April 2017

Ding, Dong, O’Reilly’s Gone

April 20, 2017 by Doug Porter

By Doug Porter

Sanctimonious son-of-a-bitch and Fox News host Bill O’Reilly got the boot from his TV job.

Several weeks ago the New York Times reported about payouts totaling about $13 million to five women involving allegations of inappropriate behavior by him over several years.

Since then, others have come forward, including an African-American woman saying O’Reilly referred to her as “hot chocolate” at one point when they were together alone, made grunting noises and leered at her cleavage and legs.

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It’s Spring: Time to Save the Planet

April 20, 2017 by Source

planet

March for Science San Diego – Saturday, April 22, 10am

People’s Climate March San Diego – Saturday, April 29, 10am

Upcoming weeks offer several opportunities to join the fight against global warming. And in the age of a Donald Trump administration, the environment needs all the friends it can get.

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Call to Action: San Diego’s Congressional Delegation Lunches with Chamber of Commerce Fri., April 21st

April 19, 2017 by Doug Porter

Chamber – Congressional Luncheon Targeted for Protest – Fri. April 21

By Doug Porter /San Diego Free Press

The San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce is hosting a luncheon on Friday, April 21 featuring all 5 members of our Congressional delegation.

Representatives Susan Davis, Duncan Hunter, Darrell Issa, Scott Peters, and Juan Vargas will participate in a panel focused on ‘issues that matter most to our region’s economy’, moderated by Carla Marinucci – a senior writer for Politico’s California Playbook daily newsletter.

A coalition of organizations led by Indivisible chapters is calling for a demonstration late Friday morning outside downtown’s Manchester Grand Hyatt.

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The End of the Era of Mega-Antique Malls in Ocean Beach – Antique Center Building for Sale or Lease

April 19, 2017 by Frank Gormlie

It’s the end of the era of the mega-antique mall in Ocean Beach.

The 18,000 square foot Antique Center building – which takes up a large portion of the north side of the 4800 block along Newport Avenue – is up for sale or lease. The Antique Center business is also for sale.

Umpteen years ago, village merchants and leaders believed that what the then-failing main commercial street in OB needed for an uplift was to become the “antique row” of San Diego. Up to then, there was only one antique storefront in the area, one owned by local Gary Carlson (class of 1966 PLHS).

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Draft Update of Midway District Community Plan Has Been Released

April 19, 2017 by Staff

The draft community plan update for the Midway District has been released by the City of San Diego’s Planning Department.

The planning document – formerly called the April 2017 draft Midway – Pacific Highway Community Plan – is an update to the planning framework established in the previous November 2013 draft.

Here is the press release from Vickie White, Senior Planner: …

COME INSIDE FOR LINK TO DRAFT UPDATE

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O.B. Thru the Eyes of a Photographer : Thursday, April 20

April 19, 2017 by Staff

Ocean Beach Historical Society Presents

O.B. Thru The Eyes of a Photographer
By Fran Del Santo
Thursday, April 20, 7 pm
at P.L. United Methodist Church,
1984 Sunset Cliffs Blvd., O.B.

Fran Del Santo is an Ocean Beach Street Photographer who wears many hats that include: photographer, sign interpreter, motorcyclist, teacher, community supporter, and more. Fran is well known in Ocean Beach for her amazing street photography.

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Reflections on the Syrian Nerve Gas Bombing and the US Bombing Response

April 18, 2017 by Source

My Reflections on the Syrian Nerve Gas Bombing of April 4th, 2017, the April 7th U.S. Bombing of the Syrian Airbase, and Possibilities for the future!

by Peter Bohmer, April 15, 2017

The evidence has continued to mount that the Syrian air force dropped Sarin gas on Khan Shaykhun in Idlib province in Syria on April 4th, 2017 killing at least 80 people and seriously wounding hundreds. Evidence includes eyewitness accounts, statements by doctors and other medical personnel in Turkey who treated the wounded, statements by various scientific organizations that it was Sarin gas dropped from the air, the past use of Sarin by the Assad regime in 2013 gas and the implausibility and obvious falsehoods of the Russians and Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad about the attack.

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San Diego Warships Leading Charge Against North Korea

April 18, 2017 by Michael Steinberg

By Michael Steinberg / Black Rain Press

US Navy warships based in San Diego are moving towards North Korean waters as tensions rise across the region.

