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Donna Frye, the angel of San Diego’s environmentalists and eco-savy surfers, has come out and endorsed Bob Filner for San Diego mayor. Donna told Voice of San Diego that she is not running for the office. Frye’s endorsement should help Filner, as now the deck is cleared for him to run for the office as the only known Democrat.

Frye coming out for Bob raises another question that some are bold to ask:

Where are the other big-name Democrats and why haven’t they come out to endorse Filner?

People like former Member of Congress Lynn Schenk (she endorsed Bonnie early on), Assemblymembers Toni Atkins, Marty Block and Ben Hueso, as well as former Assemblymember Howard Wayne, and San Diego City Councilmember Todd Gloria?

by Liam Dillon / Voice of San Diego / November 4, 2011

Former San Diego City Councilwoman Donna Frye has definitively ruled out a run for mayor in 2012 and endorsed Democratic candidate Bob Filner.

By Roger Showley / SignOnSanDiego / November 1, 2011

The takeover of parks, plazas and other public spaces by the “Occupy Wall Street” movement is a good thing, said a panel of landscape architects on the future of cities Tuesday at the American Society of Landscape Architects convention meeting in San Diego.

“I am so thrilled that we have reclaimed these places as places of protest and how important they are,” said Maurice Cox, former mayor of Charlottesville, Va., who now teaches urban design at the University of Virginia.

Filner and several Congressional colleagues write President Obama to back off medical marijuana

By Christopher Cadelago / SignOnSanDiego / Originally published November 2, 2011

Rep. Bob Filner and several congressional colleagues are urging President Barack Obama to reclassify marijuana as a legitimate controlled substance for medicinal purposes under federal law.

By Lucas O’Connor / TwoCathedrals / November 2, 2011

It’s been a heady couple of weeks for OccupySD, indeed for the entire national Occupy effort. The dynamics of the movement and the importance of the issues being raised provide plenty to chew over for a long time yet, but even more immediately, its interactions with police have raised a number of questions that the public deserves answers to. None of these issues are raised with any presumption that the SDPD will be unable to provide a good explanation — I both expect and hope that they will. But that’s different than not caring if those answers are ever provided. It’s still necessary to raise these questions and require a meaningful process of accountability.

By Cecily Burt, Kristin Bender, Sean Maher, Thomas Peele / Oakland Tribune – MercuryNews.com / Nov. 2, 2011 – updated 09:29:24 AM PDT

OAKLAND — Occupy demonstrators turned their ire on big banks Wednesday by marching, blocking traffic and chanting — and in some cases, defacing ATMs and pounding on doors at Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Chase and Citibank branches around downtown.

Thousands of people from all walks of life poured into downtown Oakland from points east, north, south and west, with more heading in every minute to lend their support and their voices to the general strike, the first of its kind in Oakland since 1946. For a time large crowds split off in separate marches, with some staying at the Occupy Oakland camp at 14th and Broadway, and others marching and protesting at various banks located near the Kaiser Center at 20th and Webster streets.

A combination of police crackdowns and bad weather are testing the young Occupy movement. But rumors of its demise are premature, to say the least.

By Robert Reich / Christian Science Monitor / November 1, 2011

A combination of police crackdowns and bad weather are testing the young Occupy movement. But rumors of its demise are premature, to say the least. Although numbers are hard to come by, anecdotal evidence suggests the movement is growing.

As importantly, the movement has already changed the public debate in America.

By Desert Sun staff / November 1, 2011

PALM DESERT — At least eight people were arrested overnight as Palm Desert police cleared the park where Occupy Coachella Valley protesters camped for a week.

“I saw a brigade of cops; it was unbelievable,” said protester Steven Finger, 56, of Palm Desert. “They were in two rows wearing gear and they were marching down the street.”

Five protesters and two other people not involved with Occupy Coachella Valley were arrested at Civic Center Park, Riverside County sheriff’s Lt. Bill Sullivan wrote in an email to The Desert Sun about 1:30 a.m. A Desert Sun photographer saw two more protesters arrested about 15 minutes later.

by Lucas O’Connor / Two Cathedrals / October 31, 2011

Hypocrisy is a painfully familiar political topic in recent years, but this is a particularly stunning case. Congressman Brian Bilbray is co-sponsoring legislation that would boost the US economy and create jobs by demanding that China play by the same economic rules as the rest of the world — but using parliamentary tactics to block the House of Representatives from being allowed to hold a vote. That is, he signed himself up to help pass the bill, and is now blocking the passage of that bill. At the cost of new jobs — lots of them.

by Marco Gonzalez / Two Cathedrals / Originally published Oct. 28, 2011

I have to admit, I was pretty bummed when I received the text at 3 a.m. indicating the San Diego Police and County Sheriffs had thought it a good idea to put on the riot gear and beat up a bunch of sleeping Occupy SD activists at the Civic Center Plaza. Having seen the Third World-esque images of the Occupy Oakland raids earlier this week, I feared the worst. I also wondered if the same “public safety and hygiene” excuse used to justify tear gas and baton beatings in Oakland would be employed by our so-called public servants in America’s Finest City. At the same time, I hoped the strong-arm tactics in response to peaceful demonstration would ultimately backfire and spur earlier supporters back into the mix.

NBC San Diego / October 31, 2011

A local man whose body was found under the Ingraham Street Bridge was the victim of an accident according to officials.

A family sailing on Mission Bay discovered the body of Steve Marquez on Aug. 30. The San Diego resident had been missing for several days when his body was discovered according to his brother-in-law, Mark Jimenez.

By John Hoeffel / Los Angeles Times / Originally published October 29, 2011|

Medical marijuana advocates want a federal court to halt the recent raids and threats of prosecution that have significantly stepped up the Obama administration’s assault on dispensaries and growers.

Americans for Safe Access, an advocacy group based in Oakland, has sued U.S. Atty. Gen. Eric Holder and Melinda Haag, the top federal prosecutor in Northern California, accusing them of violating the Constitution’s 10th Amendment by using coercive tactics to interfere with powers delegated to the states.

By J. Harry Jones / SignOnSanDiego / Originally published October 28, 2011

The Los Coyotes Indian tribe can evict the military training center that has been operating on its remote North County reservation since last year, according to a ruling a federal judge issued Friday.

U.S. District Court Judge William Q. Hayes refused to grant a temporary restraining order against the tribe, which would have barred it from evicting ERTC LLC, formerly known as the Eagle Rock Training Center. The business, which caters to the military and law enforcement, insists it has a valid 25-year lease to conduct business on virtually the entire 25,000-acre North County reservation.