June 2022

News from Ocean Beach and Point Loma – Early July 2022

June 30, 2022 by Frank Gormlie

Best Fence in OB?

Kensington pepper tree fight moves to Ocean Beach palms – City forester Brian Widener under attack

“The Street Vet” Now Providing Services to Pets of OB Homeless

OB-Born Skrewball Whiskey Getting Canned

Point Loman Is ‘Called” to the Sea

Point Loma Couple Create “Magical Garden” After Removing Palms and Ficus Trees

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‘We’ll Miss the OB Pier Fireworks … But Maybe It’s Time to Move On’

June 30, 2022 by Frank Gormlie

We’ll certainly miss the OB Pier fireworks, which has been cancelled again for the third year in a row. Watching those blazing white sparkles flow off the pier into the ocean were a sight worth remembering. And holding your child up so they could see the colorful explosions illuminating the night sky over OB is a memory worth cherishing.

This year we’ve been told that the pier cannot handle trucks and other weight-causing activity.

But, you know, maybe it is time to move on. Something different. Did you see how Imperial Beach this July 4th is replacing its fireworks with a high-tech drone show?

Here in OB, we need to accept the reality.

The reality is that pyrotechnics from and over the Ocean Beach Pier cannot continue – for two main reasons:

Now, there are alternatives — see inside. In the meantime …

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A Shameful Supreme Court That’s a Menace to Society

June 30, 2022 by Ernie McCray

by Ernie McCray

We’ve got a court
that’s considered “Supreme,”
yet, it has trampled on women’s
hopes and dreams,
taking away their right
to have autonomy regarding
their health and their bodies
that go back to the previous century,
leaving their
granddaughters
and great-granddaughters
to face a reality
where they, might, someday,
serve time in the penitentiary
for bringing an end to a pregnancy,

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Imperial Beach Replaces July 4 Fireworks With High-Tech Drone Show

June 29, 2022 by Source

The Imperial Beach fireworks show that was set to take place on July 4 is now canceled and will be replaced with a high-tech drone show, according to officials.

Fire potential from traditional fireworks is the one of the reasons behind the change as well as reducing noise, smoke and debris, City Manager Andy Hall stated in a press release Monday.

Officials say they are “excited to introduce a new way to enjoy the 4th of July” as the drone show synchronizes with music that will broadcast at Pier Plaza and be available on personal devices from the city’s website.

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Treat Yourself: Go See ‘Elvis’ the Movie

June 29, 2022 by Source

By Colleen O’Connor

Stressed out? Feeling drained? Angry or a little anxious about all the chaos? You are not alone. The whole world shares your pain.

According to a new Gallup Poll, the world is “more stressed out than ever.”

“In 2021, four in 10 adults worldwide said they experienced a lot of worry (42%) or stress (41%),

Fear not, Hollywood had given us a $10 solution. Go to the movies. Escape.

Covid-19 brought us Downton Abbey, Death on the Nile and Dr. Strange. Great cinematography and storytelling.

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Airbnb Permanently Bans Parties

June 29, 2022 by Source


CNN Business News / June 28, 2022

Airbnb announced on Tuesday, June 28, that it will make permanent a ban on parties originally implemented in the early months of the pandemic, citing its effectiveness at curbing unauthorized gatherings.

The company announced a temporary ban on all parties in August 2020 as part of an effort to mitigate the spread of Covid-19 through social distancing efforts. It also followed reports of Airbnb customers throwing unauthorized ragers in the homes they rented through the platform.

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Latest Poll: Majority of Americans Opposes Overturning Roe v. Wade… More than 6 in 10 Say Decision Will Push Them to the Polls in November

June 29, 2022 by Source

NPR/PBS NewsHour/ Marist National Poll: The Overturning of Roe v. Wade, June 2022

From Marist Poll

In a majority decision, the United States Supreme Court on Friday overturned Roe v. Wade which, for nearly fifty years, guaranteed access to abortion in the United States.

However, majorities of Americans oppose the Court’s ruling and have concerns that the decision will have broader constitutional implications.

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Ocean Beach Street Fair Blended Community With Consumerism

June 28, 2022 by Source

By Carson Davis

The Street Fair has returned! After two years of dormancy, the Annual Ocean Beach Street Fair has finally come back and is more with the times than ever.

