Grassroots and Progressive views on local, national and world news

San Diego County Has Already Met State’s Housing Unit Mandate for Projected Population Growth Thru 2050

by Source on May 3, 2024 · 0 comments

in California, Ocean Beach, San Diego

By Richard T. Carlson/ Times of San Diego / April 30, 2024

Has San Diego County already built enough new housing to accommodate all the currently projected population growth through the year 2050?

This is a stunning question to ask given the frenzied rhetoric about needing to build large numbers of new units of every type, everywhere to deal with what is widely perceived as a massive housing shortage by politicians, housing advocacy groups, and the public.

But the answer, surprisingly, is “yes.”

A new demographic reality has become firmly established with each successive update of the 2050 population forecast for the county. The increase in population between 2010 and 2050 was originally forecast by SANDAG to be about 30% to almost 4.5 million people. But over time, the forecast for 2050 has steadily fallen as fertility rates continued to decline, increases in life expectancy stalled, and net migration into California turned negative starting in 2015.

UCSD Jewish Faculty and Students Stand in Solidarity with Campus Protest for Gaza, Now in 3rd Day

by Source on May 3, 2024 · 0 comments

in Education, San Diego, War and Peace

Students at UC San Diego have settled into their encampment of support for Palestinians in the Middle East, near the Geisel Library. And due to the protest, UC San Diego officials announced the cancellation of the annual Sun God Festival that was scheduled to take place on Saturday, May 4.

The UCSDivest Coalition is demanding a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war. Among the group’s other demands is a call for the university to divest from all of its Israeli financial interests.

“We won’t leave until our demands are met,” said Hala Abdullah, a senior at UC San Diego with extended family in the West Bank.

Meanwhile, Jewish Faculty and Students at UCSD just released a statement of solidarity with the campus protest.

‘Raising Cane’ Coming to the Midway

by Source on May 3, 2024 · 0 comments

in Ocean Beach

The eighth San Diego location of chicken tender restaurant chain Raising Cane’s is heading to San Diego’s Midway District.

A San Diego branch of Raising Canes’s is currently in the planning stages for the property on the corner of Camino Del Rio and Hancock Street where a Jack In The Box and Denny’s previously sat in the Midway District/Sports Arena area of San Diego’s Point Loma. Like other locations, the incoming restaurant will offer a concise menu centered around fresh-never-frozen, hand-dipped chicken fingers that are breaded and fried to order and available in combo platters and on sandwiches.

May 2024 Events from the Ocean Beach Green Center

by Source on May 3, 2024 · 0 comments

in Environment, Ocean Beach, San Diego, War and Peace

Every Saturday at 10:30 am. Climate Mobilization Coalition Meetings May 4th, 11th, 18th, and 25th. Keep up-to-date on climate issues and Climate Action events. To register email Jon Findley at jon@climatemobsd.org. More info: https://www.facebook.com/SDClimateMobilization/

Every Saturday 12 pm – 1 pm Peace Vigil for Palestine: Advocate for Peace and Justice in Gaza and Everywhere Join CODEPINK SD, San Diego Veterans for Peace, and Palestine Pals every Saturday at 12:00 pm on the plaza corner of Sunset Cliffs Blvd. and W. Point Loma Blvd., entry to Ocean Beach, San Diego. Wear pink and bring a peace-related poster if you have one! Contact: Nathanael · nathandw@riseup.net

May 1st to May 31st Bike Month 2024! Events by San Diego County Bike Coalition Bike Month is our favorite time of the year! For list of events and more info: https://sdbikecoalition.org/event/bike-month-2024/

May 3rd Friday 12 pm Emergency Protest Shut it Down for Palestine Event by Students for Justice in Palestine UCSD Sungod Lawn More info: https://www.instagram.com/p/C6XHu-iSSld/?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA%3D%3D

Michael Smolens: ‘A judge’s ruling and pushback from the Coastal Commission present challenge to market-rate development advocates’

by Source on May 3, 2024 · 9 comments

in California, Ocean Beach, San Diego

Editordude: This is an excellent summary of the very current trends in California and San Diego housing and a must-read.

By Michael Smolens / Columnist – San Diego Union-Tribune / May 3, 2024

In recent years, the Legislature has passed several laws to increase housing density across the state.

But a ruling by a Los Angeles County judge and pushback from the California Coastal Commission may slow that momentum.

Both developments highlight perhaps the most disputed notion in the politics of housing — that producing more market-rate housing will lower sale prices and rents.

