Month: May 2012

Walk, Ride or Roll to your Next Destination

By Nicole Burgess

Have you seen this biking crew? These students from Dana Middle School and others are becoming active and riding to and from school on a daily basis. They have fun, explore their neighborhoods, and are becoming less reliable on the normal means of transportation, the car. They have traveled to local distances such as Shelter Island and around Mission Bay as well as a few making the trek to Knott’s Berry Farm for spring break. These kids know how to ride.

It’s no secret that marriage is in decline across America.

For example, a recent PBS report noted that only half of U.S. adults are married, an all-time low. And of today’s Americans, only 72% have been married at some point, down from 85% in the 1960s.

But a lesser-known fact is that our country’s marriage declines have not been distributed evenly across the population. Poor people, in particular, are much less likely to get hitched than they were just a few decades ago.

San Diego Janitors and Supporters March Through Downtown San Diego, and Labor Council Poised to Aid Janitors’ Strike

On Thursday, May 31, 2012, unions representing over two hundred thousand working men and women throughout San Diego and Imperial Counties are expected to pledge their support for San Diego’s United Service Workers West janitors in the event of a strike. A vote to sanction the strike would mean honoring the picket line if building owners and their contractors do not reach an agreement with the janitors’ union by June 2, 2012.

“For the past couple of months, we have negotiated with contractors representing building owners for a contract that includes a modest wage increase and health care for our families,” said María Aldama, member of the Bargaining Committee and janitor for 5 years. “If our employers can afford to give janitors in Los Angeles, Orange County, and in Northern California a raise and are able to provide health care for workers and their families, why can’t they do the same for San Diego janitors?”

“Expresso Pizza – Ristorante Italiano”
1776 Sunset Cliffs Blvd., San Diego, CA 92107

For the past twenty years, my husband and I – when he was alive – housed foreign language students in the United States to learn to speak English. Over those twenty years, more than 360 have lived with us in an “immersion” program. Currently I have two students – one from Korea and one from Switzerland. I was very surprised with my Swiss student told me tonight that he had never had Italian food in a restaurant in the United States. So…since it was Wednesday night – Farmer’s Market Night – I thought we would try Expresso Pizza on Sunset Cliffs because I didn’t want to fight the traffic from patrons leaving the OB area.

The restaurant is really two parts: one to place orders to go and the second adjoining part a dining-in establishment. Our waitress welcomed us and told us that we could sit anywhere we wanted to sit. After being seated she asked us if we wanted to start with water and bread. We did.

The San Diego Planning Commission is meeting today, Thursday, May 31st, on a decisive issue regarding the continued efforts at gentrification in Ocean Beach. What’s on their agenda is the Burks residence at 5170 West Point Loma Boulevard in Ocean Beach.

On December 7, 2011, the OB Planning Board unanimously denied the application by the Burks to construct a massive three story McMansion at the site of the old one-story duplex on their property. The Board voted against their application for a variance to not allow the 25% parking requirement to go against the required .75 FAR (floor area ratio), plus there were other issues required under state law that had not been proven by the applicant.

Yet, then on March 14th, this year, a San Diego hearing officer heard the matter. City staff were against the recommendation by OB’s Planning Board, and called for the building’s approval. And this is what the hearing officer did.

This set up the battle – for the Ocean Beach planners have been fighting City staff for months over the issue of the City granting variances to allow home-owners to circumvent the Ocean Beach Precise Plan and its requirements. So, the OBPB is appealing the decision of the hearing officer. City staff, in the person of Sandra Teasley, has again called for the denial of the appeal, which would give a green-light to the developer.

And now, the Planning Commission takes up the issue, today, May 31st, and the item is the first action item on their agenda.

San Diego Planning Commission

9:00 A.M., MAY 31, 2012

City Administration Building
Council Chambers
202 C STREET, 12TH FLOOR

Even though the great city of Los Angeles is just a mere hundred miles to the north of San Diego, you’d think it was on another planet. San Diegans revel in our isolation and puff up our differences with the most massive urban tract in the country. We pride ourselves in being “the Un-LA”, what Los Angeles isn’t.

Yet, to large-scale corporations and banks, the national media, and perhaps the country in general – San Diego is just the southern sector in the LA Market. What goes in LA, goes in San Diego – eventually. So, it behooves those who watch the economic, social, environmental, and political trends here in our coastal paradise, to keep one wary eye on our cousins to the north.

