OB Rag

It was revealed Wednesday that due to the potential for hazards from leaking fuel from the Navy aircraft that plunged into San Diego Bay, there is a water-contact closure order or Kellogg Beach in Point Loma.

After the crew members were pulled from the water, paramedics took them to UCSD Medical Center in Hillcrest for evaluations. They were in listed good condition on Wednesday afternoon, officials said.

The cause of the accident remains under investigation, according to Navy officials.

By Paul Krueger

In response to the U-T article about San Diego mayor going on 8-day visit to the Philippines (Feb. 12), I have to say this story raises as many questions as it answers, and I trust your reporters will keep digging for the details.

When will Mayor Gloria’s office provide documentation confirming he paid the full cost of his travel?

Why did the mayor need two members of his police security detail to accompany him on this trip? It’s hard to imagine a security threat during a friendly visit to a friendly country.

There will be at least three future Citizen Budget Review Town Hall Meetings with Independent Budget Analyst (IBA) Charles Modica this month, February.

The title of the series is to the point: “Now that Measure E Has Failed, Where Should City Budget Cuts Be Made?”

Dates and locations are:

• Thursday, February 13, 6:00 pm–8:00 pm, Porter Elementary School in Lincoln Park, SE San Diego
  
• Saturday, February 15, 11:45 am–1:15 pm, Mission Valley Library
• Thursday, February 20, 6:00 pm–8:00 pm, Mira Mesa Senior Center

The City of San Diego needs money — especially since San Diego voters rejected that tax-measure last November — and its coming up with a variety of ways to bring in the dollars — mainly turning to the very same people — the voters who didn’t have enough confidence in the elected leaders to pass the measure — to make up the difference in the tight budget.

Here are the ways the City wants to make dollars — off of you:

• Increase recreation, swimming pools and .. fees.
• Double parking meters
• Raise fees for short-term vacation rental licenses
• Installing a high price for trash pickup

Increase Recreation Fees

In brief, San Diego wants to close large budget deficits by sharply raising the fees it charges people

• to swim at a city pool,
• moor a boat in Mission Bay,
• rent a library meeting room,
• reserve a volleyball court or
• use hundreds of other city services.

Canadians have canceled trips, boycotted U.S. products, and booed at sporting events after Trump imposed 25% tariffs on most Canadian goods and talked about a “Fifty-first state”.

By Kate Linthicum and Denis Calnan / Los Angeles Times / Feb. 12, 2025

TORONTO — Shopping for groceries the other afternoon at his neighborhood supermarket here, Victor Meunier reached for a head of broccoli — then reconsidered. It had been imported from the United States. Meunier ditched the broccoli and reached for a package of mushrooms with a different label: “Product of Canada.”

It was a small act of resistance against the Trump administration and its sudden upending of the longtime alliance between the two nations.

Since taking office last month, President Trump has turned Canada into a punching bag, threatening hefty tariffs on its goods while insisting that he is serious when he says that he wants to annex the country to make it America’s “51st state.”

Pentagon’s 18 spy plane missions near US-Mexico border spark surveillance concerns

MND Staff / Mexico News Daily / February 12, 2025

“We can’t rule out [espionage] because we don’t know what they did.”

With those words, Mexico’s Defense Minister Ricardo Trevilla Trejo responded to a reporter’s question about whether United States military aircraft had engaged in “espionage” missions near and south of the U.S.-Mexico border to surveil and collect intelligence on Mexican drug cartels.

“They didn’t violate national air space,” added the top military brass at President Claudia Sheinbaum’s Tuesday morning press conference.

The questioning of the defense minister came a day after CNN reported that the U.S. military “significantly increased its surveillance of Mexican drug cartels over the past two weeks, with sophisticated spy planes flying at least 18 missions over the southwestern U.S. and in international airspace around the Baja peninsula.”

The OB Rag needs help — no, not money donations — but writers and reporters.

OB – Point Loma Restaurant Reviewer

With the retirement of our mainstay restaurant reviewer, Judi Curry, we are without one. It’s a very popular gig and chore to check out the eateries in Ocean Beach and Point Loma and express your opinions and experiences. If you have any culinary experience, writing experience, live in either OB or PL and would like to be considered, please contact us at our gmail account — obragblog@gmail.com and indicate which position you’re applying for. We can afford $35 to $50 a review.

Local Reporter / Writer From the Peninsula

We’re also looking for a writer or reporter and more for local news in Ocean Beach or Point Loma. If you have any writing experience, live in either OB or PL and would like to be considered, please contact us at our gmail account — obragblog@gmail.com and indicate which position you’re applying for.

By Lisa Mortensen

There will be a Fire Safety Town Hall on Thursday, February 13, at 6:00 PM at the Balboa Park Club Ballroom (2150 Pan American Rd W, San Diego, CA 92101). Representatives from the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department and Councilperson Stephen Whitburn will be in attendance to discuss fire safety related topics.

by Ernie McCray

I don’t see how anybody

who took time

to really watch

Kendrick Lamar do his thing

between halves

at the Super Bowl Game,

could call his performance

boring and trashy

as it was very entertaining

to me,

A military E/A-18 G Growler fighter jet crashed into the San Diego Bay off Shelter Island late Wednesday morning, February 12,2025, according to the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.

Southern California Grocery Workers Are Rising for Fair Wages and Better Working Conditions

By Todd Walters, President, UFCW Local 135

For too long, the hardworking union grocery workers of Southern California have been overworked, understaffed, and underpaid. These essential workers, who showed up day in and day out during the pandemic to keep our communities fed, now find themselves struggling to make ends meet. With inflation driving up the cost of living at an alarming rate, it’s time for major grocery corporations—Kroger/Ralphs, Albertsons/Vons, Stater Bros., and Gelson’s—to step up and provide the fair wages and benefits that these workers have earned.

Southern California UFCW Locals are gearing up for what will likely be the toughest round of negotiations in decades. Bargaining with Kroger/Ralphs and Albertsons/Vons kicks off on February 13, with Stater Bros. negotiations beginning on March 6.

UPDATE:

The two-person crew of an EA-18G Growler is in stable condition after their aircraft crashed during an attempted landing at Naval Air Station North Island, Navy officials told USNI News.

“At approximately 10:15 PDT, a U.S. Navy EA-18G Growler assigned to Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 135 crashed while landing,” read a statement from Naval Air Forces.
“Two aircrew ejected into San Diego Bay and were quickly recovered before being transported to a local hospital for medical assessment. Both personnel are in stable condition. Naval Base Coronado has stood up an Emergency Operations Center in response to the mishap, and assessment of the crash site is ongoing.”

The aircraft had traveled from Naval Air Station Whidbey Island and was in San Diego for an exercise. The Growler was not assigned to the air wing that is currently training with the Nimitz Carrier Strike Group.

According to radio traffic at the time of the crash, the two-seat electronic attack aircraft was approaching NAS North Island. Shortly after leaving the runway, the crew of the aircraft ejected, and the plane crashed into the water. The two aviators were initially picked up by a sport fishing charter before they were transferred to a Customs and Border patrol vessel, according to radio traffic. According to ABC 10, the aviators were taken to UC San Diego Health.

Following the recovery of the crew, emergency crews were responding to the debris and fuel from the crash, according to radio traffic.

The following is the complete statement from Naval Air Forces.