Month: June 2014

By Matthew Wood

Calling all soccer fans: The place to be if you want to watch the World Cup in OB is at Niagara and Bacon Streets.

That’s where neighboring spots Bar 1502 (aka the New OB Noodle House) and Raglan Public House will be showing all the games with the best specials in the ‘hood.

“We’re really excited for it,” Bar 1502 owner Steve Yeng said about the World Cup. “We want people to come out and have some fun.”

They will have an array of specials as well as jersey and soccer ball giveaways throughout the tournament, which runs through July 13.

Get select drafts for just $2 each day, as well as $10 glass boots (10 liters). Shots will flow freely, with specials including $3 Jim Beam, $4 Jameson and $5 Makers Mark, as well as $3 shots of Fernet – the official drink of Argentina.

Bar 1502 will also be open for breakfast during the games, …

By Melissa Cronin / The Dodo

“The interesting thing about tipping points is that you never know quite when you’re at the top — you need to keep pushing tenaciously until the momentum is unstoppable,” Louie Psihoyos, executive director of Oceanic Preservation Society said in reaction the Congress’ push to protect orcas.

“The momentum against cetaceans in captivity is now reaching that apex — when Congress acts quickly and unanimously on anything you know we are about to see the summit of that tipping point. SeaWorld investors should be running from the exits like rats from a ship.”

After 20 years of a failure to update regulations on captive marine mammals, a pair of Congressmen have successfully passed an amendment that will force the U.S. Department of Agriculture to update their rules that protect captive orcas and other marine mammals on Wednesday.

There was a day not too long ago, that the 4800 block of Voltaire Street in OB had two medical marijuana dispensaries on it. Now there is none.

Both the med pot shops at 4827 A Voltaire and at 4852 Voltaire are totally gone, dude.

The first one to open was the storefront at 4852. Bill Tsiamis, the property owner, told me he did not know what was going on in the storefront that he owns.

Catalina and Voltaire Project Progresses

One can begin to see the enormity ….

Former Water Store on Voltaire Turned Into School for Handi-capped Kids

In checking into what was going …

OB Man Finds Cash in Cash-Stash Stunts

Geoffrey Perkins of Ocean Beach found …

OB Library Gains Hours – as All San Diego Libraries Do – in New City Budget

Stephanie’s Has Closed

The organic bakery on Voltaire …

Local Landscape Architect Approved to Construct the Veterans’ Plaza Project
…
And more …. come inside …

By Judi Curry

A local organization, Neighborhoods for Clean Elections, is leading a grass roots coalition with plans to put a clean elections initiative on the 2016 ballot.

The initiative — which is supported by Common Cause, as well as a host of other good government groups and a large number of town councils, local community councils and community associations — will provide public funding for candidates for mayor and City Council who agree to a Clean Elections Pledge.

The largely misunderstood distinction now has two correct answers.

By Angela Bacca / AlterNet

What is the difference between hemp and marijuana? The short answer: semantics. The long answer: the difference is a largely misunderstood distinction that now has two correct answers, a legal one and a scientific one. And like all things proven by scientists, it is somehow up for public and political debate.

Thanks to nearly 80 years of federal cannabis prohibition, public knowledge on the topic is limited to rumors and misinterpretations perpetuated online—everything from “hemp plants are male and marijuana plants are female” to “one is a drug and the other is not.”

Have you ever wished that you had done something but by the time it happened it was too late to act upon it? That happened to me yesterday. Let me tell you the story.

I had a massage at my favorite massage therapist’s office. Usually I pay in cash but I was short today so I wrote her a check. Had a wonderful rub down at “Mary’s Therapies” in Ocean Beach, and left about noon.

About 2:00pm, Mary called to tell me that she thought she had lost my check. She couldn’t find it anywhere and wanted me to know. I talked about stopping payment on it but she told me she had already endorsed it and added her account number on it so I figured that no one else could cash it. I thought I’d wait a few days and see what happens.

Two hours later there was a knock on my door.

OB Group Brought Activism Back to the Streets of Ocean Beach

The original OB Rag published from 1970-1975. Twenty five years after the last OB Rag newspapers were circulated on the streets of Ocean Beach, OBGO launched an effort to bring the stories back into the digital realm.

The Ocean Beach Grassroots Organization (OBGO) was a group formed by local activists existing from 2000-2005. Through the group’s website OBGO.org the first story republished was in August of 2000. ‘SDG&E Wants 20% More’ was the title of the article republished from the Volume 5 Number 6 issue of the Rag of July 1975.

By Ernie McCray

My goodness, a man, Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, gets released from a 5 year imprisonment in Afghanistan, and there are those who want to condemn him, as a traitor, allegations that are no more than speculations based on shaky observations.

“He walked away from his duty! And people died looking for him!” people say as though in war it’s out of the ordinary for someone to freak out and want to flee and maybe say to his foe “I don’t want to shoot another one of y’all anymore! I can’t stand to see another child run in fear when I walk near them. I can no longer stand to see them shake in their pants, ever again” – aka “consorting” with the enemy. We’re human beings. We’re supposed to care. It’s in our nature somewhere.

Is the Tide of Public Opinion Turning Against Marine Parks Like SeaWorld?

By Alicia Graef, /EcoWatch

The tide of public opinion appears to be taking a serious turn against marine parks like SeaWorld as concerns about the consequences of keeping whales and dolphins in captivity continue to grow. Now members of Congress have added fuel to the fire with a letter criticizing the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for failing to address regulatory upgrades for marine mammals in captivity for almost two decades.

In a bipartisan letter sent to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack, Congressmen Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael), Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) and 38 members of Congress called on the agency to take immediate action to adopt long-overdue rules addressing the care of captive marine mammals

San Diego Police are not planning on having a larger presence in OB on July 4th, Lt. Natalie Stone told the OB Rag.

“We’ll have the same presence as always,” the Western Division police lieutenant said. Maybe, she added, we’ll add a few more people. But that’s it. Nobody is expecting police, she said, to prevent anything from happening.

There had been some fears that an increased police presence at the beach during the fireworks and any aftermath could spark a disturbance with booze-fueled young people. Normally, the police are present, but not in any huge numbers, and usually the officers have smiles and are getting into the spirit of the event, even when their patrol cars are pelted with marshmallows.

We’ve received some clarifications on the security camera to be installed on top of the police trailer in the OB Pier parking lot.

The camera, in fact, will not be monitored, according to Chet Barfield, District 2 community representative. If there is an incident, he explained, then presumably the police could look at the video tapes. The camera is supposed to be installed any day now, and will run 24/7.

Barfield also explained that the camera – worth about $5,000 they estimate – was donated by the owner of a private security company, Leonard Pool of SITUS Surveillance and Security Systems. The DVDs were also donated. SITUS is located up in Kearny Mesa.

“There’ll be no live surveillance,” Barfield told the OB Rag, …