OB Rag

By Paul Krueger / June 13, 2025

Laura Castañeda, a long-time journalist with a distinguished career in print and broadcast reporting, has been terminated from the Union-Tribune Editorial Board after five years as Deputy Editor/Editorial & Opinion.

Castañeda announced her departure on her Facebook page:

“On the same day a team editorial at @sdutOpinion on the ICE protests was pulled, my position as deputy editor was suddenly eliminated. Thanks to the SD community for allowing me to lift your voices. My next chapter TBA. I won’t be silenced and neither should you.”

The U-T’s staff bio of Castañeda, which was still posted this morning, says this:

By Kate Callen / June 13, 2025

This week’s San Diego City Council 6-3 vote approving trash fees capped another hours-long session before another furious overflow crowd. It’s no wonder the Councilmembers seemed exhausted. They are caught between their irate constituents and an autocratic mayor who scorns their constituents.

The six “Yes” voters looked like patients in a dentist’s waiting room. They have no viable solution to the budget crisis and no prospects for future elected office. They must serve out the rest of their Council terms in a kind of political purgatory.

Here are random observations of a weary Council that must now prepare for another contentious hearing when they consider Bonus ADU reform on Monday, June 16:

Going Through The Motions: The trash fees were rammed through for one reason only: The City is so financially destitute that it will dig money out of any crevice. No Council member could make that case with real enthusiasm. So they put in a token effort. Stephen Whitburn thanked some people and quickly voted “Yes.” Vivian Moreno had nothing to say. Even Henry Foster III, who ultimately voted “No,” seemed disoriented.

Elo-Rivera Fulminates:  One of the “Yes” voters brought firepower, but not about the city’s plight. Instead, Sean Elo-Rivera unleashed a diatribe about the presence of the National Guard in Los Angeles. When an audience member yelled, “That’s not city business,” Elo-Rivera pitched a fit: “I don’t care if you don’t like what I have to say, put your thumbs down, shake your heads, do what you like.” Such a class act.

By Maura Fox / San Diego Union-Tribune / June 13, 2025 

San Diego’s beach fire rings will remain intact for now, thanks to newly-approved county grant funding.

The fire rings were on the chopping block in Mayor Todd Gloria’s budget proposal for the upcoming fiscal year — a move met with outcry from residents, elected officials and the California Coastal Commission, which said last week that the removal of the fire rings would limit public access to San Diego’s coast.

But on Tuesday, the San Diego City Council voted to accept county grant funding for the fire rings for the next fiscal year. The funding is part of a $2.15 billion general fund budget that the council approved this week that reverses many of the mayor’s proposed cutbacks.

County Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer offered the grant funding as a way to keep the fire rings operational.

By Elizabeth Ireland / Times of San Diego / June 11, 2025

More than 90% of voting United Food and Commercial Workers Local 135 members at Ralphs, Albertsons, Vons and Pavilions stores across San Diego County have authorized a strike if necessary, according to the union.

The vote, held June 8–11, comes amid ongoing contract negotiations between the union and grocery store parent companies Kroger and Albertsons.

The union, which represents more than 13,000 workers throughout San Diego and Imperial Counties, accuses the companies of unfair labor practices, including “surveillance, intimidation and retaliation,” during the months-long bargaining process.

By Lynne Miller

Editor’s Note: This commentary raises issues that will be front and center at the City Council’s Bonus ADU hearing at 2:00 p.m. on Monday, June 16.

There is a particular kind of magic in San Diego, from skyline to sandy sea.  A bird’s eye or drone view will show more structures rising faster and in greater numbers than ever before. The people of San Diego will tell you that in the blink of 30 days, the next-door house that was an old one-bedroom cottage on a good-sized lot was leveled, permitted, and framed before a person could say “Albus Dumbledore.”

When a magician presents his show, the audience tries to figure out where the rabbits were hidden and how the beautiful assistant disappeared.  In San Diego, we are trying to figure out how everything changed while we were simply living our lives.

Profit and Power magically drive good intentions into the mire. Politicians and Big Corporations, even research companies, can be tainted by “desired outcomes.” Don’t be fooled by data-driven statements that promote the “new and better” political agenda.