Offering booth after booth of consumerism blended with community, there was something for everyone.

With over 80 artist alley booths, 35 food vendors, 130 volunteers, and a chili cookoff that offered 18 different local and corporate competitors to around 1,000 community judges, this year’s street fair was as expansive as ever.

One minute you could find yourself watching one of the three murals being lovingly added onto by a passionate artist, and the next be hit in the face with a t-shirt by a chicken-wing eating contest chicken mascot.

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OB Chili Cook-Off Winners & Awards

June 28, 2022 by Source

From the OB Mainstreet Association:

Chili Cook-Off Winners & Awards

AMATEUR DIVISION
Judge’s Awards

1st Place: Tom Wilber with “The Devil’s Ice Cream
2nd Place: Anthony To “Taste Buds”

People’s Choice Awards

1st Place: Emmanuel Solis
2nd Place: Sergio Pelayo “Tomasello & Sons”

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Odious Pardons

June 28, 2022 by Source

Thanks to artist Monte Wolverton, who thanks Randy Cate, cuz of OB Rag columnist Colleen O’Connor.

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Todd Gloria is Making a 101 Ash Out of You and Me

June 27, 2022 by Source

By Mat Wahlstrom

You may have heard that today, Monday June 27, the City Council is being called into a special meeting to formally approve a ‘settlement’ agreement possibly illegally negotiated in just a week ago.

The original deal being ‘settled’ is the disposition of the 19-story building at 101 Ash St. Approved in 2016, it called for taxpayers to lease to own a building for $128 million that insiders knew was really only valued for $67 million — and that was before anyone outside their circle realized it’s a toxic vertical landfill.

There’s currently a lawsuit, likely to prevail, claiming this deal was illegal and so not only is it void, but all the millions paid to date in rent would have to be refunded. Not only isn’t this lawsuit costing the city a penny but, even if it were to fail, there are other lawsuits and remedies.

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Ocean Beach Street Fair and Chili Cook-Off 2022 – A Video

June 27, 2022 by Source

After a 2 year hiatus the Ocean Beach Street Fair and Chili Cook-Off was held Saturday the 25th of 2022. Tens of thousands attended what turned out to be a flawless event with the OB Mainstreet Association and Town Council.

Video by Cape May Productions by Charles Landon and Carson Davis, music by Phil Rockhold.

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‘Fuck’

June 27, 2022 by Source

By K-B Gressitt / Blog / June 25, 2022

“Fuck” has a multitude of applications. It can be rude, endearing, outraged, kinky, mean, funny, clever, crude, and the list does go on. (For guidance on its many applications, refer to English as a Second F*cking Language, by Sterling Johnson.)

Nonetheless, for many moons I spurned the word in my own writing, and the newspaper for which I opined would never in a million f*cking years have published it (tee and hee). Indeed, my request to include the lesser “shit,” in a direct quote by a woman describing her beastly encounter with breast cancer, was bumped up to the publisher’s office where I had to explain to the white, affluent man that having a breast excised in a patriarchal culture that values women’s breasts more than the people who bear them was really f*cking horrible.

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The Supreme Court Ruling Overturning Roe v. Wade Is Unenforceable

June 27, 2022 by Source

By Colleen O’Connor

In the 1970s, a history professor of mine remarked to the class, “You could put a police officer on every corner of the country, and still not stop crime.” Meaning, enforcement of laws, requires a large segment of the community to respect and protect them.

Look at the failures in enforcement:

History lesson #1 Prohibition. A Failure.

“The 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution–which banned the manufacture, transportation and sale of intoxicating liquors–ushered in a period in American history known as Prohibition. Prohibition was ratified by the states on January 16, 1919 and officially went into effect on January 17, 1920, with the passage of the Volstead Act. Despite the new legislation, Prohibition was difficult to enforce.

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Map of Protests Against Supreme Court Decision From Around the Country

June 25, 2022 by Source

This is a map of “We Won’t Go Back” protests from around the country in response to the right-wing Supreme Court decision – many happened on Friday, June 24, but many others are being planned for the following days and weeks.

For more, go to the site.

According to today’s San Diego Union-Tribune:

Thousands gathered at two separate rallies Friday night in downtown San Diego to protest the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and strip away constitutional protections for abortions.

