Month: July 2025

County Planning Staff is Recommending the Project be Rejected

Following a nearly seven year process, including members of the public signing thousands of opposition petitions, expressing concerns at a dozen public meetings, and sending hundreds of letters detailing the many significant safety, environmental, and community impacts, the controversial Cottonwood Sand Mine proposal is now scheduled to be heard by the San Diego County Planning Commission at 9 a.m this Wednesday, July 9, 2025.

This was rescheduled from a month prior, when last minute technical difficulties forced the meeting’s cancelation.

The County’s Department of Planning & Development Services (PDS) has released its report and is recommending the project application be denied, noting that the significant legal findings required for a Major Use Permit cannot be made.

Surfrider San Diego has come up with their report on the amount of trash collected on July 5th — making it “America’s dirtiest beach day of the year” as after the fireworks and celebrations fade and the crowds go home, our beaches are left covered in trash.

They reported:

On Saturday morning, 866 volunteers gathered along the coast on Saturday morning to assist with the Surfrider Foundation San Diego’s 19th Annual “Morning After Mess” beach cleanup series — a post-Fourth of July effort to tackle the trash left behind after the holiday. In three hours, volunteers removed more than 2,617 pounds of trash, preventing it from ending up in our ocean and contributing to the growing pollution crisis impacting marine ecosystems.

PEZZI DEL MIO CUORE
3944 W. Pt. Loma Avenue
San Diego, CA 92110
619-255-2521

By Judi Curry

It has been some time since I have gone to a new restaurant with the purpose of critiquing it, but several people have contacted me about this restaurant with so many nice things to say about it I decided to give it a try. I called Steve and asked him if he would like to join me and he said “yes”.   And I am so glad that we did.

The restaurant is owned by a family that lives in San Diego.  I spoke to both the son and daughter and found out that he went to La Jolla High School and that his father is the chef.  The menu is very extensive and I thought they might be related to another Italian family that has restaurants in San Diego but they are not. In short, the food is excellent in this place.

First of all I want to clarify where it is located because I had some “difficulty” in locating it.  It is behind Grocery Outlet on West Point Loma.  I was told it was near CVS but it is not so don’t give up.  It is to the “el” of the parking lot.  There is one restaurant directly behind Grocery Outlet and this restaurant is next door to that.  There are many tables set outside, with one of the cutest bottle holders on the tables there.  There is parking in front of the restaurant and along the side of the parking lot.

Vice President JD Vance was met with a chorus of vigorous boos and jeers as his motorcade departed a University Heights sushi restaurant over the Fourth of July weekend.

A crowd of protesters gathered outside Soichi Sushi on Adams Avenue Sunday, July 6 to show contempt for the vice president and criticize recent policy decisions.

“I hope your Michelin-star sushi was worth it with 82 people dead in Texas. Thanks for cutting the National Weather Service,” one protester shouted.

Videos posted online show Vance’s motorcade being escorted out of the neighborhood by police as demonstrators lined the sidewalk, some flipping the bird.

From Fox11 Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES – A sudden federal enforcement action in MacArthur Park ended without a single arrest — but not without impact. Armored vehicles, mounted officers, and heavily armed agents arrived in the middle of the day, disrupting the normal life of one of Los Angeles’ most diverse public spaces. What followed was a moment of visible leadership, as Mayor Karen Bass confronted the operation in person and called for it to end — a demand federal agents appeared to honor shortly after.

On July 7, a large contingent of federal agents, armored trucks, and mounted officers arrived at MacArthur Park in what appeared to be an ICE enforcement sweep. SkyFOX was overhead during the operation and did not observe anyone taken into custody. FOX 11 has confirmed that no arrests were made.

Midway through the activity, Mayor Karen Bass arrived on scene and questioned the agents directly. A conversation with a representative identified on the scene as the “Head of Customs” led to a phone call in which Bass asked, “So they’ve stopped that? They’ve completed their mission here? What’s the timeframe before they leave?”

Soon after, the agents began pulling out. The show of force quickly dissipated, with federal vehicles departing the area and no visible enforcement action taken.

‘This is unacceptable’

Mayor Bass made her position clear in a statement to FOX 11: “They need to leave — and they need to leave right now. This is unacceptable.”

By Lisa Mortensen

After reading the article about a ‘rehashed’ real estate deal on 101 Ash Street, I had concerns. Having been a San Diego Realtor for close to 50 years, from a real estate professional’s point of view, here are my list of red flags.

A 4% interest rate on a 55-year loan term without receiving payments on the loan for 15 years?   While current residential home interest rates for a 30-year mortgage with 20% down are hovering around high 6% low 7% range, this 4% rate appears extremely low based on ‘risk assessment’ of a 55-year loan.

The developer will once again ‘pocket’ $24.5 million in developer fees.  This is a similar situation to the $24 million credit arrangement on developer fees that Todd Gloria gave Bosa Development for a ½ acre open space parcel.  A spit of land that, let’s be clear, should have been donated.  So, if the city approves this deal, then basically close to $50 million dollars of developer fees are being waived which will greatly benefit these developers.  $50 million that could be used toward much needed infrastructure maintenance and upgrades for our city.

