March 2017

More from the Business Streets of Ocean Beach – A Photo Gallery

March 31, 2017 by Frank Gormlie

Here’s a photo gallery of what’s new on the business streets of Ocean Beach. Moving from north to south across the village … we have …

* Upper Voltaire Project Digging Deeper

* Car’s Jars restaurant “coming soon!”

* International Self-Defense School to Open above Plant Power

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The Widder Curry: My April Fool’s Day Story for the Year – Looking for a Man

March 31, 2017 by Judi Curry

By Judi Curry

It has been no secret that I have been terribly lonely since my husband died 7 ½ years ago. Our 51st wedding anniversary will be April 5th.

I was married at 17, (to my first husband) and have been married many, many years. I really never lived by myself, and have always been a “pair”. The past few years have been very difficult.

Last night I was reading an article on how you can order just about anything from “Amazon.com”.

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New OB Families Association Hosts Kick-off Ice Cream Social on Sunday, Apr. 2nd

March 31, 2017 by Source

The newly formed Ocean Beach Families Association is hosting their Kick-off Ice Cream Social this Sunday, New April 2nd, at Lighthouse Ice Cream on Newport Avenue from 11am-1pm. The event will be held in the courtyard directly behind Lighthouse Ice Cream, with $1 dollar kid’s cones, free bubbles, and a coloring activity.

The OB Families Association is a community group that aims to encourage more family-friendly activities and resources in Ocean Beach.

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New MTS Mobile Payment Option an Improvement But Major Problems Remain

March 31, 2017 by Source

Compass Cloud will benefit riders, but basic problems for the Compass Card remain unfixed

from Circulate San Diego

Thursday’s release of the Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) Compass Cloud mobile payment option is an improvement for transit riders, but it does not resolve basic problems with the existing Compass Card. (see MTS advisory about the Compass Cloud here. )

Colin Parent, Policy Counsel for Circulate San Diego, stated:

“While the MTS mobile fare payment system is a welcomed enhancement, significant improvements for the Compass Card are still needed.”

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Keeping Tabs on San Diego’s South Bay

March 31, 2017 by Source

South Bay NewsDevelopers Want to Build 4,000 New Homes Along Truck Route in Otay Mesa

By Barbara Zaragoza / San Diego Free Press

This week, the Otay Mesa Chamber of Commerce wrote in their newsletter:

The City is proposing a residential development with more than 4,000 homes along Cactus Road and Siempre Viva.

The access for this new village is Britannia, which of course is an existing truck route. The Chamber has requested the City to explore requiring the housing developers to either build or contribute to adding the Heritage Intersection to SR-905. The City Council is considering adopting the Central Village Plan next Tuesday April 2nd. at 2:00 pm.

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News from Ocean Beach and Point Loma – Early April 2017

March 30, 2017 by Frank Gormlie

* Hugo’s Cochina Ends Up on Hot Plate

* Average San Diego Rents Up Slightly

* Does the Threat of Plane Crashes from Lindbergh Field Affect Your Rent?

* Counterfeit $100 Bills Show Up at OB and Point Loma Businesses

* Airbnb Van Found in Ocean Beach

* Point Loma Homes Broken Into Via Garage Door Openers

* Court Gives Controversial South Mission Lifeguard Tower Thumps-Up

* Suspect in Homeless Serial Killings Deemed Mentally Competent to Stand Trial
* Peninsula Community Planing Board Election Results
* Traffic Synchronization System Along Rosecrans Installed
* Point Loma – OB Democrats Elect New Officers
* Point Loma Waters Can Be Deceptive
* Props to Three Little Lions in Gushing Reader Article
* Zombies’ Smoke Shop Promised

COME INSIDE FOR STORIES

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Audubon Society Gearing Up for Weekend of Restoring Least Tern Nesting Areas on Fiesta Island

March 30, 2017 by Source

The San Diego Audubon Society is gearing up for a weekend of organizing volunteers to help restore the natural habitat on Fiesta Island.

On both Saturday, April 1st and Sunday, April 2nd, teams of volunteers will work to restore the nesting habitat of the endangered California Least Tern and to protect Nuttall’s Lotus, an endangered sand dune plant on Fiesta Island.

Here’s the break-down:

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Original OB Rag Gets a Plug in San Diego U-T Travel Article on Ocean Beach

March 30, 2017 by Frank Gormlie

The San Diego U-T just gave the forerunner of the online OB Rag, the OB People’s Rag, a plug in a travel log-type piece on Ocean Beach in the Business section, entitled “Ocean Beach: the neighborhood the ’60s never forgot, where parrots fly free“. The piece is currently in the online version of the newspaper only, and is due out in paper on April 10th.