That has been a key argument by many housing advocates over the years as home prices in California have soared and affordability has shrunk. But the contention that simply more supply will substantially change that has been challenged constantly.

Affordable housing was central to a ruling last week by Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Curtis Kin, who declared a law that could increase housing density in most neighborhoods was unconstitutional. The law approved in 2021 under Senate Bill 9 by state Sen. Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, allows lots zoned for single-family homes to be split, with duplexes on each parcel.

9 comments

The ‘Shell House’ in Point Loma Is No More

May 3, 2024 by Source

From CBS8/ April 29, 2024

A Point Loma landmark is now rubble. Seashells torn down from the front yard of a place locals called the “shell house”.

Manny Neves has lived behind the unique house with all the shells in the front yard off Rosecrans for years. He’s Portuguese like the fisherman who lived in the home and built a seashell garden, of sorts.

“Frank was the husband. He traveled. He was a fisherman. Wherever he went he would bring home shells,” Neves said.

Over the years we’re told Frank collected tens of thousands of shells and intricately set each one in concrete. The funky world of mollusks and clam shells has been featured in newspapers, magazines, and on sightseeing lists for years as one of the most unusual gardens in the country.

City Conducts ‘Survey’ on New Ocean Beach Pier Design But It’s a Waste of Time

April 30, 2024 by Source

COST TO BUILD??? COST TO MAINTAIN??? WTF???

By Geoff Page

For anyone who may not be aware, the City is conducting a fourth survey of opinions about a new OB pier. This survey followed the last public workshop the city held on Saturday, April 6 at Liberty Station.

So, imagine going to a car dealer who brings you out three cars to look at: a VW Bug, a Ford RAV, and a full sized, four-door, black BMW sedan, with no pricing on them, and being asked, which one you “preferred.” The BMW would be the winner for sure.

Then, the dealer shows you a list of fancy options and asks which ones you ‘prefer” and you go for heated seats of fine leather and other unnecessary niceties, with no pricing.

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Did You Know There’s a Free Shuttle to the Airport From the Old Town Transit Center?

April 30, 2024 by Source

Public Service Announcement

Ridership is surging on a free airport shuttle from the Old Town Transit Center, showing growing local demand for the more direct airport-transit connection that regional planners have been studying for years.

Despite no marketing campaign and minimal promotion, annual ridership rose by 73 percent on the shuttle from 2022 to 2023 — 75,680 passenger trips in 2022 versus 130,912 passenger trips in 2023.

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Belmont Park Upgrades … Again

April 29, 2024 by Staff

Last week, U-T writer Lori Weisberg did a lengthy piece about the new “overhaul” for Belmont Park that “could bring new rides and reinvented beachfront restaurant” to the hundred year old amusement park in Mission Beach. She recounted in glowing terms the new rides, new restaurants and attractions Belmont Park is –or will be getting once Coastal Com’ish authority is obtained.

It’s always been a challenge to lure those “sunbathers and passersby strolling the boardwalk to venture inside.” And every decade or so, owners of the park engage in a new overhaul with new upgrades, rides, bars and eateries.

Why it was just a decade ago — that Weisberg did another glowing report on the “new” Belmont Park back in September 2014

New Trail Opens at Cabrillo National Monument

April 29, 2024 by Source

by Joaquin Antique

After years of planning and one year of construction, a new hiking trail has opened at Cabrillo National Monument. Named “the Oceanside Trail”, it is an approximately 0.7 mile (one way) dirt and gravel pathway that leads from the whale watching overlook near the Old Lighthouse down a series of switchbacks and stairs to the start of the Coastal Trail near the Monument’s tidepools.

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Mass Arrests, Building Take-Overs, Clashes and Claims of ‘Outside Agitators’ Echo Height of Anti-Vietnam War Movement

May 1, 2024 by Frank Gormlie

1300 Arrests and Calls for National Guard to Deal with Palestinian Protests Echo May 1970 Rebellion and Kent State Murders

Whether I submit to it or not, because I’ve just finished writing a book about the height of the anti-Vietnam war movement over 50 years ago, I am now an expert on the era that brought us the Kent State massacre and the first national student strike of May of 1970.

The reports of up to 1300 arrests nation-wide of pro-Palestinian protesters, up to 2 dozen college campuses undergoing protests, numerous building take-overs and encampments, clashes between police and students, threats to bring in the National Guard and now claims of “outside agitators” — all echo what happened during the high-water mark of the decade long movement against the US wars in Southeast Asia. Now, our country is back at the doorstep of our own history.

