Month: April 2020

Andrea Schlageter won re-election as Chair of the Ocean Beach Planning Board held Wednesday night, April 15. Schalageter, of course, also was re-elected to the Board during the March annual election as one of the two “at-large” members. She received a relatively high vote of confidence with 28 ballots in her favor.

The election was held on March 4th, from 4pm until 7pm in the OB Recreation Center on Santa Monica Avenue. In this election, voters were allowed to vote for the candidate in their registered district, and in addition, the At Large candidate.

The results were supposed to have been certified by the Board at its April 1 meeting, but the meeting held via Zoom was “zoom-bombed” and it had to be rescheduled to Wednesday night. Wednesday night’s meeting was held via another platform and came off successful.

The entire Executive Board was also re-elected, including Kevin Hastings as vice-chair, Tracy Dezenso as secretary and Craig Klein as treasurer.

By Steve Zivolich

Day 1 – I Can Do This!! Got enough food and wine to last a month!

Day 2 – Opening my 8th bottle of Wine. I fear wine supplies might not last!

Day 3 – Strawberries: Some have 210 seeds, some have 235 seeds. Who Knew??

Day 4 – 8:00pm. Removed my Day Pajamas and put on my Night Pajamas.

Day 5 – Today, I tried to make Hand Sanitizer. It came out as Jello Shots!!

Nuclear Shutdown News April 2020

By Michael Steinberg

Nuclear Shutdown News chronicles the decline and fall of the US nuclear industry, in the US and beyond, and highlights the efforts of those working for a nuclear free world.

New England Survives Without Nuclear Power

On April 3 the Connecticut Mirror reported “Most New England nuclear power offline due to timing fluke problem.” There are only two nuke plants still (sometimes) operating in the region, Seabrook in New Hampshire with one reactor and Millstone in Connecticut with two.

On March 31 the 1245 Megawatt shut down for refueling. The next day the 1230 Unit 3 reactor at Millstone had a mishap that forced it to shut down as well.

As a result, by April 3, the Mirror reported, the grid showed nuclear at 8%

When I kept hearing how great the weather would be on Wednesday, April 15 – in the high 70’s – after weeks of cold and rain – I had great fears that OBceans would burst out of their homes of self-quarantine and come down to the beach.

Fortunately, my greatest fears were not realized as I cruised along the beach Wednesday. No one – literally no one, except law enforcement – was on the beach, either Dog Beach (“North Beach” to long-timers) or South Beach. It was great, I thought. OBceans are still adhering to the strict requirements Californians and San Diegans were under during the pandemic.

And on the streets and sidewalks, OBceans were giving each other wide breadth and most wore masks. Yellow tape stretched across every park entrance and access points. The beach parking lots, including the life guard station, Dog Beach and the pier were all taped off.

by Joaquin Antique

So it drags on. Isolation and fear. Crazy rumors and fake news being dispensed by the bushel. Ignorant fools with “internet degrees in Infectious Disease” spreading their wackadoodle theories and/or not paying attention to efforts to break the chain of contagion.

But even while you see some “covidiots” not observing physical distancing or other common sense precautions, you also still see evidence of people working hard at great sacrifice to keep our communities safe: Healthcare workers, food preparers and market employees, cops and fire fighters, delivery people, neighbors helping neighbors by doing shopping for at risk people and sewing masks.

As in previous Plague articles, these OB Walkabout pictures were taken while maintaining strict physical distancing and other precautions per CDC guidelines to prevent disease transmission.

The OB Planning Board is holding a special meeting tonight, Wednesday, April 15. It will be held electronically and those who pre-register, will be able to enjoy the meeting, via WebEX.

The special meeting is being held because their regularly scheduled meeting on April 1 was “zoom bombed” and disrupted to the point they had to adjourn. So, it’s basically the same agenda as for that meeting. Hopefully this platform and procedure will provide confidentiality and prevent another disruption.

Please remember to register before the meeting so the meeting info can be sent to you the meeting info. Without registration you will not get the info. Registration link is at the bottom of the agenda.

Here is the official agenda:

Corey Bruins has taken it upon himself to start a new podcast about Ocean Beach, and it’s called “The Obcean.”

It seems only fitting to kick off the first episode of the OBcean podcast with thoughts from OBceans about what it means to be an OBcean.

We hear stories from Mike James, Frank Gormlie, and others about how this identifying label of ‘OBcean’ inherited it’s meaning over the past 60 years.

Here’s several stories about locals from Ocean Beach or Point Loma that have made the news recently.

Point Loma Mail Carrier – Another Hero on the Front Line

Your local mail carrier, like grocery store workers, healthcare workers, and first responders, are considered essential workers during these difficult times. News 8‘s Abbie Alford went on a ride-along with San Diego U.S. Postal Office worker, Mia Gabriel, to see the precautions she is taking to not only keep the public safe, but also her family.

“[I] Usually [would] stop by, talk or hug, but now I see everybody on their balcony or driving by making sure I’m safe,” said Mia. On her route in Point Loma, Mia is well known and loved. Residents walk or drive by and yell “hi Mia” from afar. “I’ve known them for years and we usually are close and do chatting,” she said.

Editordude: In the interests of getting out the word to the public during the pandemic, we are re-posting this entire piece from inewsource. Please go to the original article for links and more details.

by Jill Castellano / inewsource / April 15, 2020

San Diego County officials have held daily news conferences since the beginning of March to update the public on the coronavirus pandemic. Almost every day, they provide the latest numbers of COVID-19 cases and deaths, recite the newest guidelines and rules for residents to follow, and explain the ever-changing steps they’re taking to curtail the spread of the highly contagious virus and the deadly disease it causes.

It’s excellent that people are wearing masks these days when they go shopping – although not everyone is.

But here are some creative solutions Americans have found when it comes to getting out the mask and putting it on. Some have taken the mask task to extremes, however. Although, these are better than nothing … I think.

Originally posted here on October 24, 2012

by Jill Richardson / La Vida Locavore / Oct.24, 2012

In my old home and my old garden, I was the boss. 100%. Not to mention that my ex (who was the only other adult in the house) and I saw eye to eye on gardening – and we were both totally broke. Here, it’s a different story. I moved into a new place with three other adults, and two of them know something about gardening. Both have opinions – sometimes strong opinions.

Why Are People So Squeamish About Composting?
Originally posted here on April 22, 3013

By Jill Richardson /La Vida Locavore / April 19, 2013

I wrote this week’s column on composting, and I’ve been really pleased to see how various newspapers have picked it up. Honestly, I’ve been really surprised in the past several years about how squeamish people are about composting.