OB Rag

By Miranda Ceja / Patch / Dec 24 — 26, 2024

Heads up, Golden State drivers: a handful of new laws come into effect starting Jan. 1, 2025 that will impact the way you drive your vehicle.

From insurance claims to car break-ins — to parking restrictions and license requirements, here’s the run-down on new driving laws impacting Californians for the New Year.

Locked Door Loophole Gets Squashed

This year, a loophole in California criminal code — which defined burglary to include “entering a vehicle when the doors are locked with the intent to commit grand or petit larceny or a felony.”

By Chris Lindahl / San Diego Patch / Dec.26, 2024

Here are over 17 new laws taking effect in 2025:

Property Crime and Retail Theft Package

A package of ten laws signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom amount to what the governor’s office called “the most significant legislation to crack down on property crime in modern California history.”

The laws kicking in on Jan. 1 will create stricter penalties for retail and property theft, mandate sentencing enhancements for large-scale operations, make it easier for people to be charged with felonies if they stole items in multiple counties, and allow police officers to arrest someone for shoplifting with probable cause even if the officer did not witness the act themselves.

From Mexico News Daily / Dec. 24, 2024

After U.S. President-elect Donald Trump declared he would designate Mexican cartels as foreign terrorist organizations on his first day in office, Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum told reporters Mexico would never accept any interventionist actions.

“We will collaborate with and coordinate with the United States,” Sheinbaum said in response, “but we will never subordinate ourselves.”

During a Sunday speech to conservative supporters, Trump — who takes office on Jan. 20, 2025 — said he would address illegal drugs on his first day in office, according to the newspaper El País.

Early on the morning of Christmas Eve 2024 the Ocean Beach Municipal Pier suffered another piling lost. Close to a year ago the first piling was lost on December 29th 2023. This very short video by Charles Landon shows both losses.

On Friday, Dec. 20, the city of San Diego announced a partial closure along Sunset Cliffs Natural Park due to a damaged seawall. The closure is in place between Adair and Osprey streets, the city said.

The development team that was selected by the Navy to redevelop the 70.3-acre NAVWAR facility has released a preliminary project summary to the City and we can now have a glimpse of what they’re planning.

Recall that when the Navy first released its 2021 draft environmental impact statement, it caused quite a roar of pushback because it showed buildings as high as 350 feet. The pushback — the City and Navy called it “a panic” — was substantial enough for the federal agency to put the federal environmental work on hold.

U-T reporter Jennifer von Grove wrote:

Last month, the development team led by San Diego-based Manchester Financial Group and McLean, Virginia-based Edgemoor Infrastructure and Real Estate submitted a preliminary project summary to the city of San Diego. The draft document is a precursor to starting California’s mandated environmental review process, which is expected to begin early next year. San Diego will be the lead agency for the state environmental work.

The document, obtained by the Union-Tribune, details that the mixed-use project calls for:

By Christine Haslet

Last Friday, December 20th, in  courtroom 63, in downtown San Diego, California ~ the long-awaited verdict was handed down by Judge Katherine Bacal.  I sat nearby,  as one of the plaintiffs,  82 year old Wendy Aragon from Pet Assistance Foundation wiped a tear from her eye.

The verdict is a culmination of years of work.  Local San Diego animal rights attorneys,  Parisa Ijad-Maghsoodi and Bryan Pease, founders of the small, but mighty law firm, PeaseLaw.org fought one of the world’s largest law firms, 800 strong, O’Melveny & Meyers on behalf of San Diego’s lost, friendly cats being dumped on the streets to die.

As we sat in the courtroom, it was odd, because after months of seeing groups of attorneys appearing on behalf of their defendants, San Diego Humane Society,  not one single attorney appeared in court for the ruling, but instead phoned it in. One single lonely employee sat by herself on the defendants side of the courtroom.

By Kat Schuster / San Diego Patch / Dec 18 — 19, 2024

Applications for California’s e-bike incentive program opened this week to encourage residents to reduce their carbon footprint and improve their physical health.
The state is offering vouchers of up to $2,000 to go toward the purchase of a new electric bike and any accessories needed, such as a helmet and a bike lock.

E-bikes, equipped with electric motors to assist with pedaling, have become a popular choice for commuters looking to improve their health while reducing time spent in a vehicle. Because the rider still pedals, e-bikes offer physical activity benefits while also minimizing some of the challenges associated with commuting on a traditional bike.

From Mexico News Daily / December 16, 2024

The Maya Train railroad, which connects cities and towns in the states of Chiapas, Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatán and Quintana Roo, is now fully operational.

Exactly one year after passenger trains started running between Campeche and Cancún, President Claudia Sheinbaum on Sunday inaugurated sections 6 and 7 of the 1,554-kilometer-long railroad.

Passengers can now complete a loop around the Yucatán Peninsula given that the sections linking Tulum, Quintana Roo, to Escárcega, Campeche, are open.The railroad has stations in or near the cities of Palenque, Campeche, Mérida, Valladolid, Cancún, Playa del Carmen and Chetumal, among others, and passengers can access a variety of other tourist attractions including archaeological sites, cenotes (natural swimmable sinkholes) and beaches.

By Steve Price / CBS8 / December 19, 2024

The collapse of a bipartisan stopgap spending deal to prevent a government shutdown could have significant ramifications for San Diego County, particularly in addressing the ongoing Tijuana sewage crisis, according to Congressman Mike Levin.

The 1,500-page spending measure, which would have funded the federal government through mid-March, included $250 million to help fix the South Bay Wastewater Treatment Plant and deal with cross-border pollution. “This is a very big deal,” Levin said. “There was $250 million in there to help fix the South Bay Wastewater Treatment Plant. To finally deal with that cross-border pollution. That was in the bill.”