November 2017

OB’s Walk of Shame – Highlighting Vacation Rentals in the Heart of the Ocean Beach Airbnb Empire

November 30, 2017 by Frank Gormlie

At a rally against short term vacation rentals in Ocean Beach, the OB Rag led protesters on a “Walk of Shame” down Abbott Street where vacation rentals were pointed out along the 4-block tour. It was called the “heart of the Airbnb Empire.”

Here is the text of that tour and photos of the short term rentals highlighted along the way.

Voltaire & Abbott – The Poster child for STVR redevelopment. 3 homes lifted in as modular units have been turned into vacation rentals here.

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The OB Town Council Needs You to Volunteer for the Holiday Parade on Saturday

November 30, 2017 by Staff

The 38th OB Holiday Parade is coming up this Saturday, December 2nd, and the good folks who put it on – the Ocean Beach Town Council – need you to volunteer to help make it a success.

It’s the only ALL VOLUNTEER RUN parade in the state

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OB Holiday Parade – ‘California Dreamin’ in the Season of Love’ : Sat., Dec. 2nd

November 30, 2017 by Frank Gormlie

38th Annual Parade Includes OB Hero as Grand Marshall, First African-American Santa, and “No Target in OB” Float

The holidays are here, the OB Christmas Tree is up – and this Saturday, December 2nd is the Ocean Beach 38th Holiday Parade. This year the parade has the classic theme of “California Dreamin’ in the Season of Love” – commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Summer of Love.

The Summer of Love in 1967 heralded the beginning of the Golden Age of Rock, the Counter-Culture, the hippie movement and the anti-Vietnam War movement.

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Nuclear Shutdown News November 2017: Lawsuit vs. San Onofre Rad Waste and ‘Last Nuke’ in California

November 30, 2017 by Michael Steinberg

By Michael Steinberg / Black Rain Press

Nuclear Shutdown News chronicles the decline and fall of the nuclear industry in the US and beyond, and highlights the efforts of those who are working for a nuclear free world. Here is our November 2017 report:

Lawsuit Challenges Storage of Radioactive Waste at San Onofre Nuke

…

Last Running California Nuke Plant Inches Towards Shutdown

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The Widder Curry: The Water Bill Has Hit the Fan

November 30, 2017 by Judi Curry

It seems to me that I wrote a similar article about the high water rates a year or so ago. I know how upset I was with the raise in the water rates after it was announced that the drought was over. I know that many of us either appeared at the City Council meeting or sent letters protesting the rate increase, and, as per usual, we were “overruled” and the rates went into effect.

At that time I was “upset” about the increase. Now I am pissed. And it isn’t just me. I have the names of 286 residents in the Pt. Loma area that are also upset with the water bills we all received this week. And before I tell you the breakdown of a poll initiated by one of our neighbors – Mi Do – of the Fleetridge area, let me tell you why I am so pissed.

I am on a fixed income.

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Lori Saldaña: Loss of Housing Due to Airbnb Leads to Declining School Enrollments and Subsidies

November 29, 2017 by Source

By Lori Saldaña / Nov 27, 2017

This is in response to the OB Rag article, “Come out to the protest rally against short term vacation rentals in Ocean Beach.”

As an educator, I want to remind people that removing affordable, permanent residential units from a neighborhood will- over time- lead to the closures of local public schools. Before that happens, declining enrollment will impact the quality of education for those few remaining students. It will also lead to the ending of subsidized pre-school programs for families who are at eligible income levels.

Mission Bay has already faced these closures. Can we really support similar impacts in other neighborhoods.

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What Does the LA Times Know that We Don’t Know? – ‘1984’ Listed As ‘Non-Fiction’

November 29, 2017 by Frank Gormlie

Every Sunday, the Los Angeles Times prints the lists of the bestselling books for that week. There’s the hardbacks and there’s the paperbacks – and they’re both divided into Fiction and Non-Fiction.

Well, Sunday, November 26th, like all Sundays, the Times printed the bestsellers. But way down in the paperbacks section was a subtle change – which tells us the LA Times knows something we don’t. Just what is it?

