Category: Election

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SAN DIEGO — As staffing issues continue to hit several major airports across the United States, the San Diego International Airport is advising travelers to arrive early to catch their flights.

While San Diego International Airport has not yet reported any immediate issues, in a post on Instagram, airport officials said travelers should arrive two hours early for domestic flights and three hours early for international flights as a precautionary measure.

The warning comes as a federal government shutdown enters its seventh day on Tuesday, impacting air traffic controllers and other federal employees.

On Monday night, the Hollywood Burbank Airport operated without air traffic controllers for several hours, creating a number of flight delays for travelers. The airport had no air traffic controllers in its tower from 4:15 p.m. until 10 p.m.

By Erwin Chemerinsky / The Sacramento Bee / September 30, 2025

If there is a path toward authoritarianism for the United States, this is it. The indictment of former FBI Director James Comey is just the latest outrage and effort to use the power of the federal government for the sake of retribution.

As we enter just the ninth month of President Donald Trump’s second term, it is essential to recognize that what we have seen is unprecedented in American history.

Trump, by his words and actions, has governed as if there are no checks on his authority. He quoted French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte on the social media platforms Truth Social and X, writing “He who saves the country violates no law.” At a televised press conference on August 26, the president discussed his use of troops for law enforcement, saying “(I have) the right to anything I want to do. I’m the president of the United States.”

Historic presidential overreach
Trump’s assertions of presidential power are broader than any other president has claimed. No president before has ever claimed that he can fire everyone in the executive branch of government or claimed the ability to eliminate agencies created by federal statute. No president has claimed the authority to massively cut off federal spending appropriated by Congress. (President Richard Nixon impounded funds, but not nearly on this scale).

By Ryan Adamczeski / The Advocate – Yahoo / October 6, 2025

The home of a judge in South Carolina burned down over the weekend shortly after she had reportedly received death threats in the wake of her ruling against the Trump administration.

Circuit Court Judge Diane Goodstein, 69, was walking her dogs on Saturday morning when her home in Edisto Beach caught fire. Her husband, former Democratic state lawmaker Arnold Goodstein, 81, and their son, Arnold Goodstein II, were still in the house with other guests when the blaze began and had to escape through the upper stories into the marshes below, where emergency responders rescued them via kayak. The two were hospitalized alongside a third, unidentified person.

South Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice John Kittredge told FitsNews that it was an “apparent explosion … that resulted in a fire that destroyed the home.”

“Judge Goodstein was walking on the beach when the fire started,” he wrote. “Her husband, Arnie, was in the house with children and perhaps grandchildren. The family had to escape by jumping from a window or balcony. I’m told there were injuries from the fall, such as broken legs.”

by Trena Turner / Cal-Matters / Sept. 19, 2025

As a California redistricting commissioner, I have witnessed firsthand the careful, deliberate and transparent process that drew our congressional lines to reflect the real people of our state. The work was not easy, but it was honorable — and it safeguarded the principle that every community deserves fair representation.

Which is why I am both alarmed and deeply disappointed at the way conversations around Proposition 50, California’s mid-cycle redistricting measure, have often been reduced to a single, shallow question: “What will it cost?”

Yes, this special election carries a financial cost. But if we view it only through dollars and cents, we ignore the greater risks. An estimated 3.4 million Californians stand to lose health care coverage due to Medicaid cuts, and another 3.1 million people — children, veterans and families — face the loss of vital nutrition assistance through SNAP.

There are measurable consequences of this moment that will reshape the health and stability of our state, while steadily eroding the foundations of our democracy.

We cannot ignore the reality that this year’s map-redrawing in Texas and other states, at President Trump’s urging, has been widely challenged as racial gerrymandering. This continues a generational pattern in many states where lines are drawn to weaken Black, brown, immigrant and working-class voices so politicians can pick their voters.

OB Staff Report / September 30, 2025

Former San Diego state senator Toni Atkins has withdrawn from the crowded race for California governor, saying in a statement Monday that “there is simply no viable path forward to victory.”

The decision comes just one month after a UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll ranked Atkins 11th out of 12 gubernatorial candidates, with 1 percent of respondents choosing her as their first-place choice, and 38 percent undecided.

The three top-ranked candidates were Democrat Katie Porter, chosen as first by 17 percent, Republican Chad Bianco, chosen by 10 percent, and Democrat Xavier Becerra, chosen by 9 percent.

