“OB Time” for News

CVS Lights Up

CVS Pharmacy Signs Are Up

The CVS storefront was lit for the first time on the night of Friday, October 24.   Gretchen Newsom told the OB Rag that she will be reaching out to them this week to request an update on their progress and fulfillment of the Community Benefits Agreement.

New sign. Photo by Meredith Lane.

Hit & Run Victim Katie Conner Improves – Fundraiser at Pizza Port – Nov. 1

“She’s lucky to be alive,” Mike Conner said.  Mike Conner fought back tears as he described the progress his daughter has made since being injured. “Katie is alert, she’s aware of her surroundings, her motor skills are pretty good and that’s a lot to be thankful for,” Conner said.  “She doesn’t want to be in the hospital,” Conner said. “And that’s really all she asks about, is when are we leaving. And I don’t have that answer for her.”

Friends have set up a website to help with her medical expenses. So far more than $28,000 has been raised. Mike said the outpouring of support has meant a lot to his family.  “Part of Katie’s recovery is from all the support and prayers people have been putting out everywhere.”  A fundraiser for Conner will be held Saturday at Pizza Port.  Police are still searching for the suspect vehicle.

Meeting Planned for Float on Community Plan in OB Holiday Parade

The DogBeach DogWash and the OB Rag are hosting a meeting to organized a “float” for the OB Community Plan to be included in the upcoming OB Holiday Parade.  The meeting will be held at the DogWash, 4933 Voltaire Street, on November 10th, at 6pm. The parade is in early December.  Organizers are  hoping that the “float” will attract dozens of folks wearing their blue shirts worn during the City Council hearing last summer. Please join other OBceans in keeping the OB Community Plan alive – it still has to go before the California Coastal Commission in early January 2015.

SeaWorld to Skip the Rose Parade This Year

SeaWorld’s stock prices and attendance numbers have deflated, apparently, as a result of criticism from the PETA-promoted Shamu documentary Blackfish. The park in summer announced the expansion of its orca whale captivity pools, a move widely believed to be a response to the criticism. Now PETA is gloating again because SeaWorld is absent from the just-announced Rose Parade float lineup, which has featured the San Diego park’s entries for years.

Last January police said they arrested 16 PETA-organized demonstrators who allegedly tried to block the path of SeaWorld’s float. The protesters sought to bring attention to the conditions experienced by SeaWorld’s captive show whales. Maybe SeaWorld and parade organizers were trying to avoid such drama at the next such event, which last January drew nearly 55 million television viewers. LAWeekly

Coast Guard will enforce the Sea World San Diego 2014 Firework safety zone on November 15, December 12, and December 31, 2014.

These reoccurring annual firework display events occur on the navigable waters of Mission Bay in San Diego, California. This action is necessary to provide for the safety of the marine event crew, spectators, safety vessels, and general users of the waterway. During the enforcement period, persons and vessels are prohibited from entering into, transiting through, or anchoring within this regulated area unless authorized by the Captain of the Port, or his designated representative.

DATES: The regulations for the marine event listed in 33 CFR 165.1123, Table 1, Item 7, will be enforced from 7 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on November 15, 2014 and from 8:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. on December 12, and December 31, 2014.  If you have questions on this notice, call or email Petty Officer Giacomo Terrizzi, Waterways Management, U.S. Coast Guard Sector San Diego, CA; telephone (619) 278-7261, email Giacomo.Terrizzi@uscg.mil.  USCG

 Union-Tribune Makes Fun of OBceans – Again

Once again, our very own daily, the Union-Tribune, is making fun of OBceans. The paper, owned by Doug Manchester (who is rumored to be selling and who is losing money), ran a cartoon contest about Ocean Beach last week, where entrants wrote up their joke to go with the drawing by Steve Breen. The cartoon showed a straight-laced woman with clip board speaking to a clown-like man holding an umbrella, on roller blades, wearing a raccoon hat with a goat by his side – oh, and blowing bubblegum. And the winners got mentions and whatever. Thanks Doug – you a-hole. And thanks to you, too, Breen, punk. You don’t and never will understand OB. The sooner you both fade from our view, the better.

