July 2021

‘Circulate San Diego’ Shows Its True Pro-Developer Colors By Supporting Navy’s Densest Development Proposal for Old Town

July 16, 2021 by Frank Gormlie

The gloves are off! The group “Circulate San Diego” has dropped its environmentally-friendly facade and has now unfurled its full pro-developer colors. It has done this with the group’s recent endorsement of the most dense development proposed by the Navy for NAVWAR or the Old Town area.

Circulate San Diego has come out in public support for the Navy’s preferred Alternate 4. As Jim Perry, Barbara McDonald, and Mary Koto wrote in a recent OB Rag post:

Alternative 4 is the Navy and City’s Preferred Alternative. The existing NAVWAR buildings will be replaced with up to 109 new buildings. There will be up to 35 high rise buildings with a 350 foot maximum (about 32 stories).

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Detailed Drawings for Proposed Deck at Inn at Sunset Cliffs

July 16, 2021 by Staff

There was so much interest in Geoff Page’s report on the OB Planning Board’s review of the proposed deck at the Inn at Sunset Cliffs, that we decided to post its detailed drawings. The images were presented during the OBPB meeting. (More details about the images and drawings may be forthcoming …)

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Kremlin Papers Show Putin’s Plot to Put Trump in White House

July 15, 2021 by Source

By Luke Harding, Julian Borger and Dan Sabbagh / The Guardian / July 15, 2021

Vladimir Putin personally authorised a secret spy agency operation to support a “mentally unstable” Donald Trump in the 2016 US presidential election during a closed session of Russia’s national security council, according to what are assessed to be leaked Kremlin documents.

The key meeting took place on 22 January 2016, the papers suggest, with the Russian president, his spy chiefs and senior ministers all present.

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Ah, the Age-Old ‘Should I Tell the Friend About Their Cheating Significant Other’ Dilemma

July 15, 2021 by Source

Straight Up With a Twist

By Edwin Decker

Dear SWAT,

I know this question has been asked of a million advice columnists already but I’d like to hear your take on it. I recently discovered my friend’s boyfriend of seven years is cheating on her. Should I tell my friend?”

Sincerely, Phillip of Bankers Hill

Ah yes, the age-old, “Should-I-Tell-The-Friend-About-Their-Significant-Cheating-Other” (SITTFATSCO) question. You’re right. SITTFATSCO is probably the oldest and most often asked question of advice columnists. In fact, it was the very first query answered by the very first advice columnist, midwife Cinderwench Wartyface, in the Hertfordshire Town Crier in 1547. It went like this:

“Deary Cinderwench, mine own freond’s jointress hath committed adult’ry with a hairy scallywag. Shoulds’t I acquaint hire? Sincerely, Eathellrelda from Boggy Slogs, Hertfordshire.”

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COVID Cases On the Rise in San Diego County – What the Hell?

July 15, 2021 by Staff


In the U.S., with one of the highest vaccination rates in the world, newly confirmed infections per day have doubled over the past two weeks to an average of about 24,000, though deaths are still on a downward trajectory at around 260 a day.

As COVID-19 cases slowly rise in San Diego County – including an increase in Delta variant cases – new research is looking into why San Diegans still are not getting vaccinated.

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Legislation Introduced in Senate to Federally Decriminalize Marijuana

July 15, 2021 by Source

By Eugene Scott / San Diego Union-Tribune – Washington Post / July 15, 2021

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., introduced legislation Wednesday to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level, vowing to use his clout as majority leader toward reversing policies and laws that he says have caused significant harm to the lives of thousands of Americans. The draft bill, which is co-sponsored by Sens. Cory’ Booker, D-N.J., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., would remove federal penalties associated with cannabis, expunge nonviolent federal cannabis-related criminal records and begin regulating and taxing the drug.

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Deadline for San Diego Outdoor Eating Areas to Get Up to Code Extended to August 2

July 14, 2021 by Frank Gormlie


Restaurants in Ocean Beach and across busy sections of San Diego have been given a reprieve by the city of San Diego. The city has extended its deadline to bring outdoor dining areas up to code. The previous deadline was Tuesday, July 13 and business owners would have been liable for a daily fine of $10,000 if their “parklets” for outdoor dining were not scaled back.

A city spokesperson said in a statement on Temporary Outdoor Business Operation (TOBO) structures:

“In an effort to work with our clients and give businesses more time to meet the guidelines and enforcement of TOBO structures, the City has decided to begin enforcement on Monday, Aug. 2.

