Month: April 2020

The City of San Diego reopened over 300 neighborhood parks, fields and trails on Tuesday, April 21 for walking and jogging under social distancing guidelines. However, major regional parks, shoreline parks, boardwalks, golf courses and most areas of Balboa Park remain closed during the coronavirus pandemic.

Here are the Ocean Beach and Point Loma parks that are open or still closed, and the rules.

Bill Cleator Community Park – Open

Bob Kenny Field (also known as Ocean Beach Elementary Joint Use) – Closed

Cabrillo Elementary Joint Use – Closed

Cabrillo Recreation Center – Closed

Cabrillo Tennis (SUP Holder) – Closed

Collier Neighborhood Park – Open

Fifty years after the first Earth Day, the connection between the environment and human health has never been more obvious.

By David Helvarg / HuffPost / April 22, 2020

Twenty million people rallied, marched and staged clean-ups across the country on April 22, 1970, the first Earth Day. Many carried signs that read “Mother Nature Bats Last.”
But who knew there would be actual bats involved?

Fifty years later, the COVID-19 pandemic is the starkest example of natural disasters foretold but not prepared for.

The destruction of unique habitats, logging of rainforests and consumption of displaced wildlife such as bats, chimps and endangered pangolins has led to most of our recent viral outbreaks, from AIDS and Ebola to the coronavirus. This only confirms the scientific consensus that human health and prosperity depend on a healthy environment.

Today’s San Diego Union-Tribune reported that the local county death toll jumped by 15 people Tuesday, April 21, and hit triple digits for the first time since April 4, according to the latest daily COVID-19 update from the county health department. These newly-counted deaths did not come on a single day but are a serious warning to those who talk about opening sectors of the economy prematurely.

County officials say that would “be expected to backfire.” According to the U-T:

County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher made his daily effort to convey that those keeping these orders in effect in the face of public protest over the weekend are doing so out of a desire to prevent a deadly resurgence in cases such as the one now under way in Singapore.

By Javier Morales / AllSportsTucson.com / April 18, 2020

Ernie McCray turned 82 years old today, a legendary figure in Arizona history as the first African-American men’s basketball player to graduate from the school and also his program-record 46 points against Cal State Los Angeles 60 years ago at Bear Down Gym.

McCray, ever spry and whimsical, still writes a column titled, “Thoughts From the Soul of the Tucson Kid,” published by the OB (Ocean Beach) Rag.

The Tucson High School legend (Class of 1956) posted today this video of him celebrating his birthday, dancing at his San Diego home.

Made it.
82.
On my feet,
still grooving to a beat.
A moment…

By Kathy Blavatt

2020, the year of the coronavirus, is also the year of record-breaking rain, which could not have come at a better time, in the worst of times.

The rain helps keep us indoors during the storms, and we appreciate the outdoors much more when the sun is out!

A jungle surrounds me! My very healthy Spring garden is making me very healthy. My daily workout program consists of several hours of heavy-duty weeding, trimming, planting, and turning my huge compost pile. To top it all off, I’ve emptied countless buckets of rain-water into the garden. This routine is working every muscle in my body, which I can feel!

My fresh homegrown vegi-meals are spoiling me. Most restaurant meals may be a disappointment by the time they fully reopen when the lockdown lifts. But it will be enjoyable to sit at a table again and have someone else cook for me.

The following opinion does not necessarily reflect the views of the OB Rag.

By Molly Maguire

Barbara Bry – who wants to be mayor – and now Mayor Kevin Faulconer – are playing a dangerous game with their calls to open up San Diego’s beaches.

On Friday, April 17, Bry called for the re-opening of the city’s beaches and parks during the first week of May – which is only 9 or so days away. They haven’t even been closed for a month yet. Well, almost. According to the Times of San Diego:

City Councilwoman Barbara Bry on Friday called for San Diego’s beaches and parks to be reopened as soon as the first week of May.

“As always, such decisions must be based on science and the advice of public health experts, but I believe it will be possible to develop prudent plans to reopen our beaches and parks by early next month,” she said.

By Colleen O’Connor

The open secret in politics is that most protests and rallies often look spontaneous and genuine, but are actually bought and paid for. These “rent-a-mob” activities designed to attract dramatic photo shots, lots of news coverage, social media hits, and propaganda.