Led by the USS aircraft carrier Carl Vinson, whose homeport is North Island Naval Air Station in San Diego harbor, this “strike group” had been heading towards Australia after taking part in “routine” military exercises off the Korean peninsula when it was suddenly ordered back following the US cruise missile attack in Syria recently.

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Second Public Workshop on Design of Saratoga Park: Tuesday, April 18th at OB Rec Center

April 18, 2017 by Staff

The Ocean Beach Community Development Corporation is holding its second workshop for the design of Saratoga Park – tonight, Tuesday, April 18th.

The workshop will be held at the OB Recreation Center, starting at 7:30 pm in the Community Meeting Room. The Rec Center is located at 4726 Santa Monica Ave.

Members of the OB CDC and the landscape architects will be present to receive community input on the design concept that the CDC has so far.

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Happy Birthday, Ernie McCray: Still Pushing for What’s Good in the World at 79

April 18, 2017 by Ernie McCray

Ernie McCray 79

Streams of Consciousness the Day Before Turning 79

By Ernie McCray

Tomorrow. April 18th. If I make it I’ll be 79. 79.

Can’t wait to jam as a 79-year-old man. No, indeed. Time flashes at some kind of supersonic speed. Glad I’ve got me a beautiful woman and some mellow weed…

And there’s so much greed with people in need… And they choose to shoot at each other and drop bombs on each other in all kinds of weather, no thoughts of whether a timeout should be called at some point in human history…

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Mignon Scherer Passes, One of Principle Organizers for the 30 Foot Height Limit,

April 17, 2017 by Frank Gormlie

Mignon Scherer of Point Loma passed on March 25th earlier this year at the age of 92.

She and her family had lived in their residence near the high school for 50 years. Born Mignon Harwith on June 27, 1924, in Detroit, MI, she was the youngest of three girls.

During World War II, Mignon was a “Rosie the Riveter” and worked on B-29 “Superfortress” Bombers at the Chrysler Plant in Detroit.

Mignon was best known locally as one of the main organizers in the effort to place the thirty-foot limit on coastal construction in San Diego.

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SeaWorld Ends Summertime Fireworks for Now

April 17, 2017 by Staff

SeaWorld has announced its Mission Bay theme park will not shoot off fireworks this summer. Fireworks will still go off during 3-day holiday weekends and a few other special events. Plus, SeaWorld will not disclose whether nightly fireworks are gone for good, only that they are on “hiatus for the foreseeable future.”

The “official story” is that SeaWorld is preparing for its new “Electric Ocean” a nighttime lighting display. In typical fashion, SeaWorld could not admit that maybe – in its effort to be more environmentally-sensitive – that the summertime tradition is halting due to public pressure. (For more of the official line, see SDU-T)

For years, San Diegans have signed petitions calling on SeaWorld to stop their summer explosions over the Bay.

From our July 2015 post,
Seaworld Pet vs firewords picHit the link and sign the Petition that calls on the San Diego City Council to ban the nightly fireworks at SeaWorld.

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OB Planning Board’s Project Review Committee Looks at Companion Unit Permit at 4528 Cape May on Wed., April 19

April 17, 2017 by Staff

On the agenda of the Project Review Committee – a subcommittee of the OB Planning Board – is an application for a permit to construct a 700 square foot companion unit over a carport and to demolish the existing car garage and storage shed.

The site is located at 4526 Cape May Avenue.

COME INSIDE FOR OFFICIAL AGENDA

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Restaurant Review : ‘Swami’s’ in the Midway District

April 17, 2017 by Judi Curry

Restaurant Review

“Swami’s”
Midway Towne Center
3924 W. Point Loma Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92110
619-222-6600
Swamicafe.com

“Widow” get-together time again for Irene, Candy and myself. I have tried to eat at all of the restaurants in Ocean Beach proper, and find that I have reviewed most of them during the six years I have been writing for the OB Rag. There are still two that I want to visit, but found that neither of them are open at lunch time.

I have been to Swami’s in La Mesa and Encinitas. This time I decided it was time to try the one in my “own back yard.”

I have fond memories of Embers, and not so fond memories of its replacement, so went into this restaurant with a little excitement and trepidation. Some people told me it was good; others were not so nice.

