Month: April 2013

This is a chronicle – complete with a photo journal – of the best bicycle ride around Mission Bay. It is a ride that has been honed by the author – along with a few friends – over the last three decades – since the early Eighties.

It is a ride along a route that has a minimum of traffic and street exposure, and it is a route that is approximately …. 13 miles round trip from the Ocean Beach Skateboard Park in Robb Field.

Originally posted on April 30, 2013

Every OBcean knows – as well as every Point Loman and anyone who lives just west of San Diego’s airport – about plane take-offs.

They usually go right over the Peninsula. And have for years. I grew up on Point Loma and went to Point Loma High School and clearly remember many classroom instructions being interrupted by the low-flying giant aircraft directly overhead or slightly over. People in OB call it “the OB Pause” – when all conversation or listening is muted by the roar of aircraft engines over your head.

A video by a guy on the Mission Beach boardwalk who was being given a citation for smoking a cigarette has gone viral. The incident involved Adam Pringle who refused to shut off his cellphone while videoing the San Diego police officer – and now Pringle’s video of part of the incident has sparked a conversation that has gone national over the rights of people using the video on their cellphone (or other cameras).

Pringle – from Escondido – was smoking a cig on the boardwalk at Mission when he was approached by San Diego Police on bicycles. As the officer began writing up a citation, an infraction, Adam Pringle began using his cell phone to video the officer.

The officer then asks Pringle to shut off his cellphone. Pringle refuses – saying it was his right. The officer asks him at least one more time – and Pringle continues to video the officer.

The Campaign to Get Big Corporations Out of Our Constitution and Big Money Out of Our Elections The OB Rag…

The results are in – and now it has been declared that the Ocean Beach Town Council will keep the current design of the OB entryway sign at the end of I-8 when they replace the actual sign very soon.

Town Council members voted during a multiple-month process for the winning design – from a field of 5 designs. Here is what the Council reported on their website:

We had five outstanding finalists for the sign (including keeping the same design, but refurbishing it)! Electronic ballots were distributed to Ocean Beach Town Council members on Monday, April 1 and voting occurred between April 1 and April 8. The winning option was announced at the OB Town Council meeting on Wednesday, April 24.

WINNING OPTION: Keep the same design, but renovate the sign!

Yessiree, the OB Planning Board has yet another controversy on their agenda for Wednesday night, May 1st. This time it’s the Inn at Sunset Cliffs issue.

Briefly, at issue is the application by the owners of the Inn, at 1730 Sunset Cliffs Boulevard – at corner with Point Loma Ave. – of a permit for what’s being called “an ‘after-the-fact’ surfacing of a deck on environmentally sensitive lands”. The Inn has 24 rooms and sits upon a .56 acre plot.

There has been some opposition in the surrounding neighborhood to this application, and there is an expectation that residents from that area will attend the meeting to express their views. Reportedly, the sub-committee of the Board that usually makes recommendations to the full Board on projects before it did not take a stand on this issue.

This meeting is the Board’s monthly meeting, held in the OB Rec Center, at 4726 Santa Monica Avenue. The meeting usually starts sharply at 6pm.

The price of some cancer drugs exceeds $100,000 a year.

By John Lawrence / San Diego Free Press

How much is your life worth?

In a free market economy like the US, that question is settled by ability of the individual to pay. If you can’t pay over $100,000 a year for a life-saving cancer drug, your life isn’t worth as much as someone who can.

In a free market economy your life is worth exactly your ability to pay. In countries where the government pays the cost of drugs, they decide how much your life is worth. In Britain it’s $50,000; that’s the price the British government has negotiated the most expensive drugs down to. Is there a moral limit to how much Big Pharma can charge for some life saving drugs?

Some doctors seem to think so.

The Open House that the OB Rag and The Green Store held yesterday, Sunday the 28th, turned out to be a huge success – with a big turnout. The Mayor was a no-show, however, but he is forgiven as he was down at the international border opening gates, a worthy pastime.

The significant turnout from the community and from supporters of both organizations is gratefully appreciated by all the volunteers who work for the two groups that are now under the same roof. Donations were given, T-shirt sales were made, delightful acoustic music was played, and the liquid refreshments ran out before the vegetarian food. Thanks to all who came and joined us in our celebrations, and who donated to our causes. And gracias to those who also brought food.

We have heard rumors that there is a petition drive just getting off the ground here in OB in an effort to get People’s Food Co-op to either purchase or lease the old Apple Tree Market site over in the central commercial area of the village.

The former business – Apple Tree Market – closed at the beginning of the year. The store owner had talked about opening a smaller version of the store in his property on Newport Ave – the old OB Bike and Skate Shop (the old Bof A building), but we are unaware of any progress in that direction.

In the meantime, residents, shoppers, and visitors do not have immediate access to a large market in downtown Ocean Beach. The nearest large food stores are over in the Midway (Barons), up near the high school (Stumps), or on top of Point Loma (but the Fresh & Easy is closing itself).

And then there’s OB People’s Food Co-op – the organic store that has served the community and outlying areas since the early 1970’s – and already OB’s largest employer – with over one hundred full and part time people – many of whom live in the village.

Local Races in Assembly District 80 and City Council District 4

By Jim Miller

Before I devote the month of May to the San Diego Free Press’s upcoming focus on my Golden Hill neighborhood, recent events compel me to do one last column on the special elections in Assembly District 80 and City Council District 4.

The 80th California Assembly District: Lorena Gonzalez vs Steve Castaneda

In the race to replace Ben Hueso in the 80th it shouldn’t be shocking that Lorena Gonzalez’s opponent has attacked her for being a “union boss” except for the fact that that charge was hurled at her not from a Republican but from fellow Democrat, Steve Castaneda. Indeed, Mr. Castaneda, who would surely have taken labor’s endorsement if offered, was far too quick to turn to cartoon like right-wing anti-union stereotypes. This should tell us all we need to know about this variety of Democrat.

By Judi Curry

I was stunned to find out that there is a potential building change going to be asked for that will totally destroy the Sunset Cliffs area.

Let me tell you what I know – and let me stress I do not know how much truth there is to this, but people are talking, just like we heard the “talking about the VFW building.”

“The Inn at Sunset Cliffs” – corner of Pt. Loma Avenue and Sunset Cliffs – is seeking permanent and private ownership of the coastal area just west of the hotel.

The Ocean Beach Planning Board hearing is scheduled for this Wednesday, May 1, at 6:00pm at the Ocean Beach Recreation Center.

We have received confirmation that Mayor Bob Filner plans on attending our Open House this Sunday, April 28th.

The OB Rag and The Green Store are sponsoring a joint “happening” promising food, drink, entertainment, and good vibes.

The Open House will be held from 1pm to 6pm at 4843 B Voltaire Street. The Mayor is expected sometime between 2 and 3 pm at the event.