Wake and Bake : Thursday, February 9, 2012

Editor: Our good friend and fellow Ragster Doug Porter has not been feeling so hot these last couple of days, and so hasn’t dropped off his daily column “First Cuppa Coffee” for a couple of mornings.  So, we have enlisted the last minute assistance of one of our regular readers and commenters, OB Joe, in the first of his irregular columns, “Wake and Bake”.

By OB Joe / Special to the OB Rag

Hey, all – ol’ buddy Doug is down, so I’m stepping in to fill his shoes – just for this mornin’ – ‘course if you like it, maybe the Rag editors will let me do it more often … just sayin’.  Anyhoo, my style is a little more free flowin’ than Porter’s so I hope it doesn’t distract from the news.  And BTW, don’t get upset if I’m using a lot of links to our local fishwrap, the U-T. The Rag editors called me freakin in the middle of the morning, before I had my first bong.  So Wake and Bake – fellow OBceans and other denizens of the world!

Who will pay for SDG&E’s screw-ups and all that 2007 fire damage? The U-T is reporting that Sempra Energy – SDG&E’s parent – is assuring investors that its San Diego-area utility customers – that’s us – will pay for nearly all of an estimated $463 million in costs not covered by insurance from the catastrophic 2007 wildfires that were triggered in large part by its power lines. My emphasis. Let’s keep this mind.

It’s a ‘no-go’ on the slavery of whales as judge rules against PETA. A federal judge dismissed on Wednesday a lawsuit filed in San Diego by PETA against SeaWorld, alleging the park’s performing killer whales are being held in captivity as slaves, in violation of the U.S. Constitution’s 13th Amendment. Again, at the U-T.  I could have labeled it, “It’s a whale of a story” but resisted it.

Finally, Senator Barbara Boxer makes an appearance – calls for probe of San Onofre Nukes.  U-T:  Sen.  Boxer has asked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a comprehensive review of the radiation leaks at the San Onofre nuclear power plant, to determine how widespread the problems might be. Yes, right on! Go for it! BTW, nice to see you back in action Barbara, as your silence on such important stuff like SOPA and the NDAA has been deafening. It’s like you’ve been MIA – what’s the story on that. But thanks for this at least. ….

Downtown property owners and residents upset with their b.i.d. when they found out it is paying a controversial consultant $10 Grand a month!  The Reader reports:  downtown residents and up to 2600 other downtown property owners are really pissed off. First,  they were overcharged by the property and business improvement district in which they lived, known as the Clean and Safe Program, up to an estimated total more than $269,000.  More than two and a half years later, the residents have still not received refund checks, despite repeated promises from the City.  Meanwhile, the Downtown San Diego Partnership, the group that administers the improvement district, has been writing checks to Marco Li Mandri in the amount of $10,000 per month to serve as “key advisor” for district operations.  Li Mandri is a controversial consultant and fund-raiser buddy of Mayor Jerry Sanders. Hmmmm.

From the Department of ‘Excuse Me!’ The Escondido Police Department – known for leaning on its growing Mexican-American community – has just been awarded an honor for its partnership with ICE – the Immigration and Customs Enforcement. U-T reports this.  And Latino rights activists have consistently criticized the partnership, saying it creates distrust in the community and discourages crime victims who may be illegal immigrants from reporting incidents to police.  So, if you do read this article, read between the lines. Question authority.

 San Diego city workers beat outside contractors – again. This is the third straight victory that City workers have had in competing against outside contractors to provide services. This was announced by Mayor Sanders on Wednesday when he declared that city workers won the bid to provide the current level of street sweeping services for $560,000 – or 12% less a year. They beat out 3 contractors. Wonder if one of them was Marco LiMandri. (Here’s link.)

 Midway District Kick-off for Anti-Human Trafficking Initiative. So, why the heck was Nathan Fletcher doing there? There was Wednesday in the Midway District office of San Diego Youth Services the start of a signature gathering campaign for an initiative that aims to tighten laws against human trafficking in California. The Californians Against Sexual Exploitation Act would update state laws around trafficking and mandate training for local law enforcement, plus increase prison terms and fines for human traffickers, and place other sanctions in place. Yes, Fletcher was there, got his mug photographed, and oh, yes, he is a state assemblyperson, but he is also … hello! running for mayor!

 Mesa College is growing! One of the highest growth rates in the country. I saw this during breakfast but can’t find it and I’ve got to get this done.

And, of course, I had to end with this … more of the same … more of the “War against Medical Marijuana” The city of San Diego can refuse to issue a certain type of business license to medical marijuana distributors, a judge has ruled. When is this region gonna enter the 21st Century??? Can you believe this? It’s been 16 years since Prop 215 was passed, and don’t fergit, my little brothers and sisters, more California voters voted to straight out legalize pot last November than there were votes for the Republican candidate for state governor – uh, what’s her name.