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Restaurant Review: Breakfast Republic in Ocean Beach

July 14, 2021 by Judi Curry

Breakfast Republic
4839 Newport Avenue
Ocean Beach, CA 92107
619-255-7255
Open from 7:00am – 3:00pm.

By Judi Curry

It seems like forever since I stepped into a restaurant for a meal. Perhaps because it has been over a year since I really did an “inside” review. Yesterday I decided it was time to break that barrier, and went with Al, the owner of Fairouz Restaurant, to one of my favorite restaurants for breakfast. Suffice it to say, he had never been there; in fact, he hasn’t been to many San Diego restaurants because you can usually find him at his own establishment. I was curious to see what he thought of the décor; the wait staff; and, of course, the food.

There was a very short wait for our table at 10:00 am, but by the time we left an hour and a half later, customers were lined up on the stairs

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The Navy Is Launching a Major Redevelopment Project and Many San Diegans Aren’t Paying Attention

July 14, 2021 by Source

By Phillip Halpern / San Diego Union-Tribune OpEd / July 13, 2021

The U.S. Navy has embraced “stealth” technology with the launch of three Zumwalt class warships. This technology allows the ships to elude radar, sail into enemy territory undetected and conduct surveillance in a clandestine manner. Such stealth strategies are, of course, both necessary and laudable when undertaken in the national interest.

Unfortunately, the Navy has also recently launched a stealthy redevelopment project, which has been flying under the radar of most San Diego residents. This project — which is shamefully supported by the city of San Diego — seeks to modernize the old SPAWAR site

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Deck Expansion at Inn at Sunset Cliffs Nixed by OB Planning Board

July 13, 2021 by Staff

By Geoff Page

The Inn At Sunset Cliffs dominated the discussion during the Ocean Beach Planning Board’s regular monthly meeting, Wednesday, July 7. A cycling issue was listed on the consent agenda but it was pulled by the board’s vice chair, Kevin Hastings. It was placed at the end of the agenda but the meeting went on for three hours and the board did not get to it. It will be discussed at the next meeting.

Ocean Front Project Approved Without Discussion

There was a second consent agenda item that was passed:

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Public Comment Today on Famosa-Nimitz Development

July 13, 2021 by Source

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The Tide May Be Turning on Pro-Developer ‘Rise Uptown’ Type Slates in Local Planning Group Elections

July 13, 2021 by Source

By Mat Wahlstrom

As any regular reader of the OB Rag can tell you, the undertow of all San Diego politics is not just money but developer money. With the meltdown of the Republican Party and the rise of California as a de facto one-party state under the Democrats, developers and former GOP influence peddlers pivoted to rebrand their same trickle-down policies as “progressive.”

Their success at this has meant that most every politician and pundit regardless of party now self-identifies as YIMBY, for ‘yes in my back yard.’

Consider how this has been playing out at even the local level.

Sometime before 2019, the city attorney’s office decided to make a quiet but very consequential change in how it would interpret the law governing community planning groups (CPGs).

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City Commission for Arts and Culture Awards $400,000 to Peninsula Groups

July 13, 2021 by Source

By Tracy Dezenzo

Congratulation are in order to our local Peninsula awardees!

The City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture announced 174 funding awards for FY2022. More than $7.7 million will be distributed to nonprofits that make meaningful impacts in communities and expand access to arts and culture throughout the city. But locally, more than $400,000 is going to 16 organizations in Ocean Beach, Point Loma and the Midway district.

The groups awarded include:

Ocean Beach:

  • Ocean Beach Mainstreet Association

Point Loma:

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Democracy’s Refugees: Offer Them Sanctuary

July 13, 2021 by Source

By Colleen O’Connor

What a time to be alive. Wake up early and pay attention.

Tuesday offers all manner of news about chaos; pandemics, culture feuds, cyber-terrorism, domestic terrorism, racial and sexual cruelties, financial and food insecurities, raging fires, and devastating drought, alongside a couple billionaires blasting into space.

Forget the World Soccer Cup matches that unleashed hideous social network racism against Black players on England’s losing team; or the nail-biting (and history-making) Wimbledon finals or even the coming fan-less Tokyo Olympics.

The most riveting political spectacle (with massive consequences for the future of democracy) is Tuesday’s duel between Texas and Washington, D.C. 67 Democrats in the Texas legislature, flew to D.C. on Monday,

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Sophisticated Spam Call at 10:47 pm

July 12, 2021 by Judi Curry

The Widow Curry with a warning

By Judi Curry

SCENARIO: Household sound asleep on a Saturday night. The telephone rings at 10:47pm. A woman’s voice says, “May I speak to Judith Curry please. This is the fraud unit of Target credit card and we have detected a fraud billing of $475 on her account.”

