Category: San Diego

by GrokSurf

In Sunday’s Union-Tribune (9/13/09), Mike Lee wrote that “water districts might have to keep boosting prices” because consumers reduced their water consumption due to the shortage. The article generated plenty of interest (169 comments, many angry, when I last checked).

As far as the San Diego Water Department is concerned, …

by Emily Alpert / Voice of San Diego
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Parents are weighing the idea of splitting Correia Middle and other Point Loma schools from San Diego Unified as independent charter schools, which would free them to handle their own budgets, staffing and curriculum. The idea was tossed around at a parent foundation meeting in Point Loma, where parents and principals said they were weary of the nonstop turnover at the school district.

All but one speaker at the La Mesa Spring Valley School Board meeting last night criticized the Board for its 3-2 vote to ban the live broadcast of President Obama’s speech to school kids.

These were ordinary parents of kids in the district – ordinary people –

Editor: When the La Mesa Spring Valley School Board voted to ban President Obama’s speech to school kids, two board members opposed the motion. One of them was Bill Baber, who as a Republican, voted his conscience. This helps demonstrate that extremist views are not held by all or even most Republicans.
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by Bill Baber / September 16, 2009
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As a La Mesa Spring Valley School Board Member, I voted to show the President’s live address Tuesday. I believe the Office of the President of the United States deserves respect, regardless of the person or party occupying that office. If the President’s speech inspired one student to greatness it was worth all this angst.

by Frank Gormlie
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LA MESA, CA. I felt exhilarated tonight. I had just witnessed dozens and dozens of parents of the La Mesa Spring Valley School District chant “Resign! Resign! Resign!” to Trustee Rick Winet – the right-wing instigator who had caused the Board to vote to prohibit the showing of President Obama’s speech to school kids. At a special Labor Day meeting, the East County board had voted 3-2 to ban the live showing of the speech. Then, in emails and publicly, Winet had declared that the speech was an assault on the Constitution.

Tonight, Winet’s partisan extremism indeed felt the backlash. It was the backlash of ordinary parents, of ordinary people, of ordinary Americans.

by Miriam Raftery / East County Magazine
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San Diego) – “Long-range acoustic devices [LRADs] for crowd control can be extremely dangerous. These are used in Iraq to control insurgents. They can cause serious and lasting harm to humans…We want to know WHY our Sheriff Dept has this weapon,” Sal Magallanez of San Diego-based Liberty One Radio said in an e-mail sent to East County Magazine, prompting a joint investigation.

This years Paddle For Clean Water event is happening Sunday- September 13th at 10:00am at the OB pier. This marks the 18th year the San Diego chapter of Surfider Foundation has hosted the event in Ocean Beach and this should prove to be one of the biggest and best years to date.

This latest politicization of President Obama’s speech that he gave to school children this morning was way over-the-top. It is the latest round of extreme partisanship being carried out by elements within the Republican Party, led by right-wing radio pundits and and being promoted and propagated by the mass corporate media.

They mobilized people to call schools and administrators to cancel the address – or organized a boycott of schools or kept their children out of school for the day. This was ridiculous. The flap they caused was outrageous and clearly unacceptable.

OCEAN BEACH, CA. The results of our last week’s poll on the beach alcohol ban show a clear over-all dissatisfaction with the booze prohibition.

59% of our 105 respondents voiced discontent with the ban. People voted that the ban trampled their freedoms or that they had less fun at the beach, objecting to not being able to bring a cup of wine or beer to the sand.

by Lane Tobias

Anyone who works in human services knows that these are lean times. Budgets have been cut, while the services we provide are in higher demand.

This goes across the board, from government agencies to non-profits, and while the services provided to the community may not be lessened in terms of effectiveness, there is certainly an emotional effect on both those seeking services and the providers themselves.

There are more people seeking help, and just as many people to help them as before…

by Peace Rocker
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I was discouraged almost two years ago when the Peace Sign was stolen in the middle of the night. Perhaps, I thought, the thief chose (wrongly!) to see the sign as a political statement, rather than as a simple and eternal prayer for “peace on earth, good will towards all.”

SAN DIEGO – A San Diego County Superior Court today denied medical marijuana patient Donna Lambert’s request for dismissal. Ms. Lambert’s supporters urged District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis not to pursue the case, to uphold the state’s medical marijuana laws and to turn law enforcement’s attention to matters of public safety not politics.

“I’m disappointed at today’s ruling, but I am resolved to fight this egregious case against me,” said Ms. Lambert, who faces seven felony counts for providing medical marijuana to another qualified patient.