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Judge Rules SB9 Is Unconstitutional

April 30, 2024 by Source

By Liam Dillon / LA Times – Yahoo News / Mon, April 29, 2024

A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge has ruled that a landmark law ending single-family-home-only zoning in California is unconstitutional, a decision that could lead to the law being invalidated in the state’s largest cities.

Judge Curtis Kin determined that Senate Bill 9 does not provide housing restricted for low-income residents and therefore cannot override state constitutional protections afforded to local zoning practices.

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Jellyfish-Like Blobs Washing Ashore in SoCal

April 30, 2024 by Source

by Amber Coakley / April 27, 2024

There’s some bizarre sea creatures washing ashore along the Southern California coastline. They can be described as jellyfish-like blobs that are shaped like oval discs. Known as Velella velellas, this marine species lives on the surface of the open ocean.

With other names like sea raft, purple sail, little sail and by-the-wind sailor, this sea creature has a “sail” rising vertically from the center of its bodies. Jessica Rodriguez, the education and communications manager at a popular whale watching tour agency in Newport Beach, California, said velella velellas are not always around.

The Port of San Diego Versus Assemblyman David Alvarez

April 30, 2024 by Source

By Greg Moran /inewsource / April 24, 2024

San Diego Port District commissioners dug in harder against a bill pending in the state Legislature that would require ethics and governance changes to the agency, saying they would support it so long as large sections were cut and several amendments included.

At a special meeting Monday afternoon the commissioners voted 6-1 to oppose AB 2783, a bill from San Diego Assemblymember David Alvarez, unless changes covering funding, ethics reform and governance of the board were adopted.

The Magic Gardens of Del Mar Avenue in Ocean Beach

April 30, 2024 by Source

Map: Arrests at University Protests Across U.S.

April 29, 2024 by Source

As pro-Palestinian protests have erupted on college campuses nationwide, protesters — including students and faculty — have been arrested. The protests grew after an encampment on the campus of Columbia University in New York City led to the arrest of more than 100 protesters on April 18.

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‘Bar-Food’: New Burger Joint in Ocean Beach

April 29, 2024 by Source

There’s a new burger joint in OB — Wow! Really? Aren’t there too many in OB already?

Well, this one is called “Bar-Food” and it’s different. It is open seven days a week from noon to 2 a.m and can be found at 5026 Newport Ave.

Here’s more why it’s different: “When you walk through the doors of this Ocean Beach burger joint, you’ll be swept away by a punk rock 90s vibe.”

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Justices Play a Game of Kick the Can

April 29, 2024 by Source

‘So What If the Sports Arena Is Designated Historic?’

April 29, 2024 by Source

By Jennifer van Grove / San Diego Union-Tribune / April 24, 2024

San Diego International Sports Arena, the imposing concrete venue in the Midway District and the longtime home of the San Diego Gulls, is worthy of special recognition ahead of its expected demolition. On Thursday, San Diego’s Historical Resources Board voted unanimously, with Chair Tim Hutter recused, to designate the 58-year-old sports arena as a historic resource.

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San Diego Police to Enforce Narrow Limits of San Diego’s Vehicle Habitation Ordinance

April 29, 2024 by Source

The San Diego City Council recently approved a nearly $3.2 million settlement in a federal lawsuit case, Michael Bloom, et al. v. City of San Diego, which challenged the existing Vehicle Habitation Ordinance. The settlement set new rules for how the City is allowed to enforce its ordinances against unhoused people who sleep in their vehicles or RVs during a three-year period.

VEHICLE HABITATION ORDINANCE

City Municipal Code Section 86.0137 prohibits the use of streets for storage, service, or sale of vehicles or for habitation stating: It is unlawful for any person to use a vehicle for human habitation on any street or public property, unless specifically authorized for such use by the city manager:

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Scripps’ Study of 2020 Red Tide IDs Low Oxygen as Major Factor in Mass Fish Die-Offs

April 25, 2024 by Source

By Brittany Hook / Scripps – UCSD / April 25, 2024

In the spring of 2020, a historic red tide event occurred in waters off Southern California. Driven by a bloom of the dinoflagellate Lingulodinium polyedra, this event brought nighttime displays of bioluminescence to beaches along the coast, from Baja California to Santa Barbara. While the bloom gained international attention for its stunning visual displays, it also had significant negative impacts, including mass mortality among fish and other marine organisms.

