Month: September 2016

By Michael Steinberg / Black Rain Press

Nuclear Shutdown News chronicles the decline and fall of the nuclear power industry in the US and abroad, and highlights the efforts of those who are working to create a nuclear free world. Here is our September 2016 edition:

Activists protest Diablo Canyon shutdown chicanery.

On September 19 the San Diego Union-Tribune ran this story: “Protests filed over the details of proposed Diablo Canyon Shutdown.”

“It’s been less that three months since (San Francisco-based) Pacific Gas & Electric, along with an assortment of groups, including environmental groups, announced its interest in shutting down the last remaining nuclear plant in California–Diablo Canyon.”

It’s shutdown date is set for 2025. The Union-Tribune story appeared just after the deadline for filing protests to PG&E’s shutdown proposal had passed.

Update on the OB Torrey Pine Trees

By Kris Schlech

Efforts to protect the remaining Torrey pine trees in Ocean Beach have moved forward. Eight trees, six of which are located along Saratoga Avenue, have been identified and submitted to the City’s Community Forest Advisory Board (CFAB) for nomination into the City’s Heritage Tree Program. Once these trees are evaluated and deemed eligible, they will be afforded additional protection in several ways.

Each tree will be assessed and evaluated in terms of overall health, and a monetary value will be determined. The monetary value is important as it is used to assess penalties, at a 3:1 ratio, for any damages or unnecessary death of the tree. For example, a large Torrey pine in Mission Beach was recently nominated and was estimated to have a value in the 5-figure range, so potential penalties for damage are significant.

Measure A Doesn’t Do Enough to Get Cars Off the Road

By John Lawrence

In a nutshell, Measure A is a something-for-everybody approach that doesn’t do enough to concentrate on climate change. A full on effort to get cars off the road and people onto public transit would do much more. That means more trolley and light rail lines paralleling major freeways.

Measure A brings up more questions than answers. It seems that the whole purpose of Measure A is just to do the same things that SANDAG has already been doing, but at a faster pace. They already duped the voters into a half-cent sales tax hike with TransNet, which is an ongoing pot of money. With it, SANDAG is supposed to be doing the right thing in terms of San Diego County infrastructure. The only reason they would need more money is to speed up the process of combatting global warming. This measure does not do that.

It is difficult to realize that almost four years ago I met Cowboy on line though one of the dating sites I was frequenting. I think that I was intrigued with the image of the “rough and tumble” image portrayed by Hollywood for so many years. After all, Cowboy lives in North Dakota and I am 1900 miles away in California. Never did I ever think that I would be visiting the farm several times a year and doing some of the chores that the typical farmer’s wife does on a daily basis. And I never thought I would enjoy the physical labor of doing those chores.

I marvel at Cowboy. If he could fly he would have a bigger “S” on his chest than Superman. He starts very early in the morning – 5:00am at the latest – and works like his horses until 10-11:00 at night.

Hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets of El Cajon Wednesday, September 28th, in protest of the fatal shooting of Alfred Olango by police Tuesday afternoon. And on several occasions, the non-violent demonstrators faced off with helmeted police, as night fell and tensions mounted. This is my accounting of the protest that swept through the suburb of San Diego over a 7 hour period.

By Frank Gormlie

EL CAJON, CA. A number of local and regional press and media reporters were excluded from Wednesday’s press conference held by El Cajon Mayor Bill Wells about Alfred Olango – the African-American man killed by police on Tuesday.

At a conference held in mid-afternoon at the El Cajon City Hall, nearly a half dozen reporters were barred from entering the room, including reporters from the San Diego Union-Tribune and Univision, the Mexican television station.

San Diego Union-Tribune reporter Lynsdsay Winkley -who has been covering the Alfred Olango shooting and protests – told this reporter that she and a number of other media people were blocked from entering the press conference. She then rapidly ticked off at least four news outlets. Then was confirmed by Sarah Parvini, a reporter from the Los Angeles Times, who was able to attend it.