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Plant the Seeds for a Progressive Future in San Diego: Support Students for Economic Justice

April 17, 2017 by Jim Miller

By Jim Miller

In the age of Trump I have heard many a progressive ponder: “What went so wrong?” How in 2017 can we be fighting and, in many cases, refighting battles over basic economic rights and civil liberties? Whatever happened to women’s rights? How can we still be arguing about whether or not climate change exists? How did things get this bad?

In the political realm, as I have written here many times, a big part of the problem is that the Democrats have no bench of talented, young candidates. Indeed, rather than appealing to young voters and activists, it sometimes seems like the party is bent on alienating them. We saw this with the disdain heaped upon the idealism of millennial Sanders supporters in some quarters, and we can still see it in the national party’s frustrating inability to reinvent itself by bringing in new energy.

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Editor Dude is on Vacation!

April 11, 2017 by Patty Jones
Thumbnail image for Editor Dude is on Vacation!

Frank is taking a much needed break and won’t be posting much for the rest of the week. Keep posting your nominations for the best and worst parts of OB and have a great week!

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OB Rag Readers Choice Nominations for ‘Best’ and ‘Worst’ Public Infrastructure in Ocean Beach

April 7, 2017 by Staff

Welcome to the OB Rag Readers Choice Nominations for the “Best” and “Worst” Public Infrastructure!

Inspired by the recent Peninsula Beacon Readers Choice Awards for 2016, we decided to run our own nomination / award game – not to emphasis retail services – but to showcase our readers’ views on the public infrastructure that makes up the landscape of Ocean Beach and the 92107 area in general.

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Local Journalists Targeted in Internet ‘Predator’ Scam

April 7, 2017 by Doug Porter

Blackmail or Revenge are Plausible Motives

By Doug Porter

Over the past week, a dozen San Diego reporters and editors have been listed on PredatorsWatch.com, a website infamous for labeling innocent people as pedophiles or child abusers.

Among those targeted were editors and reporters with the San Diego Union-Tribune, NBC7, the San Diego Reader, and the Southwestern College Sun.

San Diego Free Press editor Barbara Zaragoza (who has contributed articles to the Reader as a freelancer) was also targeted.

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Downtown San Diego Sweeps Against Homeless People Are Cruel and Have Got to Stop – Now!

April 7, 2017 by Source

By Jeeni Criscenzo /San Diego Free Press

On April 5th, while I was in City Hall with other advocates for homeless people voicing our objections to the Mayor’s proposed ballot measure to increase the Transit Occupancy Tax to pay for an expansion of the convention center, with a few crumbs tossed in for “Reducing Homelessness”, only a few blocks away, some of our City’s most destitute citizens were being cruelly victimized.

Their tormentors not only took away everything they had left in the world, including what little makeshift shelter they had, but in one case documented in photos and a video by Michael McConnell, they even took a man’s pet dog!

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“Revenge Girls of the West” to Benefit Cancer Patients

April 7, 2017 by Source

By Tom Roebuck

“Revenge Girls of the West” returns to the Masonic Lodge this weekend, a dinner-theater production that brings the action from the stage to the audience.

The show was locally written and produced with a cast and crew consisting mostly of OB residents, and is an immersive experience where the story unfolds throughout the room. There will be a Saturday-night show that has already sold out, but tickets for Sunday’s 6:01 PM show are still available at www.shetrick.com.

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The Peninsula Beacon Got It Wrong About Ocean Beach Con-Men Carlson and Higgins

April 6, 2017 by Frank Gormlie

Over the years the OB Rag and the Peninsula Beacon have shared a friendly rivalry over coverage of the Ocean Beach and Point Loma areas. Even though we may make fun, we certainly appreciate their consistent and widespread reporting of these neighborhoods.

So, when we point out something that the Beacon got wrong, they know not to take it personally and take it in stride as part of the journalist’s world.

Such is the case, then, when recently Beacon editor Thomas Melville got it wrong about the early Ocean Beach pioneer developers Billy Carlson and Albert Higgins.

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San Diego Resistance Persists But Is Ignored by Local Media

April 6, 2017 by Doug Porter

By Doug Porter / San Diego Free Press

In venues large and small, with local and national issues, with methods ranging from silent support to civil disobedience, San Diegans expressed themselves politically on Tuesday, April 4.

There were also protests at local congressional offices in downtown San Diego, Vista, and Temecula, along with delegations flocking to city council meetings in National City and Chula Vista. …

I did a quick scan of local media before writing this post, and you’d hardly know anything occurred in San Diego on April 4.

