Month: February 2019

Blue Water Seafood Market and Grill Opens With Much “Finfare”

by Bob Edwards

There’s been a lot of activity and happy faces at the foot of Santa Monica Street where a new restaurant, Blue Water Seafood Market and Grill, has opened. Excited locals and other San Diegans, food blogs, and a film crew from a major TV network have all been checking out or publicizing the opening.

It has always been this reporter’s policy to not review any restaurant before it has been up and running a month or two to give it a chance to iron out the inevitable issues that arise with an opening. I am going to make an exception in this case because there don’t seem to be any issues! I’ve paid a couple visits to Blue Water and service, food quality, cleanliness, and a good vibe have been spot on each time. It’s probably because

What was going on in Ocean Beach 10 years ago? Back in February 2009. We cracked open our archives to see what were the issues, controversies and concerns among OBceans a decade ago.

It turns out almost exactly ten years ago to the day the coast received a huge downpour – it rained an inch in just 4 hours in OB on February 16, 2009. Back then the OB Rag was advocating that people harvest their rainwater.

There were a couple of controversies rocking Newport Avenue back then – the closure of the store Rock Paper Scissors and a dispute between the Farmers Market and a jewelry storeftont. So, we have tracked down some of the more interesting and provocative posts and share them with you inside …

Mayor Kevin Faulconer’s proposed regulations for scooters and bicycles will be discussed at the City Council’s Feb. 20 Active Transportation and Infrastructure Committee meeting, which meets at 2pm in City Hall, 202 C Street, 12th floor.

FYI – Councilwoman Jen Campbell of District 2 does not sit on this committee.

The proposed ordinance is summarized by the Mayor’s office here (italic bold emphasis is OB Rag’s):

Permit and Fees: Each company wishing to operate within City limits will be issued a six-month permit and will be required to pay $150 per device annually. Operators will only be allowed to amend or renew their permit, including increasing the size of their fleet, during the permit issuance months of January and June. Companies offering an approved equity program can receive a $15 per device reduction in their annual fee.

By dan weisman / Escondido Grapevine / February 18, 2019

Seen a wild pandemonium of parrots lately? Report it immediately. That’s the question and request posed by University of San Diego Biology Instructor Dr. Janel Ortiz and her San Diego Parrot Project, along with “parrot sighting submission form” and a hardy SDPP thank you.

Ortiz takes the academic show on the road Wednesday. That’s when she and her flock of students plan to take flight with a plan to begin a survey of the wild parrots of San Diego County. She is asking fellow county residents if they see something parrot, say something parrot to university parrot watchers.

The parrots shouldn’t be hard to miss. This is parrot time, to be sure, as wild parrots go looking for mates in mid-February,

A couple hundred San Diegans took their Presidents’ Day holiday to protest the current president’s fake “national emergency.”

Rallying in front of the County Administration Building, speakers denounced Trump’s authoritarian move, that the southern border should not be considered a national emergency, and described other issues that were in more of a need to be addressed, such as climate crisis and gun violence.

The San Diego rally was organized by San Diego Indivisible and MoveOn.org, and was one of dozens across the country.

The Old Broad Loses Her Cool

I have a birthday coming up in a few days. This is a BIG birthday and I have been trying to not think of it; just want the day to pass quietly without any attention being given to the day. Unfortunately that is not going to happen, in spite of two of my daughters on a trip to India and not being here to “commiserate” the day with me.

The remaining daughter has already asked me a dozen times where I want to go to celebrate; has asked me if there is anyone I would like to have join us, etc. And not only that, she was planning a party for me – more about that in another column – and she inadvertently sent me the guest list.

The Moderate Threat to Climate Action

By Jim Miller

As heartening as the emergence of the Green New Deal as a political rallying cry and litmus test of sorts for the early field of Democratic presidential candidates is, the predictably negative response in other quarters is equally dismaying.

Of course, the most obvious naysaying comes from the Republicans and the rightwing media following the lead of a president who suggests that snowstorms and cold weather are evidence that climate change isn’t happening.

But that’s not the real problem.

by Ernie McCray

I look at a picture of my cousin, Pearlie Mae, and me, thinking how proud she would be of her grandchild, Renee Purdie, who’s written a collection of poetry she’s calling “Pieces of Me: Love, Lust and Lentils.”

She’d literally glow seeing how this young woman is blossoming as a human being, writing poems that touch the heart.

Like Pearlie Mae and me, she is a descendant of the Windoms of the dusty cotton fields of Mississippi. She’s one of our family tree’s many beautiful flowers who’ve risen above what society expected of us, and managed to do well in life, learning and giving, far and wide, some of us landing in Tucson.

Originally posted Jan. 11, 2019

By Marjorie Cohn / Marjorie Cohn Blog / Jan. 11, 2019

Congress refuses to enact legislation containing the nearly $6 billion that Donald Trump is demanding for an unnecessary wall on the southern US border. In response, Trump is considering whether to declare a national emergency, take money Congress has appropriated for other purposes, and divert it to build his wall. But under US law, the president cannot usurp the spending power the Constitution grants only to Congress.

Editordude: The following appeared as an Op-Ed in the San Diego Union-Tribune online Feb.13 and in newsprint on Feb. 14; we repost it with the author’s permission.

By Roy McMakin / San Diego Union-Tribune / Feb. 13, 2019

San Diego has always built new housing, and will continue to do so. We’ve always been a city that welcomes those wanting to live here. Currently there is need to focus increased energy on home building, both due to demand, but also because the state has mandated we do so. That doesn’t mean we should disregard good planning and robust community involvement in the process.

By Mukta Patil / Sierra Club Magazine / Feb 4 2019

Shopping for groceries can be overwhelming. Once you get past the sheer volume of products staring down from the aisles, you’ve got to reckon with their ingredients, prices, and the way the food is packed. For environmentally conscious shoppers, the latter—excessive packaging and the resulting pollution—is especially irksome. Enter the zero-waste grocery store.

These small-but-budding enterprises are increasingly popping up, and they’re promising plastic-free, packaging-free products ranging from grains and produce to detergent and shampoo.

The original zero-waste grocery story was the late in.gredients in Austin, Texas, which unfortunately shut down last April after five years of selling exclusively (un)packaged and locally sourced food.