Author: Source

By Rachel Becker, Kristen Hwang, Alejandro Lazo, Cayla Mihalovich, and Jeanne Huang / CalMatters / September 29, 2025

John Lauretig remembers the filthy bathrooms, the overflowing trash cans and the community of people who rallied to clean up Joshua Tree National Park the last time the U.S. Government shut down.

For more than a month from December 2018 through January 2019, thousands of National Park Service employees were furloughed nationwide — but the Trump administration kept many national parks open.

Unsupervised, visitors drove through wilderness and historic sites, camped where they weren’t supposed to, and vandalized plants and buildings at parks across California. The trash — and the feces — piled up. In the days after the shutdown ended, park staff found at least 1,665 clumps of toilet paper littering Death Valley alone, where an estimated half-ton of human waste had been left outside the restrooms.

“It was insane to leave the gates open and tell the staff not to show up in the park — for our public lands, and all of our special places in this country, to be unprotected,” said Lauretig, a retired law enforcement park ranger and president of the Friends of Joshua Tree nonprofit.

Now, facing the prospect of another imminent shutdown, conservation groups and retired park service employees including Lauretig are calling to keep the gates locked at national parks and historic landmarks.

They’re among many Californians bracing for the shutdown, which is expected to begin Wednesday unless Democrats and Republicans can make a deal by 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday.

By Jeff McDonald / The San Diego Union-Tribune / September 27, 2025

San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria has withdrawn his effort to declare three commercial parcels in Mission Bay Park surplus property, a declaration that would have opened them to developers.

But city officials have not given up on redeveloping the Marina Village conference center, the Dana Landing marina and the nearby Sportsmen’s Seafood restaurant.

Instead of employing the Surplus Land Act, which would require prioritizing affordable housing projects on the properties, San Diego officials are working with state housing officials, the Governor’s Office and at least one state lawmaker for exemptions to the law.

“We’re still waiting to hear back,” mayoral spokesperson Rachel Laing said by email.

The decision came two months after the City Council declined to approve a request to declare the Marina Village conference and banquet center, Dana Landing marina and Sportsmen’s Seafood restaurant surplus land.

Engardio’s Ouster Sends a Clear Message: Listen to Voters, Not Lobbyists

By Neighborhoods United SF / September 2025

Supervisor Joel Engardio’s recall wasn’t just about the Great Highway; it was about who our elected leaders represent.

The highway closure was the first salvo in a broader YIMBY lobbyist and tech billionaire agenda to force high-rises and redevelopment across San Francisco, starting with the Western and Northern portions of San Francisco.

Voters saw it for what it was: an utter disregard and betrayal by their elected officials in favor of the interests of big-money donors.

That same disregard now comes from Mayor Daniel Lurie. His reckless upzoning plan marches forward despite thousands of emails from residents and opposition from a broad coalition of organizations.

The progressive voice of Point Loma, OB and Loma Portal since 1954

Sep 28 – Monthly Meeting, Immigration & Prop 50
Sunday, September 28, 4:00-5:30PM, Pt Loma Assembly
Point Loma & OB Dems

Immigration

Cheri Attix, practicing Immigration Attorney for nearly 30 year and past San Diego Chapter President of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, will hold a Q&A session with no presentation, so members can drive the conversation.

Prop 50 — Learn more and volunteer

By Jeff Zevely / CBS8 / August 28, 2025

A San Diego man has completed a coast-to-coast journey on in-line roller skates, breaking a Guinness World Record in the process. Eric Balwin, a 32-year-old semi-professional roller hockey player, finished his 3,200-mile trip from the Atlantic Ocean to Ocean Beach, San Diego, on July 24th.

“It was a crazy idea, something that had never been accomplished in this fashion before, which is exactly why Eric Baldwin laced them up,” said CBS 8’s Jeff Zevely, a reporter covering the story.

Baldwin set off on his nationwide journey on May 24, accompanied by his girlfriend Clementine, who followed him on an e-bike. The pair encountered various challenges along the way, including a close encounter with black bears in the Appalachian Mountains.

By Michael Smolens / SD U-T / Sept. 21, 2025

The California Legislature recently passed another major bill to spur development in an effort to tame the cost of housing by boosting supply.

The concept behind Senate Bill 79, building high-rises around transit centers, is one that many people support, though the inclusion of nearby single-family home neighborhoods in the targeted areas has drawn unsurprising opposition. The bill, now on its way to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk, was also hotly disputed because it can override local zoning ordinances.

Another approach, however, should start getting the kind of attention these types of pro-development efforts have garnered for years: preserving existing lower-cost housing.