Along with “landmarks” and “things to do” in OB, is a section “Did you know?” where the original Rag – and current one – are mentioned, along with the 1966 World Surfing Championship and the FX drama “Terriers” history of OB.

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Trump’s Climate Change Legacy: “The Coast is Toast”

March 30, 2017 by Doug Porter

Climate Change

By Doug Porter / San Diego Free Press

Southern Californians got some bad news this week with the release of a report from the U.S. Geological Survey saying two-thirds of beaches from Santa Barbara to San Diego could be completely eroded back to sea cliffs or coastal infrastructure by 2100.

Reporting by Joshua Emerson Smith in the Union-Tribune details this grim scenario and explains how scientists reached these conclusions::

The findings are the result of a new computer modeling program called the Coastal Storm Modeling System. The numerical modeling incorporates predicted sea-level rise as well as anticipated shifts in storm patterns as a result of climate change.

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Puny Leadership: San Diego’s Soccer City Conundrum

March 30, 2017 by Source

By Norma Damashek / Numbers Runner Blogspot

I was out for a mindful walk the other morning. Here’s how I once described it: you put one foot in front of the other while you notice what’s around you. First you notice… then you let it go. Notice… let it go… notice…

Walking through the parking lot of my local Vons I noticed a small card table near the store entrance and, behind it, a (paid) signature gatherer. Sign this for a new soccer stadium? he asked, offering me a pen.

I smiled no. I let it go… went inside… bought three pears plus a squeeze bottle of chocolate syrup (good for any emergency)… emerged from the store… noticed a nice-looking man at the card table talking to the signature gatherer.

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So Far 3 Challengers Set to Run Against Zapf for District 2

March 29, 2017 by Frank Gormlie

So Far 3 Challengers Set to Run Against Zapf for District 2

At this point, there are 3 challengers to Councilwoman Lorie Zapf for the next election for the District 2 seat. Bay Ho resident Daniel Smiechowski, Jordan Beane, and Bryan Pease have all cast their hats into the ring for the district that includes Ocean Beach, Point Loma and much of the beach area, plus some area just east of Interstate 5.

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A Call to Action for an Activist Kind of Thinking at San Diego City College

March 29, 2017 by Ernie McCray

By Ernie McCray

Some places in our lives resonate with us in special ways. San Diego City College is one of those places for me, a place that always seems to be about creating a better world. My kind of place.

Along these lines, I heard City College’s Interim President, Denise Whisenhunt, say to an overflow audience at the school’s Saville Theatre that the campus was “at the forefront of the social justice movement.”

Those words in her short welcoming speech seemed evident as I looked around me at all the attendees at the school’s “3rd Annual Social Justice & Education Conference,” a gathering that just gets better and bigger every year.

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Will SoccerCity Fill a Void in Mission Valley?

March 29, 2017 by Doug Porter

SoccerCity

By Doug Porter

Surprise, surprise, surprise! Those friendly folks collecting signatures for the billion dollar SoccerCity development to replace Qualcomm Stadium are being–how shall we put it?–less than honest.

Tuesday’s Union-Tribune includes a story involving an informal survey of 25 signature gathering locations around San Diego. Petition bearers are reportedly being paid $5 per signature and are making promises with little connection to what is actually contained in the document they are pushing.

The hope is that the San Diego City Council, with visions of $2.8 billion in economic benefits dancing in their heads, will vote to enact the ‘citizen’s ordinance’ without the need for an actual ballot measure.

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Collier Park in Ocean Beach – The Incredible Shrinking Park

March 28, 2017 by Source

(Originally p0sted Dec 6, 2010 as part of a series, “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to OB”)

By Citizen Cane

The Incredible Shrinking Park can still be observed in Ocean Beach at the intersection of Green and Soto Streets. It’s officially known as Collier Park, and consists of approximately 6.7 dedicated acres if you include the Point Loma Native Plant Reserve. That might sound large, but it’s barely a fraction of the original size of the park before it began shrinking.

Travel back in time with the aid of the Fall 1957 Thomas Brothers Map, and you can see the park was bounded by Soto, Green, Valeta, and almost to Wolcott (about two blocks from the present day Stumps Market.)

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“Villa Famosa” Project Promises to Be a Challenge for Famosa Slough

March 28, 2017 by Frank Gormlie

A new construction project coming to the shores of Famosa Slough promises to be a challenge to one of the last natural vestiges of Mission Bay.

The “Villa Famosa” project is slated for a remodel of one already existing 2-story apartment building at the site on Camulos Drive, the 90 degree “turning” of the other already-existing 2-story, and the construction of a brand new third 2-story building that will hold 6 units.

