Category: California

It is not often that I venture away from the Ocean Beach/Pt. Loma and write an article about it. But my widow support group, me included, had such a wonderful experience at the Maritime Museum yesterday morning that I have to share it with you.

Once a week my group gets together and does something “for us.” It may be going out to lunch, either at someone’s home or to a restaurant. We have been to movies; shopping; walks, etc. and today we did something new. We went to the BERKELEY to see the art exhibit of Cook, Melville and Gauguin courtest of the Kelton Foundation.

By William Gagan / Special to the OB Rag

A parade that was originally founded by a group of social and economic magnates in the late 1800’s, was for the first time in history, occupied by protesters speaking out against large corporations and big banks early Monday. They were members of local Occupy Wall Street groups from southern California and neighboring states. Some even came from as far away as New York and Atlanta.

They came together to form what was a sizable but inspiring tail section to the notorious Rose Bowl Parade. The goal behind joining the parade was to bring the Occupy Wall Street movement cause to almost 40 million television viewers nationally. The City of Pasadena had negotiated with organizers of the event to allow them to march behind the last float in the parade.

San Diego Events Set to Commemorate Historic Struggle That Resonates Today With Clamp-down on the Occupy San Diego Movement

From San Diego Free Speech Fight

January 2012 is the 100-year anniversary of the San Diego Free Speech Fight, one of the most important moments in the history of the city of San Diego.

During the winter and spring of 1912, members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and their allies in labor and the community engaged in a pitched battle against a city ordinance that banned public speaking in the area around 5th and E Streets in downtown San Diego.

Editor: With this California Supreme Court ruling, San Diego’s ruling elites find that they now have to come up with a different revenue source to fund any downtown stadium for the Chargers other than public redevelopment monies. Check out long-time San Diego architectural expert and observer Roger Showley’s latest piece (Showley: Point Loma High Class of 1966).

By Roger Showley / SignOnSanDiego / December 29, 2011

The California Supreme Court ruled Thursday against redevelopment agencies, including San Diego’s, and said they cannot remain in business by paying the state a portion of their property tax receipts.

The ruling, affecting some 400 redevelopment agencies statewide, throws into doubt many projects, including the proposed Chargers Stadium downtown and the Padres’ minor league baseball stadium in Escondido.

By Miriam Raftery / East County Magazine / December 27, 2011

Starting January 1, new California laws take effect. Some give new protections to the public. Buying a used car? You now have a right to know its history. The government can’t snoop into your online reading habits. Your employer can’t peek at your credit report, in most cases. New laws also benefit pregnant employees, organ donors, renters, domestic partners, and bullied gay students.

Other laws impose restrictions. Want to buy popular cough syrups? You’ll need a prescription. If you order items online, you’ll be charged state sales tax. Shark fin soup and beer spiked with caffeine are banned. Employers have new requirements for notifying employees about pay and more. Kids must ride in a booster seat until age 8. Openly carrying a handgun is illegal, even if it isn’t loaded.

By Steven Cuevas / KPCC /Dec. 16, 2011

Occupy protests have spread to nearly 150 locations equally distributed between Northern and Southern California. Researchers at UC Riverside used social media sites like Facebook to track the movement’s growth from large urban centers to remote mountain towns.

Sociology professor Christopher Chase-Dunn and graduate student Michaela Curran-Strange manned the study, which has traced the Occupy movement to some far-flung locations.

By Dave Rice / The San Diego Reader / Dec. 17, 2011

Southern California Gas Company employees rallied across the state yesterday to protest a proposed labor agreement brought forth by the company’s parent, San Diego-based Sempra Energy. Picketing took place at Sempra facilities in Los Angeles, Anaheim, Compton, Visalia and Redlands.

Sempra employees with the Utility Workers Union of America and the International Chemical Workers Union have been without a contract since the previous agreement expired on November 1. Members say they have rejected the “last, best and final offer” made by the utility, according to the San Gabriel Valley Tribune.

A lot is going on with Occupy San Diego.

Occupiers Plans To “Re-Occupy” Freedom Plaza Starting Saturday December 17th

First, a group of the occupiers are planning to re-occupy “Freedom Plaza” – the name given to the Civic Center Plaza by demonstrators – on Saturday, December 17th. They believe they have a right to sleep in public space, and declare:

“Therefore we’re lawfully re-occupying Freedom Plaza.”

Murrieta House Occupied to Foreclose Foreclosure

By Mirna Alfonso / Murrieta Patch / Dec. 15, 2011

A disabled and bedridden schoolteacher Lesliane Bouchard, is in danger of being evicted. She vowed not to leave her home at 40734 Mountain Pride Drive in Murrieta.

By Alison St John / KPBS / December 13, 2011

One of many questions raised at the Energy Commission hearing was whether the power generated by the new air-cooled plant would even be used in San Diego. NRG owns the decades-old Encina power plant with the tall chimney on Carlsbad’s coastline. The company wants to build an air cooled plant next to it on the lagoon. But it has no agreement to provide that energy to SDG &E, making people wonder if the power is for LA.

By Aaron Bady / guardian.co.uk /December 13, 2011

On my way to the Occupy the port action this morning, I stopped by Oscar Grant Plaza, the tiny patch of lawn in front of Oakland’s city hall where – until the city evicted them for the second time on 14 November – Occupy Oakland’s tents, kitchen, library, and meeting place had stood. Now it’s little more than a muddy swamp. The city’s sprinklers run overtime to keep the soil saturated with water, so that no more tents can be put up. It’s cheaper than paying police to evict the occupiers. Easier just to leave the water on all night and turn the space into a mud pit.

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 12, 2011 — We are the front-line workers who haul container rigs full of imported and exported goods to and from the docks and warehouses every day.

We have been elected by committees of our co-workers at the Ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach, Oakland, Seattle and Tacoma to tell our collective story. We have accepted the honor to speak up for our brothers and sisters about our working conditions despite the risk of retaliation we face. One of us is a mother, the rest of us fathers. Between the four of us we have six children and one more baby on the way. We have a combined 31 years of experience driving cargo from our shores for America’s stores.

UPDATES 5:44 PM – Big Ed Schultz of msnbc mentions the West Coast ports shut down, while highlighting east coast…