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The Widder Curry Thanks You for Your Replies

April 6, 2017 by Judi Curry

Earlier this week my “editor-dude” published my story asking you what you would have done in a situation that I found myself in a few days earlier. I was curious to see if there was a difference in the “male” way of looking at the situation vs the “female” way of looking at it. I was a little surprised by the outcome.

There were 92 respondents – several on the OB Rag; more on “Next Door” and a few more on Facebook. I also had eight telephone calls regarding the problem. Of the 92, 78 were women and 14 were men. I was very surprised by total answers given to me. Let me share with you:

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Car of Missing Woman Found in Ocean Beach

April 6, 2017 by Staff

The black 2013 Hyundai of a woman missing since late March was found in Ocean Beach on Tuesday, April 4th.

Debra Puente, 50, did not show up for work on Friday, March 31st, as she was expected, nor did she call in. She was last seen on Tuesday, March 28th leaving the area of Mission Gorge and Friars roads, where she had gone with friends after work.

Her car was found abandoned on the 5000 block of Santa Cruz Avenue near Bacon Street, and its windshield had a parking ticket dated Thursday, the 30th.

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How Republican Candidate Ronald Reagan Colluded with a Foreign Government to Manipulate the 1980 Presidential Election

April 5, 2017 by Frank Gormlie
Thumbnail image for How Republican Candidate Ronald Reagan Colluded with a Foreign Government to Manipulate the 1980 Presidential Election

The Story of the “October Surprise”and How the Republican Candidate Got Away with It

Originally published April 5, 2017
With all the scandals bursting around Trump and the White House these days, with FBI and Congressional investigations into possible crimes committed by the President’s men, many pundits and commentators are making obvious comparisons with Richard Nixon’s Watergate Scandal.

Yet, besides Watergate, there’s another very striking historical parallel in our not-to-distance past, and it’s another comparison that it would be good for us to review as well. If we turn the clock back thirty-six or so years, we would find another time and another American Presidential election, an election in which the Republican candidate colluded with a foreign government to manipulate the results of that election to defeat the Democratic candidate.

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Girlfriend of Man Who Jumped Off Pier Speaks

April 4, 2017 by Frank Gormlie

The local ABC affiliate 10NewsReporter Bree Steffen spoke with Samara Malczewski, who said she and her boyfriend, Kevin Chilson-Moyers, were visitors from Nevada. They were in OB and wanted to walk out on the Ocean Beach pier. They’d had some drinks during dinner, and once out on the pier, found a bench and were enjoying the scene.

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OBceans – Beware of the Plant Vandal

April 4, 2017 by Frank Gormlie

A reader up on the 4500 block of Orchard sent us these photos of plant vandalism at his and a neighbor’s houses.

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Smiling Sabrina Finds a New Home in South O.B.

April 4, 2017 by Source

By South OB Girl

One of the first things people may notice about Sabrina when she is on a walk around her new neighborhood is her smile. And when you hear her story it is almost a surprise she can still smile.

Sabrina recently was adopted into a new home near Sunset Cliffs. It can be hard for animal rescue organizations to find homes for senior dogs. And even harder to find homes for dogs with special needs. Sabrina is a senior dog with special needs.

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Vaping Is Much Safer than Smoking Cigarettes

April 4, 2017 by Source

By Brian Fojtik / New York Post / March 29, 2017

New York Gov. Cuomo’s Department of Health last week released survey data that he’s using to bolster his case for a $12 tax on 30 ml bottles of vaping liquids and a ban on vaping indoors. Yet the survey data — and much other evidence — undercut his case.

That hasn’t stopped legislators from piling on with efforts to ban coupons for vapor products, prohibit sales in pharmacies, ban flavored e-liquid and even ban the sale of liquid used in vapor products altogether.

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Ocean Beach Planning Board to Meet Wed., April 5th

April 4, 2017 by Staff

The OB Planning Board holds their regular monthly meeting this Wednesday, April 5th. They meet in the OB Recreation Center, at 4726 Santa Monica Avenue. The meetings usually begin sharply at 6pm.

The Board will certify the recent election results, review the applications of people who wish to be appointed to the Board for seats 1, 3 and 5, appoint a new Executive Committee for the year, decide whether to make a recommendation to the City about the Soccer City proposal for Qualcomm Stadium, and have a quick overview of the city’s development process by chair John Ambert.

Come Inside for the official agenda

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