January 2014

Why I’m Breathing Easier in 2014

January 7, 2014 by Source

I know firsthand that the Affordable Care Act can help people

getcoveredpinsBy Jill Richardson / Other Words

For the first time in years, I’ve got health insurance. Before now, my “insurance” was nothing more than exercise, a healthy diet, and medicinal herbs.

I’ve gotten insured through the Affordable Care Act without dealing with a buggy website because I live in California. Our state made its own website because our politicians are more concerned about their citizens’ health than making President Barack Obama look bad.

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Point Loma Wins High School Gold Fleet Championship in Rose Bowl Regatta

January 6, 2014 by Source

Light winds prevail for 29th annual Rose Bowl Regatta

From Scuttlebutt Sailing News

Georgetown University and Point Loma High School will tell you that the 29th annual Rose Bowl Regatta was an event when it paid to pick your partner.

With 26 college teams from across the country and 63 high schools from California all sailing little 13-foot, 3-inch CFJ dinghies and winds varying from 2 knots Saturday to 7 or 8 knots on Sunday, nobody needed extra ballast.

As Point Loma assistant coach Nick Kaschak, said;

“Some of our events are guy-guy and some are guy-girl. This one was definitely guy-girl.”

Kaschak was calling the Point Loma shots in the absence of Coach Steve Hunt, who had a conflicting commitment to race Etchells in Florida on the weekend, but the San Diego team—with 110-pound Rebecca McElvain crewing for Scott Sinks on the lead boat, hardly missed a beat in seizing its eighth consecutive High School Gold fleet championship.

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Challenge to San Diego: End Homelessness Among Veterans in 2014

January 6, 2014 by Source

Phoenix and Salt Lake City have ended chronic homelessness among veterans. Why can’t San Diego follow their example?

homeless8By John Lawrence / San Diego Free Press

Phoenix has become the first city to end homelessness among veterans. The Obama administration had set a goal of ending homelessness among veterans by 2015, but Phoenix reached that mark a year early. After housing the last 56 veterans a week before Christmas, Phoenix announced that it had eradicated chronic homelessness among veterans in that city.

Phoenix and Salt Lake City had been involved in a frierndly competition to see which city could end chronic homelessness among veterans first. Phoenix won, but Salt Lake was not far behind.

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Oh, Have I Ever Been Blessed

January 6, 2014 by Ernie McCray

BlessingsBy Ernie McCray

Someone mentioned on facebook the other day that we forget to count our blessings. I thought about that for a few moments and then whatever I was thinking just floated away and then I noticed that my daughter, Tawny, had posted a picture of her mother on her timeline and that really got my thoughts about blessings underway.

And, in the spirit of such thinking, with family on my mind, I could hear my daughter, Nyla, saying to Phill, her husband-to be, a little while back, in their wedding ceremony: “It is so special for me to be marrying you on this day in the house that I was raised in. My parents had such a strong and beautiful relationship and I was lucky to grow up with that around me.”

Oh, that, to me, was about as precious a blessing as there could be, hearing my daughter express that she was blessed to be raised by her mother and me. Brought tears of glee to my eyes. And speaking of blessings what a boon to our lives that beautiful young woman has been from the moment she and her twin sister arrived.

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“The Inequality Crisis” in New York City and San Diego: A Tale of Two Cities

January 6, 2014 by Jim Miller

rentistoohighBy Jim Miller

At the national level, there are signs that 2014 might be a hopeful one for progressives. In New York City Bill De Blasio was sworn in as mayor pledging to fight the “inequality crisis” with a bold progressive agenda addressing housing, education, and economic opportunity at all levels: “When I said we would take dead aim at the Tale of Two Cities, I meant it. And we will do it. We will succeed as one city.”

Many in the national press are pointing to De Blasio’s victory along with the momentum the living wage movement is gaining in cities like Seattle, and buzz around the effort to draft Elizabeth Warren to run for President as evidence of a shift in the national narrative about the question of inequality that bodes well for progressive populism and the country as a whole.

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OB and Point Loma Brief News In Review

January 3, 2014 by Staff
Thumbnail image for OB and Point Loma Brief News In Review

Death of Alessandro Speroni Confirmed

It has been confirmed that Alessandro Speroni is the 41 year old man who died after being pulled from the surf along Sunset Cliffs last Sunday, December 29th. He was the owner of the Soleluna Cafe in Cortez Hill and was recently married.

The County Medical Examiner’s investigation is still on-going, so the cause of death has been undetermined. However, Speroni was pulled from the ocean unconscious and paramedics were unable to revive him. This was near the 1200 block of Sunset Cliffs Boulevard.

OB’s Slightly Stoopid to Play in Costa Rico

Our best-known local band, Slightly Stoopid, is playing in Jaco, Costa Rica January 16-19, in what is being called the Jungle Jam IV. The band – led by multi-instrumentalists and founding members, Miles Doughty and Kyle McDonald – be joined by special guest Don Carlos of Black Uhuru.