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‘We Won’t Go Back!’ Rally – Waterfront Park – Friday, June 24 – Today

June 24, 2022 by Source

People and advocacy groups across the nation rushed to voice outrage and organize rapid-response demonstrations Friday after the U.S. Supreme Court’s right-wing supermajority voided half a century of reproductive rights by reversing the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling.

Protesters immediately descended upon the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. in the wake of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a 6-3 decision declaring that “the Constitution does not confer a right to abortion… and the authority to regulate abortion must be returned to the people and their elected representatives.”

Demonstrators chanted slogans including “We won’t go back!” and “My body, my choice!” as they rallied against the court’s right-wing majority.

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The Widder’s Rantings – Abortion and Guns, Drought and More Buildings, Campbell, Trump and Biden – Whew!

June 24, 2022 by Judi Curry

By Judi Curry

A few days ago my editor-dude wrote to me and asked if I was okay because I hadn’t written anything for some time. I answered back that I was physically all right, but there is so much going on in the world that is pissing me off I was unable to articulate the feelings. Today’s decision, although we knew it was coming, just set everything else off.

Who are these people that think they can control the lives of all of the women in America? What gives them the right to make a medical decision that doesn’t pertain to them in any way? Who are they to make a decision that will affect lives for years and years and years? Do they think that by passing this stupidity that abortions will not take place?

They have effectively removed SAFE abortions from every woman living in a state that prohibits them. I thought that there was supposed to be a separation between church and state? What happened to that? Do they realize that they have reduced women to second-class status?

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‘A Dark Day for Our Nation’: Right-Wing Supreme Court Ends Constitutional Right to Abortion

June 24, 2022 by Source

“With this decision, the Supreme Court’s extreme right-wing supermajority has struck a tremendous blow to our fundamental freedoms.”

The right-wing majority of the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade on Friday, ending the constitutional right to abortion and imperiling access to reproductive healthcare nationwide.

“A right-wing Supreme Court has stripped women and people seeking abortions of their long-held rights to control their bodies.” The 6-3 ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization was issued along ideological lines, with all three liberal justices in opposition.

“With sorrow—for this court, but more, for the many millions of American women who have today lost a fundamental constitutional protection—we dissent,” wrote Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, and Stephen Breyer in their dissent.

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Check Out OB Library Expansion Plans at Friends Booth During Saturday’s Street Fair

June 24, 2022 by Source

Here’s the latest newsletter, dated June 21, from the OB Friends of the Library.

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‘Put the Brakes On Before Ripping Out the Yard!’

June 24, 2022 by Source

By Kathy Blavatt

All photos by Kathy

“We didn’t mean to make it a bare garden!” Similar words I had heard before. A nice new couple who recently moved to Ocean Beach, removed almost every tree and many of the plants from their new front yard and the walkway. Gone were the bright red native berries I used on my Christmas wreath decoration. Gone were the low-water plants and edibles and most of the trees.

So now I am doing what I frequently do, offering the new neighbors starter plants to fill in the plot of naked earth in front of their house.

The previous owners put a couple of decades of work and love into their garden. Some of the plants pulled from the yard were starter plants that I had given them.

Similar stories are happening all around O.B.

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LGBTQ+ Pride and YIMBY Prejudice

June 23, 2022 by Source

By Mat Wahlstrom

June is Pride Month, commemorating the Stonewall riots in June 1969, when lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and other sexual and gender nonconforming (LGBTQ+) persons fought back against police violence and state oppression.

Considered the formal beginning of the ‘gay rights’ movement, Pride is first and foremost about visibility — which is why the main event of every Pride celebration is a parade.

But since everything gets co-opted under capitalism, June is also the month when corporations post rainbow versions of their logos, in the hopes that this gesture will get them noticed, and hopefully translate into more sales or favorable brand awareness.

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Reader Rant: ‘We Must insist on Public Hearings and Voters’ Approval Before Gutting Our Landmark Coastal Protections’

June 23, 2022 by Source

By Paul Krueger

I responded to last week’s Union-Tribune story about the state’s approval of a 60-foot tall apartment building [at 2662 Garnet] in San Diego’s coastal area in a letter-to-the-editor which was published in today’s SDU-T (and posted below).

My response outlines what I assume are shared concerns about the precedent that would be set by this new construction of a 4 to 5 story building.

Should the state succeed in overriding coastal area protections enshrined into municipal law 50 years ago by San Diego voters, local coastal area protections throughout the state could be similarly jeopardized.