“This is Judith.”
“I am so sorry to wake you up but we have detected a $475 on your Target account for pharmacy items. Have you shopped the pharmacy at Target recently?”
“No”.
“Have you made a $475 purchase at Target at all?”
“No”.
“Do you know where your credit card is?”

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Music Tells My Story

July 12, 2021 by Ernie McCray

by Ernie McCray

“What musical artist do you resonate with the most and you feel best tells your story?” was a question posed on Facebook.

I could never answer that with one choice, as there are so many singers and instrumentalists on the list of artists who have, at least, accompanied if not told my story over time.

Billie Holiday immediately comes to mind. Hers was one of the first voices other than my mother’s and my dad’s that I can remember hearing.

I was but a child but the sound of her voice as she sang, that sadness and raspy-ness, touched me all over, and melted into my very being, matching what I, even though I was in my infancy, was already sensing intuitively about the world I had been born into near the end of the 30’s.

Loved me some Andrews Sisters, too, their boogie woogie melodies and jitterbugging and jaunty harmonies that led to harmonizing being one of my favorite things to do.

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Sacramento Democrats Complicit in School Privatization Agenda

July 12, 2021 by Source

By Thomas ltican / Tultican

Two pieces of legislation are racing through California’s state legislature both advancing the school privatization agenda. A third piece designed to protect taxpayers from the ravenous charter industry has been squashed. Public schools and sound pedagogy are being harmed by a radical market based ideology. Democrats continue their complicity in this conservative agenda.

The Charter School Give Away

A few weeks ago, Oakland school board Trustee Mike Hutchinson raised alarm bells about Governor Newsom’s education budget trailer bill.

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State Budget Includes $8.4 Million for Ocean Beach Pier ‘Renovation’

July 12, 2021 by Frank Gormlie

The California state budget signed recently by Gov. Gavin Newsom includes $8.4 million to the city of San Diego for the Ocean Beach Pier “renovation.”

Lawmakers are still ironing out details, but according to the Voice of San Diego – which made a list of what San Diego is set to get out of the budget so far – OB’s Pier will get some of that share.

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Ocean Beach Heights Are Blooming Beautiful!

July 9, 2021 by Source

By Kathy Blavatt

All photographs by Kathy Blavatt

Up at the top of the hill overlooking Ocean Beach are the “Heights,” sometimes referred to as “Ocean Beach Heights,” other times called “Point Loma Heights,” which depends on who describes the area or what maps and documents they are reading.

This neighborhood above Froude Street is formally in the “Peninsula Community Planning Area.” Many residents feel that the houses’ styles and vibe are much more in tune with Ocean Beach.

Two of the area’s large early homes played essential roles in the local history:

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How San Diego Brewers Guild Is Addressing Its #MeToo Movement

July 9, 2021 by Source

Partnering with a labor law firm, a sexual harassment hotline has been established, training and a Code of Conduct is underway

By Abbie Alford / CBS8 / July 8, 2021

Two months since the Me Too movement erupted in the brewing industry across the country, women’s voices are being heard and the San Diego Brewers Guild is taking action.

What started out as a reckoning in May, with women reporting misogyny, racism, sexism, sexual harassment, and assault by men in breweries across the world including in San Diego has turned into an important message of empowerment.

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California’s Inmate Firefighters Still Denied Visitors, Unlike Prisons

July 9, 2021 by Source

by Jill Castellano / inewsource / July 1, 2021

Hundreds of California inmates will charge to the front lines of rapidly spreading wildfires this summer, risking injury and death in exchange for shorter sentences and a few dollars a day.

When the flames recede, they will return to their living quarters at one of 35 low security camps, where picnic tables and barbecues once bustled with families — a perk that higher security prisons don’t allow.

Now, the inmates have the grounds to themselves.

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Celebration of Life of Dorette Jackson on OB Pier – July 9, 6:30 pm

July 9, 2021 by Source

There will be a small celebration of Dorrette Jackson’s life held on the Ocean Beach pier on July 9th at 6:30 PM open to any who wish to attend and tell a story or simply share in the moment, hope you can join us. For more information call Eric Jackson @ 619-520-9403

Dorette passed peacefully at her home in Oregon on July 9th 2020, surrounded by friends and family on a beautiful summer day. She is survived by her four children Eric and his wife Chrissy, Kim, Annette and Kyrmet and her grandchildren Kevin, Shelby and Cameron and step-grandchildren Rory and Elena.