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WARNING! No more right hand turns on red at Voltaire and Famosa

January 3, 2014 by Judi Curry
Thumbnail image for WARNING! No more right hand turns on red at Voltaire and Famosa

This a warning from the Widder Curry:

When was the last time your came off Highway 8 west, made your left hand turn, and continued to Famosa Boulevard (the street and bridge that runs over Nimitz Blvd), turned right at the signal and coming up to Voltaire St. Then, after making a complete stop at the intersection of Famosa and Voltaire you turned right? (Famosa becomes Catalina at the 7-11.)

Yesterday? Did you get a ticket? No? You don’t know how lucky you were, because without any notice a sign has been placed at that intersection that now reads “no right hand turns on a red light.”

People are complaining that they are getting $293 tickets for making that turn.

Where did you say that is again?

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The Media Should Stop Pretending Marijuana’s Risks Are a Mystery – the Science Is Clear

January 2, 2014 by Source

MJdoctorWe now know as much about cannabis as we know about alcohol, tobacco and many prescription drugs.

By Paul Armentano / AlterNet

Speaking recently with the Los Angeles Times, UCLA professor and former Washington state “pot czar” Mark Kleiman implied that we as a society are largely ignorant when it comes to the subject of weed. Speaking with Times columnist Patt Morrison, Kleiman stated, “I keep saying we don’t know nearly as much about cannabis as Pillsbury knows about brownie mix.”

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USS Ronald Reagan Sailors to Refile Suit For Fukushima Radiation Poisoning

January 2, 2014 by Source

At least 71 sailors from San Diego-based carrier have reported radiation sickness and will file a lawsuit against Tokyo Electric Power Co.

US Navy Photo

By Brandon Baker / EcoNews

After U.S. Navy sailors on the USS Ronald Reagan responded to the 2011 Fukushima disaster in Japan for four days, many returned to the U.S. with thyroid cancer, Leukemia, brain tumors and more.

At least 71 sailors—many in their 20s—reported radiation sickness and will file a lawsuit against Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), which operates the Fukushima Daiichi energy plant.

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Extreme Weather Watch: December 2013 – Power Outages, Canceled Flights, Bitter Cold, Freezing Rain

January 2, 2014 by Source

Extreme Weather WatchBy John Lawrence / San Diego Free Press

Snow, sleet, freezing rain and extreme cold left millions of people without power in the US, Canada and western Europe. December 2013 was packed full of bitter cold, snowy and icy extremes which resulted in pile-ups on the highways, canceled flights and people trying to survive bitter cold with no heat in their homes.

Winter Storm Cleon produced a significant bout of freezing rain and sleet across the Dallas-Ft. Worth area Dec. 5-6. Freezing rain and sleet accumulations of up to 1.5 inches led to nasty travel conditions. Hundreds of flights were canceled by the icy weather. In addition, more than a quarter million customers were without power in northern Texas.

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The Stars Align, Send Chargers to the Playoffs

January 2, 2014 by Andy Cohen

After a series of fortuitous, near impossible events, the Bolts are on their way to the NFL playoffs for the first time since 2009.

By Andy Cohen / San Diego Free Press

Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good. And the 2013 San Diego Chargers certainly are very lucky.

Against all probability, the Chargers are headed to the playoffs after completing a 9-7 regular season. Two weeks ago I wrote a column calling the talk of the Chargers making the playoffs nonsense, even after their dominant week 15, Thursday night win over the #1 overall AFC playoff seed Denver Broncos in Denver. The Chargers, it seemed, had finally gotten their act together and were playing some of the best football in The League. The problem was that it took them 13 weeks to get there.

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San Diego Medical Examiner Confirms Man Pulled From Ocean Died

January 2, 2014 by Frank Gormlie
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Alessandro Speroni Unconscious When Pulled From Surf

The San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office has confirmed today to the OB Rag that the 41 year old male pulled from the ocean at Sunset Cliffs on Sunday, December 29, did in fact pass away. Alessandro Speroni was the man’s name.

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Happy New Year OB! A Little Story About an Anonymous Letter Attached to a Palm Tree

January 1, 2014 by Source
Thumbnail image for Happy New Year OB! A Little Story About an Anonymous Letter Attached to a Palm Tree

Thought this might be a good submission for the New Year.

I’m walking around yesterday morning in Ocean Beach, just checking things out, wandering by the construction site at corner of Saratoga and Abbott and stuck on a little palm tree trunk was this little envelope.

I kind of look at it and sort decide if it’s booby trapped or something…it is OB after all, but then I figure, its OB and this is exactly what the hippies down here do…so I gently remove it from its little place within the palm frond.

The envelope exterior is colored with crayons and on it is hand written, “I’ve been waiting for you all day!” “Open me up already!” “read, read, read me …”

So I open it and there is very fine card stock with flower decorations printed on recycled paper, I open the card and it too is colored with crayons and hand written…

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