Author: Source

Jonesborough resident Jim Stevens admits he’s not a particularly religious person, but even he is awed by what he has seen nearly every morning for the last couple of weeks on the driver’s side window of his Isuzu pickup truck.

It was two weeks ago today that an image, resembling the face of Jesus, made its first appearance on the window.

Washington : After nearly a month of gridlock, the Senate voted unanimously to extend unemployment benefits for some 1.3 million jobless Americans expected to lose benefits by the end of the year.

If, as expected, the House adopts the Senate version of the bill, it means workers in all states will be eligible for an additional 14 weeks of federal unemployment benefits. In states with unemployment rates higher than 8.5 percent, workers will be able to extend their federal unemployment benefits a further six weeks.

by Gail Madsen

Who else is tired of our public officials ignoring our best interests, cutting our services, going forward with their pet projects regardless of cost and our current finances and expecting us to obligingly pick up the tab?

Well, thanks to Proposition 218; (yes, one of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association propositions); we have a chance to fight the water increase planned for November 17th.

From what I understand, the reason for the rate hike is because we have done such a good job of cutting back on our water consumption; the city is trying to make up for the loss in revenue.

by Cindi Guilbert

I am an Ocean Beach Restaurant Walk newbie. There, I said it. When I first caught mention of Restaurant Walk in a post on OB Rag, I wanted to know more. What’s the story behind the bus? What bands will I see? Which food businesses and bars are participating this year?

I needed to know EVERYTHING that is Restaurant Walk the way Nancy Drew needs a whodunnit. I asked when to expect to see a blog about this event, and a few emails later, found myself offering to dish on the details of one of OB’s best kept secrets…

“Is there anything scarier than thinking you might need medical care, and getting canceled by a health insurance corporation who spent your premiums on TV ads and lobbying?” asks San Diegan Mike Copass, co-organizer of a 45-hour haunt of Blue Shield’s office at 2275 Rio Bonito Way in Mission Valley.

The actions are part of a national groundswell of civil disobedience at health insurance company offices by people seeking to end insurance abuse and win health care for all. So far, 115 people have been arrested in 18 cities demanding “real health care reform that treats health care like a human right, not a commodity,” according to a press release issued by event organizers.

Here are a few birthday greetings from Dickie Magidoff, Wireless Mike and Doug Porter. Let’s start with:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY OB RAG!

By Doug Porter

I started contributing to the OB Rag blog towards the end of its first year. Having returned to San Diego after thirty some odd years as a hospitality manager, it took a little while for me to find my “voice”. This is, as you may have heard, an all volunteer effort, so finding your passion has to come from the inside.

by Dave Maass / San Diego CityBeat

For nearly 30 years after the end of World War II, the U.S. Navy engaged in a practice one might call “truck fondue.”

At Mole Pier, a section of the Navy’s Broadway Complex, Naval personnel hosed down trucks and heavy machinery with diesel fuel, then dunked them in Paleta Creek, a tributary of San Diego Bay. The Navy sprayed, burned or buried an estimated 500,000 gallons of fuel during that period.

Editor: Way back in the Sixties, then-Mayor Frank Curran – before he was sent to prison for his involvement in the Yellow Cab scandal – proposed building a floating airport for San Diego off the southern tip of Point Loma. Well, the idea has resurfaced but this time off the shore of Ocean Beach. Is OB ready for its own airport? Hell, we can’t even deal with a marshmellow fight! Then we’d really need new public restrooms at the lifeguard tower.

by Jebediah Reed / The Infrastructurist / October 22n, 2009

San Diego desperately needs a new airport. It has needed one for years. The existing facility, San Diego International, is crowded onto a puny 675 acre parcel.

by East County Magazine

On October 14, Southwestern College District Governing Board approved cancellation of its agreement with Xe . The agreement allowed the college’s law enforcement students to use a training facility in Otay Mesa operated by Xe Systems LLC, the company formerly known as Blackwater. Blackwater, which gained notoriety for its activities in Iraq, was also the center of controversy in East County, where the company sought to open a private military training base at Potrero but withdrew following massive public opposition.

The San Diego River Park Foundation says it expects to reach a milestone at a river clean-up event Saturday. The group estimates it’s removed one million pounds of trash from the San Diego River over the past four years.

Volunteers with the San Diego River Park Foundation now spend 30 weekends a year removing garbage along the river from Santee to the river mouth at Ocean Beach.

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration will not seek to arrest medical marijuana users and suppliers as long as they conform to state laws, under new policy guidelines to be sent to federal prosecutors Monday.

Two Justice Department officials described the new policy to The Associated Press, saying prosecutors will be told it is not a good use of their time to arrest people who use or provide medical marijuana in strict compliance with state laws.

By Javier Morales / WILDABOUTAZCATS.COM

The single-game scoring record of 46 points set by Ernie McCray happened well before anybody affiliated with the present University of Arizona basketball team was alive … The accomplishment on Feb. 6, 1960, also occurred before any of the future NBA players Lute Olson showcased were born.

[Editor: for UA or basketball fans, go to the link inside for more details.}