Grassroots and Progressive views on local, national and world news

Opposition Forms to Reduction of West Pt Loma to 2 Lanes in the Midway

by Frank Gormlie on April 25, 2019 · 0 comments

in Ocean Beach

Opposition has formed to the city’s plans of reducing the traffic lanes on a section of West Point Loma Blvd in the Midway District from 4 lanes to 2 lanes. Right now the opposition is in the form of two identical petitions on change.org.

Both are headlined:

Please tell Dr Jen Campbell you oppose W Point Loma Blvd bike lanes in place of two lanes!

Dr Jen Campbell, of course, is the City Councilmember for the area. As of this writing, 105 had signed the first one and it appears 105 people have signed the second one (whether they’ve been merged somehow is unknown here).

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Weak Scooter Regulations Passed by San Diego City Council

by Frank Gormlie on April 24, 2019 · 6 comments

in Ocean Beach, San Diego

The San Diego City Council on Tuesday, April 23, unanimously passed new regulations for dockless scooters, which place some restrictions on speeds and parking but do not limit the number of scooters companies can place on our streets or on the numbers of scooter companies allowed to use our public infrastructure.

Here, briefly, are the restrictions:

the speed of dockless scooters is limited to 15 to 8 mph in high-traffic areas;
speed limits are cut to 3 mph in areas such as the Embarcadero and the Martin Luther King Jr. Promenade, and the boardwalk in Mission and Pacific Beach;
scooter riders are banned from parking near hospitals, schools, beach area boardwalks, the Petco Park perimeter and certain parts of the Embarcadero;

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Public and San Diego City Council Were in the Dark on Police Access to ‘Smart’ Streetlights

by Source on April 24, 2019 · 1 comment

in San Diego

Two City Council members say they had no idea police had been accessing footage from streetlight cameras, which were sold to the public as a tool to mitigate traffic. Now, two years after the program was implemented, police — not city officials — are writing up a policy guiding how they’re allowed to access footage and data from the cameras.

By Jesse Marx / Voice of San Diego

Last month, top San Diego officials met with residents at the Malcolm X library to direct their gaze to the thousands of new cameras that were watching them back.

It was precisely the type of community education and outreach work you might expect to take place before a big project — in this case the city’s “smart” streetlight program — is rolled out to the public. But it was happening more than two years after the City Council approved the devices, as fear began building that the footage they collect can — and is — accessed by police.

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UCSD Eye Doctor Broke Human Research Rules, Putting Patients at Risk

by Source on April 24, 2019 · 0 comments

in Health, San Diego

by Brad Racino & Jill Castellano / inewsource / April 18, 2019

Tens of millions of people have volunteered their time and bodies to help create breakthroughs in medicine. You see the results with the pain relievers in your medicine cabinet, the vaccines that protect you from disease, the pacemakers that keep your heart beating and the innovations happening now with stem cells.

Yet the systems meant to protect those volunteers from harm are far from perfect, and research violations by Dr. Kang Zhang, an eye doctor at the University of California San Diego, show just how easily that well-intentioned framework can collapse.

Zhang is the chief of eye genetics at UCSD and has a lab named after him at the university. He receives millions of dollars in federal grants and presents at symposiums around the world.

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California Assembly Bill Would Sharply Limit Short-Term Rentals in Beach Neighborhoods

April 24, 2019 by Source

AB 1731, written by Assemblywoman Tasha Boerner Horvath, would dramatically curtail short-term rentals outside commercial areas in San Diego County’s coastal neighborhoods.

By Lisa Halverstadt and Sara Libby / Voice of San Diego / April 19, 2019

A bill in the state Legislature would do what vacation rental opponents in San Diego have tried but failed to accomplish: set strict limits on short-term vacation rentals in coastal neighborhoods.

AB 1731, written by Assemblywoman Tasha Boerner Horvath, who represents North County cities, bars vacation rental platforms like Airbnb and VRBO from listing San Diego County vacation rentals that fall into both residential and state coastal zones

OB Town Council Meeting – It’s All About the Parrots – Wed., April 24

April 24, 2019 by Source

Have you ever wondered about our fine-feathered parrot friends living here in OB?
Why are they here?
Do they migrate?
Are they endangered?
What do they eat?
Why are they so *ahem* talkative?

