install bike paths along a dangerous section of the boulevard. He cites the bureaucratic roadblocks thrown up by the Commission for preventing the good city to install protected bike lanes and for injuries suffered by bicyclists in that stretch between Nimitz Boulevard and Adrian Street.

Yet, if the reader dives into Bowen’s piece, another cause does appear.

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Dec. 4: Advisory for Dog Beach in OB – Humans and Dogs Advised to Avoid Contact With Ocean Water

December 4, 2023 by Source

There’s a county water advisory in place for OB’s Dog Beach — to include 300 yards south of the mouth of the San Diego River.

Bacteria levels exceed health standards and humans — and dogs are advised to avoid water contact in the advisory area. (See here.)

The advisory at Ocean Beach – Dog Beach has been in place since Nov. 29.

Other advisories for the following beaches are also in place:

Christmas Came Early – Santos Gone, Trump Liable for Illegal Acts, and Remembering Trailblazer Sandra Day O’Connor

December 1, 2023 by Source

By Colleen O’Connor

Christmas Came Early!

Rep. George Santos (the fabulous) has been expelled from the U.S. Congress. The vote wasn’t even close.

The 9th Circuit Court has ruled unanimously that former President Donald trump is NOT immune from prosecution for illegal acts during his time as President. So the courts can now proceed with the long stalled trials.

‘Voters Gonna Vote!’

December 1, 2023 by Source

Point Lomans Have What It Takes to Help the Unhoused

December 1, 2023 by Source

By Joni Halpern

There have been many times in the past when community advocates for the best interests of the Point Loma community have needed the support of residents of other San Diego communities.

The retention of Dana Junior High School is only one example. We needed support from other communities to prevent the school from being sold to developers who planned to replace it with almost 300 condominiums. We succeeded in our efforts, because other communities joined us.

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Remembering the Spaceman of Ocean Beach – Clint Cary — XiB/2

December 1, 2023 by Source

By Eric DuVall / Pt Loma – OB Monthly / Nov. 15, 2023

One thing we learned in this space last month is that “they are most definitely out there.” The UAPs, that is (unidentified aerial phenomena) … the NHI (non-human intelligence).

Nothing new, of course. Clint Cary was saying the same thing 60 years ago — repeatedly and frequently. Clint had firsthand information. He hadn’t just seen a UFO, he’d been to Rillispore twice. In 1965, every kid on the beach in O.B. knew that. Clint loved to tell that story, and many others. These weren’t generic stories about little green men, by the way. No creepy gray space aliens either.