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Airbnb Claims Crackdown on Parties Prevented 6,000 ‘Risky’ San Diego Bookings

July 8, 2021 by Source

By Mark Saunders / ABC10News / June 29, 2021

Airbnb said Monday, June 28, that its crackdown on unauthorized parties in the San Diego area has blocked thousands of potentially risky reservations.

The vacation rental booking company said that since it began its campaign last year, 6,000 people were either blocked or redirected while making potentially risky reservation attempts. That’s compared to 15,000 in Los Angeles and 4,500 in Las Vegas, according to Ben Breit, the head of Trust and Safety Communications for Airbnb.

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Input Meeting for County Redistricting – Sat., July 10

July 8, 2021 by Source

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30th Street Bikeways Project to Be Installed Despite Residents’ and Businessowners’ Complaints of Loss of 450 Parking Spaces

July 8, 2021 by Source

By Andrea Lopez-Villafana / San Diego Union-Tribune / July 6, 2021

Next week, construction crews will begin striping the road along 30th Street in North Park for the city’s newest protected bikeway project.

Known as the 30th Street Protected Bikeways Mobility Project, it calls for protected bike lanes from Juniper Street to Adams Avenue. It does away with some 450 curb parking spots along the corridor,

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California ‘Exodus’ a Myth, UCSD Study Finds

July 8, 2021 by Source

By Deborah Sullivan Brennan / San Diego Union-Tribune / July 7, 2021

The exodus of Californians forecast in recent news headlines isn’t likely to happen soon, UC San Diego researchers reported in a survey released Wednesday.

The UC San Diego survey queried more than 3,000 Californians, including 295 who completed the questions in Spanish. It found that nearly two-thirds of residents still believe in the “California Dream” of opportunity and prosperity.

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Friend Thoughts

July 7, 2021 by Ernie McCray

by Ernie McCray

I see so many memes on social media about “fake friends” as opposed to “true friends.”

They’re posted as warnings by folks who apparently aren’t doing well in the friend department.

I usually just glance at them but this one caught my eye the other day: “Pay close attention to those who don’t clap when you win.”

And I found myself saying out loud: “Come on, now. Really?” I should focus on somebody who doesn’t care diddly-squat about me when I’ve got friends who wish the world for me?

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OB’s Dog Beach ‘Wins’ Morning After Clean-Up With Most Trash

July 7, 2021 by Source

OB’s Dog Beach had the most trash during Surfrider’s “Morning After” annual clean-up of beaches on July 5th. It came in at 560 pounds. The OB Pier had 223 pounds. In comparison, Belmont Park weighed in with 317 pounds.

Here’s Surfrider’s report:

Surfrider Volunteers Remove 1,457 Pounds of Trash from San Diego’s beaches after 4th of July Holiday

More than 600 volunteers gathered at six popular beaches yesterday morning to assist with the Surfrider Foundation San Diego’s annual post-Fourth of July “Morning After” beach cleanup series. In only two hours, Surfrider volunteers had recovered more than 1,457 pounds of trash

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Senate Bill 10 Threatens Local Voters’ Right to Stop Housing Sprawl

July 7, 2021 by Source

by Peter Andersen / Times of San Diego / July 6, 2021

Senate Bill 10, which is making its way through the California legislature, is a blatantly anti-democratic measure masquerading as a housing bill. It could affect the voting rights and quality of life for every Californian.

Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins, who is now listed as co-author of the bill and is the most powerful state senator in California, is the one person who can fix this bad bill before it becomes law.

Housing continues to be a top priority for policymakers in Sacramento, and rightly so. The health and humanitarian crisis facing the millions of Californians who struggle to afford housing must be addressed.

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Over 13,140 People Have Signed the Petition to Stop Nightly Fireworks at SeaWorld – Let’s Get to 15,000

July 7, 2021 by Source

As of this writing, over 13,140 people have signed the petition to stop SeaWorld’s nightly fireworks. The goal is to reach 15,000. Here is the petition.

From the petition statement:

SeaWorld is damaging the quality of life of hundreds of thousands of San Diegans on a nightly basis,every day for 3 months straight during the summer season alone. They are damaging the overall physical well-being of the citizens of San Diego who live within a 20 mile radius or larger.

The fireworks at SeaWorld constitute animal cruelty.

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