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OB Holiday Auction at Sunshine Company – Thursday, November 30th

November 29, 2017 by Staff

Coming up Thursday night is the annual OB Holiday Auction held at Sunshine Company Saloon.

This wonderful event to raise funds for the OB Town Council holiday toy and food drive is November 30, from 5:30pm to 9:00pm.

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Confessions of an Airbnb Host

November 29, 2017 by Source

Editor’s Note: The following is an interview with an Airbnb host.

by Chuck Thassing

I’m sitting down with an Airbnb host to discuss the dollars and sense of short term vacation rentals (STVRs). These have been a hotly debated issue in San Diego, and our 9 city councilmembers are gearing up for a vote on December 12th on how to regulate it. The stories run the gamut from displaced residents and frat parties in residential neighborhoods, to desperately needed supplemental income and other benefits of the “sharing economy”.

Q: So tell us about your rental unit.

A: Last year I converted a little 1 bedroom beach cottage in Ocean Beach into a short term rental and listed it on Airbnb.

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Will 2018 Be the Year of the Education War Inside the California Democratic Party?

November 29, 2017 by Jim Miller

By Jim Miller

One would think that in the midst of the Trump era, with so many threats not just to essential government policies and programs but to democracy itself, Democrats would have a pretty clear idea of who their enemy is.

A reasonable observer might also conclude that the Democratic Party in California which has, in many ways, been the vanguard of resistance nationwide would be laser-focused on not only maintaining the blue wall but on working to oust California Republicans from the House of Representatives.

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OB’s Christmas Tree Is a True OBcean – It Leans to the Left

November 28, 2017 by Source

UPDATED WITH PHOTOS OF REMOVAL AND RE-PLANTING

OB’s brand new Christmas Tree – planted at the foot of Newport Ave. this morning – is a true OBcean – it leans to the left.

Thanks to Bob Edwards who met the truck at 7am this morning – we have this first photo of our Christmas Tree on the beach.

Well, it is a true OBcean – planted and raised right here in OB. See this.

Here’s Bob Edward’s pictorial essay of the removal and re-planting of OB’s Christmas Tree for 2017.

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Residents Rally Against Short Term Vacation Rentals in Heart of Ocean Beach Airbnb Empire

November 27, 2017 by Source

By Nick Karma

Dozens of residents of the beach communities rallied in Ocean Beach on Saturday, November 25th in the first of its kind for San Diego – a protest demonstration against short term vacation rentals. Sponsored by the OB Rag and Save San Diego Neighborhoods, the rally kicked off with a few speeches at the corner of Voltaire and Abbott, in front of “the poster boy of short term vacation rentals” – a lot filled with three 2-story modular units. The crowd proceeded on a “Walk of Shame”…

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Ocean Beach for the Holidays

November 27, 2017 by Staff

2017 Holiday Parade Theme “California Dreamin’ in the Season of Love”

From OB Town Council

The Ocean Beach Town Council facilitates several local community events during the holiday season:

  • the OB Holiday Parade;
  • the OB Holiday Tree at the foot of Newport Avenue;
  • the OB Holiday Craft Fairs;
  • the OB Holiday Auction, and
  • the OB Food and Toy Drive.
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Jennings and Camulos Projects Before Peninsula Planners

November 27, 2017 by Source

By Geoff Page

In an attempt to make right on one of its sorrier performances, the Peninsula Community Planning Board (PCPB), during its regular monthly meeting at the Pt. Loma Library, decided to revisit its bizarre /no decision on a project in July of this year.

At that time, the PCPB voted no on a motion to deny a project and then also voted no on a motion to approve that same project. This rehearing of the project was part of an equally bizarre agenda that had applicants still waiting to present their projects at 9:30 in the evening, three hours after the meeting started. They had to wait while the PCPB discussed internal matters and heard informational items for things that won’t happen until May of 2018.

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This Year’s Ocean Beach Christmas Tree Is a True OBcean

November 27, 2017 by Frank Gormlie


This year’s OB Christmas Tree, which will soon stand sentry at the foot of Newport Avenue, is a true OBcean.

