2009 Padres a breath of fresh air in major league baseball

 Lane Tobias  April 21, 2009  1 Comment on 2009 Padres a breath of fresh air in major league baseball

by Lane Tobias

As a lifelong sports fan with allegiances to various East Coast sports teams that garner hatred amongst competitor fan bases (I won’t go into all of my favorite teams as to not draw the ire of the many native San Diegans who read the OB Rag) I have been encouraged on an emotional and philosophical level by the early season success of the San Diego Padres.

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Sacramento’s Tent City torn down – the real story and how the media got it wrong

 Source  April 21, 2009  4 Comments on Sacramento’s Tent City torn down – the real story and how the media got it wrong

Dozens of city and county workers descended on Sacramento’s tent city on Thursday, and within hours cleared the area of all signs of the sprawling homeless encampment.

PLUS

Over the past few months, reporters from around the world have flocked to the now-famous tent city in Sacramento, Calif. When they find out that 55-year-old John Kraintz has been living in a tent for almost seven years, they turn around and walk away.

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City staff outnumber OB residents at Mayor’s Rec Center budget “briefing”

 Frank Gormlie  April 20, 2009  7 Comments on City staff outnumber OB residents at Mayor’s Rec Center budget “briefing”

by Frank Gormlie

It was a hot Monday night in the gym of the Ocean Beach Rec Center. It was time for Mayor Jerry Sanders presentation of his proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2010. Patty and I had wanted to attend. Not that we’re accountants or really understand the City Budget, but we wanted to witness the event and see OB in action. We walked in just a few minutes late, and it had already started. No “OB Time” here.

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First Annual OB Global Rockfest! Photo Gallery

 Jon Carr  April 20, 2009  4 Comments on First Annual OB Global Rockfest! Photo Gallery

By Jon Carr

We told you there would more photos to come!

Here are more pictures I took throughout the day, along with some sent to us by our friends Jeff Stone and Pat James. If anyone else would like to add to the mix, please feel free to send in your shots with a brief description.

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420: Thoughts on pot vs. alcohol from a former police chief

 Source  April 20, 2009  3 Comments on 420: Thoughts on pot vs. alcohol from a former police chief

by Norm Stamper, Former Police Chief of Seattle

As 5:00 p.m. rolls around my interior clock starts chiming. I’ll have an ice-cold, bone-dry martini, thank you. Jalapeno olives and a twist. If the occasion calls for it (temperatures in the twenties, a hot political debate on the tube) I may substitute two fingers of Kentucky sour mash. Four-twenty?

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OB Rockfest a picture perfect day

 Jon Carr  April 20, 2009  0 Comments on OB Rockfest a picture perfect day

by Jon Carr

Saturday April 18th, 2009 was the first annual OB Rockfest. A picture perfect day without a cloud in the sky and plenty of locals and visitors getting together for fun, sun, music and a little dose of environmental awareness.

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Town Hall Meeting on City Budget in Ocean Beach Monday April 20th

 Anna Daniels  April 19, 2009  2 Comments on Town Hall Meeting on City Budget in Ocean Beach Monday April 20th

There will be Town Hall Meeting in Ocean Beach tomorrow – April 20th – on the FY10 budget. This is your opportunity to get an overview by the Mayor’s staff on his proposed budget and ask questions!

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Sports Beat: OB Pretenders suffer first loss to Stilted Stix

 Source  April 18, 2009  4 Comments on Sports Beat: OB Pretenders suffer first loss to Stilted Stix

by Denny Doyle

The good news is the Pretenders scored 15 runs on 19 hits, and scored in each inning we played (5).

The bad news is the other team called in the score, as we had our first loss, 17 -15, with Tilted Sticks …

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San Francisco Labor Council Condemns SEIU’s Raid On Other Union Unite-Here.

 Source  April 18, 2009  3 Comments on San Francisco Labor Council Condemns SEIU’s Raid On Other Union Unite-Here.

In a well attended raucous meeting on April 13, 2009, of the San Francisco Labor Council – representing nearly all the unions in San Francisco – the Council unanimously endorsed a resolution condemning the raid by the president of SEIU International Andy Stern on Unite-Here throughout the country. (SEIU stands for Service Employees International Union – and is one of the most influential unions in the country.)

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Arizona Pastor Beaten and Tasered by Border Patrol

 Source  April 17, 2009  21 Comments on Arizona Pastor Beaten and Tasered by Border Patrol

Pastor Steven Anderson of Tempe, Ariz., says he was Tasered, assaulted and denied medical treatment after he refused to submit to a search by Border Patrol officers at an immigration checkpoint east of San Diego. The ACLU has called the area a “Constitution-free zone” where such abuse has become commonplace.

The pastor of a Baptist church in the Phoenix area says he was stopped at an internal Border Patrol checkpoint, Tasered and beaten.

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… news from around San Diego’s web town …

 Source  April 17, 2009  0 Comments on … news from around San Diego’s web town …

THE READER: Old Money Talking –
Sheriff Bill Kolender has thrown the race for his successor into a tizzy by deciding to resign on July 2, giving his support as expected to Undersheriff Bill Gore…

SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT: What moves you? Public transit plan rethinks the way we get around …

VOICE OF SAN DIEGO: Mayor’s Budget Solution Not a Mystery to All …

SDNN: California senate votes to let harbor seals stay …

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Obama Promises to Defend Interrogators, But No Promise on the Bush Lawyers Who Signed Off

 Source  April 17, 2009  4 Comments on Obama Promises to Defend Interrogators, But No Promise on the Bush Lawyers Who Signed Off

This afternoon (4/16/09) the Obama administration released lightly redacted versions of four previously classified legal opinions from the Bush Justice Department approving CIA interrogation techniques now widely catalogued and condemned by many to have constituted torture.

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