 Loma Portal residents object to recycling operation

On July 1, James Prince opened a recycling collection center in the parking lot of Stump’s Family Marketplace, the independently owned grocery store at the corner of Voltaire and Worden streets in the Point Loma neighborhood of Loma Portal. The collection center pays cash for recyclable cans, bottles, and plastics. Within ten days, a coordinated group of residents living adjacent to the grocery store began emailing their councilman, Ed Harris, and mayor Kevin Faulconer requesting the recycler be shut down. These emails expressed concerns about community safety and property values due to a perceived increase in homeless activity within their neighborhood, primarily homeless men recycling materials in bulk for the cash payments. San Diego Reader.

Point Loma Nazarene Offers Scholarship for Victims of Human Trafficking

Point Loma Nazarene University (PLNU) announced yesterday a unique scholarship opportunity they are calling a “first-of its-kind.” The full-ride scholarship is for victims of human trafficking. The Beauty for Ashes Scholarship Fund is being led by PLNU’s Center for Justice and Reconciliation (CJR). For more.

Meanwhile, Nazarene axes majors left and right and prof struggles with depression

by Samantha Watkins / The College Fix / Pt Loma Nazarene University /October 27, 2014

It all started with a dull bureaucratic word: “prioritization.”  Point Loma Nazarene University had told the campus community in April that a handful of majors would be phased out in the next few years, mostly in the humanities, due to falling interest from students.  Provost Kerry Fulcher had said that faculty in those fields wouldn’t be immediately terminated.  But “we were under the impression that we could be let go at any time,” one humanities professor told The College Fix. “That’s why professors left.”  And that’s when depression started for this professor, who asked to remain anonymous to speak frankly about tensions in one humanities department and the loneliness of going through depression at a Christian college.

Stink Bomb Delivered to Blue Shield in Mission Valley

A giant stink bomb was dropped outside the San Diego offices of Blue Shield Thursday by supporters of Proposition 45, a ballot measure that would require health insurance companies to disclose rate changes publically.  A consumer “watchdog” group dumped a wheelbarrow-full of manure on the front door of Blue Shield office in Mission Valley to represent how insurance companies are treating their consumers. Supporters said the insurance company has donated $9.5 million to the campaign against Prop. 45. Fox5.

Endless Summer fishing season continues

Warm water currents brought exotic wahoo, dorado and blue marlin to San Diego’s doorstep. Walking in the pre-dawn darkness along the B Dock of the San Diego Yacht Club, Bill McWethy’s eyes lit up with excitement over the fishing prospects for the day.  “How cool is this?” McWethy said. “We’re going out to the 9-Mile Bank to fish for blue marlin and we have just as good a chance of catching a blue marlin as the boats fishing the first day of the Bisbee’s Black and Blue Marlin Tournament today off Cabo San Lucas.”  Yes, exotic fish – wahoo and blue marlin — that normally thrill anglers off the coast of Southern Baja have been swimming off our coast this fall. And that was what this trip was all about – catching a blue marlin.  For more U-T San Diego.

 Help sought to identify man in Pacific Beach drowning

Last summer, a man drowned in PB – and he has yet to be identified. Investigators are trying to identify him found in the ocean off Pacific Beach last summer – and they released an artist’s rendering of him n hopes of generating a tip from the public.  He was found face-down in the sand off the 4800 block of Ocean Boulevard about 4:45 a.m. July 31, 2014, according to San Diego police.  The man, who had no identification on him, appeared to have been about 60 and had five tattoos, including stylized renderings of the sun, a planet with a ring around it, a winged man and an oval with three five-point stars inside it.  Anyone who might be able to help identify him was asked to call SDPD missing-persons detectives at (619) 531-2277.  Fox5

Three Rescued Off Sunset Cliffs

Emergency crews came to the rescue Monday, Oct. 27th, of three swimmers who got caught in a rip current in the surf off Point Loma.  The near-drownings near the foot of Hill Street were reported shortly before 3 p.m.  Large waves made the rescue more difficult for the lifeguard crew. Life guards were originally out at Sunset Cliffs to rescue a swimmer who was caught in a rip current.

“As you know surf is up here in SD, and a large wave knocked a girl off the reef and into the water. She attempted to crawl back up but the waves were too big,” Lt. Andy Lerum said.  When she couldn’t get out, her friend jumped in and helped her to the other side of the cove. That’s where they waited for lifeguards.  “We hoisted the two uninjured people out one at a time, and they’re fine now,” Lt. Lerum said.  Two had to be hoisted up the cliffs, while the third was able to walk up a trail on his own.  The victims, all in their 20s, were taken to hospitals, one by helicopter, the the other two went by ground ambulance.  They had all taken in a fair amount of water. “When the surf is up here in Sunset Cliffs, it is a very dangerous place to be in the water,” Lt. Lerum said. CBS8; SanDiego6

 Beach Cities Not Welcoming “Urban Travelers”

From LA Times: Joe McCabe sits on a wooden bench and calls out to two men strolling up State Street, “Have any spare change? I’m actually a traveler.”  The men continue walking, and McCabe grumbles a homophobic slur that they don’t hear.  McCabe gets up from the park bench and saunters down State Street in the opposite direction. At the corner, he stretches his right arm out to a woman wearing short shorts and high heels. She grimaces and looks at her friends questioningly as she maneuvers around McCabe’s hand.

McCabe continues walking as if unbothered by his encounters with these strangers.  To him, it’s another day on the streets. Some call him an “urban traveler,” “a crust punk” or worse. He and others like him — mostly young, homeless people who often travel in groups — roam beach cities begging for money, sleeping under the stars and trying to survive.  Daniella Hearn, 18, left, who grew up in Santa Barbara, with friend Frank “Wolv” Hunt, 20, from Georgia use signs written on cardboard to lure change from pedestrians as they walk by on State Street in Santa Barbara on Tuesday. … “They can be very aggressive and very disruptive,” said San Diego City Councilman Ed Harris, who represents Ocean Beach, where homeless youth congregate on the sea wall, sleep on the beach and light illegal campfires. Los Angeles Times

More than 100 Volunteers Prove ‘Mission Possible’

Saturday morning, Oct. 25, hundreds of volunteers on the water and land conducted a three-hour sweep of Mission Bay for SeaWorld’s and San Diego Coastkeeper’s Third Annual Mission Possible: Clean the Bay Day. More than 115 participants, including four standup paddle boarders and two kayakers, joined the on-the-water and shoreline cleanup around Marie Starns Park.

“We’re from Carlsbad and spend a lot of time using Mission Bay, so we felt we should help clean it up,” said Gary and Judy Newton, residents of Carlsbad and members of Mission Bay Yacht Club.  In total, volunteers removed 325 pounds of trash from Mission Bay, including an unusual number of small dead animals, a shopping cart, a piece of a boat oar, numerous tennis balls, glow sticks, a television cable, a baby rattle and a plastic dinosaur.  “You can do anything if you use your imagination–one person’s trash is another bird’s treasure,” said Celina Bowns, a resident of El Cajon, who collected the trashed tennis balls so that she can turn them into toys for a local bird rescue organization.  …

Trash collected at this year’s Mission Possible: Clean the Bay Day added to the more than 1,400 pounds of trash already removed from Mission Bay and Mission Beach by Coastkeeper volunteers in the months leading up to the event in 2014.  Volunteers at Mission Possible collected items on the shoreline and from the water, which did not surprise the organizers since nearly 80 percent of trash in the ocean starts on land. Sitting at the base of the San Diego Watershed, water from inland creeks, streams, rivers, and rain events flows into Mission Bay on its way to the Pacific Ocean. Water transports trash left on the ground or accidentally blown out of trash bins through our watershed into our coastal waters. OSide News

Step Out: Walk to Stop Diabetes, De Anza Cove on Mission Bay, November 2

Date: November 02, 2014; Time: 7:00 am. Welcome to Step Out San Diego! Join us on Sunday, November 2, 2014 as we celebrate American Diabetes Month with our 2nd Annual RED OUT at De Anza Cove on Mission Bay, which includes an energizing 5k (3.1 miles) walk along beautiful Mission Bay with live entertainment on the route, a Health and Wellness Fair with free screenings and giveaways and lots and lots of RED! – See more at: diabetes.org/stepoutsandiego. De Anza Cove on Mission Bay, 3000 N Mission Bay Dr., San Diego, CA 92109, (619) 235-1169