Here is what misuse of power looks like in local government.  Magic and Secrets are hidden among the new laws. Here is one of those secrets. The term “ministerial’ refers to actions that are carried out without discretion. In city government, ministerial laws require no public notice, input, or approval. Magic! The city does not have to notify local residents of building plans.

Jenna Amatulli, Lauren Gambino, and Chris Stein / The Guardian / June 12, 2025

Alex Padilla, a Democratic California senator and vocal critic of the Trump administration’s immigration polices, was forcibly removed and handcuffed as he attempted to ask a question at a press conference held by Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, in Los Angeles on Thursday.

In video taken of the incident that has since gone viral on social media, Padilla is seen being restrained and removed from the room by Secret Service and FBI agents.

“I’m Senator Alex Padilla. I have questions for the secretary,” Padilla shouts, as he struggles to move past against the men pushing him back toward the exit.

“Hands off!” Padilla says at least three times. Outside the room, he is pinned to the floor and placed in handcuffs.

By Michael Wilner and Queenie Wong / Los Angeles Times / June 12, 2025 Updated 6:19 PM PT

A federal judge in San Francisco on Thursday ordered the Trump administration to “return control” of the California National Guard to Gov. Gavin Newsom after the president issued an extraordinary order deploying them to Los Angeles over the weekend.

U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer, presiding over the case, granted California’s request for a temporary restraining order, granting the federal government a stay until Friday to appeal the ruling.

Breyer had expressed skepticism at a hearing Thursday over the matter, questioning whether President Trump had operated within his authority.

“We’re talking about the president exercising his authority, and of course, the president is limited in his authority,” Breyer said. “That’s the difference between the president and King George.”

“We live in response to a monarchy,” the judge continued, adding: “Line drawing is important, because it establishes a system of process.”

The Marines are trained in combat, not crowd control. People are likely to get hurt.

By Marjorie Cohn / Truthout / June 11, 2025

Four and a half months after his inauguration, Donald Trump is exercising his authoritarian chops, targeting immigrants in the state he most despises — California. Making good on Trump’s nativist pledge to deport millions of undocumented immigrants, agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Department of Homeland Security started conducting widespread raids outside workplaces in Los Angeles. They began on June 6, with no prior notification to the California governor, L.A. mayor or local law enforcement.

During these raids, ICE officers arrested people in military-style operations that instilled fear and panic in the community and terrorized immigrants.

[Please see original for all links.]

As a result of the Trump administration’s repressive anti-immigrant actions, thousands of people of all races and backgrounds took to the streets in solidarity with their fellow Angelenos and conducted protests that have largely consisted of mass marches and rallies. Some protesters have also engaged in direct actions, such as blocking portions of the 101 freeway. A handful of protesters have vandalized corporate-owned, self-driving Waymo robotaxis to highlight their role in expanding the police surveillance state: the driverless cars are constantly recording surveillance videos that are then used by police.

By Brae Canlen / June 11, 2025

That awful pasta salad your sister-in-law brings to the 4th of July barbecue? Expect it to appear again this year. Your supervisor, the one who was promoted over you because he sucks up to the right people? He is a bona fide psycho who should be reported to HR, for all the good that will do.

These are all true events. But they didn’t happen to me. They happened to people I have never met and probably never will meet. I know about them because I happened to be in the right place at the right time – sitting on my living room couch reading a book or working on my computer.

The victims were walking their dogs past my house or maybe just getting some exercise. They decided to call someone. Or someone decided to call them. Either way, they pressed a button and pulled me into their conversations, their dramas, their lives.

By Neighbors for a Better San Diego / June 11, 2025

According to San Diego’s fire codes, new development in San Diego requires at least 20 feet of unobstructed street width and a 50-foot turning radius for fire engines.

This applies EVERYWHERE in San Diego, not just in high-risk fire zones.

Yet, San Diego’s Bonus ADU program has allowed 15+ Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) to be packed behind homes, such as the project shown below in Rolando, which sits on a narrow cul-de-sac.

It is concerning that we are still discovering regulations that the Development Services Department (DSD) has not been enforcing.