Bring ALL your questions to the Ocean Beach Town Council public meeting on Wed., April 24 because our featured speaker is Brooke Durham, founder and director of SoCal Parrot! She will have some of these beautiful creatures with her and answer all your questions!

Y’all Bad (a Shout Out to the Lady Wildcats of the U of A)

April 24, 2019 by Ernie McCray

Y’all Bad – (A Shout Out to the Lady Wildcats of the U of A)

by Ernie McCray

Wow, what a season
you Lady Wildcats had.
Y’all bad!
Champions of the WNIT!
So honored to be
in your family
as a Wildcat
great-grandaddy,
both literally
and figuratively.

Losing a Loved One

April 24, 2019 by Judi Curry

By Judi Curry

With every holiday that passes; with every special occasion that comes up, I am reminded how much I miss my husband. It is always traumatic when you lose someone that you love, but I think it is more traumatic when you lose your best friend, your lover, your confidante, your weekly date, your protagonist, your companion, etc. all at the same time.

The heart heals, but the scab always remains. Just scratch the surface a little bit and all the angst returns.

I got so tired of people saying to me, “I know how you feel”. Unless they lost a spouse they have no idea how I felt. Yes, losing a mother, a father, a sister, a brother, a child, etc. is horrible but it is nowhere near the same thing as losing a spouse.

Beiser’s Back! (and He’s Still Running for City Council)

April 24, 2019 by Doug Porter

By Doug Porter / Words&Deeds / April 23, 2019

San Diego Unified Board Trustee Kevin Beiser reappeared at a school board meeting on Tuesday night after several weeks of laying low following accusations of sexual misconduct by four men more than a month ago.

One of the accusers has filed suit. Thus far Beiser has issued only a brief statement declaring his innocence.

The San Diego Democratic Party, the SD Education Association, and even his colleagues on the board have all called on Beiser to resign.

Sen. Toni Atkins, Assemblyman Todd Gloria, San Diego City Council members Georgette Gomez, Jennifer Campbell, Chris Ward and others leaders in the LGBTQ community also issued a statement urging him to step down.

OB Community Cleanup Set for Saturday, April 27

April 24, 2019 by Source

Congress Must Begin Impeachment Proceedings – to Protect the Constitution and the Rest of Us

April 23, 2019 by Frank Gormlie

By Frank Gormlie

If Donald Trump cannot be criminally indicted, as per Department of Justice policy, and if he isn’t impeached – then Trump walks and gets away with all that he has over these last two plus years.

Sure, there’s an election down the road in 19 months – but that, quite frankly, is a long time away. It’s almost as long as he’s been in the White House, and that’s plenty of time for Trump to do even more damage.

So, the complexities of this moment, in the post-Barr / Mueller Report time, are not that complicated.

The Mueller Report offered up plenty of evidence of high crimes and misdemeanors; Volume 2 alone is sufficient to get the impeachment ball rolling on obstruction of justice.

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News and Notes from Ocean Beach and Point Loma – April 2019

April 23, 2019 by Frank Gormlie

Madmunch Grilled Cheezer Co. Paints its Doors

The long-anticipated opening of the OB grilled cheese sandwich place on Newport Ave just took a step closer to reality.

OB Senior Badly Injured by Hit-and-Run Scooter Rider

OB social media has a report of a senior OBcean who was badly injured by a scooter, whose rider just kept on going.

Free Seeds at OB Library

Paddleboarder Found Guilty in Felony Assault on Point Loma Surfer

Costa Mesa Murder Victim Had PL Nazarene Ties

COME INSIDE FOR THESE AND OTHER NEWS STORIES

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Abbott Street Market Applies for ‘Tasting Room’

April 22, 2019 by Frank Gormlie

A notice of intent to sell alcohol was delivered to local residents who live around the Abbott Street Market in north Ocean Beach. From all appearances, it looks like the owners of the market want to set up a “tasting room” on their premises at 2074 Abbott Street, #100.

The market already sells beer and wine and distilled spirits, but now they wish to include what’s called “instructional tasting,” in other words, they want a license to pour the stuff.

