Category: San Diego

by Jack Lee /  San Francisco Tribune – MSN /July 9, 2025

Storm and surf forecasts in California will become less accurate this year when federal funding for a network of ocean buoys disappears in September.

Federal support for the Coastal Data Information Program, operated by UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography, was drastically cut by nearly 70%. The drop in funding, set to take effect Sept. 1, will force some ocean buoys offline, scientists say, making weather forecasts less reliable, compromise public safety and hamper ship operations.

“If you lined up a hundred meteorologists and asked them, ‘Are buoy observations important to the forecast process and important to the mission of saving lives?’ every one of them will say, ‘Yes, absolutely,’” said Troy Nicolini, the meteorologist-in-charge at the National Weather Service Eureka office.

The Coastal Data Information Program network comprises about 90 buoys, not just along the West Coast, but also off the Gulf and East coasts and in the Pacific Islands. The buoys measure ocean waves, providing data used by scientists, meteorologists, boat captains, surfers and more.

July 4, 2025

We, the undersigned, former members of New York’s Gay Liberation Front, condemn the Trump administration and its supporters in all levels of government for their vicious attacks on our community and on other marginalized communities.

The Gay Liberation Front was the first and most radical LGBTQ+ organization formed directly after the Stonewall Uprising in June, 1969. Our guiding message, equal inclusion of all people into society and the body politic, is even more urgent today.

One of the administration’s first targets was the transgender community. It is attempting to eject them from the military. Trans people seeking to renew their passports are now faced with the indignity of having their pre-transition gender stamped on the documents. Ten states now deny them appropriate medical care. The administration is encouraging a climate of hatred that has led to increased violence against trans people.

The Trump administration has cut funds for HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention, both in the United States and abroad. This will result in a worldwide increase in disease and death— an increase that will not stop at our borders.

By Karen Pearlman / East County Magazine / July 9, 2025

…”I have never seen such a destructive project with such negative impacts on the people who live in a community.” — former Supervisor Dianne Jacob, a Jamul resident

The Cottonwood Sand Mine is a wash, at least for now.

After nearly six hours of testimony, presentations and discussion, the San Diego County Planning Commission on Wednesday voted to disapprove a permit for the planned private sand mining operation in Rancho San Diego.

The six-member Planning Commission deadlocked to approve the project, and its tie vote constituted a no-go for mining about 215 acres of the 280-acre golf course site.

“We had a big win today, and it was a little too close for comfort, but 3-3 is a denial,” said Barry Jantz, part of the Stop Cottonwood Sand Mine Group.

By Kate Callen / July 10, 2025

You would think that before the City of San Diego endorsed a contentious state housing measure like Senate Bill 79, which aims to turbocharge urban density, the Mayor and the City Council would deliberate the issue in full public view.

You would be wrong.

Assemblymember Chris Ward’s July 2 announcement that the City of San Diego `has formally endorsed SB 79 caught San Diegans by surprise. The Mayor never announced any endorsement, and the City Council never discussed the bill or sought public input. What happened?

The mystery was solved by the release of a baffling two-page letter sent on June 3 to State Senator Scott Weiner, author of SB79. The letter was signed by Sacramento lobbyist Moira Topp of Topp Strategies. The first page is on official City of San Diego letterhead. The second page is on Topp Strategies corporate letterhead. [See letter below.]

Topp begins the letter by stating, “On behalf of my client, the City of San Diego, I am writing in support of your measure, SB 79.” She ends with, “The City of San Diego applauds Senator Wiener’s leadership in advancing this forward-thinking legislation and urges the Legislature to support SB 79. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.”

Well, we at the Rag have several questions.

By Geoff Page

It seems that City Hall – Todd Gloria – has found a new golden egg called “surplus lands.” This term first surfaced during the Midway redevelopment debacle. The city declared the 40 plus acres as surplus land so it could make a deal with a developer.

The term “surplus” land does not make sense, intuitively, when commercial and entertainment businesses cover the land, all making lease payments to the city. Surplus brings to mind unimproved scrub land not anything like the Midway property.

City Hall now wants to designate as “surplus lands” 23 acres at Marina Village, 1936 Quivera Way, 4.5 acres at Dana Landing, 1617 Quivera Way, and 0.8 acres at 2590 Ingraham Street, where Sportsmen’s Seafood is now.

The June 23, 2025 city staff report states:

The City intends to issue a NOA [Notice of Availability] for the lease of the Properties. In the NOA, the City will indicate that the following steps would be required to allow for the development of affordable housing on the Properties

Housing in Mission Bay Park? Affordable housing? Does this mean a hi-rise of multimillion-dollar condos with a few small, affordable apartments in the basement?

From Neighbors for a Better San Diego

WATCH: SB 79 Will Undo Everything

It’s bad, real bad, and it’s making its way through the State legislature.

SB 79 would allow 6-story apartment buildings to be built IN OVER HALF OF SAN DIEGO’s RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBORHOODS. (Much worse than SB 10!)

We ask that you watch this short video on Senate Bill 79

Here are a few articles about ICE in San Diego.