OB Lifeguard Fights to Keep Leg After Serious Injury Surfing in Nicaragua

April 25, 2024 by Source

By Chas Smith / Beach Grit / April 24, 2024

A San Diego lifeguard is back home after nearly losing his life while surfing Nicaragua. Todd Rice, 23, was in the Central American country enjoying a fine pulse of swell when a panga ran him over deeply cutting his leg. The hit nearly caused Rice to lose consciousness but he mustered the internal fortitude to fashion a tourniquet from his leash and control the bleeding until help arrived.

A Silence Regarding Arab and Jewish Students That Needs to be Broken

April 25, 2024 by Ernie McCray

by Ernie McCray

The war between Israelis and Palestinians is affecting Arab and Jewish students in our schools, requiring educators to tend to the learning and emotional needs of both groups of young people.

But many Arab students claim that they aren’t getting the amount of attention that their Jewish counterparts are receiving. These students took part in a focus group as part of a study conducted by a doctoral student who is from the local Arab American community.

Students say they’re feeling alone, unheard, extremely uncomfortable with the way the armed conflict in Gaza is discussed on their campuses.

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California Court Rules Against Pro-Density SB9

April 25, 2024 by Source

By Braden Cartwright / Daily Post -Palo Alto / April 24, 2024

Cities that are against state housing mandates have won their lawsuit against the state of California that challenged a controversial law allowing four homes on properties where only one home had been allowed before. The ruling means that Senate Bill 9 has been invalidated in charter cities, including Palo Alto, according to the lawyer who won the lawsuit.

“This is a monumental victory for all charter cities in California,” said attorney Pam Lee,

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SDG&E Unions Versus Public Power Advocates

April 25, 2024 by Source

by MacKenzie Elmer / Voice of San Diego / April 22, 2024

The ongoing war between public power proponents and San Diego Gas & Electric looked more like a battle between the municipalization advocates and union labor Thursday [April 18].

Each team’s respective poster-bearing players – with signs that read either “fire SG&E” or “municipalization is union busting” — took turns encumbering the live feed webcast of the City Council Rules Committee’s public comment period. But almost no one from a labor union spoke in favor of the proposed government takeover of the energy grid. Proponents had hoped the City Council would consider putting up a ballot measure and spare them the burden of collecting signatures.

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A View of San Diego’s Homeless ‘Solutions’ From Los Angeles — Mega Shelters and Camping Bans

April 25, 2024 by Source

By Ryan Fonseca / Los Angeles Times / April 24, 2024

‘Managing mode, not solutions mode’

San Diego’s mayor created a department in 2021 to find solutions to the homelessness crisis, signaling a new direction. It hasn’t made things better. The city’s homelessness count increased 35% from 2022 to 2023. Nearly half of the unsheltered people counted were considered chronically homeless.

Homeless deaths increased about 135% over five years, up to at least 624 last year, according to the San Diego County Medical Examiner’s office. For every 10 people who find housing in San Diego, 13 people become homeless for the first time, says a 2022 report by the Regional Task Force on Homelessness.

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Point Loma Garden Walk to Benefit Rady Children’s Hospital — Saturday, April 27

April 24, 2024 by Source

Point Loma’s Remarkable Rosecroft Gardens

April 24, 2024 by Source

By Eric Duvall / Pt Loma-OB Monthly / April 16, 2024

“See that big old tree,” Scotty Hunter would say as he regaled his cronies. “Teddy Roosevelt planted that tree.”

Quite a claim, you’ll agree. The fact that the great Afrocarpus gracilior, or African fern pine, stood in a shady section of Point Loma’s Wooded Area made that pronouncement even more remarkable.

Tall tale? The big tree certainly was tall. True story? Not really, no.

Earth Day 2024: ‘The War Against the Greens’ Is Expanding!

April 24, 2024 by Source

By David Helvarg / Daily Kos / April 22, 2024

The rightwing Heritage Foundation has written “Project 2025,” a plan for what it hopes will be a second Trump administration. The plan calls for rapidly expanding fossil fuel emissions and includes a chapter on opening up the Department of Interior’s lands to mineral mining and oil drilling written by Wise Use veteran, William Perry Pendley.

30 years ago, I wrote a widely-read book, ‘The War Against the Greens,’ describing how a “populist” backlash against environmental laws and violence against grassroots activists was ginned up by western public lands corporations seeking to defend their federal subsidies in mining, logging and cattle grazing.