The existing lot is on the edge of Famosa Slough at 2727 Camulos Dr.within the perimeters of the Peninsula Community Planning Board (ed. we don’t know when the project is scheduled for their meeting review). It’s on a .38 acre site. The applicant is Alex Miller, and the project manager at the City of San Diego is Derick Johnson.

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Protests Dog Reps. Darrell Issa and ‘Dirty’ Duncan Hunter

March 28, 2017 by Doug Porter

By Doug Porter / San Diego Free Press

These are troubled times for San Diego’s Republican Congressmen.

District 49’s Darrell Issa would appear to be one of the early political casualties in the failed battle for #TrumpDontCare.

District 50’s Duncan Hunter is in bigger trouble, as the House Ethics Committee has been told by the Justice Department to step aside while a more consequential investigation proceeds, one with a high probability of criminal indictments.

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Ebers and Greene Project Contractor Has License Suspended

March 27, 2017 by Frank Gormlie

The owner/ contractor of the controversial Ebers and Greene project has had his contractor’s license suspended.

Curtis Nelson of Nelco Contracting of Vista, California, had his license recently suspended “for failure to comply with an Arbitration Award. The suspension occurred on March 23, 2017.

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Hungry and Homeless in College

March 27, 2017 by Jim Miller

homeless college

By Jim Miller

Over the more than two decades I have spent teaching at the college level, the vast majority of that time at San Diego City College, I have seen a little bit of everything. From the homeless student sleeping in Balboa Park who ended up at USC to the single mother living in her car with her kids who still got every assignment in on time before transferring to SDSU, there have been far too many stories of triumphs against all odds for me to recount.

Along with those stories come sadder tales like the cab driver supporting his family who almost finished but got knocked out of the game by an unexpected financial challenge

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Restaurant Review : Buona Forchetta in Liberty Station

March 27, 2017 by Judi Curry

Restaurant Review

Buona Forchetta
2816 Sims Road
(Liberty Station)
San Diego, CA
619-548-5770

After months of waiting for this South Park restaurant Buona Forchetta to open in Liberty Station, the wait has come to an end. And even though I don’t like to do a review only a few days after opening, I couldn’t resist having lunch there with two widows on this day.

I felt that if it was adequate I just would not send in the review. As you can tell, if you are reading this, the meal must have been good because here is the review.

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Park City Is Damned: A Case Study in Civilization

March 27, 2017 by Source

]Park City Ski Runs

See “A Note to My Readers” INSIDE

By Will Falk / San Diego Free Press

At the south end of Brown’s Canyon, about 6 miles northeast of Park City, Utah, there’s always an engine running. Usually, there are more than I can count.

If it’s not commuting car engines coughing to life in cold, winter air, it’s snowblowers blasting snow from driveways. If it’s not cars or snowblowers, its excavators flattening the next hill over, clawing out one bucketful of earth at a time. If it’s none of these, it’s diesel generators compressing air for nail guns popping boards together.

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Big Step Taken in STVR Fight

March 25, 2017 by Source

From Save San Diego Neighborhoods:

Panel advances home-sharing proposal, declines on whole-home rental plans

MARCH 24, 2017 – In a victory for opponents of short-term vacation rentals, San Diego’s Smart Growth and Land Use Committee today agreed that only a proposal regulating home-sharing should go before the entire City Council with its recommendation. At the same time, the panel declined to push for any of three options brought by the Development Services Department (DSD) dealing with whole-home rentals.

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OB Town Council Provides Forum for Groups to Recruit

March 24, 2017 by Frank Gormlie


The Ocean Beach Town Council held their monthly public meeting Wednesday night, March 22nd, at the Masonic Center – and more than 60 people filled the large hall.

The high point of the evening was something called “Engage OB” where chair Gretchen Newsom allowed representatives from different groups to address the crowd, each asking attendees to join their group or project. And 8 to 9 individuals made their pitches, including this reporter asking for people to be involved with the OB Rag.

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San Diego Second Worst City for Renters in Nation

March 24, 2017 by Frank Gormlie

According to an annual list of best and worst cities for renters by Forbes real estate research company, San Diego ranks the second worst city in the nation. Just behind Miami as the worst.

Marcus & Millichap calculated their results based on data collected from monthly rental costs in 2016, rent changes, and vacancies. Importantly the percentage of shared income that goes into paying for rent is a big factor.

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Carlsbad Leaders Use Alternative Facts to Bring in ‘Big Brother’ Stationary Cameras

March 24, 2017 by Source

carlsbad stationary cameras

Editor: OBceans may find this article about security cameras going up in Carlsbad of interest as Ocean Beach has its own controversial camera issue. This was also reposted at San Diego Free Press.

