Month: November 2016

It looks like Willie’s Shoe Shine Shack will be moving one way or the other Wednesday morning – the 23rd. Probably early.

The folks who have stepped up to help Willie, who is 78, deal with the move and changes are trying to get free help in the move – otherwise they’ll pay.

Here’s the Gofundme page set up for Willie – as of today, it’s raised $2,275.

There’s been some talk about boycotting the new landlord’s other OB businesses in response to his efforts to get Willie to remove the building.

Yesterday, Kris Schlech wrote a short post about how Ocean Beach just gained 8 new Heritage Trees – all Torrey Pines.

This was due to the sustained efforts of Friends of Peninsula Trees – the group that formed to fight the removal of a huge Torrey Pine on Saratoga Avenue last summer.

Torrey pines – and other trees for that matter – that have gained Heritage Tree designation have special protections and if the city or its contractor deem a Heritage Tree must be removed, they must exercise other mitigation efforts before chopping.

So, here is a map of OB’s new Torrey Pine Heritage Trees.

By Terrie Best – San Diego Americans for Safe Access

The James Slatic family sat in San Diego Civil court Monday, November 15^th, along with an impressive group of supporters, to listen to testimony on just why The San Diego District Attorney confiscated each of the family of four’s checking and savings accounts and has refused to give the funds back in the absence of criminal behavior.

It was tough to understand government seizing money from two young girls and their parents and as the testimony unfolded it became clear no financial investigation was conducted either. Still, anti-cannabis Judge Jay Bloom ruled against the family and the case will now be moving up to a higher court.

These are some reasons why 60 to 70 people protested Trump at the foot of Newport Avenue in OB on Saturday.

First, OB is a great place to hold an anti-Trump protest. OB voters voted heavily against Trump in the presidential election.

For instance, according to election results, in Precinct#235000 – where the rally against Trump was held, 68.7% of the voters voted for Clinton and 21.4% for Trump, with the others at 9.9%. A total of 454 people voted. (All these figures are of the last count, while thousands of provisional ballots are still being counted.)

Across Abbott from where the rally was held and on the north side of Newport, in Precinct #235300, 75.2% of the ballots were for Hillary Clinton and only 17.0% for Trump, with other candidates getting 7.8%. 347 votes were cast.

Physics Doesn’t Care About Politics or Whether Anyone Believes in Science

By Jim Miller

A little less than two weeks before the election, the Guardian was one of the only media outlets to note the release of a devastating report by the Living Planet Index that outlines how, “The number of wild animals living on Earth is set to fall by two-thirds by 2020, according to a new report, part of a mass extinction that is destroying the natural world upon which humanity depends.”

One might think that such stark news would have trickled into the Presidential race, but, given the debased nature of the contest and the pathetic state of the national corporate media, it was nowhere to be seen in the slime fest that was the 2016 election.

Update on the OB Torrey Pine Trees for November

By Kris Schlech

Save Peninsula Trees has been active this past month! We received our (official) letter from the City and eight OB Torrey pine trees have been designated as Heritage Trees. They will forevermore be identified as such on the City’s Master Tree Inventory.

There are other trees in OB we’d like to identify and nominate, but this is a wonderful start and OBceans should feel proud to be the keepers of such national treasures! We also created a flyer with loads of useful info about Torrey pines, the Green Store has copies, or ask for one digitally through
savepeninsulatrees@gmail.com.

Willie’s Shoe Shine building along Newport Avenue in Ocean Beach has been forced out of its location by the new landlord. He must either sell the building or have it moved by this Wednesday, November 23rd – the day before Thanksgiving. Reportedly, he wants to sell it for $1,000. (As to why he has to move, see below for some background.)

Willie – the only African-American businessperson on Newport – has been doing business on OB’s main commercial street for nearly 50 years – first as an employee of a shoe repair shop on Newport and then later as the proprietor of his own “shop” at the corner of Newport and Cable.

Everybody knows Willie. And so, OB’s social media blew up this weekend with news that he was being forced out.

Many saw this coming. As the OB Rag reported last August:

By Alexandra Rosemann / Alternet

Police used water cannons and tear gas against hundreds of Dakota Access Pipeline protesters in Cannon Ball, North Dakota, late Sunday, Nov. 20. At least one person was arrested and dozens injured.

The confrontation began at 6pm, near the encampment were the protests against the $3.8 billion pipeline have been ongoing for months. According to the Morton County Sheriff’s Department, 400 protesters attempted to cross Blackwater Bridge on state Highway 1806 after removing a burned-out truck.

At it’s peak, there must have been nearly 70 people protesting Trump at the foot of Newport Avenue, on Saturday, Nov. 19th.

Billed as “OB Sez No to Trump”, the gathering was boisterous and peaceful, and had been organized by the Green Store and the OB Rag. The signs said it all.

There were a couple of speakers, chants – some guitar music, a few TV cameras, and then a sidewalk march up to the OB Library, for another short rally.

As of 9 a.m. pst, Saturday, November 19th, Hillary Clinton leads Donald Trump by 1 and 2/3rds million popular votes.

It is now up to a lead of 1,677,041 ballots cast for her.

The denizens of Ocean Beach – as well as the blue-leaning Point Lomans – need the OB Rag now more than ever. This weekend will show that.

What with issues of fake news embedded in our social media and the mainstream press pushing their elite agendas based on the bottom line, and with Trump’s threats of corralling the press, sources of truth become scarcer and scarcer.

We like to think that our uber local OB news focus, the discussion platform we offer to the community on issues, our efforts to keep a grip on changes in OB, in San Diego, nation-wide – and the world beyond – put us in the running for providing you, our readers, with a semblance of needed news, analysis and some truth.

Which leads us to this:

Our Fall Appeal for Donations – Keep the Press Local and Free

We are beginning today a weekend of fund-raising and donations. Our goal is to raise $2,000 over the weekend and during next week.Why that amount? Over the last 6 months, here is what we have spent from our shoe-string budget:

Here are some notes on the controversial construction project at Ebers and Greene Streets, sent to us by a local observer, who also handed them to the OB Planning Board.

• Original home for sale “2 on 1” – here’s proof that it was all listed for two units.
• Remodel complete, new kitchen and laundry. Records show a 1200 sf home but this actually measures about 1600 sf so someone must have done an unpermitted add on. It still complies with FAR though.
• Demo and drawings of single story home. 3 bedrooms becomes 2 plus an office. The recent connecting hallway to the other house (not shown) goes off the end of the office on the top right, and leads into the “storage” area in the garage of the 3 story unit.