Category: California

All three of the planning boards that make up the Point Loma planning areas have their annual elections coming up in March.

The Ocean Beach Planning Board holds its election on Wednesday, March 15th, the Peninsula Community Planners hold theirs on March 16th, and the election for the Midway – Pacific Hwy Planning Group will also take place March 15th.

Here are details for the various planning committee elections:

San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer and Councilwoman Lori Zapf were in Ocean Beach last week promoting the two new electric vehicle charging stations installed in the Life Guard parking lot. Both politicos feel that with the City’s surge in offering stations to the public – now up to 68 – shows that San Diego is becoming a municipal leader in dealing with climate change.

“Move over Portland, San Diego is growing greener and we’re growing smarter,” Zapf said, as it has been reported than there are currently an estimated 13,000 electric vehicles on the road in San Diego.

In an upfront effort to replicate the effort by folks up in Ocean Beach of San Francisco to spell out the word “RESIST”, locals are now organizing a similar move here in Ocean Beach, San Diego.

In a definite move to up the ante, San Diegans want to spell out the word “IMPEACH” on the beach just north of the OB Pier on Saturday, March 4th.

The plan is to march up the beach from Dog Beach and in a ‘putting your body where your mouth is’ kind of thing, spell out in hundred foot letters the word “Impeach”.

Thousands of protesters gathered on San Francisco’s Ocean Beach on Saturday, using their bodies to send a political message. To spectators on the beach, the purpose of the protest may have seemed unclear.

But from the sky, there was no question. Thousands of people spelled out “RESIST!!” on the sand.

Organizer Brad Newsham wrote on Facebook that “a close study of a high-resolution overhead shot shows between 4,600 and 5,600 participants.”

From East County Today

California State Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher (D-San Diego) announced on Feb. 3rd a push for more affordable overnight accommodations along the California coast to help ensure that the state’s iconic beaches and shores are affordable and accessible for low- and middle-income residents to visit.

Under Assembly Bill 250, which the Assemblywoman introduced last week, the state agency in charge of preserving the Golden State’s 840 miles of coastline would be required to develop a Low Cost Overnight Accommodations Program in an effort to reverse a troubling trend in which visiting on the coast has become prohibitively expensive for many Californians.

Tenants Are Encouraged to Run as Candidates for Board

Every year community planning boards and committees around the city hold their annual elections – most of them – in March.

And the Ocean Beach Planning Board is no different. The annual election to the panel of OB volunteers who make recommendations about projects that come before it to the city is being held Wednesday, March 15th. The balloting takes place inside the OB Recreation Center.

Any tenant, resident, property owner or business owner in Ocean Beach can take part in the election.

Importantly, everyone from these categories can also be a candidate for one of the seats on the 14-member Board.

So, if interested, check the district map for the district of your residence or business or property. At least one seat in each of the 7 districts is up for election each year.

CANDIDATE ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS INSIDE

Lost Opportunity to “Grill” Director Vacchi Over 30-Foot Height Enforcement

By Geoff Page

I want to relate some observations and opinions about the 30-foot height discussion and the sorry appearance of Robert Vacchi, Director of the Development Services Department (DSD), at the January 19 monthly meeting of the Peninsula Community Planning Board (PCPB). I wrote a report of the meeting that appeared in the OB Rag last week but that report was an attempt at an objective account of the meeting; my opinions, and I have a few, were held in check.

Let me start my piece with a little background. Recently, the editor of the OB Rag drafted me into his informal and diverse staff to provide regular reporting on the Midway and Peninsula monthly planning board meetings. To his credit, the editor is making a real effort to provide as much news as he can about the community around us, if he can manage to cajole enough folks to help. The main focus is OB, of course, and Point Loma, but also beyond.

By TG Branfalt / Ganjapreneur

San Diego California’s city council unanimously voted to allow adult-use cannabis sales at the cities current 15 medical dispensaries once the voter-backed program is fully implemented, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. Officials also indicated they would consider regulations later this year that would permit commercial cannabis cultivation, testing, and distribution.

A “sunset clause” is included in the measure, which requires the council to vote whether or not to allow cultivation within nine months.

A group of students from Point Loma High School’s Cinematic Arts class has made a PSA of students voicing their concerns with President Elect Donald Trump.

Please come inside for video

Thursday, January 19, 7 pm
Ocean Beach Historical Society Program
Thursday, January 19, 7 pm
at P.L. United Methodist Church, 1984 Sunset Cliffs Blvd., O.B.

Maggie Espinosa

Traveler Journalist & Author

Maggie Espinosa embarked on an 800-mile walk to visit California’s 21 missions from San Diego to Sonoma along the El Camino Real. What ensued was the journey of a lifetime to become the 11th person to complete this sojourn.

By Anna Daniels / San Diego Free Press

The 115th Congress convened for the first time earlier this week. After their disastrous behind closed doors attempt to gut the Office of Ethics went down in flames, they decided that it was time to concentrate on the number one priority–Repeal and Replace Obamacare.

Repeal and Replace Obamacare has been the Republican mantra since 2009. Their call for repeal of the Affordable Care Act is gratuitous, but it has kept the base hopeful if not happy. Repeal is infinitely easier than proposing a replacement and Republicans have nothing to offer in its place.

Nuclear Shutdown News December 2016

By Michael Steinberg / Black Rain Press

Nuclear Shutdown News chronicles the decline and fall of the nuclear power industry in the US and beyond, and highlights the efforts of those working to create a nuclear free world.

Here is our December 2016 report:

1. Summary of 2016 nuclear shutdowns.

This year continued the acceleration of the permanent shutdowns of US nuclear plants.

On December 8 nbcchicago.com reported that the Palisades nuke plant on Lake Michigan would be shut down in 2018, according to its owner, Entergy of New Orleans. NBC said Palisades was “too old and dangerous,” and a chronic money loser.