Sheila Landon knows – for she planted it twenty years in her OB backyard. And Tuesday morning starting at 7 am, it will be cut down and hauled through the streets of OB to its destination and public display of the community’s very own Christmas Tree.

It had to come down – it was destroying the foundation and pipes of the building it was planted next to, the current owners of the tree say.

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The OB Rag Has Moved to New Web Host – But We’re Still Working Out Some Glitches

November 27, 2017 by Frank Gormlie

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The Ocean Beach Town Council needs your help TONIGHT! – Tuesday – to put up ‘No Parking’ signs

November 27, 2017 by Source

IT’S AN OB MOMENT! The Ocean Beach Town Council needs your help TONIGHT – Tuesday!

The No Parking signs have to go up (per city requirements).

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The OB Rag is moving to a new web host!

November 25, 2017 by Patty Jones
Thumbnail image for The OB Rag is moving to a new web host!

There may be a period of time when our site appears to be down. Rest assured it will be temporary but it could last anywhere from a few hours to a full day. Word needs to spread across the globe about where we are located. When you arrive at the new host there will be a welcome sign.

If you feel like it’s been too long for us to be out of commission try doing a hard refresh of your browser window by holding down the Control key and pushing the F5 key. If that doesn’t work, you can do a DNS flush. Since everyone is using a different operating system go to Google and search “flush dns cache” followed by your operating system. For example: flush dns cache windows 10.

We’ll see you soon!

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Come Out to the Protest Rally Against Short Term Rentals in Ocean Beach – Noon, Sat., Nov. 25th

November 24, 2017 by Frank Gormlie

OB Rag and Save San Diego Neighborhoods Sponsor Rally in Heart of Airbnb Empire

There’s a noon time protest rally against short term vacation rentals in Ocean Beach on Saturday, November 25th.

Sponsored by the OB Rag and Save San Diego Neighborhoods, the rally will begin at the corner of Voltaire Street and Abbott – right in the heart of Airbnb’s OB Empire.

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Thoughts Rising from the Darkness of My Grief

November 24, 2017 by Ernie McCray

Winter forest scene, bare trees

By Ernie McCray

Folks say to you, when you’ve lost a child: “I can’t imagine your pain.”

And they’ve got something there because the pain wrestling my emotions to the ground is unimaginable. Losing a child is in a category all by itself. It’s surreal.

I looked for a photo to go with the mood I’m in and I saw one that matched just how I am feeling, how I seem to be trudging through a burnt out forest on an LSD trip gone horribly awry with bees stinging the very fabric of my soul. I’m reeling from the very thought that my daughter Debbie’s death was against the natural order of things: she was supposed to some day mourn me — not the other way around.

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On JFK’s Assassination Anniversary – the 3 Big Lies Continue

November 22, 2017 by Frank Gormlie

Today, November 22nd, is the 54th anniversary of the assassination of President John F Kennedy.

And for weeks now, the government has been releasing large batches of long-secret JFK assassination records – but it’s been mainly hype as the documents lack any substantive content and “at least two-thirds of the never-seen JFK files that were supposed to be released — some 2,538 records — remain secret”, states a report from AlterNet.

Here are the 3 Big Lies repeated by Matthews:

  1. The Warren Commission was right.
  2. Lee Harvey Oswald shot Kennedy.
  3. And Oswald did it alone.

Just the opposite is actually true.

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Thanksgiving Dinner at Parish Hall at Sacred Heart of Ocean Beach Plus Some History of the First T-Day Holiday

November 22, 2017 by Frank Gormlie

There will be a Thanksgiving dinner at the Parish Hall at Sacred Heart of Ocean Beach at 11 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day. The church is located at 4776 Saratoga Ave, San Diego, CA 92107. All are welcome.

The very first official Thanksgiving holiday wasn’t until November 26, 1863. President Abraham Lincoln announced that the nation would celebrate Thanksgiving on that day during a speech on October 3rd that year, expressing gratitude for a pivotal Union Army victory at the July Battle of Gettysburg.

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Help Wanted: A 21st Century San Diego County Sheriff

November 22, 2017 by Doug Porter

What if San Diego had a leader in law enforcement who could see beyond warehousing the homeless? What if we had a Sheriff who wasn’t proud of the fact our jails are dumping grounds for the county’s mentally ill humans? What if we could find a way past the “us versus them” mentality, where fear drives the relationship with the government agency touching the most lives?