The tasting room is planned to sell beer, wine and distilled spirits from 9am to 11pm.

The notice was from the ABC, the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, dated April 18, 2019, and signed by Susan Isenman, licensing representative.

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Peninsula Planners Approve City Plan to Reduce West Point Loma Blvd from 4 to 2 Lanes and to Eliminate Parking for Bike Lanes

April 22, 2019 by Source

By Geoff Page

Opposition to Reduction of Vehicle Lanes a ‘No-Show’ – Were They Properly Notified?

When you see not one, but two, TV stations setting up cameras and the room is full of people, you can be pretty sure that something of interest is happening at a Peninsula Community Planning Board’s meeting. That was the scene for the Thursday, April 18 meeting at the Point Loma Library. The reason for the cameras and all the people deserves its own story; a recounting of what else went on at the meeting will follow.

This issue, to state it very objectively, was about reducing West Point Loma Blvd. from four lanes to two lanes between Nimitz Ave. and Sports Arena Blvd. to create protected bike lanes on each side of the street.

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‘It’s All Right Here’ at the Ocean Beach Business Center

April 22, 2019 by Frank Gormlie

The Ocean Beach Business Center is alive and well and continues to offer a myriad of services to locals and visitors alike.

Chris and Jo Peregoy bought the business in September 2017. Living then in Arizona, they had vacationed in OB for many years and fell in love with the community. They finally made the plunge and took over the storefront at 4876 Santa Monica Ave.

Today, the Peregoys continue the many services offered by the previous owners and have added a few new ones. They offer:

calendars, postcards, and cards hand drawn and hand blended by local artists,
Personal mailboxes

Editorial Cartoon: ‘A Lapdog Ate My Homework’

April 22, 2019 by Source

A Scam About Warrants that Sounded Real

April 22, 2019 by Judi Curry

by Judi Curry

About a week ago my friend Mary called me in a panic. I could hear the heavy breathing; the fear in her voice. She told me that she was calling me, the only one that she could talk to, because she thought that I might have an answer to her problem.

During almost our entire conversation, she hovered between fear and disbelief. It was an electrifying experience from my side of our talk. This is what happened:

She received a call from a man that introduced himself as “Sheriff Robert Biggs”. He was calling her to let her know that a warrant for her arrest had just been issued because she was called to jury duty and she did not show up. In California, he said, that is a felony offense and the sheriff was on his way to pick her up. He actually cited two different laws that penalize a person for not making contact with the court system when called to jury duty.

Want a Better Future for San Diego? Support Students for Economic Justice

April 22, 2019 by Jim Miller

Fundraiser for the Center on Policy Initiatives’ SEJ Summer Fellowship Program – Friday, April 26th

By Jim Miller

In so many ways we are giving this generation of young people a raw deal. Whether it be saddling them with crushing debt if they choose to attend college, allowing economic inequality to hinder their opportunities, or imperiling their future by failing to address the threat of catastrophic climate change, we have done our youth a great disservice.

And this is not just a collective failure of society in general. Even those who most like to think of themselves as fighting for a better world are not always the best mentors of the young.

Sadly, progressive politicians, organizations, unions, and activist groups end up shutting out or, worse yet, eating their young.

Clarification: the Ocean Beach Business Center Is Not for Sale – Property Is

April 20, 2019 by Frank Gormlie

The OB Rag is publishing a clarification: The Ocean Beach Business Center is not for sale- the property the business center resides on is for sale but the business center is not. The property is located at 4876 Santa Monica Avenue in Ocean Beach.

The current owners, Chris and Jo Peregoy, are not selling their business and continue to serve the community with a myriad of services.

Monster Lancetfish Found at Dog Beach in OB

April 19, 2019 by Frank Gormlie

On Wednesday, April 17, a scary-looking Lancetfish with dagger-like teeth was found at Dog Beach in Ocean Beach. The four-foot-long fish isn’t commonly found on local shores or caught while fishing off the OB Pier.

But there it was. And ACE (Albert C Elliott) was there along with his dog and took these photos.

