Month: April 2019

All Day Conference at the DoubleTree by Hilton in Mission Valley at 7450 Hazard Center Drive from 9:00 AM until 5:30 PM.

Want a great crash course in local, statewide, and national progressive issues and politics? Then you won’t want to miss the third annual Progressive Labor Summit this Saturday, April 13th in Mission Valley. This one-day event will feature a wide range of speakers and breakout sessions on labor, the environment, immigration, housing, transit, education, local politics, organizing, and much more.

Some of day’s highlights include: the first San Diego mayoral forum with Todd Gloria, Tasha Williamson, and Barbara Bry; a discussion with leaders from the unions whose recent strikes woke up the country—the United Teachers Los Angeles and the Oakland Education Association

by Abby Williams/ LomaBeat.com / April 4, 2019

Foundation, blush, mascara, eye shadow and lipstick are all products under the umbrella of makeup that is used by people of all colors, shapes and sizes. The purpose of makeup? To make people feel more beautiful. But what if the one thing that is making people’s exterior feel more beautiful is making the world an uglier place? Literally.

Oxybenzone, Parabens and Butylated Hydroxyanisole (BHA) are among numerous ingredients found in cosmetic products. While they help cover up imperfections, they are known to make the natural world a more imperfect place, according to Ben Johnson, the founder and formulator of Osmosis Skincare, in an interview with The Point.

A local Point Loma home – one might easily say mansion – made it into this week’s San Diego Reader cover story on the area’s “least affordable housing.”

OB writer Dave Rice took a trip around the region to see how different locales define “luxury living” and their own version of exclusivity. He found a 6-bedroom, 5-bath residence – over 7300 square foot – with enough space in its wine cellar to fit 1500 bottles – over at 4095 Lomaland Drive. It definitely fit the bill for the coastal areas of San Diego.

Here’s part of his intro:

“Luxury living” is a term that eludes simple definition. For some, it may be a beachfront home occupying a slice of Southern California’s most coveted coastline.

Here’s Rice’s part on San Diego’s coastal area:

by Griffin Aseltine / LomaBeat / April 4, 2019

Out of more than 300 NCAA Division II schools, only eight get to see their men’s basketball team hoist a Regional Championship and play in the Elite Eight tournament. Out of more than 300 NCAA Division II schools, only two get to see their men’s basketball team play for the Division II Championship on national television.

In the most memorable season in PLNU sports history, just five years after officially joining NCAA Division II, the Sea Lions (31-5) were one of those two teams.

It was standing room only at one point during the OB Planning Board meeting Wednesday, April 3, as a presentation was being made on a project at 4645 Coronado.

The Board had a full agenda at the Community Room at the OB Rec Center; it re-elected its leadership and held presentations on three controversies – safe parking lots for homeless, safe walks to OB Elementary for children and whether to ban unaccompanied adults at children’s playareas.

4645 Coronado

Architect Bruce Peeling made the presentation on the project: a demolition of existing structures and the construction of two, 2-story residences. All the issues – including a late request by the city to push one of the fireplaces back – were resolved, claimed Peeling.

By Kathy Blavatt / April 2, 2019

I always like the idiom, “Stop and smell the roses.”

My friend and long-time OBcean, Louise Peirson, in her nineties was losing her eyesight and having to wear a patch over one of her eyes part of the time. She had also taken a couple of falls and could not visit her beloved garden without the help of a person of two.

Sadly, the last couple years of her life her doctor told her she should no longer go into her garden. Louise was heartbroken that she could no longer visit her many plants and trees.

According to the state’s Alcohol Beverage Control website, Dirty Birds – the eatery trying to open in the new OB Plaza – has had their application for an alcohol license denied. The site says “VOIDED” but that’s the same thing.

The eatery had applied for a full bar type of license at their new location at 1929 Cable Street. The OB Planning Board voted to approve a recommendation for their application if they stopped serving alcohol at 10pm.

Ah, a spring day. So what’s happening on OB’s main business streets, Newport and Voltaire? With camera phone in hand, the OB Rag set out Tuesday, April 2 to check it all out.

And let’s start with –

Voltaire Street.

Voltaire Street House Bowling Alley and Patio

If you live in northwest Ocean Beach, you may have been hearing some jack-hammering of late. It’s all coming from the make-over of the parking lot into a patio at the Voltaire Street House.

Plus work has finally started in earnest on the bowling alley. We sighted a bobcat inside the building. With a new patio, however, it appears there will be a loss of parking. Hmmm, that’s too bad as parking is a premium on that block of Voltaire. Perhaps this burst of construction means the owners got their final approval.

In a publicly released letter, dated April 2, 2019, a broad array of organizations urged the San Diego City Council to uphold voters’ wishes and place local ballot measures on the 2020 General Election ballot instead of the March Primary ballot.

In 2016 San Diego voters overwhelmingly passed Measure L that limited local ballot measures to November general elections when the most people vote.

Here is the text of the letter:

By Kaily Wakefield/ Surfrider Foundation San Diego / March 15, 2019

On Thursday, March 7, members of the Surfrider San Diego Chapter Beach Preservation Committee and Policy Staff attended the California Coastal Commission Meeting in Los Angeles. The Chapter achieved two important victories for our coastline that have the potential for huge impact in the future.

As always, there were numerous items to be heard by the Commission over its three-day meeting. Of importance to the San Diego Chapter were two applications involving seawalls. One permit requested that an existing seawall serve as protection for a proposed demolition and remain in place to support a new home on the bluff top in Encinitas. The other was a permit application for the construction of a new seawall that would front three properties in Solana Beach.

Nuclear Shutdown News March 2019

By Michael Steinberg / Black Rain Press

Nuclear Shutdown News chronicles the decline and fall of the nuclear power industry in the US and beyond, and highlights the efforts of those who are working to create a nuclear free world. Here is out March 2019 report.

Eight Years on, Fukushima disaster continues-and so does the coverup

Exactly one week before the 8th anniversary of the March 11, 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, Courthouse News Service ran its story, “Judge Tosses Radiation Class Action”. The story reported,

“Hundreds of American sailors who filed two class actions…”

The sailors were on the then-San Diego home ported aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan