OB Rag

There was a tea party rally yesterday (8-7-10) at Spanish Landing along San Diego Harbor, organized by a so-called “doctors” group against – what the extreme right calls – “Obamacare” – the newly enacted federal medical care reforms. Yet the rally – attended by approximately 400 protesters – displayed something rally organizers are not swift to admit – dwindling numbers of tea party activists coming out to such events – as earlier tea party rallies had upwards of a thousand people.

A small group of counter-protesters were out there in the sun as well, holding signs supporting medicare for all. About a dozen folks – organized by a progressive group of local doctors and healthcare workers – Physicians for a National Health Program – had somehow found parking and managed to get to the sidelines of the much larger crowd.

Editor: The following is an edited version of the “Report from the Open Forum Regarding Issues of Homelessness in Ocean Beach” just recently released by the Inter-Faith Community of Ocean Beach and the folks who actually ran that first forum on July 6th. We have only included the text of the report, …

Editor: One of our favorite OB doctors, Jeoffry B. Gordon, MD, MPH, is helping to organize a counter-rally to a Tea Party Doctors Rally.
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A local group of physicians, nurses, patients and health-care activists will rally at Spanish Landing (3900 Harbor Drive) on Saturday, August 7 at 12 noon to counter the National Tea Party Doctors Rally held to protest the recently passed Health Care Reform bill or as they refer to it as “Obama Care.”

OCEAN BEACH – It seems some people have found a way to steal electricity on the Ocean Beach’s dime, but the city has a plan to put an end to the theft.

Joe Castillo, a representatives with the City Streets Division, tells San Diego 6 that people are ripping off electricity from Ocean Beach lamp posts whose electrical sockets are meant for Farmers Market vendors. “We heard people are plugging their electric vehicles, electric carts, cellphones.”

Three Steps to Establish a Politics of Global Warming

By Bil McKibben / August 4, 2010

Try to fit these facts together:

* According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the planet has just come through the warmest decade, the warmest 12 months, the warmest six months, and the warmest April, May, and June on record.

* A “staggering” new study from Canadian researchers has shown that warmer seawater has reduced phytoplankton, the base of the marine food chain, by 40% since 1950. …

This is the future of Ocean Beach. These are the architect’s drawings of what Saratoga and Abbott will look like, once the twelve, 3-story condos are developed.

With the news that the corner site at Abbott Street and Saratoga has been sold (1984-92 Abbott St. and 5113-19 Saratoga Ave.), residents of the community will be confronting the reality that a significant corner of the beachfront will be forever transformed.

Some consider this site, next to Saratoga Park and right on the beach, to be one of the most “important” within OB. Whatever does or does not happen there will help to define this community’s identity.

By Kyla Calvert / KPBS / August 4, 2010

SAN DIEGO — CalTrans is holding public meetings to gather input on a proposal to ease congestion on Interstate 5. The project could add up to six lanes to the freeway between La Jolla and Oceanside. Some people at these meetings are asking why there aren’t more plans to develop public transit in the corridor.

People have lots of concerns about the proposal to expand I-5. Homeowners worried about increased noise from new lanes. Environmentalists were asking questions about impacting the seven lagoons in the project area. Labor representatives wanted to know how many local workers the expansion is likely to employ.

Verdict comes in response to lawsuit challenging Proposition 8 NBC/ msnbc SAN FRANCISCO — In a major victory for gay…

By Maria Elena Fernandez / Los Angeles Times / August 3, 2010

Donal Logue and Michael Raymond-James like each other so much that they decided to live together in San Diego when they were filming 13 episodes of FX’s new drama, “Terriers.”

The two actors met on NBC’s canceled series, “Life,” and bonded over Jack Kerouac’s “Big Sur.” Later, fate put them in the same room again when FX was casting the pivotal role of Britt Pollack, who is best friend to Logue’s character, Hank Dolworth.

On Wednesday night, August 4th, the Ocean Beach Planning Board will consider requests by San Diego City Planners to loosen construction restrictions that apply to OB multi-unit properties. The City is interested in eliminating the more restrictive requirements for floor area ratios (FAR) and for parking. Currently, OB properties are limited to a .7 FAR with 25% of the floor area reserved for parking.

by Jon Christensen / Originally posted Union-Tribune / August 1, 2010

Why is selling the Miramar Landfill a good idea? Like a used car with 150,000 miles, it’s mostly used up, at least according to the campaign for a new landfill in Gregory Canyon in the North County. Miramar’s life as a landfill can be measured in months rather than years. So it must be a good idea to sell it now. Once filled up, there’s limited commercial value; you can’t build on a landfill. Parks, playgrounds, parking lots or just open space is their destiny.

ALL DETAILS AND LINKS INSIDE:

OB Library Gets a New Rug
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“Terriers” airs on September 8th
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World War Two Weather ?
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3 Out of 4 Readers Against Publicly Funded Downtown Football Stadium
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Police Praise OB Heathens
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Woman Jogger Hassled Along Sunset Cliffs
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Ground-breaking on New OB Entryway in October
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$7000 From Supervisor Cox for Abbott Street Trees
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Who were Dusty Rhodes and Bob Kenny anyhow? (Help us out.)
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OBMA Historical Tour – Online
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OB Town Council to hold elections in August
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Planning Board General Meeting August 4th
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OB Centric: Creating community – one art project at a time – August 5th, 17th and 23th
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Pepe’s Annual Tomato Contest – August 15th
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Historical Society: “Hot Curl” Cartoonist Michael Dormer – August 19th
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Get Ready for the Jazz 88 OB Music & Art Festival! – September 11th