Month: February 2020

The Ocean Beach bookstore on Voltaire Street, Run for Cover, is hosting the bestselling author and anti-death penalty activist Sister Helen Prejean. Sister Prejean will speak about her new book and about California’s death penalty.

The event will take place Sunday February 23 at 6 pm and is free to the public. RSVPs are requested to guarantee seating (see below). And due to the anticipated interest in the event, it will be held at First Church of the Nazarene at the Point Loma Nazarene University.

From Run for Cover press release:

Sister Helen is the bestselling author of Dead Man Walking, which chronicled her work in death row ministry and was adapted into an Academy Award-winning film that put a spotlight on the issues and complexity around the death penalty. She will be speaking as well as signing her new book, River of Fire, which explores her spiritual journey to her social justice work.

System achieves new level of efficiency in harnessing sunlight to make fresh potable water from seawater.

By David L. Chandler / MIT News Office / February 6, 2020

A completely passive solar-powered desalination system developed by researchers at MIT and in China could provide more than 1.5 gallons of fresh drinking water per hour for every square meter of solar collecting area. Such systems could potentially serve off-grid arid coastal areas to provide an efficient, low-cost water source.

The system uses multiple layers of flat solar evaporators and condensers, lined up in a vertical array and topped with transparent aerogel insulation. … The key to the system’s efficiency lies in the way it uses each of the multiple stages to desalinate the water.

The Surfing Madonna artist is threatening to relocate the iconic mosaic. Here’s a solution below. The Encinitas City Council meets at City Hall, 505 S. Vulcan Ave., Encinitas CA, 92024 at 6 pm.

Open Letter to Encinitas City Council

Re: Status of “Surfing Madonna”

By Colleen O’Connor

Dear Mayor and Council Members:

You will vote tonight on the future of the “Surfing Madonna” mosaic.

As it is indisputable that there are issues with the Charitable Foundation, its partnership with the City and the future of its special needs surfing camps and fundraising runs, I would like to propose a temporary solution.

Editordude: We couldn’t pass up this great article at the Peninsula Beacon about our friend, Dr. Eli Ben-Moshe, Newport Avenue’s optometrist. Had no idea he was doing this – providing free eye exams and glasses to needy student at OB Elementary. And he’s been doing it for years. Eli moved into his location when Dr. Donald Mitchell was still practicing. Dr. Mitchell was my family’s eye doc for years. Please read this great piece by Scott Hopkins.

By Scott Hopkins / Peninsula Beacon / Feb. 11, 2020

Visual health is critical to success for students of all ages in today’s classrooms and Dr. Eli Ben-Moshe is determined that no needy students at Ocean Beach Elementary School will be hampered by vision issues. Ben-Moshe’s Newport Avenue Optometry has been a community fixture

The San Diego Guardian Angles are hosting a community event for Ocean Beach on Wednesday Feb. 12. at 6pm-7:30pm.

They’ve set up a chapter in Pacific Beach and are now trying to meet OBceans who are interested in joining them for a potential chapter in OB.

Their hosted event will be at South Beach Bar and Grill as all guests who attend will be treated to a complimentary taco from the eatery. South Beach Bar and Grill is located at 5059 Newport Ave.

In their invite, the Guardian Angels say they will be “discussing patrols, training, what we do, and how you can get involved with us to make our community safer.”

The OB Street Stewards is a group effort by locals to keep Ocean Beach clean on a block-by-block basis. They also search for other OBceans and get them to adopt their block in keeping their area spruced up.

It’s the OB “Adopt a Block” campaign. They are looking for volunteers to join them and sign up on their facebook page.

They only ask that people who do sign up walk around their block once a week and pick up trash, either in the street, the sidewalks or bushes. And it would be a way for people to get to know their neighbors better.

Here’s how they describe it all:

Editordude: We aren’t kidding when we say the City is preparing the Midway District for massive redevelopment. The Feb. 7 issue of the San Diego Union-Tribune demonstrates how the City is laying the groundwork for the future of the Midway District, centered around the old sports arena complex – which the OB Rag has been predicting for a couple of years now.

From City of San Diego Press Release:

The City of San Diego has issued a request for proposals (RFP) from qualified firms and interested parties to redevelop, rehabilitate, operate, maintain and manage a 48-acre site comprised of six continuous parcels of land, commonly known as the Sports Arena.

In Contrast “YES ON A” Campaign Relies on Local Sources, Grassroots Support

As of February 7th, the Building Industry Association’s campaign organized to defeat the Measure A citizen’s initiative has brought in more than $1.3 million in contributions.

According to data provided by the San Diego County Registrar of Voters, the vast majority of these come from the real estate lobby, developers and building industry trade associations. About $400,000 came from out-of-state groups based in Chicago, Arizona, Texas and New York.

This chart demonstrates the heavy influence of industry groups in the effort to defeat Measure A:

by Jim Miller

After the Iowa debacle ended with an embarrassing mess that left Sanders and Buttigieg on top of the wreckage with Joe Biden struggling for air underneath it, a good number of corporate media pundits and panicked Democrats have been learning to love Mike Bloomberg.

Their lack of confidence in the inexperience of Mayor Pete, whose polling plummets once the primaries move to states with people who aren’t white, combined with their fear of a Democratic Socialist frontrunner has them pining for a billionaire savior.

With Trump riding high on his post-impeachment acquittal and the Democratic party not looking ready for prime time, many in establishment circles as well as fearful liberals terrified of the prospect of Trump’s re-election are finding solace in Bloomberg …

Random Street Art in OB

Newport Pizza to Close With Hopes of Moving to Jungle Java

There’s more news about Newport Pizza. The OB Rag first reported the ale and pizza house was set to close in October 2019. Now we’ve learned it will shut its doors on February 9 but with the hope of relocating in what’s now Jungle Java, the open-air coffee patio by the end of summer. ….COME INSIDE FOR MORE

City Prepares Groundwork for Massive Redevelopment of Midway District

Jennifer Van Grove wrote in the Feb. 7 issue of the San Diego Union-Tribune about how the City of San Diego is laying the groundwork for a massive redevelopment of the Midway District, centered around the old sports arena complex. COME INSIDE FOR MORE

Dear Ocean Beach: this is your opportunity to save the iconic mosaic

By Colleen O’Connor

Quick. Put in an application. Encinitas is in a twist about the “Surfing Madonna’s” future.

You know that iconic piece of art put together in the dead of night — under a bridge overpass — to everyone’s surprise and delight.

The 10×10 foot mosaic of the Virgin of Guadalupe, surfing a wave, cape waving and hands praying, with a “Save the Ocean” inscription became national news.

Few locals cared about the lack of permits or the mystery behind the artist’s name or inspiration. It was a kind of “love at first sight.” The devotion and intrigue grew.

The city of Encinitas, however, declared the Madonna “graffiti” and ordered it removed. No permits.

By Judi Curry

Sometimes I get so peeved at happenings going on around me.

Certainly the farce of acquittal of the dictator in the White House is an example of “the emperor wore no clothes.” The stupidity or fright of all the Republican Senators – save one, Mitt Romney – has changed America for generations to come.

We may never heal from the horrible renderings of these balless people. How can one ignorant man have so much power over the members of Congress is a mystery to me.