Month: January 2015

By Jim Bliesner / San Diego Free Press

Civic San Diego (Civic SD) has recently been holding community dialogue sessions facilitated by Cheryl Phelps and its new Director Reese Jarrett, both veterans of community and economic development in San Diego.

The first session was inclusive and allowed input. The second event featured a panel of downtown experts with limited community engagement. The third will happen at the City Heights library (3795 Fairmount Ave) on January 8 at 5:30PM.

According to the announcement “On January 8, 2015, Civic San Diego will hold a third convening regarding its new initiative to create a broad-based collaborative network of stakeholders to inform the development of our Community Benefits goals. …

New Year’s Clean-Up for Change to Focus on Preventing Litter Reaching the Ocean

There is a concerted effort this weekend to do a New Year’s clean-up of the Ocean Beach community, Saturday, January 10th. And the focus this time – is not on the beach – but in the areas of OB where the litter leads to the ocean.

The OB Cleaner Streets Initiative (CSI-OB) is teaming up with CleanUps for Change Saturday in Ocean Beach for a community litter cleanup. They will focus on the streets, alleys, and sidewalks that lead to the ocean in addition to cleaning litter from our parks and beaches.

Volunteers are asked to meet at Pizza Port OB (1956 Bacon St., OB, SD, 92107) from 9am until Noon. They will be asked to focus on a specific segment of Ocean Beach.

The Ocean Beach Planning Board holds their monthly meeting this Wednesday, January 7th. Their meeting starts sharply at 6pm in the Meeting Room of the OB Recreation Center, located at 4726 Santa Monica Avenue.

After the usual reports and the Board’s approval of their materials for their upcoming election in early March, there is one action item regarding a development at 4950 and 4956 Saratoga Avenue. Here is what we stated last month as the project wound its way to the Project Review Committee in December.

The project up for consideration this week is an application for a Coastal Development Permit at 4950 and 4956 Saratoga Avenue. The application is to demolish 2 existing residences and build 4 dwelling units – on a 2 lot plot of 0.16 acres.

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Paddle Out Jan. 17 to Honor Long-Time Local

By Editor / Scuttlebutt Sailing News / January 5, 2015
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Barry Ault, aged 71 years, passed away peacefully on Christmas morning after a very short but devastating illness. His wife of 47 years, Sally and daughter Jessica were at his side.

Barry was born at the Naval Air Station hospital in Norman, Oklahoma to Bruce and Lillian Ault.

Barry grew up in Los Angeles and Arcadia where he graduated from Arcadia High School and Pasadena City College. He then moved to San Diego to attend San Diego State where he earned his Bachelors degree in Physics. While at SDSU, he met Sally Benton. …

Local Kyle Witkowski Doesn’t Survive Crash

The big news coming off the weekend in OB is the fatal car crash off Sunset Cliffs during the early hours of Saturday, January 3rd. The male driver was killed and the female passenger seriously injured when a Chevy Tahoe missed the turn at the end of Bacon Street and flew off the cliffs, going through the guard-rail and fence and landing upside down on the rocks below. The driver has now been identified as Kyle Witkowski – who was well known and loved by many in OB.

Here is an on-the scene account by someone who lives near the accident site, Dave Rice at SD Reader:

A vehicle sped off a cliff in southern Ocean Beach early Saturday morning, January 3, resulting in the death of the vehicle’s male driver and a female passenger being airlifted to a hospital in critical condition.

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Local Surfer Barry Ault Dies from Staph After Recent Rainfall – 2 Others Fall Ill

By Ken Lewis / KelpFire

Unfortunately this holiday was interrupted with the tragic news of the passing of one of San Diego’s finest surfers, Barry Ault.

Barry succumbed to a highly aggressive form of staph just days after he fell ill on Dec.23rd after surfing southern Sunset Cliffs.

Details are still sketchy as this story has been under-reported by the mainstream surf media.

While it is widely known to most surfers, some still do not heed the 72 hour rule of staying out of the ocean after heavy rains. …

The San Diego REP begins 2015 with Herbert Siguenza’s tribute to Abbie Hoffman

By Alejandra Enciso Guzmán / San Diego Free Press

Abbie Hoffman was an American political activist who also founded the Youth International Party (Yippies) in 1968 and was known for his successful media events. The Yippies were likely to use ‘guerrilla’ theater or public pranks to bring attention to their causes.

Hoffman’s legacy lives on at the San Diego Repertory Theatre when it stages the world premiere of “Steal Heaven.” The production, which opens on January 10 is by Herbert Siguenza who also acts and co-directs along with Todd Salovey.

“Abbie Hoffman was a political figure of the sixties. Some people called him ‘crazy’ or ‘ultra-radical’ but the things he was saying back then have all come true,” the formerly San Diego based Siguenza stated during a phone interview with San Diego Free Press.

By Jim Miller

Last week, I wrote about Project Censored’s Top 25 most underreported stories, one of which was “Wikileaks Revelations on Trans-Pacific Partnership Ignored by Corporate Media.”

Coming in at number three on their list, Project Censored notes that what is important about this story is that :

Eight hundred million people, and one-third of all world trade, stand to be affected by the treaty—and yet only three people from each member nation have access to the entire document. Meanwhile, six hundred “corporate advisors,” representing big oil, pharmaceutical, and entertainment companies, are involved in the writing and negotiations of the treaty.

SeaWorld protest organizers are planning a picket outside the SeaWorld research facility on Saturday, January 3rd.

Calling the event, “It’s a New Year & a New World, SeaWorld – Stop Breeding Marine Mammals for Entertainment!”, organizers will hold the picket line from 11:30a-1pm at the SeaWorld & Busch Gardens Reproductive Research Center, located at 2595 Ingraham Street at Perez Cove Way.

The research center is adjacent to SeaWorld San Diego along busy Ingraham Street.

OB Metal Band Album Named One of “Best of San Diego Albums of 2014” by CityBeat

An OB band, Eukaryst, was named as having one of the “Best of” local albums of 2014. In their latest issue, San Diego CityBeat named the group No. 5. Here is what they say: …

Teen Activist Against SeaWorld Receives PETA Award

A local San Diego teenager who has been very active in the struggle against SeaWorld’s orca captivity, has just received a national award from PETA. Zach Affolter, who has written for the OB Rag, who has been visible organizing protests at SeaWorld, …

COME INSIDE FOR MUCH MORE …

By Carl Gibson / Reader Supported News

Oil prices are currently down by 40 percent from where they were in June, and the economies of oil-exporting countries like Russia and Venezuela are tanking. Coincidence? A simple case of more supply than demand? Cunning moves in a global chess game between a desperate empire and its rivals?
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By Senator Bernie Sanders / Common Dreams

As I look ahead to this coming year, a number of thoughts come to mind.

First and foremost, against an enormous amount of corporate media noise and distraction, it is imperative that we not lose sight of what is most important and the vision that we stand for. We have got to stay focused on those issues that impact the lives of tens of millions of Americans who struggle every day to keep their heads above water economically, and who worry deeply about the kind of future their kids will have. …