Month: November 2018

After the Times of San Diego story of the sale of Liberty Station leases by McMillin Company to a Michigan company broke on Wednesday, there have been further developments in the unwinding of just what and when it all happened.

To recap briefly, it was reported that McMillin sold leases to Seligman Group on Wednesday, but nobody in city government appeared to have heard about it. The city is supposed to monitor and approve any sales of the leases at Liberty Station by terms of its agreement with McMillin. Especially of concern is the fate of the North Chapel at Liberty Station.

But by the next day, things had changed. Thursday afternoon, as the Times of SD reported, Christina Chadwick, a spokeswoman for Mayor Kevin Faulconer, had confirmed the deal and added an operator has been found by the new owner who would continue to allow religious worship at the chapel.

ACE took an early morning walk along the beach Friday, the last of the month, and captured this.

By Brett Warnke

Students at Pioneer Day School are being assaulted by local teens. The school – across Santa Monica Avenue from OB Elementary – has many students with severe autism and other special needs. And now the school – also known as the Community School of San Diego – is asking the community for help in identifying the teens.

One autistic student was assaulted on Thursday, Nov. 29, by teens throwing limes as hard as rocks at him while he was on the trampoline.

FRIDAY: LAST DAY TO SIGN UP AS A PARADE VOLUNTEER
From the OBTC facebook:

The Ocean Beach Town Council is proud to bring you the 39th Annual OB Holiday Parade on Saturday, December 1st, 2018 at 5:05 pm!

Our 2018 Parade Theme is “It’s a Wonderful Life, in Ocean Beach.”

Nobody in San Diego Government Seems to Have Known About Sale

The Times of San Diego just dropped a big one: it announced the Liberty Station lease has been sold to a brand new investors’ group out of Michigan.

TSD had obtained a copy of an email sent out Wednesday night, Nov.28, to the tenants of Liberty Station that explained in brief terms the sale and that the new owner is Seligman Liberty Station LLC, based in Southfield, Michigan.

By Edward Sifuentes / ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties

One night in late October, volunteers with the San Diego Rapid Response Network received the first of many reports of asylum-seeking migrant families being released on the streets of San Diego by immigration authorities.

Many of the families, which included women and small children, were disoriented, hungry and penniless. Most knew no one in our region. They were literally strangers in a strange land. These new arrivals – primarily from Central America and from as far away as Africa – are being abandoned on our streets

If you’ve been active in grassroots politics in San Diego over the last 30 years, doubtlessly you came into contact with Mel Shapiro. I certainly did, numerous times. I can safely say Mel was truly the “activist’s activist” in this city.

Following a long illness, Mel passed this week on Monday morning, November 26, 2018 at the age of 91.

It’s that time of year! Time for the 39th OB Annual Holiday Auction!

Hosted by Ocean Beach Town Council, the annual fundraiser is a major part of the annual OB Food & Toy Drive, which benefits local families and seniors in need during the holidays.

As thousands of Honduras camp outside the border of San Diego, their desperation is clearly evident. We’re told they are fleeing their country because of the harsh conditions there.

But isn’t Honduras a tropical paradise somewhere out there in Central America? Don’t they have a lot of neat old Spanish churches and stuff? And all those crazy and wonderful Mayan ruins. Why would anyone want to flee beautiful Honduras?

So, we have to wonder why any person would travel by foot thousands of miles through jungle, desert, towns, large cities and wilderness to reach our borders when they have plenty of nice beaches there.

There are three projects – already built except for one – around Ocean Beach that have locals puzzled about how they were ever allowed to be built.

One is on the 4600 block of Orchard Avenue, another on the 4700 block of Pescadero and the third down on the 4900 block of Saratoga.

Due to high surf, the Ocean Beach Pier was closed to the public Wednesday morning. Large waves were smashing the bottom of the pier.

It’s unknown how long the closure will last. Probably until lifeguards determine it is safe to open it.

Long-time locals may chuckle at this, as some of us can remember

Due to the high bacterial levels that usually occur after it rains in San Diego, it’s advised that all humans and dogs stay out of the Pacific Ocean, Mission Bay and San Diego Bay for 3 days after rainfall.

This word of caution ought to be taken seriously by surfers, paddle-boarders and divers. A few years ago in late December 2014 after a storm, a well-known surfer