Once aired only on the staid nightly news programs, as when the C.I.A. fomented demonstrations to overthrow Mosadddeq, and returned the Shah of Iran to power; these new protests often generate a disproportionate amount of attention.

Who are the protestors? Where do they come from? Why are they marching? Decide for yourself.

Look at the photographs. Study the videos. Who is holding the bull horn? Who is most vigorously waving the flag in front of the camera? Chanting the loudest. Look at the profile of the crowd. How many men, women, minorities? Old, young? Affluent or not?

Editordude: Exactly ten years ago today, on April 20, 2010, we published the following post “In Search of 420 in OB.” What a difference a decade makes, eh?

Closing in on the 4th hour of the afternoon on April 20th (4/20), I grabbed my camera and note pad and headed for the beach. I was in search of the 420 celebration, hoping to catch OBceans partying for the holiday at 4:20 pm. I also hoped I would have more luck than other reporters searching for the same.

Easing my car into the lifeguard parking lot, I scanned the beach for a cannabis style floatopia or some such event. Yet, I saw only a couple here and there on the sand, enjoying the last rays of a sun about to be gobbled up by in-coming clouds. No mass gathering of youthful civil disobedients on this beach, flaunting johnny law to light up on this holiday.

By Geoff Page

The midway-Pacific Community Planning Group decided to try and a hold a meeting on-line, Wednesday, April 15, much the same as the OB Planning Board did using the Zoom meeting software. The meeting went off without any of the interruptions the OBPB suffered on their first try.

The motivation for this effort was very clear as there was really only one item of interest on the agenda, changing the 30-foot height limit in the Midway area. Council members Campbell and Cate are pushing to have measure on the November ballot to effect this change. The Midway group wanted to support this effort and they did with a unanimous vote from a quorum of six people.

The ballot measure was covered in detail in the OB Rag in February

That our own council person is one of the two pushing this change, is a surprise to many. When asked during her campaign about the 30-foot height limit, Campbell answered as any politician had to and said she believed in it and would protect the provision. Now that there is a big push to redevelop the Midway area, Campbell changed her mind at least for that area.

By Judi Curry

It is hard not to feel anger during this “forced” stay-at-home period of time.

But the anger is directed in so many areas – directed at the President of the United States for ignoring all the information that he received that the pandemic was coming. Anger at China for not telling us the truth about how it began in the first place.

Anger that once it was recognized the President of the United States changed his dunce cap for a “pseudo medical degree” and proceeded to go by his “gut” level on what should be done. Anger at the President of the United States for not listening to Dr. Anthony Fauci, one of the most respected physicians/scientists in the world today as to methods of combating this disease.

Angry at the President of the United States for touting the malaria drug that he has a vested interest in even though Dr. Fauci has urged caution in using it. My anger at the President of the United States in only one part of the reason my blood pressure is higher than usual.

Wednesday, April 22nd from 12 noon to 7 pm

By Jim Miller

This week is the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. The first Earth Day in 1970 was born after United States Senator Gaylord Nelson witnessed the horrible damage caused by a massive oil spill in Santa Barbara and was moved to try to harness the energy of the student movements of the sixties by creating what he called “a national teach-in” on the environment.

Consequently, on April 22nd of 1970, 20 million Americans took part in the first Earth Day with groups that had been separately fighting for clean air and water, wildlife protections, and a host of other environmental causes coming together to make a national statement.

In the wake of the first Earth Day, the United States saw the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the Clean Air and Water Acts as well as the Endangered Species Act.

Here are the current numbers of San Diego County COVID-19 cases (as of last night at 11:00 pm – Thursday):

• 75 new cases of COVID-19 Thursday;
• 3 new deaths Thursday,
• 2,087 cases in San Diego County;
• 63 deaths now in this county;
• 29,000 individuals in the County have been tested for COVID-19,
• around 96% of those tested, have tested negative for the virus.

Number of Hospitalizations

• 507 hospitalizations, an increase of 19 from Wednesday;
• 181 of those patients being treated in intensive care units, an increase of 8 from Wednesday.
• 12.6 days is county’s “doubling rate” for hospitalizations
• 15.3 days is ICU admittance length;
• 7.6 days it would take to double the number of deaths;