Month: September 2023

By Emily Alvarenga / San Diego U-T / Sept. 21, 2023

After months of outcry from neighbors weary of pollution and wary of a growing industrial presence, a Barrio Logan biofuel company has withdrawn its plans for a pipeline connecting its warehouses.

First United Methodist Church in Mission Valley, the parent church for Water’s Edge, wants to terminate the Water’s Edge congregation after 90 plus years, and sell the church.

Water’s Edge church — formerly Point Loma United Methodist –at 1984 Sunset Cliffs Blvd — has for a number of years been functioning as a community center, home to its congregation, of course, and also for the OB Historical Society, the Pioneer School for developmentally disabled kids, the Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry and several AA and NA groups who hold meetings there.

Editordude: The following is by Kate Callen who is a candidate for the District 3 seat on the San Diego City Council.

By Kate Callen

Imagine if all democratically-elected officials had to “apply” to keep their jobs. And the candidates they defeated were invited to apply for those jobs. And the “winners” were chosen behind closed doors.

This is called “overturning elections,” and it’s exactly what is happening to San Diego’s 53 community planning groups, including District 3’s five groups: Downtown, Greater Golden Hill, Mission Valley, North Park, and Uptown.

On Monday, in a closed session, the San Diego City Council voted 6 to 2 to join a city in Oregon that is asking the US Supreme Court to weigh in on the legality of its camping ban. After yesterday’s vote, San Diego will file an amicus brief, or a written submission with legal arguments and recommendations about the case.

San Diego is only joining the case as an “amicus curiae,” or a “friend of the court.” This means the city isn’t party to the case, but can get permission to submit briefs and arguments supporting the city in Oregon — Grants Pass. Of course, San Diego has a reason as it just recently implemented its own camping ban.

Today, Tuesday, Sept. 19, the San Diego City Council is scheduled to consider a nearly 20 percent rate-increase for water bills of local customers.

By David Garrick / San Diego Union-Tribune / Sept. 16, 2023

The increase, which city officials began studying last fall, would be the first comprehensive rate hike approved by the council in nearly eight years. It would include a 10.2 increase this December and an 8.75 percent jump in January 2025. City officials say they need additional revenue increases to cover rising costs for imported water, upgrades to thousands of aging pipes and a long list of short-term and long-term capital projects.

by Elizabeth Ireland / Times of San Diego / Sept. 18, 2023

The San Diego City Council Monday, Sept. 18, voted for a year-round closure of Boomer Beach and Point La Jolla, two areas that serve as California sea lion rookeries and areas which have been closed seasonally since 2021.

The closure area encompasses Point La Jolla and parts of Boomer Beach, specifically from the Conrad F. Limbaugh and Harold F. Riley commemorative plaque northwest of La Jolla Cove to the last gazebo above Boomer Beach northeast of Rocky Point.

By Lyndsay Winkley / San Diego U-T / Sept. 17, 2023

A hard-won ordinance that brought oversight to San Diego’s many surveillance technologies needs critical fixes, officials say, or day-to-day operations the city relies on could come to a standstill. The new law, unanimously approved by City Council last September, stemmed from public outcry over the city’s mishandling of a network of thousands of smart streetlights.

Community members learned years after the high-tech lights were installed that police could access video and other data they captured. Over the past year, putting the ordinance into practice has been hampered by delays and legal quandaries.

This is the official agenda of the OB Planning Board’s Project Review Committee for Wednesday, Sept. 20 :

By Colleen O’Connor

A busy weekend at the Point. Sports fishing vessels packed. Duck boats touring the bay filled.

And Portuguese Hall celebrating the Festa Da Lapa Saturday night with folk dancers, food, and “late into the night” live music.

All followed by Sunday morning’s vintage car show.

By David Garrick / San Diego Union-Tribune / Sept. 16, 2023

San Diego’s year-old crackdown on electric scooters has had the unintended consequence of shrinking usage by 80 percent and prompting three of the four companies with city scooter contracts to cease local operations.

The number of annual rides since the new rules were approved in August 2022 plummeted from 3 million to 595,000 and Spin, Lime and Link have all left town, leaving Bird as San Diego’s lone scooter company.

By Paige Austin / Patch / Sept. 16, 2023

It’s been more than three weeks since Hurricane Hilary dumped record August rain on California, and the rare summer storm’s impact on the mosquito population is hitting home, literally.

An uninvited houseguest is plaguing homes up and down California. It’s the Aedes aegypti, better known as the ankle-biter mosquito, one of the most vicious little bloodsuckers to invade the Golden State.