OB Staff Report / September 29, 2025

Campaigning for San Diego’s June 2 primary election is already underway. Given the City’s deplorable state of affairs (101 Ash, predatory development, bait-and-switch trash fees, paid Balboa Park parking), voter interest in the four Council races on the 2026 ballot will be unusually intense.

To help voters make informed choices, the Rag will provide investigative coverage of the most important 2026 races. We will scout campaign finance reports and document where candidates get their support. We will study the fine print on campaign mailers and tell you which powerbrokers and special interest groups funded them.

The best indicators of a politician’s real agenda aren’t their promises or their platforms. It’s the money. When you know who is backing a candidate, you can pretty much predict what that person will do in office.

Let’s say we publish a list of the top 20 donors to Candidate X, and we identify many of them as players who have been close to Mayor Todd Gloria. Their support for X means they believe X will follow in Gloria’s political footsteps.

If you think Gloria has been a great mayor, you might want to give X your vote and even your money. If you think Gloria has been a disaster, you might want to back one of X’s opponents.

By Kate Callen / September 26, 2025

As expected, the San Diego Planning Commission voted unanimously to recommend the Midway Rising proposal after in-person public comments were dominated by speakers who will directly benefit from the development.

But there were a few surprises. Five commissioners seemed dubious about transportation issues, especially plans to develop now and upgrade transit later. And an observation from one of the newest commissioners could be the most shockingly honest remark a San Diego public official has ever made.

Jeana Renger questioned future traffic projections for the notoriously congested Midway district and said this: “Transit-oriented development is only successful if there is a whole system of buses and trolleys and also ridership. Just because you build it doesn’t necessarily mean they will ride it.”

(If anyone wants to thank Ms. Renger, an executive vice president at Ferguson Pape Baldwin Architects, for having the courage to speak a truth too long denied, her email address is jrenger@fpbarch.com.)

By OB Rag Staff / September 25, 2025

It’s showtime.

The Office of the San Diego City Clerk has a “2026 Election Information” webpage which shows the candidates who have publicly declared their intention to run for a City Council District seat. Their names are listed here. Hyperlinks will take you to the active websites of those candidates.

Council District 2

Josh Coyne

Nicole Crosby

Mandy Havlik

The progressive voice of Point Loma, OB and Loma Portal since 1954

Sep 28 – Monthly Meeting, Immigration & Prop 50
Sunday, September 28, 4:00-5:30PM, Pt Loma Assembly
Point Loma & OB Dems

Immigration

Cheri Attix, practicing Immigration Attorney for nearly 30 year and past San Diego Chapter President of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, will hold a Q&A session with no presentation, so members can drive the conversation.

Prop 50 — Learn more and volunteer

Ground-breaking begins for controversial Rose Creek Village

Shovels overturned some dirt in eastern Pacific Beach. It was the ground-breaking for a controversial 5-story apartment building that will reverberate throughout San Diego’s coastal zones, called the Rose Creek Village at 2662 Garnet Avenue.

It’s controversial because it’s the first development allowed to breach the sacrosanct 30-foot height limit in the coastal zone — and the City and County of San Diego along with the State of California have all conspired to allow this to happen. And all these levels of government are doing this for the grandiose purpose that the building once completed will offer 60 homes earmarked for seniors, families, and individuals earning between 30% and 60% of the area’s median income, along with the dedication of 18 units specifically for homeless veterans.

Now who wouldn’t allow this? Who would oppose this worthy project?

Our simple answer: the tens of thousands of San Diego voters who approved the 30-foot height limit for the coastal zones in 1972.

At one point, about a year ago, San Diego City Councilmember Joe LaCava, who represents the Pacific Beach community, sought to kill the project.

By Gillian Mohney / SFGate / Sep 15, 2025 

Officials at UC Berkeley have sent over a hundred names of students and staff to federal officials, who are looking into allegations of antisemitism as part of an ongoing federal investigation.

The names of 160 students, faculty and staff were sent to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights after the office demanded documents related to complaints of antisemitism and discrimination at the university.

[See below for “Backlash”]

“The UC systemwide Office of the General Counsel (OGC), in compliance with its legal obligations to cooperate with the agency, directed UC Berkeley to provide those documents to the federal agency,” Janet Gilmore, the senior director of strategic communications at UC Berkeley, said in an emailed statement. “Numerous documents were provided over recent months to OCR, including the names of individuals in those reports.”

Gilmore added that the individuals were notified last week if they were named in the documents sent to the federal investigators.