Month: January 2019

The Old Broad Has Her Say

I Just Remembered Why I Stopped Shopping at Vons

The calls regarding the closing of ACE Hardware, Trader Joes, Vons, Ralphs, have been burning up the wires the past few days. At the request of one of my loyal readers, I decided to do an investigation as to what really was happening.

The first call I made was to ACE Hardware, where they confirmed that the store in Liberty Station will be closing by the end of February. There are all sorts of rumors as to why they are closing, but I was more concerned with the actually closing and did not go further with my questioning.

Then I called Trader Joe’s to find out if it was true that (1) they were closing at Liberty Station and (2) they were going to be moving to the Ralph’s store on Rosecrans. I was assured that neither of the rumors were true. They are staying where there are, and they are not moving to Ralphs.

Then I called Ralphs to see if they were moving. I was told that they were not going anywhere; that the store would be remaining as Ralphs.

Then I called Vons.

By Jim Miller

One of the last bits of big local political news towards the end of 2018 was the resounding defeat of United Food and Commercial Workers, Local 135 President Mickey Kasparian along with his entire slate in their union election on the heels of two years of internal and external conflict.

After refusing to step down from his position as President of the San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council in the wake of multiple workplace and sexual harassment allegations in 2016, Kasparian split the labor movement, sought to divide local progressives, and fought a scorched earth campaign against his perceived enemies.

All of it ended badly with lots of damage being done along the way.

General Rain Advisory In Effect

The County’s Department of Environmental Health has issued a General Rain Advisory for the coastal waters of San Diego County – which includes Ocean Beach – due to contamination by urban runoff following the most rains. This is particularly important for Ocean Beach, as the San Diego River empties at Dog Beach – as it’s a significant outlet for urban runoff.

Swimmers, surfers, and other ocean users are warned that levels of bacteria can rise significantly in ocean waters, especially near storm drains, creeks, rivers, and lagoon outlets that discharge urban runoff.

Cabrillo National Monument is closed to all visitors including pedestrians and bicyclists.

Due to the government shut-down, Cabrillo National Monument is closed to all visitors including pedestrians and bicyclists.

Ocean Beach Appears in Netflix’s “Murder Mountain”

Murder Mountain, a six-part Fusion docuseries now streaming on Netflix, follows the disappearance and murder of 29-year-old Garret Rodriguez, a friendly surfer-boy from San Diego who ventured north to cash in on California’s green rush.

Public invited to Band & Brew Crawl where artists put on show of their careers in Ocean Beach

Springboard West Music Festival, dubbed the “music discovery festival”, is back in San Diego for its third year in a row. For three days, emerging artists from all over the world, industry professionals and locals will gather in Ocean Beach to celebrate the future of music.

By Thomas Ultican / Tultican

The destroy public education (DPE) national coordinating organization, Education Cities, has been closed, with its assets and personnel distributed to three new organizations; The City Fund, School Board Partners and Community Engagement Partners.

And there is more. In an interview with The 74, City Fund’s Managing Partner, Neerav Kingsland, revealed the establishment a new political action committee under IRS code 501 C4 called Public School Allies.

You’ve seen the cranes and all the equipment parked next to the bridge over the San Diego River, undoubtedly.

The giant building hardware and all the workers are busy replacing the old, ’50’s 4-lane bridge, called the West Mission Bay Drive bridge which stretches across the river. It will be replaced with two new, 3-lane bridges, with protected bike paths on both spans.

It’s all part of the City plan to help improve traffic flow to SeaWorld and the beach communities.

The current West Mission Bay Drive bridge is one of the primary arteries funneling people and cars to the entrance of SeaWorld, just a couple thousand feet away from the end of the bridge, and into the city’s central beach neighborhoods.

By David Helvarg / San Francisco Chronicle / Jan. 2, 2019

It’s time to call in the Marines, and also the Army, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard to respond to the growing number of climate-linked natural disasters.

When it comes to national security, no threat compares to our changing climate and its intensification of hurricanes, wildfires, heat waves and other natural disasters. If the rise of Nazi Germany and the nuclear balance of terror with the Soviet Union were the major strategic threats to overcome in the last century, climate change is the major challenge of this one.

by Bob Edwards

Some Ocean Beach and Point Loma residents have been generous in providing assistance to the people of Paradise and its neighboring towns of Cancow and Magalia in northern California.

Early last month, two OB residents, Linda Taggart and Pam Lloyd, collected clothing and $550 in donations. They traveled to northern California to present those donations to community groups in Chico that are working on providing relief to survivors of the fire.

Wild Fires in California – Part 3

by Bob Edwards

They say there are only six or less degrees of separation between any two persons on the planet. When it comes to California’s wildfires of 2018, there was zero to one degree of separation for me: I was either directly affected or had friends impacted by three of the four biggest blazes to hit our state in the past year.

In December the OB Rag published two articles I wrote about my lifetime of experiences with California wildfires as well as first person accounts of the Woolsey (Malibu) and Carr (Shasta and Trinity Counties) Fires and their aftermaths. (Here’s Part 1 and Part 2.)

Today’s article covers the big one, the Camp Fire, and how it affected some of my friends who live near the blaze.

Newly-installed San Diego Councilwoman Jen Campbell is calling on residents of District 2 to consider applying for vacancies on the City’s various boards and commissions. District 2 includes Ocean Beach, Point Loma and the Midway District, among other communities.

The City of San Diego currently has nearly 50 boards and commissions that focus on a diverse set of issues.

In a press statement, Campbell stated:

“With vacancies on our many boards and commissions, I’m asking the residents of District 2 to consider applying.