OB Rag

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.

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!

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 …

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.)

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.

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 …

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.

by Rhythm Rancher

I was reading the “Letters to the Editor” in the latest issue of City Beat this morning when I came across this letter from a fellow OBcean. While I believe that everyone is entitled to their own opinion, the fact that he’s a City of San Diego employee who “deals” with the homeless was sad to me to say the least.

by Frank Gormlie

I’m getting fed-up with hearing about these right-wing tea-baggers (for lack of a better word). I know, today – Tax Day – was the day they held protests involving tea bags.

April 14th, 2009, turned out to be our best day ever – in terms of visits – since we began October 25, 2007.

We registered 660 “unique visitors” during the 24 hour period represented by April 14th. We had been cruising at 350 to 500+ visitors a day for weeks, then it just took off.

As expected, Mayor Jerry Sanders held a press conference this morning in front of the Ocean Beach library. And as expected, Mayor Sanders announced that in his new city budget proposal, no libraries or library services will be cut for this year’s budget.

“We heard you, Ocean Beach,” the Mayor said. “There will be no library cuts.” The crowd applauded.

In case you missed it, a thirty-year ban on public viewing of the hilarious comedy “Life of Brian” made by the English comedy team, Monty Python, was finally lifted in a Welsh town. The town is Aberystwyth – which I have no idea of how to pronounce. But the movie had been considered “blasphemous” by some Christians who perceived it as a mockery of Jesus Christ. Most of the rest of the planet considered it one of the funniest films ever produced.