Month: November 2016

By Miriam Raftery / East County Magazine

A decades-long battle over the proposed Gregory landfill has ended. Yesterday – Nov. 17- , the Pala Band of Mission Indians announced the tribe has complete purchase of more than 700 acres of the property—including most of Gregory Canyon and Gregory Mountain, a sacred site known as Chokla.

Shasta Gaughen with the Pala Indians called the news “amazing,” adding in an e-mail, ”This means that a dump in Gregory Canyon will never happen. Chokla, Medicine Rock, and other spiritual and cultural sites on the property will now be protected forever. Critical wildlife habitat, endangered species, and the San Luis Rey River will be spared the threat posed by millions of tons of polluting garbage.”

GCL, LLC retained ownership of a portion of the property but has agreed to pursue construction of residential and commercial development instead of a landfill on other portions of the property outside of the mountain and canyon.

By Landes Kearns / Huffington Post

In the wake of Donald Trump’s election, many groups in the U.S., including African Americans, Muslims and women, are feeling scared and uneasy.

Trump, who has said he would ban all Muslims from entering the U.S., made sexist and insulting comments about women and racist comments about people of color in America, is a frightening prospect for many Americans who believe he is unfit for office.

So while protests rage on across the country, one movement is using a simple yet powerful symbol to show their support for anyone who is fearful of what is to come.

By fastening a safety pin to their clothing, people are declaring themselves allies to groups who have been maligned by Trump, to show that they stand in solidarity with anyone who might be afraid.

Students From 3 Campuses Converge at Federal Building

On Wednesday, Nov. 16th, upwards of 500 San Diego high school and college students staged walk-outs at their campuses in protests against the election of Donald Trump. They marched and blocked intersections, and then converged from their different schools in downtown San Diego.

Around 10 am, the first demonstration began near San Diego City College, and by 11:15 the crowd – mostly from San Diego High School and the College had swelled to 300 to 500 people, according to police and participant estimates ….

As of 1:15 pm PST, Thursday, November 17th, Hillary Clinton leads Donald Trump by over a million and a third popular votes, exactly 1,348,395 votes.

Just within the last 4 hours, Clinton has gained nearly 7,000 votes over Trump, and since Wednesday, November 16th, her lead has expanded by over 116,000 votes.

By Frank Gormlie

Every so often, the OB Rag publishes an update on what’s been happening on Newport Avenue, the main commercial street in Ocean Beach. What new businesses have opened up – and what places have closed down. The following is what we found, tripping down the Ave on Wednesday, November 16th.

New Velvet Hair Lounge

Barely 2 months since it’s been open, the Velvet Hair Lounge offers a bright, very clean-looking hair-cutting shop, sandwiched next to Stuff to Puff and the tire business on the corner of Newport and Cable Street. …

Not Much Happening at OBBean

Not too far away, the future OBBean store is still closed up, and no progress apparently can be seen from its outward front.

New Acupuncture and Massage Place Soon to Open

On the bright side, there is a new acupuncture and massage storefront which looks about to open its doors, where the old videogame store was.

Americans For Safe Access

California voters approved Proposition 64, the Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act, by a vote of 56% to 44%. Voters in Maine, Massachusetts and Nevada also approved legalization measures. Medical cannabis had a big night, too. Voters approved or expanded medical cannabis laws in Florida, North Dakota, Arkansas and Montana.

Proposition 64 legalizes the adult use, possession and cultivation of cannabis for non-medical purposes in California. It also creates a process for licensing and regulating adult use businesses, including cultivators, product manufacturers and retailers by 2018.

OB Sez No to Trump Rally in OB

Sat., Nov. 19th – Noon
Foot of Newport

An anti-Trump rally is being planned for this Saturday, November 19th, in Ocean Beach at noon.

Folks from the Green Store and the OB Rag met and mapped out the event that will be held at the foot of Newport Avenue.

Here is a map of the 2016 Presidential race for Ocean Beach and Point Loma. (Go here for the overall inter-active map that displays the results of individual precincts.)

Usually OB goes a deep blue in elections, but it is unusual for Point Loma voters to vote Democratic – yet that is what happened.

Here are the sample precinct totals –

The large precinct in northwest OB (#235000) voted over 69% for Clinton and 21% for Trump, with 10% other, for a total of 454 votes cast. (This may not be a total-total as votes are still being counted.)

Restaurant Review

Buona Forchetta
3001 Beech
San Diego, Ca 92002
(619) 381-4844

When writing a review of a restaurant, I frequently invite any of the readers of the review to join me when I do another one. Few people take me up on my offer, but today I had the most delightful lunch with Deb Greene, who did.

We chose Buona Forchetta because neither of us had been there and the reviews of others was intriguing. And it is always nice to step out of Ocean Beach every now and then.

We were greeted by a decidedly Italian waitress – Valentina – who hails from Lake Como in Italy. She has been here for about a year and a half and will be returning to Italy in a year or so.

We were presented with a huge menu, with 32 different kinds of pizza’s on it as well as Antipasto’s; Salads; Desserts; pasta’s and wines and beers. Additionally there was a large chalk board on the wall listing the specials of the day.

By Frank Gormlie

It’s a reality that Donald Trump and all his transition team platoons cannot fathom, a reality that the mass corporate media disdains and a reality that drives Trump supporters crazy, but – there have been mass demonstrations and protests across the country every day and night since the election on Tuesday, November 8th, for 7 straight days.

Americans – mainly young people – have been in streets in all the major cities – including San Diego – and especially Los Angeles – Chicago, Oakland, New York City, Atlanta, Portland – and on college and high school campuses, in parks in small cities and towns.

Thousands. Tens of thousands. Across the country – on both coasts – in the heartland, in Trump territory – in all the urban metropolis. And it’s teenagers doing this, high school students, even middle-school students – many too young to have voted.

And they happened again today – Tuesday, November 15th. Take for example, this:

Ocean Beach Historical Society Presents:

Lyman J. Gage… A Great Man, By John Noble

Thurs. Nov. 17, 7 pm
P.L. United Methodist Church, 1984 Sunset Cliffs Blvd., O.B.

Local landscape designer, John Noble, will present his program about Lyman J. Gage, the 42nd United States Secretary of the Treasury, who was an active preservationist in Point Loma – and namesake for a local street.

Lovejoy Creations Art Studio Holds “Paint Your Pug” Sessions

By South OB Girl

Lovejoy is a local wildlife artist, muralist, and art teacher. The name she uses as an artist is simply Lovejoy, one word.

Six to eight times a month Lovejoy teaches a “Paint Your Pet” class. Many of these sessions are benefits for animal rescue groups – such as this past Sunday’s Pug Rescue of San Diego’s “Paint Your Pug” event. This sounded like a lot of fun to me, so I wandered over to 2690 Historic Decatur Road, suite #201, in Point Loma.

I was expecting a room full of dogs, canvases, paint, and people. I arrived to a quiet room of concentrating students being instructed and guided by Lovejoy.

Each painting was on a 11×14 canvas on an easel positioned beneath a small iPad, which featured a digital photo of each person’s pug (though some students decided to paint other pets besides their pugs). The digital photo was sent prior to class.