According to 10News Lancetfish are more typically found in the dark depths of the ocean where they feed on jellyfish, micro plastic, tiny deepwater organisms, and even smaller lancetfish. They’re not very tasty to humans. But …

“despite their place in the ocean’s depths, fisherman may sometimes catch more lancetfish than tuna or mahi. NOAA says the fish is actually the most common bycatch in their fisheries, besides blue sharks.”

A Golfer With No Quit in Him Rises Again

April 19, 2019 by Ernie McCray

by Ernie McCray

I’ve never witnessed
a more beautiful scene:
Eldrick Tont Woods,
“Tiger,”
leaning over
a “gimme,”
gently tapping it in
to a Hallelujah chorus
of cheers
and chants
that came suddenly
like a gust
of wind
and continued
as though
there was no end,
bringing tears to my eyes,

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Councilwoman Jen Campbell on Proposed Scooter Regulations

April 19, 2019 by Source

Editordude: Next week on April 23 the San Diego City Council will take up the proposed regulations on scooters and dockless made by Mayor Faulconer. Here is Councilwoman Jennifer Campbell’s (Second District) comments on next week’s Council vote.

“Since my inauguration in December 2018, few issues have been more ubiquitous in our beach and bay communities than scooters. Whether calls, e-mails or conversations in the community, I have heard loud and clear from constituents about the pros and cons of these micro-mobility options.

In February 2019, the Active Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, a committee that I do not sit on, moved the Mayor’s proposed scooter regulations on to the full council. Now, for the first time since being in office, I will publicly weigh in on this issue when our city’s proposed dockless regulations (scooters, e-bikes, etc.) come to the City Council on April 23rd.

Mueller Report Shows Attorney General Barr Lied About ‘No Evidence’ of Obstruction by Trump – Ball Is Now In Congress’ Court

April 18, 2019 by Frank Gormlie

Here is a link to the Mueller Report.

Now that the Mueller Report has been released in redacted form, we now know that Attorney General William P. Barr lied to the American people, both in his previous “letters’ and in his unprecedented press conference held this morning about there being “no evidence” of obstruction of justice by Trump – as well as a number of other significant issues.

Barr has lied about so many things involving the investigation into the Russian sabotaging the US Presidential election of 2016 that the American people have to completely ignore anything he has said or written about the Mueller Report.

I watched 6 and a half hours this morning of Barr’s presser and the subsequent commentary about the Mueller Report – and the ball is clearly now in Congress’ court – which is where Mueller intended his report to be. Barr has completely shown he is Trump’s defense lawyer, not the Attorney General

Duck-duck-goose: San Diego’s Quest for a New Mayor

April 18, 2019 by Source

By Norma Damashek / NumbersRunner / April 15, 2019

Let’s start with an urban tale about dreams and possibilities. Not long ago in a city far, far away, an international gathering took place and it called itself the Fearless Cities Summit.

And this summit brought together 700 mayors and councilmembers and active citizen groups from far-flung cities and towns around the world. And their plan was to collaborate on creating global networks of solidarity in the cause of human rights, democracy, and the common good. Overblown hype?

Police Trailer Removed From OB Pier Parking Lot After 20 Years

April 17, 2019 by Source

By Tony de Garate

When word got out that the Ocean Beach police trailer was going to be removed from its long-standing spot in the parking lot at the foot of Newport Avenue, OB’s most notorious spot for aggressive panhandling, open drug use and violence, some were skeptical when the announced date was April 1.

But it was no hoax. Bert’s Office Trailers brought a giant flatbed and carried away their trailer as advertised, ending a police brick-and-mortar presence that, in all, had lasted nearly five decades in this funky beach community.

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Magical Mystery Rainbow Clouds in Joshua Tree

April 17, 2019 by Frank Gormlie

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Labor and Progressives Mix It Up at Summit 2019

April 17, 2019 by Doug Porter

By Doug Porter / Words&Deeds / April 15, 2019

Advocates for a progressive policies and organized labor gathered in San Diego this past weekend at the Doubletree Hilton in Mission Valley. Hundreds of union members mingled with local political activists for a day of speeches, strategizing, and solidarity at the third annual Progressive Labor Summit.

The assembly of one of the most powerful forces in local electoral politics and the driver of significant social change featured nationally and locally prominent speakers. And, despite, an active public relations campaign, this column will likely be the only coverage of the event.