By Richard Riehl / The Riehl World

Fifty-one stationary cameras, in 14 locations, together with six mobile devices added to the ones already installed on two police cars, will soon capture the license plate numbers of all cars passing through the Carlsbad. They’ll be submitted to a national database that tracks stolen vehicles and those involved in crimes.

At its March 14 meeting, on a 4 to 1 vote, the Carlsbad City Council approved the $802,000 plan to conduct surveillance of residents and non-residents alike.

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Progressive Activist Calendar March 24 – April 4, 2017

March 24, 2017 by Doug Porter

Editor’s Note: The following is Doug Porter’s weekly progressive calendar published originally at our sister website, the San Diego Free Press, every Friday. We wanted to get it reposted asap today, but we were unable to add events in Ocean Beach and Point Loma.

By Doug Porter

The Trump administration’s agenda continues to run into a buzz saw powered by public opinion. Defeating these horrible schemes is, however, going to take an ongoing effort. This is a marathon, not a sprint. We’ll win some, we’ll lose a few, and we need you to keep active.

So what will you do? Check out this week’s Progressive Activist Calendar listings below. Following those listings are upcoming events of national importance, along with opportunities for organizational involvement.

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Was the OB Rag Yahoo Account Hacked by the Ruskies Back in 2014?

March 23, 2017 by Frank Gormlie

Back in June of 2014, a Yahoo account that I used for personal matters as well as for OB Rag business and communications was hacked. I lost thousands (at least 2300) of email address that I had gathered over the years as my contact list. I wrote about the hack and the loss. Here is part of what I said then:

Yes, it is true, and at first, I sort of laughed it off, as I went ahead and changed my password to the email account that was hacked on Thursday, June 19.

But then I realized all 2300 of my email contacts were gone ! – stolen by the hacker. Hundreds of those were my OB Rag email accounts. (It was my personal yahoo email account that was hacked – not the OB Rag gmail account.)

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Citing FBI Probe of Trump, Democrats Told to ‘Declare National Emergency’

March 23, 2017 by Source

‘The Democratic leadership in the House and Senate,’ says filmmaker Michael Moore, ‘needs to bring a halt to all business being done in the name of this potential felony suspect, Donald J. Trump.’

By Jon Queally / Common Dreams

"Red eye" width=

“No bill [President Trump] supports, no Supreme Court nominee he has named, can be decided while he is under a criminal investigation,” says filmmaker Michael Moore in message to Democratic lawmakers.
(Image: Screenshot/“2001: A Space Odyssey”)

Documentary filmmaker and political activist Michael Moore on Wednesday said it’s time for the Democratic Party in Congress to “declare a National Emergency” and put a stop to all legislative activity—including the confirmation process of Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch

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Is it a Joke? Or Is it Real? Airbnb Advertises “Van Living” in Ocean Beach

March 23, 2017 by Frank Gormlie

Somebody named “John” is advertising his van for $25 a night in Ocean Beach on Airbnb. “Van livin’ at the beach” is the come-on line.

That’s right. It’s incredible – too incredible to be real do you think? Is it a joke?

He advertises his van:

“Empty van with a bed in the back. Parked in a quiet safe neighborhood.”

He says it accommodates 4 but with no bathroom. Hmm.

Check out these screen captures INSIDE. You tell us if it’s a joke.

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Adios to a Friend of Ocean Beach – Eric Gerhardt – Moving to Washington State

March 22, 2017 by Judi Curry
Thumbnail image for Adios to a Friend of Ocean Beach – Eric Gerhardt – Moving to Washington State

Adios to a Friend of Ocean Beach

At the risk of embarrassing him – it’s worth the risk – I would like to wish one of our community members a fond farewell, and hope that he will find success in his new endeavor. Many of you know Eric Gerhardt because of the many volunteer projects he has been involved in in the area.

In the early morning hours you can usually find him at the beach picking up trash that others have left behind.

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San Diego Council Committee to Hear Proposals for Short-Term Rentals – Fri., Mar. 24th

March 22, 2017 by Frank Gormlie

A San Diego City Council committee is posed to hear three different options for short-term vacation rentals being proposed by the Planning Department this coming Friday, March 25th.

The Smart Growth and Land Use Committee of the Council will meet in the morning at the Jacob Center and attempt – once again – to juggle the contentious issue of how to deal with these particular types of rentals, an issue that the Council and city staff have bounced around now for 2 years.

The issue of short-term rentals have roiled the beach areas and Ocean Beach in particular.

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