Month: February 2013

As I mounted the few steps to Tom and Jane Gawronski’s front porch of their house on Coronado the other day, I wondered who of the two had the green thumb – as the modest front yard was sprinkled with succulents, small palms and other drought-resistant plants and landscaping .

I was also wondering just which questions to ask them, as they both had agreed to be interviewed before they left for their hiking trek later this month – an incredible trip to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro. My god, they’re both in their 70’s, I thought, as I was hobbling up the walkway and steps due to a swollen left foot.

And the winner gets $50 or 6 T-shirts! The OB Rag is sponsoring a contest for the design of our next batch of OB Rag T-shirts. The winning design must include parts of, or all of, or a representation of our current OB Rag banner. Big time awards for the winners! See inside for more details …

San Diego Joins National Protest Against Keystone XL

A number of prominent environmental organizations and groups have come together to organize a San Diego protest against the Keystone Pipeline and to fight against climate change – joining groups nation-wide for a day of action.

Groups such as SanDiego350.org, Citizens Climate Lobby, Sierra Club San Diego, Environmental Health Coalition, Women Occupy San Diego, and many other organizations are planning a rally on Sunday, Feb. 17th, at the Mission Bay Park Visitors’ Center, in east Mission Bay, near the I-5 freeway. Protesters are being asked to wear all-black.

Protests are also happening in Los Angeles , San Francisco and other cities across the country. The pipeline is designed to carry dirty tar sands oil from Canada to the U.S.
San Diego speakers include:

• San Diego Mayor Bob Filner,

By Matthew Rothschild / The Progressive –RSN

Consumer advocate Ralph Nader and Senator Bernie Sanders condemned the U.S. Postal Service for its decision to end Saturday delivery.

“The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) today continued its tradition under the leadership of Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe of shooting itself in the foot,” Nader said. “The only question that remains is: When will the madness end? By ending Saturday letter delivery in August 2013, as the USPS has proposed, millions of customers who take advantage of its services will be harmed, mail service will be slowed, and the USPS’s current death spiral will deepen.”

Nader also called into question the legality of the move.

It’s the Monday before Valentine’s Day and merchants across America are happily preparing for our annual romance-driven consumer frenzy. Indeed this schmaltzy commodification of love is worth around $14.7 billion dollars a year with much of it ending in the predictable disappointment that comes when we realize that our frantic, frequently anxious lives just don’t measure up to the prepackaged saccharine dreams we are sold.

Valentine’s Day is the sanctification of an empty, soul-killing romance narrative, a celebration of the notion that the most precious and intangible human emotion can be summoned by the magic of the sexless dollar. In sum, as currently constituted, Valentine’s Day is where real love goes to die.

This is the third in a series of interviews with OBceans that I have met randomly – all so far in NewBreak coffee house on Abbott Street. I heartily believe that everyone has a story worth retelling, so I approach strangers and ask them if I can sit down with them and take their story.

Two requisites: they have to live in OB – or the Peninsula -, and they have to agree to have their picture taken. Up to now, the feedback from readers has been positive on these random interviews. Here’s my first interview with Eric Long and my second with Helga Staalhane.

Gina Manning – Who Fled the LA Area and Who Now Is in Search of Gigs As a Comedian

Gina Manning was just closing up her laptop the other day when I approached her and asked her if I could interview her for this blog. She said sure, so I sat down at her small table with my coffee mug and got out my notepad.

Editor: Here’s the two page letter that Mayor Bob Filner sent the Ocean Beach Planning Board in response to their Open Letter to him calling for a “moratorium” on the City granting variances to certain property owners. The area at issue is the 5100 block of West Point Loma Boulevard, OB’s “front line” in its fight against gentrification.

The Planning Board called for a moratorium because of the Board’s opposition to City staff granting variances to property owners in that block, and in effect, circumventing the OB Precise Plan – the development blueprint for Ocean Beach – a blueprint that, by law, the Planning Board is sworn to uphold.

By John Lawrence / San Diego Free Press

We have written before about how electric utility companies try to get ratepayers rather than stockholders to pay for repairs to their equipment.

In particular, we wrote previously how SDG&E appealed to the California Public Utility Commission (CPUC) for a rate increase after the disastrous Witch Creek fire:

“It’s standard operating procedure for San Diego based SEMPRA Energy, parent corporation of San Diego Gas and Electric, to delay costly maintenance and then, when there is a breakdown in the system such as the 2007 Witch Creek Fire which burned 198,000 acres, killed two people, injured 40 firefighters and destroyed more than 1,100 homes, to go to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and get a ruling that would allow them to charge the ratepayers for costs associated with that disaster.”

By Michael Steinberg / Black Rain Press
A press release issued Wednesday by two prominent members of Congress charged that Southern California Edison (SCE) and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) knew that the two replacement steam generators for the San Onofre nuclear plant were defective, and avoided adding safety measures to keep from triggering stricter scrutiny by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Senator Barbara Boxer of California and Congressman Ed Markey of Massachusetts send a letter to NRC Chair Allison Macfarlane on Wednesday stating,

“Southern California Edison and MHI were aware of serious problems with the design of San Onofre nuclear power plant’s replacement steam generators before they were installed. Further, SCE and MHI rejected enhanced safety modifications and avoided triggering a more rigorous license amendment and safety review process.”

By Brittany Bailey / Special to the OB Rag

Last night’s meeting of the Ocean Beach Planning Board was at times tense, and showed the strained relationship that sometimes happens between community groups and individuals of that community.

After the call to order, Chair Jane Gawronski cycled through regular business items quickly, approving the agenda, approving the last meeting minutes, and getting the treasurer’s report. The Chair then opened up the floor to comment from our local government representatives and public comment.

Douma Residence Application for Variance Denied

After public comment, the board moved to Agenda Item #001, the application for Variance for the Douma residence on the 5100 block of West Point Loma Blvd, easily the most incendiary issue of the evening. Architect Elizabeth Young was on hand to review the changed architectural plans for the site.

Those of you that have read my articles over the past year or so know that I am devoted to my 11 year old – soon to be 12 – Golden Retriever, named Buddy. He was definitely my deceased husband’s dog and I feel like he is the last remaining link between Bob and I. Yes, I have three daughters, but they are the product of my first marriage and Bob and I had no children between us.

When Buddy was a pup, I told Bob that we should have named him “Shadow” because he followed him everywhere. But our previous dog – another Golden – was named “Pal” and Bob wanted something close to that name. Hence “Buddy”.

Unless you are a dog lover you will not understand what I am about to say, but if you are a lover this will make perfect sense to you.

Late Tuesday afternoon, I received what could be very good news for Ocean Beach. Having just gotten off the phone with Jane Gawronski, Chair of the OB Planning Board, I can report that she told me that the Board has received a letter from Mayor Bob Filner, in response to their “Open Letter” to him and calls for a “Moratorium” on variances.

I can generally say that it appears to be good news and that the Mayor is siding with the Board in its on-going battle with the City Planning Department granting improper variances to property owners on the 5100 block of West Pt Loma Blvd.