Month: January 2024

From Environment News Service / Jan. 7, 2024

Tons of munitions, DDT and petrochemicals were dumped for decades in deep ocean basins off the coast of Los Angeles, scientists from three California universities are discovering. This dumping is known to have happened from the 1940s until 1972, when the Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act, also called the Ocean Dumping Act, came into force, and the chemicals are still there.

County health officials have issued an advisory for Dog Beach in Ocean Beach as bacterial levels exceed health standards and which advises people — and dogs — to avoid water contact in that area. The advisory is from the San Diego River outlet to 300 feet south.

The advisory was issued Saturday, January 6, 2024 and was part of an updated water contact closure and advisory list starting Sunday for county beaches..

Water contact closures have been issued for the following locations due to bacteria levels exceeding health standards:

By Joe Biden, President

Today — the topic of my speech today is deadly serious, and I think it needs to be made at the outset of this campaign.

In the winter of 1777, it was harsh and cold as the Continental Army marched to Valley Forge.  General George Washington knew he faced the most daunting of tasks: to fight and win a war against the most powerful empire that existed in the world at the time. His mission was clear.  Liberty, not conquest.  Freedom, not domination.  National independence, not individual glory.

America made a vow.  Never again would we bow down to a king.

Today is the third anniversary of January 6, 2021, a day that will live in infamy — the day that a riotous and fascist mob attacked the US Capitol in Washington DC — urged on by the then-president — to prevent the lawful certification of Joe Biden’s election.

It was an insurrection; it was a coup attempt — and for the first time in the nation’s history — the peaceful transfer of power was interrupted by the violence of those who wanted to see our democracy destroyed and wanted Trump to illegally remain in power.

As Americans who believe in the rule of law and in our democratic traditions — flailing and weakened as they are — we must acknowledge and remember this attempt to install a fascist dictatorship and end the American experiment.

From Neighbors for a Better San Diego

The Housing Action Package 2.0, which was passed on a 7-1 vote on December 12, 2023, will get a second and final reading as part of the consent agenda at next Tuesday’s — January 9th, 10 AM — City Council meeting.

While Neighbors For A Better San Diego supported most of the initiatives in HAP 2.0, we continue to oppose the changes to Complete Communities Housing Solutions (CCHS).

As virulence rises, medical providers across the nation have gradually begun to tighten their procedures, cutting back on visitation of hospitalized patients and increasingly requiring masks, according to a recent report from the Associated Press.

More U.S. hospitals are requiring masks and limiting visitors as health officials face an expected but still nasty post-holiday spike in flu, COVID-19 and other illnesses.

Due to a request from the San Diego Police Department, the City has closed a dirt parking lot next to Robb Field in Ocean Beach.

The parking lot in question is west of the western-most baseball diamond at Robb Field. The usual entrance to this lot is a driveway off of West Pt Loma Blvd., right next to the old pump station west of Bacon St. That entrance is gated with temporary fencing. There are numerous paper signs posted around the lot indicating indefinite closure.

The Old Point Loma Lighthouse at Cabrillo National Monument in Point Loma will be closed temporarily this month for restoration work, officials said.

Renovations will take place Jan. 8-18. Interior work will include painting and minor repairs aimed at protecting the masonry walls from the damp coastal environment, according to National Park Service officials.

by Larry Turner, Kate Callen and Terry Hoskins

For more than a half-century, San Diego’s community planning groups have been acclaimed as a national model of local democracy. As the city’s website states, these CPGs elected by their communities have been “formal mechanisms [that] provide citizens with an opportunity for involvement.”

This model of democracy is now under siege. Mayor Todd Gloria, with the complicity of all nine City Councilmembers, is poised to remove elected CPG members and replace them with unelected members of his own choosing. That is not democracy. That is autocracy,

By MEgain Erlise

In Mayor Todd Gloria’s recent newsletter, in the portion titled: “Advancing Social Equity as a Core Principle at the City of San Diego,” there’s a discernible tone that’s hard to miss – it feels almost dismissive, as if our long-standing efforts and struggles in this area are being relegated to a mere footnote in the city’s list of achievements.

The Mayor’s communication seems to imply that we should feel grateful for any acknowledgment, however fleeting or insubstantial. It’s perplexing, and perhaps, disrespectful.

The accomplishments the newsletter lists reads in part:

On Saturday, join CODEPINK and San Diego Veterans for Peace who are staging a Peace Vigil for Palestine in Ocean Beach.

Here is some sad news in Ocean Beach.

Somebody cut down the two young Torrey Pines that were planted a couple years back close to where the 90 year old Torreys were taken down in front of 4630 Saratoga Avenue. This had to happen Wednesday afternoon, January 3, in broad daylight.

One is still standing but not for long. It will suffer a slow death since the cut nearly completely girdles the tree — cutting off its vascular system along with its transport of water and nutrients.