Month: September 2013

Hearing that “Ciao Bella”, the Italian restaurant that used to be on Newport Avenue in Ocean Beach, now housed “OB Pho and Seafood”, I had to reread my review of Ciao Bella written many months ago; I had mentioned that they were serving to a full house; the food was fair, but too expensive for what was being served. My final line was that I probably would not be back.

Today, after “corresponding” with a reader of my articles on the OB RAG for over a year, Eric called and suggested that we meet. In discussing where that might be I mentioned that I had driven by OB Pho today and wondered if it was open yet. We decided to meet in front of the restaurant and if it was, we would eat there.If not, we would walk to somewhere else and have a meal there.

By Jim Miller

Finally, there was a measure of good news for schools in California with Proposition 30 creating a budget surplus that had plugged some of the gaping holes that years of budget cuts had made in our state’s public education system.

But it didn’t take long for Governor Brown to betray us. Indeed, the Courage Campaign has done a great job in recent weeks taking the Governor to task for seeking to raid the Proposition 30 surplus to fund prison expansion.

That’s right, you heard it: prison expansion.

OB Rag Mid-September Readers Poll on San Diego Mayoral Candidates

The results are in for our latest readers’ poll on the candidates for San Diego’s next mayor. With Lori Saldana on top with a third of the votes, Democrats did indeed sweep the field – not a surprise due to our generally liberal and independent readers.

Bruce Coons came in with a quarter of those responding (24%), and Mike Aguirre (14%) and David Alvarez (13%) fighting for third place.

The lone Republican in the race, Kevin Falconer, placed fifth along with Democrat Nathan Fletcher, both with 7%. Marti Emerald brought up the pack with 3%, “minor candidate” choice received 1%, and the last option, “cannot or will not vote” also got 1% of those polled.

The poll was up for about a week, and exactly 200 readers voted during that time.

It looks like the Ocean Beach Town Hall meeting on the new update of the Community Plan that had been scheduled for mid-September has to be postponed until late October or even early November, the OB Rag has just learned.

Officially, the delay in a community gathering on this important issue is because the City of San Diego has yet to release the Community Plan Update to the public, we were told by Gio Ingolia, Co-Chair of the OB Planning Board’s Community Plan Update committee.

Also, the City has not released the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) or the Public Facilities Financing Plan. Gio stated in an email that it’s the EIR that has been the source of the delay, “the document slowing down the process.” He has been told, he said, that the EIR – and the Plan Update – will be released by the end of September.

Kevin Faulconer – candidate for mayor of San Diego, and sitting councilman for Ocean Beach and District 2 – is staking out his priorities for his campaign, and they’re standard right-wing Republican fare: so-called “pension reform” and “managed competition” – code words for the privatization of public services and retirement plans.

In an interview with the editors of the U-T San Diego editorial page published today, Sept. 12th, Faulconer answers their questions – totally softball, as he is now the standard bearer of the GOP run for mayor and the U-T, of course, is the Republican house propaganda organ. Who would have guessed that he was their first mayoral candidate to be interviewed.

Mr. Faulconer – on the City Council for the past 7 years representing OB, Point Loma, the Midway District, most of PB and Mission Beach, parts of Clairemont, Hillcrest – was asked:

Question: What are those things we still need to do in terms of the financial stability of the city?

Faulconer’s immediate response: “First and foremost, we need to have a mayor who is committed to pension reform.” Period.

29th Annual Coastal Cleanup Day- September 21

After you’ve had your fill of pancakes at our Pier Pancake Breakfast, be sure to help out at the annual San Diego Coastal Clean-Up. The event takes place on Saturday, Sept. 21st from 9am-12pm. Jane Donley from Dog Beach Dog Wash is leading our local event at Dog Beach.

San Diego City Council Committee Pushes for Ban on Plastic Bags

Local markets throughout Ocean Beach, Point Loma and elsewhere across San Diego wil be effected if this ban on plastic bags ultimately passes the San Diego City Council A key committee of the Council came out today in strong support for a ban of plastic bags. The Rules and Economic Development Committee took a unanimous vote in directing staff to construct an ordinance that would ban plastic bags at city grocery stores and other retail sites within the city.

