OB Rag

Editor: It has finally happened. Ocean Beach’s treasured home-town hamburger joint has finally opened the doors to its second eatery ever – this one in downtown San Diego. And the new place, at 10th Avenue and Broadway, is open just in time for baseball season. All we can say is ‘good-luck Mike and Terry! Don’t forget the little people on your way up! ‘

It happened again this morning (Tuesday, April 5).  The San Diego Union-Tribune ignored a large labor rally in downtown San…

See the full article for photos and video

Here are some photos and video from tonight’s gathering. Frank did a head count early in the rally and counted about 350. The group grew larger as the evening progressed and at its peak he estimates around 500 people. The Labor council passed out about 450 candles. Tune in later for a full account!

On April 3, 1968, Martin Luther King was in Memphis providing support and encouragement to 1300 African-American sanitation workers who had walked off their jobs in that city. His soaring prose repeats the mission that defined his life- the achievement of justice and equality for African-Americans which our constitution promised to each and every one of us. He made it clear that “We mean business now and we are determined to gain our rightful place in God’s world.”

On April 4th, We Are One!

Join the Nationwide Day of Action and Solidarity

On April 4, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, where he had gone to stand with sanitation workers demanding their dream: The right to bargain collectively for a voice at work and a better life.

SAN DIEGO : Candlelight Solidarity Vigil

6:30pm to 8pm at Civic Center Plaza – 1200 3rd Ave.

See the full article for the video

Exxon Mobil, Bank of America, GE and other giant corporations paid no U.S. taxes despite billions in profits. In fact, they pocketed big IRS refunds. It’s a scandal, Sen. Bernie Sanders told colleagues on Wednesday. As congressional leaders and the White House haggled over how many billions of dollars to cut spending on programs for working families, Bernie tried to broaden the debate. He compiled a top-10 list of tax-dodging corporations. “Maybe we have to reduce that deficit not simply on the backs of working families, low-income people, the children, the sick, the elderly. Maybe, maybe we might want to call for shared sacrifice. Maybe Exxon-Mobil and some of the large oil companies might be asked to pay something in taxes.”

Accused Whistle-blower Now Charged With Capital Offense

By Kathleen Gilberd

Think of yourself as a soldier. Working at a desk job, you see shocking messages, reports and pictures about military activity that seems wrong and sometimes horrifying. And then, one day, you see a video recording of US soldiers laughing as they shoot unarmed civilians from a helicopter.

A skateboarder who held on to a speeding car in Ocean Beach early today was critically injured when he let go and rode into the path of an oncoming pickup, police said.

Two men in their late 20s were hot boarding” in the 4900 block of West Point Loma Boulevard about 2:30 a.m. when the accident happened, according to San Diego police Officer David Stafford.

By Onell R. Soto / SignOnSanDiego

A former manager at the San Onofre nuclear plant in North County said Wednesday that he was fired after complaining to nuclear regulators that his superiors were ignoring worker complaints. Paul Diaz, 35, of Oceanside, said he tried to go through channels within the plant when people he supervised raised questions, but was shot down.

“I needed to do something,” he said. And so he went to Nuclear Regulatory Commission inspectors based at the plant. He was then fired from his job in October as manager of business accounting and project services.

By Tony Barboza / Los Angeles Times

The waves off San Onofre have for generations beckoned surfers and sport fishermen to a wild stretch of coastline in the shadow of domed nuclear reactors.

Now, an Orange County entrepreneur wants to tap the power of that legendary surf in a novel but highly controversial plan to build one of the nation’s first hydrokinetic wave farms.

By Kendra Hartmann/SDNews.com

With budget cuts rearing their ugly head on a regular basis, news of more casualties falls on almost numb ears. The University of California, San Diego, however, is feeling the threat of tightening purse strings in a whole new way. For the students, scientists and public that frequent the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) Library, Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposed cuts could mean the end of an era: the largest library in the world dedicated to marine science will likely close this summer.

“It doesn’t make any sense that our 100-year-old unique facility should be terminated,” said Walter Munk, professor emeritus at the UCSD Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics and longtime SIO Library user.

Local Artists Capture “Conservation in Bloom”

SAN DIEGO – Join local artists as they celebrate the spring season at the eighth annual “Paint-Out” at the Water Conservation Garden (Garden) from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. on April 9, 2011. Watercolorists of all skill levels are welcome to participate to capture on their canvases the lush, colorful scenery that springtime “California-friendly” blooms have brought to the Garden.