And, of course, there’s lot’s going on in LA. Take these major stories, for instance:

LA Bans Plastic Bags

LA TIMES: Los Angeles became the largest city in the nation to approve a ban on plastic bags at supermarket checkout lines, handing a hard-fought victory to environmentalists and promising to change the way Angelenos do their grocery shopping. The City Council voted 13 to 1 to phase out plastic bags over the next 16 months at an estimated 7,500 stores, meaning shoppers will need to bring reusable bags or purchase paper bags for 10 cents each.

City Gets Ready to Ban Pot Dispensaries

LA WEEKLY: The L.A. City Council’s Planning and Land Use Management (PLUM) committee will take up all facets of proposed bans on medical cannabis in town on Wed, May 30th.

We always like to give a Shout Out! to our sponsors and advertisers. It’s folks like those that ensure that the OB Rag keeps running, growing, and developing.

So, with that – here’s to you – Dr. Jeoff Gordon – for supporting us with a six-month ad on top of our sidebars. Jeoff runs the Ocean Beach Medical Group, located at 1947 Cable Street, along with Scott Barker. They offer special discounts if you don’t have insurance, and claim that some medicines can actually be provided for free. Here’s what they say on their website:

We try to keep our practice small so that we can give you personal medical care that cannot be provided in a larger clinic setting. We are dedicated to putting in the time and attention needed to help you feel better. We enjoy seeing a wide range of patients from newborn to the elderly.

by Doug Porter / San Diego Free Press / May 29, 2012

I read the Daily Fishwrap(s) so you don’t have to…

Filner’s Kenyan connection?… Absent a potential birth certificate scandal, reporter/columnist Matt Hall has decided to make the Mayoral candidates cough up their college transcripts in hopes that something, anything will make for a story. And at least one of the SDUT’s reliably right wing commenters is having a cow because candidate Bob Filner apparently ignored the request. The lone democrat in the race has been known to not suffer foolish requests lightly, as he did earlier this year when the Voice of San Diego wanted him to give up political positions in three sentences or less. Our sources say that Filner’s crew is, in fact, trying to get the stone tablets from Cornell shipped off to Hall; they’re just having problems finding a shipper.

Friends of Mountain Group Steps In to Aid State in Preventing Park’s Closure

By J. Harry Jones / U-T San Diego / May 30, 2012

PALOMAR MOUNTAIN — Palomar Mountain State Park has officially been saved.

California State Park’s Director Ruth Coleman has signed an agreement permitting the park and its popular campgrounds to remain open for the next three years as long as a nonprofit citizen’s group is willing to cover the deficit between the park’s income and expenses.

Move Reflects Fallout Over Former President’s Killing of Mountain Lion in Idaho

By Juliet Williams / MercuryNews.com / May 29, 2012

SACRAMENTO, Calif.—The state Assembly approved new restrictions governing who can be appointed to the California Fish and Game Commission on Tuesday as part of the ongoing fallout over the former president’s killing of a mountain lion in Idaho.

Lawmakers approved AB2609 by Assemblyman Ben Hueso, D-San Diego, on a 55-22 vote, sending it to the Senate.

A “Voter Information Night” will be held by High Tech High International on Wednesday, May 30th from 6pm – 8pm. High Tech High International is located at 2855 Farragut Road in Point Loma, within Liberty Station.

The non-partisan event will focus on educating the public about candidates who are competing for President, U.S. Senate, U.S. Congress, State Assembly, State Senate, City Council, and San Diego Mayor on this upcoming June 5th Primary Election. It will also cover state and local propositions, with the bulk of the focus on California and San Diego-specific issues.

“Voter Information Night” is a student-researched and conducted event. The public’s participation would greatly further support of the students’ goal of voter awareness and voter education for the June primaries/Presidential election.

When a good friend of mine – a gourmet chef that teaches several culinary classes in the San Diego area – asked me to join her for lunch the other day, I was delighted to accept. I met her at her house in North Park about 11:15am so that we were one of the first patron’s at the restaurant when it opened at 11:30am.

The restaurant could easily be missed if you did not know where you were going. The name is on a sign high above eye level; and the entrance is very unpretentious. Upon entering into a darkened room, with the hostess desk and the bar on the left, I was immediately struck with how long and narrow the room was, and it reminded me of many of the restaurants in San Francisco. There was an outside eating area on the right, but because it was overcast and damp we elected to eat indoors.

We were seated at the farthest seat at the back of the dining room, up against the wall that obviously housed the kitchen. (I say “obviously” because we could feel the vibrations from the kitchen on the wall nearest to where we were seated.) It was not distracting; we just knew it was there.