ICE increasingly arresting San Diegans with no criminal record, data shows

Starting in May, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials dramatically ramped up arrests in the San Diego area and increasingly targeted immigrants without existing criminal histories, according to an inewsource analysis of arrest data.

ICE raids in San Diego foreshadowed the roundups, protests now spreading across California

Days before President Donald Trump unleashed federal immigration agents to raid sites spanning from California’s biggest cities to its agricultural heartland, sparking protests in L.A. and elsewhere, San Diego’s quaint South Park neighborhood was targeted. Two popular Italian restaurants were swarmed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on May 30, prompting a remarkable response from neighbors who rallied to the scene and forced a retreat under shouts of “shame.”

2 San Diego Women Charged with Assaulting ICE Agents

Two San Diego women have been charged with assaulting ICE agents during a July 2 immigration raid at a Linda Vista apartment complex.
According to the federal complaints, obtained by CBS 8, 46-year-old Trina Rupley and 55-year-old Jeane Wong were each charged with one felony count of assaulting, resisting, or impeding federal officers.

County Planning Staff is Recommending the Project be Rejected

Following a nearly seven year process, including members of the public signing thousands of opposition petitions, expressing concerns at a dozen public meetings, and sending hundreds of letters detailing the many significant safety, environmental, and community impacts, the controversial Cottonwood Sand Mine proposal is now scheduled to be heard by the San Diego County Planning Commission at 9 a.m this Wednesday, July 9, 2025.

This was rescheduled from a month prior, when last minute technical difficulties forced the meeting’s cancelation.

The County’s Department of Planning & Development Services (PDS) has released its report and is recommending the project application be denied, noting that the significant legal findings required for a Major Use Permit cannot be made.

Surfrider San Diego has come up with their report on the amount of trash collected on July 5th — making it “America’s dirtiest beach day of the year” as after the fireworks and celebrations fade and the crowds go home, our beaches are left covered in trash.

They reported:

On Saturday morning, 866 volunteers gathered along the coast on Saturday morning to assist with the Surfrider Foundation San Diego’s 19th Annual “Morning After Mess” beach cleanup series — a post-Fourth of July effort to tackle the trash left behind after the holiday. In three hours, volunteers removed more than 2,617 pounds of trash, preventing it from ending up in our ocean and contributing to the growing pollution crisis impacting marine ecosystems.

Vice President JD Vance was met with a chorus of vigorous boos and jeers as his motorcade departed a University Heights sushi restaurant over the Fourth of July weekend.

A crowd of protesters gathered outside Soichi Sushi on Adams Avenue Sunday, July 6 to show contempt for the vice president and criticize recent policy decisions.

“I hope your Michelin-star sushi was worth it with 82 people dead in Texas. Thanks for cutting the National Weather Service,” one protester shouted.

Videos posted online show Vance’s motorcade being escorted out of the neighborhood by police as demonstrators lined the sidewalk, some flipping the bird.

By Lisa Mortensen

After reading the article about a ‘rehashed’ real estate deal on 101 Ash Street, I had concerns. Having been a San Diego Realtor for close to 50 years, from a real estate professional’s point of view, here are my list of red flags.

A 4% interest rate on a 55-year loan term without receiving payments on the loan for 15 years?   While current residential home interest rates for a 30-year mortgage with 20% down are hovering around high 6% low 7% range, this 4% rate appears extremely low based on ‘risk assessment’ of a 55-year loan.

The developer will once again ‘pocket’ $24.5 million in developer fees.  This is a similar situation to the $24 million credit arrangement on developer fees that Todd Gloria gave Bosa Development for a ½ acre open space parcel.  A spit of land that, let’s be clear, should have been donated.  So, if the city approves this deal, then basically close to $50 million dollars of developer fees are being waived which will greatly benefit these developers.  $50 million that could be used toward much needed infrastructure maintenance and upgrades for our city.

Editordude: The following two posts are on the new City of San Diego plan to turn 101 Ash Street into low-income housing. The first one is a comment on a July 2 U-T article on the plan by reporter Jennifer van Grove by Paul Krueger, a writer for the Rag. The second (below) is by Lisa Mortensen. 

By Paul Krueger

It’s a huge understatement to say there are “warning signs” about a new proposal to convert the asbesto-ridden 101 Ash Street high-rise into low-income housing.

And a City Council committee’s decision to move forward with the plan could pave the way for yet another financial fiasco tied to this Frankenstein property in the shadow of City Hall.

A private development team proposes to transform the vacant, scandal-plagued office building into 247 apartments for residents who make no more than 80 percent of area media income. The proposal also includes three units for managers, retail space, and a child care center.

The director of the city’s Economic Development Department told council committee members last week that the proposal “does just want the city needs in a time of crisis: big, bold ideas and a tenacity to re-envision a vacant, underperforming skyscraper into an exciting adaptive reuse conversion.”

But this initial proposal cries out for more detail, and taxpayers should demand that it be subject to a thorough review by an outside, independent real estate expert.

The obvious warning signs include: