Grassroots and Progressive views on local, national and world news

Hey OB – got flies?

Several weeks ago, I was having dinner with a group of friends in Point Loma – and we were eating outside. The hosts apologized numerous times for the flies that seemed to be trying to enjoy our food. Later, I thought, we’ve eaten outside many times before at their house – which is just a few blocks from OB – but never have the flies been this bad.

Then just this weekend, I was visiting with friends who live down in the flatlands of Ocean Beach. We were sitting outside in their back yard – and there was no food around – but there were flies. As my friends were lighting a whole bunch of incense sticks and placing them around the patio in an effort to ward off the flying nuisances, they told me the flies have never been this bad since they’ve lived here – over 10 years now.

So – have you been bothered more than usual this year by flies? Just why are there so many at the beach?

Musing From the Old Broad

Last week I said that I was boycotting “In and Out Burger” and listed the various reasons for that action. This week I am boycotting the Miramar Air Show for a number of reasons. I realize that this will be an unpopular decision for many of you, but I have several strong reasons for the boycott, and glorifying war is one of the strongest.

I want to quote the “Veterans for Peace” comments because they can say it better than I can:

“ . . . we ask that you question why our government continues spending an increasing amount on the military while reducing spending on programs such as health, education, and infrastructure, programs that benefit out citizens. Our tax dollars can serve us better than by funding war and its implements.”

Fentanyl-laced cocaine has taken the life of one OBcean and killed two people in Pacific Beach recently. Two other people survived an overdose. The identities of those affected are not known.

No details have been reported about the death in OB but the 2 PB victims who died – between 30 and 47 years old – were found in a home after relatives grew concerned of the lack of communication from one of them. However, the toxicology results show the victims ingested cocaine laced with fentanyl.

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that can be deadly even in very small doses, as it is 50 times more potent than heroin and 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine.

By Jordan Beane

On September 13th, the Union-Tribune released their interviews with our District 2 candidates, Dr. Jennifer Campbell and current District 2 City Councilmember Lorie Zapf. In Zapf’s interview, there were a lot of specific questions about the Climate Action Plan, it’s goals and more.

However, I believe the UT should have asked her a simpler question: Do you, Councilmember Zapf, believe in climate change?

Our Republican representative wants you to believe she cares about this existential threat and its impact on San Diego. She, along with the rest of the city council, voted to approve San Diego’s Climate Action Plan (CAP) in 2015.

A Surfer Anniversary OB Probably Missed

by Seal Morgan

Did you know that July of this year was the 40th anniversary of the beginning of the sport of US riversurfing?

And, strangely enough, it was a San Diego kayaker/surfer working as a Jackson Hole whitewater raft guide back in 1978 who saw the potential and managed to stand up that summer on the Snake River’s Lunch Counter Class 3 Rapids standing wave. Mike Fitzpatrick and two friends admit they didn’t surf it well being as they were far more into kayaking, and they didn’t keep surfing that spot in the years afterward until recently, but Fitz and his friends are no doubt the Founders of US riversurfing.

Ten years after that watershed moment, in early Spring of 1988, this OB-born/Mission Beach-raised surf kid

By Geoff Page

To borrow one of Yogi Berra’s timeless comments, it must have felt like “déjà vu all over again” for the Midway Community Planning Board on Monday, September 10, when they found themselves voting to approve a final draft of their community plan – one that they voted to approve on the 21st of last March.

The OB Rag’s story dated March 27 described the final vote and the schedule that was supposed to follow:

Apparently, a three story building is going up in the backyard at 4925 Saratoga Avenue in Ocean Beach. Despite any other 3-story residences in the immediate neighborhood and despite the project being denied by the Ocean Beach Planning Board on May 3, 2017.

Applicant-Owner Todd Schak applied for a Coastal Development Permit (CDP) to build a two-story house (okay, it’s a small house with only 918 square feet) on top of a 4-car garage. There’s already a rehabbed Craftsman 2-bedroom in the front which is 800 square feet.