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From UC Neighbors for Responsible Growth, aka UC PEEPS

Disappointing but not surprising, the San Diego Planning Commission passed the University Community Plan Update 4-0 last Thursday, May 31, with two members absent, despite extensive opposition, the absence of a final Program EIR, a rushed approval process, and hearing three major land use proposals all on the same day.

The Commissioners chose to ignore the many strong points made about the flaws and consequences of the Plan Update,

From Gianni Buonomo Vintners / June 2, 2024

It’s bittersweet to say good bye to the community that got in on the ground floor to support us. Few gave us much chance to survive on the beer soaked Avenue called Newport. Thanks to you we not only survived, but we flourished.

Good bye Ocean Beach. Thank you very much.

Over the next six weeks Gianni Buonomo Vintners will be moving from the place we’ve called home for the past nine years.

The lease on our building is up for renewal on July 31. The landlord is raising rent 20%. That kind of increase is too great for a small, community based winery to manage.

By Miranda Ceja / Patch San Diego / June 2, 2024

Despite fears of sharks swimming close to California beaches, shark experts say the apex predators of the ocean are unlikely to bite. Still, it has happened.

Last year, a total of 2 people were injured — and one man died — in unprovoked attacks in the waters off California, according to the University of Florida’s International Shark File, a scientific database of global shark attacks.

There were 36 shark attacks in U.S. waters last year, more than half of the 69 bites reported worldwide. More recently, a Southern California beach was shut down during a busy Memorial Day weekend after an “aggressive” shark knocked a surfer from his board.

By Phil Diehl / Del Mar Times / June 3, 2024

Nurdles are everywhere. Never heard of them? They are the raw form of plastic resin that’s melted and molded into everything from soda bottles to clothing fabrics, from food packaging to artificial Christmas trees.

However, two local environmental groups say a frightening amount of the pellets skip the useful product stage and are turning up on San Diego County beaches and in its lagoons, part of the rising tide of worldwide plastic pollution.

Nurdles are tiny, petroleum-based lumps about the size and shape of a lentil.

By Cooper Gegan/ The Inertia / June 3, 2024

A newly published study has identified a fungus living in the sea that can break down plastic. The marine microbe, called Parengyodontium album was found on plastic debris floating in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. When scientists later isolated the fungus in a laboratory, they found it was capable of breaking down the plastic polyethylene after it had first been exposed to UV radiation from sunlight.

The discovery was made by marine microbiologists

Our friends at the Peninsula News have been following the story about replacement trees for all the dead Palms at NTC Park. Here’s their latest

Three people were temporarily displaced after an apartment caught fire in the Ocean Beach neighborhood Sunday, June 2. Fire crews responded to the scene at 4835 Orchard Avenue after a 911 call came in reporting a structure fire around 6:40 a.m.

Residents of the complex were seen gathered outside the building as firefighters assessed the situation.

Battalion Chief Mark Reece said, “Crews arrived to find smoke and fire from the first floor of a two-story apartment complex. Crews attacked the fire, containing it to just one room but they also — during this fire attack — discovered a possible grow facility, a marijuana grow, in the room.”

KPBS/ June 3, 2024

A rolling strike by unionized academic workers upset about the University of California’s response to pro-Palestinian protests at various campuses will spread to three more campuses this week, including UC San Diego Monday, June 3.

According United Auto Workers Local 4811, workers will hit the picket lines Monday morning at UC San Diego and UC Santa Barbara, with UC Irvine workers joining the lines Wednesday.

From Mexico News Daily

[Edited slighted at beginning for clarification. Article originally published Sept. 2023]

Claudia Sheinbaum, the new President of Mexico, was the former Mexico City mayor (2018-23), who will also represent the Labor Party and the Ecological Green Party of Mexico, will face off against the Broad Front for Mexico’s Xóchitl Gálvez at the June 2, 2024 election. Senator Gálvez was officially designated as the three-party opposition alliance’s “coordinator” just over a week ago.

Sheinbaum – a physicist and environmental scientist who was environment minister in Mexico City when Andrés Manuel López Obrador was mayor in the early 2000s – recently spoke with Expansión Política, the politics site of the Expansión news organization, and expressed views on a range of issues she will face if elected as Mexico’s first female president next June.

In an unprecedented move, Del Mar Lifeguards have closed beaches for swimming and surfing after a shark attack at 9 a.m. Sunday, June 2, about 100 yards offshore. In all my years of surfing and boogie boarding, have never heard of beaches being closed in Del Mar due to sharks. They will remain closed until 9 am on Tuesday, June 4.

From the Del Mar Times:

The 46-year-old male victim was transported by ambulance to Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla with injuries that are significant but not believed to be life-threatening. The injuries included bites to the torso, left arm and hand.

Mexican voters on Sunday elected Claudia Sheinbaum

From Washington Post / June 3, 2024

MEXICO CITY — Mexico is famous for its macho culture. Women here didn’t win the right to vote for president until 1953 — three decades after their U.S. counterparts. As recently as nine years ago, there wasn’t a single female state governor.

Yet Mexico has just elected its first female president, Claudia Sheinbaum,

Every Saturday at 10:30 am. Climate Mobilization Coalition Meetings June  8th, 15th, 22nd, and 29th 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 in OB: 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 · ob4peace@riseup.net  More info:  https://www.instagram.com/codepinksd/

San Diego Fix It Clinics June 8th Carlsbad, June 15th La Mesa and June 29th Chula Vista .

June 4th Tuesday 10 am – 11 am Tour of SDSU Mission Valley River Park Event by San Diego Green Building Council