Month: March 2013

Perhaps spurred on by the latest sexual assault (and though the suspect has been caught), OBceans are organizing the next meeting of the OB OB Citizen’s Patrol.

The first meeting of 2013 will be held Tuesday, April 2 at 5 pm. The meeting will take place at the Tower 2 Cafe, in OB.

Tower 2 Cafe is located at 5083 Santa Monica Avenue, OB, CA 92107; and their phone is (619) 223-4059.

The heroic neighbors – who by their response to screams stopped the sexual assault Sunday night and chased off the assailant – shrugged off their heroics.

Meanwhile, the suspect arrested by police after the assault was arraigned in downtown San Diego, plead not guilty, had his bail set at $300,000, and was scheduled for a Preliminary Hearing on April 10th. He faces possible life in prison if found guilty on his charges of kidnapping and sexual assault.

The now well-known OB incident from Sunday, the 24th – the latest in a string of sexual assaults in Ocean Beach over the last 6 months – occurred around 10:15 pm, as a 26-year-old woman was walking home in the 4800 block of Long Branch Avenue from a dinner at a friend’s house. Long Branch is in the northern sector of OB.

Suddenly, a stranger ran up to her, grabbed her and gave her a bear hug.

Prosecutor Wendy Patrick described it:

Today, March 28th, marks the 42nd anniversary of the infamous Collier Park Riot – the largest “disturbance” between the community and police in the history of Ocean Beach.

Hundreds of OBceans and students from area colleges were gathered on March 28, 1971, at a peaceful anti-Vietnam War protest that was combined with a community clean-up of a large corner lot for parkland when they were attacked by police. This unprovoked assault by police resulted in a riot that spread from Soto and Greene Streets all the way to the beach and lasted for hours into the night. Fifty people were arrested, many injured, a patrol car was burned, but over time, the wounds were healed, the war ended, and a park was created in northeast OB: Collier Park.

Here are a series of articles about the Collier Park Riot and what it meant for Ocean Beach.

By John P Anderson

I’ve only lived in North Park for a couple of months but have been working on finding the best route to get from here to Ocean Beach, my favorite San Diego beach, since I moved in. The biggest issue is finding a good route from the mesa that North Park is on down into Mission Valley. Once in Mission Valley the very solid path along the San Diego River takes you comfortably and quickly directly west to the Pacific Ocean.

I’ve tried various routes into Mission Valley – Texas Street in North Park, Fairmount Avenue between Kensington and City Heights, Bachman Place in Hillcrest – but found them all lacking. Fairmount is very, very intense (read: dangerous) on a bike and Texas only slightly less so. Bachman Place is a much better alternative although it is a meandering windy road down the hill, not bad for cruising down but quite a long haul back up. Recently I was informed of a path through Old Town and it is my favorite by far. After a couple of practice runs I took this trip “in earnest” this week.

The LA Times and the U-T San Diego Continue the Deception of Ten Years With Their Failure to Discuss the War

Southern California is home to two major daily newspapers – each from the major cities in this part of the country: the Los Angeles Times and the U-T San Diego.

In a review of their coverage of the ten year anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq, I found them to be woefully inadequate in any discussion about “lessons learned” on the war, the invasion, or the run-up to the conflict.  I especially searched to see whether they went further and exposed the falsehoods and lies that the Bush administration told the public to convince us to go to war.

Those of us who suffer the U-T would not be too surprised to learn that the Manchester daily would not get too involved with a critique of the Bush’s deceptions and misrepresentations.  However, one would have thought the LA Times – once the bastion of liberalness on the West Coast – would have at least attempted to put together some kind of journalistic endeavor in examining all the ways that the American people were misled a decade ago.

By John Lawrence

Chargemaster: Hospitals’ Killer App for Sucking Your Financial Blood Dry – Part 4

Hospital care in the US has morphed into a multi-headed monster in which every advance in medical technology ups the cost of medical care. What Matt Taibbi said about Goldman Sachs in a Rolling Stone article applies to hospitals as well: “[They are] a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming [their] blood funnel[s] into anything that smells like money.”

More expensive technologies like cat scans are used when less expensive ones would be adequate to do the job. In addition to the economic incentives to use more expensive technology and equipment, there’s the legal incentive that doctors are less likely to be sued if they administer every test under the sun and use the most expensive equipment.

Former DEA agents and cops are lobbying for tougher drug laws that make them rich.

By Kevin Gray / AlterNet – The Fix

When eight former DEA chiefs signed a letter to US Attorney General Eric Holder earlier this month, demanding that the feds crack down on Washington and Colorado, the states which voted last November to legalize marijuana, there was more than just drug-war ideology at stake. There was money.

By Rabbi Laurie Coskey / San Diego Free Press

My grandmother had two seasons, each lasting half a year: Before Passover and After Passover.

For Jewish families, the festival of Passover is the biggest holiday of our year. The dinner is planned for months, with exotic dishes from the Old Country (wherever that may be) made only for the holy day. And always, the story of the Exodus is recited around the holiday table.

The story of Passover recounts the hard labor endured by the biblical slaves during the time of the tyrant King Pharaoh – who oppressed them through inhumane working conditions and retaliation for their smallest complaint – and ends with their subsequent liberation. It’s a good story.

Chargemaster: Hospitals’ Killer App for Sucking Your Financial Blood Dry – Part 3
by John Lawrence / San Diego Free Press

Hospitals charge their customers … er, patients, through the nose for simple products which anyone can purchase at WalMart for a fraction of the amount. In Part 1 and Part 2 we detailed the ridiculous prices hospitals routinely charge their patients – like several thousand dollars a day – just for a room. In this installment we will go over the markups on products that are added on to patients’ bills.

The Ocean Beach Town Council will be hosting City Councilmember, Kevin Faulconer at their public meeting taking place at 7:00pm this Wednesday, March 27th at the Masonic Center (1711 Sunset Cliffs).

Councilmember Faulconer plans on discussing a number of topics including his proposed Neighborhood Parking Protection Ordinance. According to Councilmember Faulconer, this ordinance seeks to mitigate the “proliferation of illegally parked oversized vehicles on City streets” [which] is a public safety, quality of life and environmental issue that has an acute impact on San Diego’s visitor-serving beach.” He will share additional information regarding the direction and status of this ordinance.

The Ocean Beach Historical Society held their annual “Wisteria Garden Party” last Saturday, and by the looks of it, the party was a total success!

OB Ragster Patty Jones got the camera out and kept the shutter going – so we have this great photo gallery of a wonderful event.

Newport Avenue Yacht Club Restaurant
5060 Newport Ave.
Ocean Beach, CA 92107

Watch out, South Beach. You have serious competition – and right across the street! Monica – my live-in student – and I decided to try out the new restaurant because so many people have already told me about it. And the surprising thing is that it has only been in operation ten days! It didn’t take long for the word to spread about how good this restaurant is, and it can only get better. [We helped spread the word.]

Granted, at the present time the owner, John Rudolph, does not have a beer and/or wine license, but he welcomes his diners to bring in their own – no corkage fee – to enjoy while eating his succulent offerings. (He said it may take 6-9 months before a license is granted!)