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‘What a Difference a Day Makes …’ in Balboa Park With New Sidewalk Vendor Ordinance in Effect

June 23, 2022 by Source

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Peninsula Planners: Vehicle Habitation Ordinance to Be Enforced Again and City’s Problem With Understaffing

June 23, 2022 by Staff

By Geoff Page

The regularly monthly meeting of the Peninsula Community Planning Board on June was pretty routine. There was only one project to review, but it was said that the July meeting would be crowded with projects.

Government Reports

The Government Reports portion of the meeting provided the most interest. Council District 2 representative, Linus Smith, had several things to report starting with the vehicle habitation ordinance.

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Follow Governor Newsom — Not Legislators — on Gas Tax Relief

June 23, 2022 by Source

By Colleen O’Connor

President Biden called for a three-month gas tax holiday from federal fees at the pump.

It not only landed with a thud, it couldn’t even pass muster with Speaker Pelosi. A puny 18-cent savings per gallon for a three-months comes to less than a $10-a-month savings (unless you are a diesel trucker).

And whatever happened to the $400 dollar gas cards for California residents that Governor Newsom proposed in his budget?

At least, it had some sense to it.

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Restaurant Review: Country Waffles in the Midway (After 9 Years)

June 23, 2022 by Judi Curry

Restaurant Review

Country Waffles
2323 Midway Drive
San Diego, CA 92110
619-223-2225

By Judi Curry

It is difficult to find a time that is convenient for a restaurant owner and myself to have breakfast but Ibrahim (Al) and I seem to enjoy our time together so much that we try to meet at least once a month to discuss his new book, or his new painting, or his new poetry, etc. Yes, I am talking about the owner of Fairouz restaurant.

Our original plan was to go to Perry’s for breakfast, but when we arrived about 9:30 on Saturday morning there was not a parking place to be found. We decided not to wait and would go to the Country Waffles restaurant, a place we had gone to before, but not with each other.

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No More Homophobia: What a World That Would Be                   

June 22, 2022 by Ernie McCray

By Ernie McCray

As an educator,
I can’t imagine
a more hateful idea
than banning the use of the word gay
in schools,
as there can be no better world
if children don’t have a basic understanding
of the world they’re presently in,
what it’s like
and how it became what it is.

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Midway Planners Upset Over Perceived Delay by City in Resolving Homeless Issues

June 22, 2022 by Staff

By Geoff Page

Homeless in the Midway

The main topic of discussion at the Midway-Pacific Highway Community Planning Group’s regular monthly meeting, June 15, was the homeless problem in the Midway area. The amount of frustration and barely repressed anger was palpable.

One speaker, a businessperson in the area, spoke up passionately and angrily about the mess on Hancock and Kurtz Streets from a homeless encampment along the Caltrans fence. It includes vehicle habitations and other things like tents.

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California Coastal Commission Causes San Diego to Tighten Up Rules on ADU Parking, Public Review and Other Requirements

June 21, 2022 by Frank Gormlie

Due to demands from the California Coastal Commission, the City of San Diego was forced to backtrack on its new accessory dwelling unit rules regarding parking requirements — none.

And on Monday the City Council voted unanimously to require new ADUs near the beach to have parking spots if they aren’t close to a trolley stop or a bus line with frequent service. The council was forced to trash its earlier blanket parking exemption for those who build new ADUs (“granny flats”).

The Commission’s logic:

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Can State Policy Trump the Will of the People Over San Diego’s Coastal Height Limit?

June 21, 2022 by Frank Gormlie

A recent opinion piece by a state agency bureaucrat on the coastal 30-foot height limit has developers and San Diego’s establishment licking their chops.

Shannon West, head of housing accountability for California’s Department of Housing and Community Development, wrote “a technical assistance letter” which declared the 30-foot height limit conflicted with state law and thus was “void.” The letter was for San Diego’s development services department

Heidi Von-blum, director of San Diego’s planning department, immediately leaped for joy and repeated the claim that state law supersedes “local voter initiative.”

Why this all came about now is because a local developer, the San Diego Community Housing Corporation, wants to build a 60-unit, 60-foot-high residential building, called Rose Creek Apartments, on a 0.4-acre site at 2662 Garnet Avenue in Pacific Beach.

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