The question for voters in the 2018 election for County Sheriff shouldn’t be “what if;” it should be “why not?”

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The Widder Curry : A Look Back and a Look Forward – the Pitfalls of Online Dating

November 22, 2017 by Judi Curry

(Editor’s Note: Judi wrote the following 3 days ago.)

I have thought about writing this article for some time; probably since I began writing my book “Liar Liar”. Perhaps it is because I am very depressed today because it is the birthday of my granddaughter who would have been 30 years old if she hadn’t had an untimely demise.

Or perhaps it is because last night I met a couple that met on line, married, and seem very happy with each other. I know that my editor-dude met his lady on-line and they seem very happy with each other. None-the-less, whatever the reason, here it is.

Let me give you two very recent episodes.

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Legal Action and Civil Suits Face San Diego Restaurants that Add Surcharge

November 21, 2017 by Frank Gormlie

Both legal actions by San Diego’s City Attorney and law suits face restaurants that add a surcharge to their patrons’ bills.

On October 11th, City Attorney Mara Elliott filed a civil enforcement action against Mission Bay’s Barefoot Bar & Grill for failing to disclose its surcharge and then adding it to menus in extremely small print, she alleged.

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Activists Protest Plans to Bury Nuclear Waste at San Onofre State Beach

November 21, 2017 by Source

By Mary Carreon / OCWeekly / November 21, 2017

Nearly 80 people gathered in Laguna Beach on Saturday to protest Southern California Edison’s (SCE) plan to bury 3.6 million pounds of nuclear waste at San Onofre State Beach in San Clemente. According to Public Watchdogs, SCE has supposedly obtained a permit from the California Coastal Commission that not only authorizes them to bury the deadly waste, but also permits them to store it in thin-walled canisters 20-feet below the surface and 108-feet from the high tide mark. SCE is expected to dump the waste in mid-December.

This is a big problem for many reasons.

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Protest Against Short Term Vacation Rentals in Ocean Beach Planned for Nov. 25th

November 21, 2017 by Frank Gormlie

There’s lots to make one upset or angry these days, from Trump and his Russia collusion, to nuclear show-downs, to the national catharsis on sexual harassment, to global warming, all the way to Mayor Faulconer building a $2 million restroom for tourists but none for the homeless …

But one thing that’s making OBceans upset right now is the wholesale turning over of apartments and new condos into vacation rentals. OB is losing needed housing stock and affordable rental units for residents to mini-hotels and weekend party houses for vacationers.

And it’s happening right before our eyes!

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City Takes Over Ebers – Greene Street Project in Ocean Beach – Begins Clean-up

November 20, 2017 by Frank Gormlie

Fire and Disturbances With Neighbors Over Weekend Culminate in Crack-Down

Today Monday, after a rocky weekend at the infamous Ebers – Greene Street project – during which both fire and police department units were called – the City of San Diego has taken over the property and begun a clean-up of the site and a securing of the skeleton of the two-story building.

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Learning Courage from Thoreau in Dark Times

November 20, 2017 by Jim Miller

One of the things that I am grateful for this Thanksgiving is the fact that I am fortunate enough to teach Henry David Thoreau every fall, particularly this 200th year since the great American author’s birth.

Most of my students at City College have lived, worked, and struggled more than your average college student and, consequently, Thoreau’s call to avoid a life of “quiet desperation” speaks to them more profoundly than it might to other students from different circumstances.

Simply put, they are in a college English class reading literature because they have chosen to be there. Running against the grain of all the siren calls for a more market-based education driven by efficiency and expediency, many of my students have decided that what moves them most is to read and think and to live a life they hope will be more meaningful because of it.

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OB Walkabout No. 5

November 20, 2017 by Source

By Joaquin Antique

Being an occasional column featuring sights and sounds from Ocean Beach and Point Loma.

Observed:

When the bars close at 2 AM and the locals stagger home, about half the out of town partiers drive past my old home on the 4900 block of West Point Loma, headed back to where ever.

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