OB Rag

Editordude: The following post is close to my heart, for I once was an inmate and as one fought fires for San Diego County back in the early Seventies.(Please see the original for any links.)

By Doug Melville / Forbes / January 9, 2025

As the shock of the Los Angeles fires and their effect on so many communities, businesses and families is still being digested, lots of attention is being turned to those who are on the front lines fighting the flames.

Many people might not be aware that one particular group has long been depended on to battle wildfires: inmates.

While the 13th Amendment ended slavery in the United States, a loophole allows people convicted of crimes to be forced to work for public or private enterprises. In this case, those tasked with firefighting volunteer for those positions and must meet certain criteria. They are not assigned without their consent.

Their pay scale was doubled in 2023, and depending on the skill level and the task assigned, they either receive $0.16 to $0.74 an hour or a maximum day rate of $5.80 to $10.24.

Whale Watch and Intertidal Life Festival

On January 11 & 12, 2025, visit Cabrillo National Monument for Whale Watch Weekend!

Celebrate the return of the Pacific gray whales as they pass Point Loma along part of their annual, round-trip migration from Alaska to Baja California. We are also celebrating the 75-year anniversary of the first public whale watching event, held right here at Cabrillo National Monument.

Schedule of Events

Before the community of  Point Loma says adios to that patch of dirt along Famosa and near Nimitz — that’s been called various names over the years, like the “Famosa Pump Track” and more recently “Famosa Canyon” — there has to be some kind of reckoning with its history.

Here is an edited version of  Katie Mae B’s “Some History of the Dirt & Kids at the Famosa Pump Track – With Plenty of Questions Remaining,” posted on the Rag March 19, 2019.

At the Famosa Open Space pump track, what makes it a perfect place is “the dirt,” — The unique mix of dirt, sand and organic materials,” locals say. Two of these locals have been active in Famosa Open Space pump track at different points over a few decades and with the same core group.  Now [in 2019] they are a part of the larger group working together to save the whole space.

From Mexico News Daily / January 8, 2025

A day after Donald Trump announced his intention to rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America, President Claudia Sheinbaum proposed calling the United States — or at least the country’s southwest — “Mexican America.”

“Why don’t we call [the United States] Mexican America, it sounds nice, right?” Sheinbaum said at her Wednesday morning press conference. “It does, doesn’t it?” the president added with a smile.

She noted that the Constitution of Apatzingán, which was created during the Mexican War of Independence, referred to territory now known as the United States as Mexican America.

At the time of the document’s creation in 1814, large parts of what is now the southwestern United States were still under Spanish control. Mexico, when it became an independent country in 1821, was much larger than it is today, as its territory included all or part of several modern-day U.S. states.

By Kate Callen

Not sure if you’ve noticed, but some of the most tantalizing OB Rag entries are comments posted in response to our news articles.

Some commenters share trenchant insights that bring us joy. Others entertain us by huffing and puffing (shout out to Paul J!).

And a very few, like Scott Lewis, editor-in-chief of Voice of San Diego (VOSD), post comments that leave us gasping: Did he really say that?

Just the other day, on January 7, Lewis commented on a Rag story about Colin Parent’s 79th Assembly District election loss. He challenged an opinion by Mat Wahlstrom that VOSD and Circulate San Diego, Parent’s money-minting nonprofit, have formed a mésalliance. (Mésalliance is French meaning a marriage with a person of lower social status.)

Reporter Tyler Faurot at the Pt Loma-OB Monthly wrote up an update on the 72 units coming to the Famosa Canyon site close to Nimitz. He also accounted for some of the local community opposition to the project which will include some affordable units.

By Tyler Faurot / Point Loma – OB Monthly (SDUT) / January 9, 2025

A 5-acre lot at the intersection of Famosa and Nimitz boulevards in Point Loma is on the way to being developed into an affordable-housing complex after being sold by the San Diego Housing Commission.

But the plan has raised concern among local residents who fear the development would diminish an already low amount of open space on the Peninsula. The lot is a popular location for off-road biking.

The proposed project would include 72 units divided into three buildings, each three stories tall. There also would be a managerial suite.

by Ernie McCray

In a reflective mood the other day
I thought of people
who, in some way,
had something to do
with who I am today
and the first person who popped
up in my mind
was my very first school principal
standing tall in an image
that’s so memorable to me:
Big old head.
Big old shoulders.
Big old chest.
Big old beer belly.

By SOHO editorial staff / January-February 2025

As architect and author Carl Elefante famously said, “The greenest building is … one that is already built.” Today we propose that the greenest building isn’t just the one already standing—it’s the one already housing people.

In a time when everyone is concerned about affordable housing, climate change, sustainability, and the urgent need to reduce waste, we want to remind everyone that one of the most impactful OR one of the best ways we can make a difference is by saving and reusing our existing buildings.

When we construct a new building, the process consumes vast amounts of energy and resources—fuel for mining, transporting raw materials, manufacturing components, and construction itself. That energy, known as embodied energy, is already built into every historic building still standing today.

After rebuffing Donald J. Trump’s hypothetical proposal to purchase Greenland, the government of Denmark has announced that it would be interested in buying the United States instead.

“As we have stated, Greenland is not for sale,” a spokesperson for the Danish government said on Friday. “We have noted, however, that during the Trump regime pretty much everything in the United States, including its government, has most definitely been for sale.”

San Diego County’s population has stayed flat over the last decade, Axios San Diego reports.

For a full analysis, one must take into account the actual population changes and the natural population change — the difference between births and deaths.

San Diego County’s population shrunk by 20,051 people from 2014-2018 to 2019-2023, or a change of 0.6%.

Yet, San Diego’s natural population change — the difference between births and deaths — was positive in 2023, with births outpacing deaths by 12,882.

But more people moved away than moved here during that time, so the region’s overall population shrunk, therefore, the population overall took a hit, because 30,745 more people left the county than moved here.

From SanDiegoVille

Lighthouse Ice Cream is preparing to reopen its doors in San Diego’s Ocean Beach more than a year after a fire shuttered the decades-old establishment.

Located on Newport Avenue in the heart of Ocean Beach, Lighthouse Ice Cream has been a community favorite since its opening in June 1997. Known for its signature hot waffle ice cream sandwich and a menu featuring over 30 flavors of hard and soft-serve ice cream, shakes, malts, and sundaes, the shop has been a go-to dessert destination just blocks from the Pacific Ocean.

By Bruce Coons / SOHO Jan-Feb 2025 Newsletter

The state Mills Act is widely recognized as one of San Diego’s most effective tools for protecting historic homes and commercial buildings. However, what often goes underappreciated is its role in addressing modern housing needs and environmental challenges.

By offering property tax reductions to owners of historic properties, the Mills Act makes owning and maintaining these buildings more financially feasible. The program provides meaningful financial relief, particularly for middle-income families, retirees, and others who might otherwise be priced out of the housing market.

As a result, the Mills Act has helped San Diego achieve a rare balance: preserving historic architecture while improving housing affordability to a broader range of people.