Category: California

The California Coastal Commission is meeting today, Wednesday, July 13, and will be deciding the fate of a new development in Ocean Beach that will demolish two cottages at the very end of Cape May Avenue.

Local OBceans are understandably concerned that coastal access will be negatively impacted and understand that the area does flood.

The problem is the Commission is meeting in Ft. Bragg in Northern California – and they’re meeting today. OB residents want folks, however, to participate in the meeting by remote testimony on Permit #6-20-0375 at 5162 Cape May Ave.

By Joseph Winters / Grist- Reader Supported News / July 5, 2022

California lawmakers declared a momentous victory against plastic pollution on Thursday when Governor Gavin Newsom approved a far-reaching bill to reduce plastic production, signing it into law just hours before a looming deadline.

The Plastic Pollution Producer Responsibility Act, widely considered the “strongest” plastic reduction policy in the nation, requires a 25 percent reduction of single-use plastic packaging and foodware — both by weight and by the number of items — within the next 10 years. The bill zoomed through the California Legislature this week, passing the state Assembly by 66 to 1 on Wednesday evening before clearing the Senate without opposition on Thursday morning.

By Colleen O’Connor

President Biden called for a three-month gas tax holiday from federal fees at the pump.

It not only landed with a thud, it couldn’t even pass muster with Speaker Pelosi. A puny 18-cent savings per gallon for a three-months comes to less than a $10-a-month savings (unless you are a diesel trucker).

And whatever happened to the $400 dollar gas cards for California residents that Governor Newsom proposed in his budget?

At least, it had some sense to it.

By Thomas Ultican / Tultican

California Assemblywomen Delaine Eastin wrote legislation creating the Financial Crisis Management and Assistance Team (FCMAT) in 1991. Her legislation was in response to the bankruptcy of the Richmond School District and requests for financial help from four other districts.

In 1992, Governor Pete Wilson signed the legislation into law and located FCMAT (pronounced Fick-Mat) under the auspices of the Kern County Superintendent of Schools. Since then, its power has grown and portfolio expanded with little oversight. Today, there is a burgeoning chorus of critics calling for reform or even termination.

By Joni Halpern

Perhaps people just want it on their resumé. Or maybe they want it written on their tombstone. Whatever the motivation, there seem to be innumerable candidates for public office whose qualifications are so sparse and potentially unsuitable that you hope and pray your fellow voters will take a hard look at them before voting.

Take the upcoming U.S. Senate race. You may not like Democrats as a general rule, or current U.S. Senator Alex Padilla in particular, but the guy is a bona fide graduate in engineering from MIT with a lot of experience in public policy. It appears that for some of the others on the long list of candidates for California’s contribution to the U.S. Senate, if they had one point of I.Q. less, they’d need watering. … Some of the candidates on that list seem like they haven’t worked in years,

By Colleen O’Connor

The Pope labeled yesterday, “The Easter of War” and “scandalous” they even exist in the midst of a pandemic.

Certainly, none as ugly, costly, insane and hard to comprehend as the Russian/ Ukraine war.

But, the domestic assaults on Senator Diane Feinstein rank right up there. Starting with her hometown paper, the San Francisco Chronicle, calls for her to resign from her Senate seat have gone viral. Seriously, what is the urgency to push DiFi to resign from her Senate seat?

By Colleen O’Connor

Did you feel the jolts? Hear the rumblings? And rush to grab your get-away bag?

If not, you must have slept through the last 24-hours.

This afternoon’s scheduled final vote confirming Ketanji Brown Jackson, as the first black woman and public defender ever to be a U.S. Supreme Court Justice, is its own earthquake.

Deeply felt in California and the rest of the county, the aftershocks will reverberate for eons. The “strike-dip” fault lines cleaving both the Republican and the Democratic parties are already apparent. Just watch the rumblings of the 2022 and 2024 election cycles.

But, California is experiencing yet another earthquake; oddities in any April, in any year.

With heartburn coming to San Diegans in every bill from SDG&E, and with the confirmation that for some reason San Diegans pay the highest electricity rates in the country, numerous questions have been raised about all of this. For instance.

Which San Diego city council members voted for the SDG&E contract for 10 years, a contract pushed by Mayor Todd Gloria?

If the California Public Utilities Commission approves and sets rates, just who are they?

And just how much do the execs of SDG&E and its owner Sempra make?

The answer to the first is quick and easy; San Diego City Councilmembers who voted for the contract with SDG&E were:

By Thomas Ultican / Tultican

Alameda County has designated Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) with a “lack of going concern” label. Translation: They are going broke and must follow orders to save their district. However, many Oakland citizens are not ready to genuflect; leaving school board members in a trap. Twenty years of billionaires financing attacks on Oakland’s public school system has created a toxic political environment.

In October 2021, the OUSD board voted to end its policy of permanently closing schools every year.

By Thomas Ultican / Tultican

San Francisco Mayor London Breed is leading a recall effort to replace three of the city’s seven school board members. Her neoliberal supporters would prefer to replace all seven but the four board members elected in the last election cannot be recalled. If they are successful, Mayor Breed will appoint the replacements. Along with board member Jenny Lam who Breed appointed previously, these new appointments would make four of the seven school board members Breed appointments rather than elected representatives.

Public Service Announcement: New Food Recycling Program Aims to Curb Waste, Help Environment

By Karen Austin / Peninsula Beacon / Jan. 16, 2022

The ringing in of 2022 has begun a new era of food waste recycling by residents and the increased sharing of edible food surpluses by certain food-related businesses.

California Senate Bill (SB) 1383 aims to reduce dangerous greenhouse gas emissions known to cause global warming and drastic weather conditions by reducing the amount of organic material going to landfills.

by Paul Armentano / Times of San Diego / Jan. 9, 2022

The majority of Californians in 2016 cast votes to displace the illicit cannabis market with a taxed and regulated marketplace — one that would be controlled by licensed businesses, not by criminal entrepreneurs.

Five years later, voters’ desire has yet to become a reality. And while many folks are quick to point fingers at Sacramento and the state’s high tax rates, in many cases, local elected officials are largely to blame. That’s because more than half of the state’s cities and counties prohibit the operation of licensed cannabis businesses.