OB Rag

Height Limit Critic Sparks Debate But Important Exemptions Need to Be Acknowledged

This is the first part in a two-part series on the latest debate about the 30 foot height limit.

New Year’s confetti and the champagne glasses used celebrating the end of 2012 – a year that marked the 40th anniversary of the 30 foot height limit in San Diego – had barely been cleaned up when the assault on that height limit began. It all started in a January 3rd Voice of San Diego article questioning any positive attributes of the 30 foot limit.

Not exactly like a “D-Day” type assault, but more like a tunnel being dug – a tunnel designed to undermine the coastal height limit of 1972, writer Andrew Keatts questions the basic character of the height limit, declares that its essential rigidity will be necessarily and periodically questioned by a city yearning to break free, and gives voice to its critics. The critics believe that because of the 30 foot height limits, all kinds of problems plague San Diego, with rents and property values at the coast being too high.

In 2011 OB Woman’s apartment damaged by neighbor’s fire, legal pot found, she’s arrested and son taken from her

Editor: There’s been some renewed interest in a November 2011 incident that occurred in Ocean Beach, resulting in the arrest of Larissa Nearing – aka Larissa Danielli- aWe repost it here.
By Toni Samanie / Salem-News.com

Larissa Nearing’s story is a poignant illustration of what can happen when you are busy living your life.

On November 3, 2011, Larissa began what seemed like a routine day. She had taken her baby to daycare in the morning and then went to work.

In the wake of President Obama’s electoral victory and inauguration much of the political analysis has been about the continued chaos inside the Republican Party. With some establishment conservative figures openly questioning whether it was good for the party to continue to be dominated by the hard right, some in progressive circles have been downright giddy, as they have watched the circular firing squad proceed. While this is surely entertaining sport, the more important battle may be happening inside the Democratic Party.

In a recent OB Rag poll, nearly three out of 4 respondents indicated their support for the thirty foot height limit – with a good portion wanting to see the limit extend throughout the City of San Diego.

58% supported it and agreed that it was “passed in the public interest by the public”; another 15% want to see it “expanded throughout much of the rest of” San Diego, and obviously support it, for a supportive total of nearly 73%.

Editor:This eye-opening post about the head of Whole Foods calling Obamacare something close to “fascism” was brought to our attention by a supporter, and we re-post here.

By Sy Mukherjee / ThinkProgress – RSN / Jan 17, 2013

]In an interview with NPR, Whole Foods CEO and self-professed libertarian John Mackey revived his previous criticism of Obamacare – but this time, with a new twist.

By Charlotte Silver / Al Jazeera – Alternet

In early January Monsanto announced staggering profits from 2012 to celebratory shareholders while American farmers filed into Washington, DC to challenge the Biotech giant’s right to sue farmers whose fields have become contaminated with Monsanto’s seeds. On January 10 oral arguments began before the U.S. Court of Appeals to decide whether to reverse the cases’ dismissal last February.

The Ocean Beach Town Council has been sponsoring a contest for a new OB Entry Way sign, with allegations that the current one is falling apart due to termites and weather, etc. The Town Council board – a private organization – has decided on five finalists for a new sign to grace the entry way to Ocean Beach.

Only Town Council members will be allowed to vote – on the sign that represents the entire community. The Council is asking folks to go to their website and then make constructive comments on their facebook page. You can also make comments here to this article, and you can vote for the finalists in our poll – started today, Jan. 24th.

Come inside to see the finalists. Here is the OBTC statement on the finalists – this is from their website: …

By sub-committee

The corral for easy police DUI checkpoints, and multi-other crime/infractions, from public urination and vandalism, to armed robberies and violence, due to the alcohol party ambiance that been the sustained reputation of Pacific Beach for the past 20+ years , has become the focus for a grassroots citizen protest in the form of, yes, a good old PUBLIC PETITION …

That venerable institution of Ocean Beach that’s been around since the mid-1970’s – the Ocean Beach Planning Board – is holding its annual elections in March. But this year there is a difference in the way the Board is approaching voting and in what will be on the ballot. The election is on March 12th.

Every year around this time, San Diego and Southern California enjoy a week or two of “unseasonably” warm weather. Temperatures reach into the 70’s and like this week, even the lower 80’s. Surfers grab their boards and head for the waves in droves. People flock to the beaches in swimsuits and actually go into the ocean.

We call it Primavera Falsa – False Spring – and it happens every January.

I think I must have arrived in “pity poor me” land without the benefit of a ticket.

In channel surfing a few moments ago, I was appalled at all the people interviewed that are feeling sorry for Mr. Mickelson, a multimillionaire that may have to leave California because he feels “targeted” by higher taxes being foisted on the 2% of Americans and he may have to change his life-style. Excuse me while I go puke.

Is he saying that if he makes an endorsement for a product and is paid ten million dollars that he will only be able to keep $3.7 million? (I suspect

Editor: this is the first in a hopefully weekly series highlighting different OBceans and their stories, OBceans chosen at random.

Each person I’ve ever met has a story. Whether it was their life experiences or their dreams, or a combination of both, everybody has a story to tell. So, with this belief firmly in mind, I set out to find a denizen of Ocean Beach who I knew would have an interesting and deeply individual story, so I could tell their story to the rest of the village.