Category: Women’s Rights

he San Diego League of Women Voters is holding its first Ocean Beach, Point Loma district meeting on Thursday, May 16th. It will held from 2:00 to 4:00 PM at the Ocean Beach Recreation Center.

This month’s topic to explore: the League of Women Voters will present an indepth report on Health Care for All. Also a documentary about the American health care “system” will be shown, and discussed.

Editor: The following is a transcript of Amy Goodman’s program on Democracy Now from yesterday, May 8, that aired highlights from Tuesday’s Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on military sexual assaults . We also include the video – see below. Democracy Now!

NERMEEN SHAIKH: A shocking new report by the Pentagon has found that 70 sexual assaults may be taking place within the U.S. military every day. The report estimated there were 26,000 sex crimes committed in 2012, a jump of 37 percent since 2010. Most of the incidents were never reported.

The suspect in the March 24th sexual assault in Ocean Beach has been now charged with the August 25, 2012 sexual assault – which occurred in the same general vicinity as the more recent one. The D.A. says it was “the same M.O.”

Richard C. Butts pleaded not guilty to the late March assault, where he is charged with one count each of kidnapping with intent to commit a sexual assault, forced oral copulation and assault with intent to commit a sexual offense.

That assault on March 24 occurred late at night around 10:15 pm, as a 26-year-old woman was walking home in the 4800 block of Long Branch Avenue from a dinner at a friend’s house. Suddenly, a stranger ran up to her, grabbed her and gave her a bear hug. He then dragged her 30 to 40 feet to a more secluded area and sexually assaulted her. He had wrapped a sweater over her eyes, gagging her with it.

Fortunately, she was able to yell and scream for help and several neighbors immediately responded by running to the scene of the attack, chasing the assailant away. Butts was then arrested by police less than a half hour after the attack and close to the restrooms at Robb Field.

Perhaps spurred on by the latest sexual assault (and though the suspect has been caught), OBceans are organizing the next meeting of the OB OB Citizen’s Patrol.

The first meeting of 2013 will be held Tuesday, April 2 at 5 pm. The meeting will take place at the Tower 2 Cafe, in OB.

Tower 2 Cafe is located at 5083 Santa Monica Avenue, OB, CA 92107; and their phone is (619) 223-4059.

The heroic neighbors – who by their response to screams stopped the sexual assault Sunday night and chased off the assailant – shrugged off their heroics.

Meanwhile, the suspect arrested by police after the assault was arraigned in downtown San Diego, plead not guilty, had his bail set at $300,000, and was scheduled for a Preliminary Hearing on April 10th. He faces possible life in prison if found guilty on his charges of kidnapping and sexual assault.

The now well-known OB incident from Sunday, the 24th – the latest in a string of sexual assaults in Ocean Beach over the last 6 months – occurred around 10:15 pm, as a 26-year-old woman was walking home in the 4800 block of Long Branch Avenue from a dinner at a friend’s house. Long Branch is in the northern sector of OB.

Suddenly, a stranger ran up to her, grabbed her and gave her a bear hug.

Prosecutor Wendy Patrick described it:

By Becky Sorenson

In an effort to continue serving the Ocean Beach community, the OB Woman’s Club is hosting a community clothing swap fundraiser. This event will be held on Saturday Feb. 23rd from 1-3pm. There will be a $5 entrance fee for this event.

A Clothing Swap is an event designed to reuse the perfectly good clothing, shoes and accessories that we no longer wear or need. Here’s how it works, clean out your closet and bring some gently used wearable clean clothes that are taking up unwanted space in your closet. Then come browse and find some new items to spruce up your wardrobe.

My first introduction to Rugby was when my grandson-in-law, Ben, sent me a picture of him with the blackest eye I had ever seen after winning a Championship Rugby match in Australia. Having all daughters I was almost sickened by seeing this handsome man’s face marred by a “shiner” so large that it almost obliterated his face.

When, five years later, my 17 year old granddaughter informed me that she was going out for the rugby team with the San Diego Young Aztecs (SDYA) my first thought was of Ben and all the cuts, scrapes and bruises he had during the rugby season. (I shouldn’t have been surprised at Molly’s choice. Her Aunt Lynn, my middle daughter, was the first female on the Water Polo team out of Pt. Loma High many years ago.) Still, the remembrance of Ben’s pictures was at the forefront of my mind.

Another OB woman has been assaulted. This latest incident occurred on Ebers Street Friday night, November 9th. The woman, whose identity will not be disclosed at this time, was walking home around 11:15 coming home from a bar on Newport.

A man began following her from Sunset Cliffs. She noticed that and had words with him. He reportedly half-apologized. But he kept following her. And somewhere between Santa Monica and Saratoga, across the street from the small park, he attacked her. He grabbed her hair, threw her down and they began scrapping.

Election day was a progressive’s dream come true, wasn’t it? Well, almost, and well – in some ways, not really. But progressives did win some big ones yesterday – and yes, at this moment, there’s almost 10,000 votes between Bob Filner and Carl DeMaio – so, that race is really too close to call, and even though Scott Peters leads Bilbray – he only has about 700 votes over him – so, that one will certainly go to a re-count.

During a meeting of the San Diego Free Press Editorial Board over the weekend, some of us expressed reservations regarding our stand, as a group, on a YES endorsement of Proposition 35. We agreed that we would do more research and report back. Below are the opinions of two of our members, whose views mirror my own and are expressed much more eloquently. ~ Editor du Jour, Patty Jones

SDFP Editorial Board Member Anna Daniels

Wading through the propositions on the ballot this year required both time and effort. I have felt largely confident about the positions I had taken on issues and candidates, except for Prop 35, the anti-sex trafficking initiative. …

A man suspected of staging a grope attack was arrested by police early Sunday morning. A woman sleeping on a couch in an apartment at 2196 Abbott Street awoke to find a man groping her. Pushing him away, she jumped up, ran into the bathroom, locked the door and called police. One to two roommates also awoke and ran outside.

Police responded and found the suspect in the victim’s backyard. The victim ID’ed him and he was booked on suspicion of sexual assault. He has yet to be identified by police. Source: Fox5 News

Like the poster on Fox Mulder’s wall, we, at the OB Rag, aim to find it.

I’m referring to the rumors that have been flying around our little beach community in regards to all the assaults, sex crimes and attacks that have been occurring in alarming numbers here the last couple of months and even longer. Most of them are true, but some of them just ain’t.

It seems that we hear of an incident, and within 24 hours, we “hear” of several more. In response to all of this, many of us have formed the OB Citizen’s Patrol, along with the guidance of Tim Nolan, owner of Tower Two Cafe.

The first meeting was on October 8, and over 30 people crammed into Tim’s resto to voice their concerns and sign up for the first organized patrols since the 1970’s. Tim said it started way back then in response to local crime and the time had come again to relaunch the patrols. Tim was involved back then, and has been patrolling ever since. He has gone out on his own for many years to make the neighborhood safe for his family.