The city of San Diego is moving toward launching an innovative program to create a fund to purchase affordable apartments before they are turned into market-rate housing (and potentially out of reach for existing residents) or torn down to build more luxurious abodes.

This isn’t an either/or argument. Construction of new homes is needed across California in the appropriate places — an important point — and along transit corridors is one of them. The controversy tends to be over what constitutes a transit corridor.

By Eric Law / September 23, 2025

Everyone needs a place to live. We are bombarded with the idea that there are far too few houses, the available housing is very expensive, and we need to build a great deal more to drive prices down and availability up. Everyone agrees that housing affordability is a problem, even if they don’t agree on why.

But how much is enough? How many new dwellings do we need to build to get the housing market stable, where supply and demand reach an equilibrium?

The answer is surprisingly achievable and likely far less than the city, county and state assert.

Using data from the US Census Bureau’s 2024 American Community Survey and housing market measures from the economic analysis firm Moody’s, San Diego has a current shortfall of about 25,200 housing units. Using expected population growth figure from the state, San Diego needs to build about 42,600 units over the next decade to reach a housing market equilibrium on par with that across the remainder of the country.

While that may seem like a great deal of required building, it’s very achievable at a normal building pace. To place this requirement in context, San Diego issued over 9,000 residential building permits in 2023, many for multifamily dwellings with multiple units. This means that the city will reach a balanced housing market in 5 years at this building pace.

By Jennifer Van Grove / The San Diego Union-Tribune / September 22, 2025 

The comprehensive land-use plan behind the $3.9-billion Midway Rising project proposing to remake San Diego’s 49.2-acre sports arena site with thousands of apartments, a replacement arena and new shops is slated for its penultimate review.

Thursday, Sept. 25, the city of San Diego’s Planning Commission will weigh whether to recommend to City Council adoption of the Midway Rising Specific Plan, certification of the associated environment impact report and approval of a development agreement. City staff are recommending approval of the proposed actions, which also include a general plan amendment, community plan amendment and rezone to residential mixed-use.

The proposed changes would allow building heights that max out at 250 feet for a portion of the site and support a total of 4,254 residential units, or 2,088 more units than what is allowed under the existing community plan, according to agenda materials prepared for the Planning Commission.

The Planning Commission’s decision is expected to tee up final consideration of the land-use documents by City Council later this year.

Kelly Hessedal / CBS8 / September 19, 2025

Darwin, a python involved in the “Read to a Reptile” program at the Ocean Beach Library was found on Friday after disappearing two days ago.

“I was really getting very worried. I wasn’t sure we would get him back. I’m so happy to have him back!” said Librarian Camille Hyatt, Darwin’s owner.
The four foot long snake has been a popular draw to the library for the past two years. People stop in just to say hello to him.

Darwin disappeared Wednesday afternoon while Camille was on her lunch break. She returned to find his glass enclosure empty, It was locked, just the way she had left it, but Darwin was not inside. Camille had left the key on top. She admits she had been too trusting.

“At first I thought maybe he had got out, I panicked for sure,” she said. “He’s never even tried to get out before. I figured out pretty quickly he wouldn’t have gotten out. I rushed off to my co-workers who also love him. We were looking everywhere, all over the library, just in case. But we figured somebody must have taken him.”

From Mission Hills Heritage

Mission Hills Heritage (MHH) is beyond pleased to present its 18th Annual Historic Home Tour, featuring for the first time ever a gala soiree the evening before the tour to kick off the festivities, to be held on September 26th and 27th, respectively. This year’s theme is Spanish Architectural Styles of Mission Hills, which has not been featured on the home tour collectively as a style in over 10 years, and the gala event, “A Night in España,” appropriately follows suit.

“We really wanted to bring our members and the community a special event, beyond our typical wine and cheese party, something that feels magical,” says gala steering committee and board member Jennifer Machian.

To make this fundraiser a reality, MHH has partnered with Lewis & Fay, a beloved gourmet grocery and specialty gift shop on West Lewis Street, known for their culinary centered experiences with locally inspired gatherings. MHH is also thrilled to welcome the chef collective from Oliver & Rose— featuring Adriana Sanchez, Isabel Cruz, and Tami Ratliffe— who will bring their talents to create a truly one-of-a-kind Spanish themed evening.

One of the leaders of the group, Protect Point Loma, released this statement:

Our group has continued to stay busy, vigilant and also attending other coalition meetings in other neighborhoods while also carrying the torch to the finish line.

We are getting to the final steps of filing a lawsuit against the city for 1004 Rosecrans.