Promoting Sustainable Neighborhoods in the Mayoral Campaign

By Jay Powell /Part One is Here

Sometime last year the street grinders and asphalt layers showed up in our neighborhood in Normal Heights. They did a great job right in front of our house– which really didn’t seem to need any repair, but around the corner, the worst, most traveled portion of the street wasn’t touched. Still hasn’t been.

After some considerable neighborhood wondering and grumbling it became apparent that the bumps and rolling topography and potholes actually served as a kind of regimen of reverse speed bumps to slow down some of those folks who thought the curves on Mountain View Drive were there to test the adhesion of their Mini Cooper’s tires at high speed.

By Kelsey Lynore / The Tarot Nook

Each week, I throw a “What to do?” spread for each of the zodiac signs. The first card is shown and the other two… well, you’ll just have to infer them from the written forecasts. Mind the heads up and have a lovely week!

Rams

Although you don’t know where you need to be, you are certain of the general direction in which you should travel. It might not be justifiable to others, but you feel it in your marrow — so it would be misguided to call it a ‘vague hunch,’ right? You know. So trust yourself this week, Aries, and be brave. Don’t trust some authority figure or abide by the law of another. No. Get in touch with that most adventurous and primal part of you. Like a homing device, it will lead you where you need to be — though perhaps a bit worse for the wear. But, hey! That’s life!

Tucked away behind Shelter Island the La Playa bayfront beach is a gem for families and relaxing

By John P. Anderson

The following is an excerpt of the original post at San Diego Free Press.

1. Address: La Playa beach (McCall Street at San Antonio Avenue, Point Loma) Google Maps link
2. Best For: Watching boats and swimmers, reading in the sun, building sand castles

As a stay-at-home father I’m constantly looking for outdoor activities to do with my kids. We frequent playgrounds, the San Diego Zoo, beaches, and spend a lot of time walking around North Park.

Recently a friend from Point Loma mentioned that the La Playa beach is a great place for playing in the sand.

From Huffington Post

Does bad body image lead to bad sex? Quite possibly.

“Nothing kills the mood quite like being negative about the way you look,” HuffPost Live host Caitlyn Becker said during a Sept. 11 segment on how body image affects women’s sex lives.

Sarah Jenks, founder of life coaching and weight loss organization Live More Weigh Less, explained that many women’s body concerns get in the way of their pleasure in the bedroom. “A lot of us believe that if we lose 20 pounds, that’s when we’ll finally feel sexy,” she said. But of course, feeling sexy has much more to do with your state of mind than your weight.

Emotional eating expert Isabel Foxen Duke recommended that women whose self-esteem affects their sex lives ask themselves: “Is this about an underlying self-doubt that has nothing to do with my weight?”

People ask me if I am still meeting people on line. After all, I said I was going to stop months ago. There is no simple answer to the question so let me elaborate.

I am no longer paying a fee to meet on-line men. Sites like E-Harmony, Match.Com, Zoosk, Senior People Meet, Big and Beautiful Dating Network, Our Time, etc. all charge a monthly fee for their “services.” I don’t know what their services entail, even though at one time or another I belonged to all of the above. They don’t check on the character of the individual; they sometimes notify me that one of their “members” wants to chat – or meet me – but as far as anything substantial there is a real void. I figure over the past year I have paid out over $800 for these “on-line” clubs.

There are a few sites that do not charge – “Plenty of Fish” (POF); OK Cupid/Quiver, as well as a few others. I have not removed my name from these sites because I am still hopeful that I will meet someone that will take away the loneliness I am experiencing by being a 4 year widow. So, in answer to the question about whether I am still using on-line dating, the answer is “yes”, but qualified.

Join the folks at the annual OB Pancake Breakfast at the OB Pier on September 21. Sponsored by the OB Town Council, the yearly event raises funds for the annual OB Christmas Food and Toy Drive. Breakfast will be served from 7:30 a.m. to noon. Tickets can be had at the following merchant locations:

• Dog Beach Dog Wash – on Voltaire Street
• Raglan Public House – on Bacon Street
• South Coast Surf Shop – on Newport Ave
• Surf & Sea – on Bacon Street