Month: April 2013

Editor: Apparently, the commmunity of North Park has something to show Ocean Beach: North Park is about to initiate San Diego’s first “EcoDistrict”. What is that?

By John Anderson / San Diego Free Press

North Park in the first stages of becoming the first sustainable-focused neighborhood in San Diego following the U.S. lead of Portland, OR. I recently talked with Paulina Lis, who is heading up the North Park EcoDistrict project along with colleague Jennifer Owens, to learn more about the project.

By Annie Lane / San Diego Free Press

Last week I came across a Steve Breen cartoon in the San Diego Union-Tribune entitled “Mapping Bob Filner’s Brain” (see left). I had quite the guffaw. I mean, if guffaws were redefined to be humorless, silent events that’s what it was.

I find it interesting that, given Breen’s skill and Pulitzer Prize history, the brain he chose to draw was so boorishly simple. Don’t worry, I get it — it’s intended to represent the supposedly simple mind of our union-sympathizing, anti-hotelier mayor.

By Sub-committee

Wednesday, April 10, Bill Allen – owner of the Crystal Pier Motel – and other residents called a press conference at the pier to help expose a simmering problem in Pacific Beach to the larger community. Allen and many other concerned residents have over the last while voiced their complaints about Scott Slaga – owner of the 710 Club (ex-Blind Melons) near the Crystal Pier – in his efforts to obtain a sidewalk encroachment variance for his establishment.

Allen and the complaining residents have issues caused, they contend, by encroachments for bars, problems such as the high crime stats and high noise impact, to lowered property values to no room on the sidewalks for people to walk to the beach.

This is all in preparation for the city council vote today, April 11, on whether or not to allow Slaga to obtain his sidewalk encroachment variance.

By John Anderson / San Diego Free Press

Last Saturday, April 6, the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition (SDCBC) hosted a ‘State of Cycling in San Diego County’ event in the Balboa Room of the historic Lafayette Hotel on El Cajon Boulevard in North Park.

This event was held to mark the one-year anniversary of the 5-Year Strategic Plan the group adopted in 2012 and discuss progress and goals for the coming years. Every seat in the room was taken, plus some standing in the doorways. I counted approximately 60 people. A bicycle valet service was provided outside the hotel for attendees – a service the SDCBC also offered at the Padres home opener on Tuesday, April 8.

By Norma Damashek / NumbersRunner

For the first time ever, the San Diego public has been awarded the Keys to the Kingdom.

The grantor of this unique gift to the people of San Diego is former councilmember Donna Frye and her Open Government project, developed during her three-month stint in the office of Mayor Bob Filner.

Finally, regular citizens and ordinary folk (you and I) have ready access to just about everything we wish to know about the ins-and-outs of City Hall.

New Study: Cancer decline since Rancho Seco nuclear plant closed over 20 years ago

by Michael Steinberg

Recently Southern California Edison asked the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission for permission to restart Unit 2 at its San Onofre nuclear plant. Units 2 and 3 at San Onofre have been shut down since January 2012 after radioactive steam escaped into the environment, and subsequent investigation found that steam generators installed less than two years before had suffered significant damage to large numbers of critical tubes in the generators.

Now Edison wants to restart Unit 2 in June, and receive permission from the NRC to operate that reactor for two years, despite failing to substantially address the damage to the steam generators or pinpoint the reasons for the problems, according to environmental group Friends of the Earth.

Ocean Spa Nails
4914 Voltaire St.
Ocean Beach, CA 92107
619-224-0498

I try to have a manicure and/or pedicure at least once a month but sometimes I find that something interferes with the timing and I may go longer without having one. Today my daughter Michele called me and told me she was going to have a pedicure and manicure at a new shop and wondered if I wanted to join her. Although I had a pedicure last week, I didn’t have a manicure and jumped at the chance of going with her for several reasons.

I have been trying different shops in the Ocean Beach and Point Loma area for several years. I have not found one that I have been real happy with, but have gone back to different shops more than once because they were better than some of the other places I have tried. Michele told me that “Ocean Spa Nails” had several very good reviews and we were anxious to try it.

By Beryl Forman & Sam Ollinger / San Diego Free Press / April 8, 2013

Last year, SANDAG began the work of implementing their Early Action Projects that are part of their 2050 Regional Bicycle Plan. Within the City of San Diego, SANDAG is currently working on the design of the Uptown and the North Park/Mid-City regional bike projects both of which are currently in the design phase of implementation.

By Judi Curry

As my subscriptions to five online dating sites comes to a close, I look back at some of the situations I have found myself in and can’t help but laugh hysterically. On the other hand, some of the time I found myself sad and depressed because things did not turn out the way I had hoped they would. Sounds like I might be bordering on bipolarism.

Some of the people that I have met have been wonderful and I consider them friends. Of course, I wasn’t looking for friends when I joined the sites; I was – and still am – looking for a companion, a lover, a best friend. I am thrilled that Joe, a man I frequently went out with has found a potential companion for life. I will always think of him as a friend and have also “friended” his new squeeze. Jim, I know I can always count on you if I need help; you have been there each and every time I have asked for some thing.

I have been amazed at the number of men that are married and are looking for a one-nighter.

Children born in Pacific coastal states in 2011 may be at greatest risk.

By Anne Hurley / msn Healthy Living / April 4, 2013

It’s already well known how devastating the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear reactor meltdown was for Japan — dramatic spikes in radiation-related illnesses, an increase in likely cancer deaths over the next several years, and pollution which may never truly be cleaned up.

A new study suggests what many worldwide have feared — that the devastation from the traveling radiation has in fact sickened infants in other countries, including babies born shortly after the incident in Hawaii, Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and California.

Recently, the OB Rag ran a readers’ poll on the use of drones by the US government either in America and/or abroad. The results of the week-long poll are in: 82% of respondents oppose the use of drones in the United States.

36% of the respondents replied that they are okay with the use of the unmanned flying vessels in other countries by our government. 17% indicated that they are okay with their use in America.

45% of the 108 readers who responded specifically feel that the use of drones in America is unconstitutional or that they should not be used in our country. Another 37% replied that they specifically opposed their use overseas as well.

26% said that their use in America is “absolutely unconstitutional”. Another 19% were okay with their use in hunting down terrorists abroad, but opposed their deployment here in this country.

“Te Mana Café”
4956 Voltaire
Ocean Beach, CA 92107
619-255-9233

There are so many new restaurants opening in Ocean Beach it is difficult to get around to all of them in a few weeks. Today my friend Candy and I decided to have lunch at “Te Mana Café” on Voltaire. The physical restaurant is a restored 1924 Craftsman house. The Cruz family lived in it for years and as they remodeled it into the restaurant it is today, they continued living in all of the rooms – although they no longer live there now. It is beautiful; well furnished, and very warming to its clientele.