Editordude: The following two posts are on the new City of San Diego plan to turn 101 Ash Street into low-income housing. The first one is a comment on a July 2 U-T article on the plan by reporter Jennifer van Grove by Paul Krueger, a writer for the Rag. The second (below) is by Lisa Mortensen. 

By Paul Krueger

It’s a huge understatement to say there are “warning signs” about a new proposal to convert the asbesto-ridden 101 Ash Street high-rise into low-income housing.

And a City Council committee’s decision to move forward with the plan could pave the way for yet another financial fiasco tied to this Frankenstein property in the shadow of City Hall.

A private development team proposes to transform the vacant, scandal-plagued office building into 247 apartments for residents who make no more than 80 percent of area media income. The proposal also includes three units for managers, retail space, and a child care center.

The director of the city’s Economic Development Department told council committee members last week that the proposal “does just want the city needs in a time of crisis: big, bold ideas and a tenacity to re-envision a vacant, underperforming skyscraper into an exciting adaptive reuse conversion.”

But this initial proposal cries out for more detail, and taxpayers should demand that it be subject to a thorough review by an outside, independent real estate expert.

The obvious warning signs include:

By Intellinews – MSN 

A major ocean current in the Southern Hemisphere has reversed direction for the first time in recorded history, in what climatologists are calling a “catastrophic” tipping point in the global climate system.

The development, which was confirmed by Spanish marine scientists at El Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC) in Barcelona, has triggered widespread alarm among climate scientists due to its potential to accelerate global warming and destabilise weather patterns worldwide.

“The stunning reversal of ocean circulation in the Southern Hemisphere confirms the global climate system has entered a catastrophic phase,” said climatologist Ben See in a post on social media.

The collapse involves the deep overturning circulation in the South Atlantic — part of the global conveyor belt of ocean currents — which typically pulls cold, nutrient-rich water up from the ocean floor and drives planetary heat distribution.

by Debbie L. Sklar / Times of San Diego / July 1, 2025

Some things are meant to be saved.

By the mid-1970s, Belmont Park — the iconic amusement park in Mission Beach — was at a crossroads. Once a bustling destination filled with laughter and rides, the park faced closure amid competing economic interests and shifting city politics. Despite its nostalgic charm and community value, Belmont Park was threatened with demolition, its future uncertain.

Contrary to some beliefs, the park’s closure in 1976 wasn’t due to neglect or safety issues. No, Belmont Park was still in remarkably good shape, with clean facilities, freshly painted attractions and attentive staff. The real culprits were complicated parking disputes and lease politics that ultimately forced the park to close.

The land — a prime stretch of beachfront real estate — quickly attracted developers keen to replace the historic amusement park with condos and commercial projects. City officials and business leaders leaned toward clearing the old structures, including the beloved wooden roller coaster, to pave the way for new ventures.

But a determined band of locals refused to let Belmont Park fade into history.

By OB Rag Staff / July 7, 2025

A City of San Diego Parks and Recreation Department manager is facing federal charges of attempting to smuggle fentanyl and cocaine across the U.S.-Mexico border.

Juan Nazario Lizarraga Peralta was arrested May 13 and charged with importation of a controlled substance. According to a May 16 press release from the U.S. Attorney’s office, Lizarraga, a U.S. citizen, “was attempting to cross the San Ysidro Port of Entry after Customs and Border Patrol agents found seven pounds of fentanyl and 11 pounds of cocaine strapped to his body.”

Hillcrest, San Diego

ESCONDIDO,

ESCONDIDO, A coalition of North County San Diego organizations will host a pro-democracy, pro-community rally on Friday, July 4th at 10:00 AM Pacific to reaffirm the value of the immigrant community in Escondido and their rightful place in America.

The rally, organized by Indivisible North County San Diego, We the People, and 50501 North County San Diego, will take place at the corner of E Valley Parkway and Ash Street in Escondido (e.g. 1201 E Valley Pkwy, Escondido, CA 92027).

by Mike Russo / Catalyst California – Times of San Diego / July 3, 2025

For a lot of us, this Fourth of July feels impossible to celebrate.

It’s always been complicated. The soaring ideals etched into America’s founding documents have too often come with a silent asterisk, a quiet caveat that “liberty and justice for all” didn’t really mean ALL. Generations of Black, Indigenous, immigrant and other marginalized Americans have carried that contradiction, living with both the broken promises and the undeniable contributions they have made to this country.

But this year, the gap between America’s professed values and lived reality feels more like a chasm.

Across the country, we are watching scenes that belong to an authoritarian state, not a democracy.

Masked men operating under the color of law are snatching our immigrant neighbors off the streets.

Our Supreme Court ignores executive overreach and overturns rulings that protect our rights, in seeming determination to crown the president a king.

California’s own National Guard is under federal control, with active-duty troops deployed to intimidate peaceful protesters.

Congress, by the narrowest margin, just authorized a spending bill that funds border detention camps, guts health care and lines the pockets of oligarchs and regime cronies.