UPDATE: The crowd that had demonstrated in front of El Cajon Police Headquarters earlier today, moved into the streets, blocking some, and confronting police who were trying to prevent demonstrators from marching onto SR-67.

A crowd of people angry over the shooting death of an unarmed black man in El Cajon has blocked streets and come face to face with uniformed law enforcement officers in San Diego’s East County.

Protesters holding signs walked in between cars traveling in the opposite direction along Broadway.

Demonstration Planned at El Cajon Police Station Wednesday Morning

Tulsa and Charlotte just got closer to San Diegans.

El Cajon police shot and killed an unarmed African-American man, named Alfred Olango, 30 years old, Tuesday afternoon, September 27th. Olango had reportedly had mental health issues. Without any warning commands by the 2 officers who had confronted him, they fired up to 5 shots at him. He either died at the scene or at the hospital where he was taken.

A crowd gathered in the afternoon – which swelled to up to a hundred people. Many were angry, upset; some chanted, “Black Lives Matter!” As nightfall came, the crowd expressed more anger, and riot police with dogs came onto the scene.

Originally posted Sept 27, 2016

Slumlord Owns 241 Housing Units in OB

Many OBceans struggle long and hard to earn the financial resources to purchase their one house, condo or apartment. Many never obtain enough to make the plunge into buying property in Ocean Beach. It is so expensive to buy a home here at the coast, that it’s prohibitive for most.

Not Michael Mills, the notorious slumlord of Ocean Beach.

Mills has a virtual empire in OB. He and his trusts own 241 homes, condos and apartments in the Ocean Beach area. Imagine that. Two-hundred and forty-one units. And many of these units are within multi-unit apartments. Look at that map. See the list.

Part I – The End of an ERA

By Scott Stephens

In this unstable and unpredictable world, Los Angelino’s have always had one consistency since 1958. Vincent Edward Scully has called Dodger games every season since the team came to Los Angeles. His 67 seasons with the Dodgers (1950–present) is the longest tenure for any broadcaster with a single team in professional sports history. He is little more than a year away from his 90th birthday!

Scully never had an RBI; never scored a run and never hit a home run for the Dodgers. Despite not being on the playing field, he was the most recognizable sports personality in the history of Los Angeles. He was bigger than the Dodgers; bigger than baseball. Through the years players came and went but there was always Vinny. It is difficult to comprehend what he meant to this city.

At the upcoming Ocean Beach Town Council meeting on Wednesday, September 28th, Measure A on San Diego’s ballot will be discussed, there will be the results of the OBTC Board election just held, a re-cap of the OBTC OB Pier Pancake Breakfast, plus there will be the unveiling of the 2016 holiday theme.

The OBTC meets at 7:00pm at the Masonic Hall – 1711 Sunset Cliffs Boulevard -.Measure A is a 40 year tax increase for transit and infrastructure throughout San Diego County. This will affect our quality of life for generations to come, and there will be proponents and opponents to Measure A, followed by Q&A with our community.

Editor: Yesterday, we posted an unequivocal statement by our regular columnist Jim Miller, who along with Nicole Capretz, and Nick Segura, advocate progressives should not vote for Measure A. Today, we publish South OB Girl’s report of a debate on A at last Sunday’s Point Loma – OB Democratic Club event.

Gretchen Newsom and Anthony Montalvo discuss Measure A … and the Democrats (and Republicans) aren’t so sure about it

By South OB Girl

Let’s take a look at Measure A. Measure A proposes a plan for transportation infrastructure changes in our city.

The Republican Party of San Diego County and the San Diego County Democratic Party both agree on one thing – vote No on Measure A this November. BOTH parties are opposed to Measure A. Labor is divided and City Councilmember endorsement is also divided.

A presentation of both sides — “Yes on A” and “No on A” — occurred on Sunday Aug 25th, at the Point Loma-OB Democratic Club’s monthly meeting.