OB Rag

by Robert Steven Mack / Times of San Diego / April 27, 2026

Upon learning of Mayor Todd Gloria’s proposed funding cuts for the arts, and as a professional ballet dancer based in San Diego, I found myself musing over actor Timothee Chalamet’s comments last month that “no one cares about” opera and ballet. Our mayor seems intent to prove Chalamet right.

While Gloria is framing these cuts as a matter of fiscal adjustments, arts leaders need to argue that the arts have a value that goes beyond economic impact.

The mayor announced his budget proposal on April 15, proposing to cut arts funding by $11.8 million to alleviate the city’s $148 million deficit. The remaining $2 million for the arts will only be enough to keep the Cultural Affairs Office open to administer state grants.

Many prominent cultural organizations would be affected by these cuts, including my employer, City Ballet of San Diego, as well as the Maritime Museum, the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Old Globe and many more.

By Staff / CBS8 / April 21, 2026

The State of California and the San Pasqual Band of Mission Indians are suing the city of Poway for moving forward with a 40-home housing development after discovering human remains and tribal cultural resources at the site.

In two separate complaints, state prosecutors and tribal attorneys say the city plowed ahead without any additional environmental review, as required under the California Environmental Quality Act, after finding hundreds of pottery fragments, tools, arrowheads, and other historic artifacts, which the San Pasqual Band of Mission Indians says was likely a sacred site or possibly a village.

“The types and quantities of tools and stone fragments identified on the site reflected that ‘arrow points were being manufactured and rejuvenated on-site,'” reads the state’s lawsuit. “Some of the more unusual stones found on the site (including chert and chalcedony) ‘suggest that trade and/or contact with other groups was an important aspect of the lives of the prehistoric inhabitants.'”

According to both lawsuits, developer Shea Homes began construction in October 2025 using an environmental review more than 20 years old.

OB Rag Staff Report

At the same time City Hall claims new parking fees are increasing support for Balboa Park, the city’s proposed FY2027 budget will actually decrease Park funding by more than $1.8 million, a 12-percent reduction.

General fund expenditures for Balboa Park will fall from $15.5 million in 2026 to $13.6 million in 2027. This is happening concurrently with the elimination of $11.8 million in city funding to local arts organizations, including a number of Park institutions.

A new item in the 2027 budget, “Developed Regional Parks,” accounts for a first-time allocation of $10.8 million. Balboa Park is considered a “developed regional park,” but it isn’t clear if it will receive any money from that allocation.

And it still isn’t clear what, if anything, the Park is receiving from the new parking fees, which were imposed to help fill the City’s budget gap.

SPLC Instrumental in Crack-Down on San Diego’s KKK in Eighties

By JW August / Special to OB Rag

The United States Department of Justice has indicted the Southern Poverty Law Center. The Mobile, Alabama based civil rights organization has a historically important tie to San Diego, the birthplace of the White Aryan Resistance (WAR), forerunners of current day white supremacists.  Additionally, the San Diego region has a long history of Ku Klux Klan activity, at one time serving as the base of operations for the Imperial Wizard of California.

President Trump’s Acting Attorney Todd Blanche said the indictment is to address long simmering issues. Some media reports believe the ‘simmering issues’ were generated by conservative Trump supporters.  And an angry president.

In San Diego, the U.S. DOJ’s office apparently is out of the anti-hate business. The office has bailed from the San Diego Anti-Hate Crime Coalition which they have co-chaired for years with a DOJ civil rights attorney. They had no representative at a recent meeting and the agenda for an upcoming meeting says the co-chair is now the city attorney office. Neither the district attorney nor the local DOJ office would comment about the no show.

By Ernie McCray

I’ve been an 88-year-old
for a few days now
and I’m still rocking,
however, not to my surprise,
to the same vibe
I was moving to during
the waning moments of my 87 years
of life,
dealing with the little aches and pains
and minor discomforts and irritations
that come with aging
and having to continue
fighting off a president’s lies
like a man
shooing and swatting flies
in response to a war
to which he gave rise,

From PBS / April 23, 2026

President Donald Trump’s acting attorney general on Thursday signed an order reclassifying state-licensed medical marijuana as a less-dangerous drug, a major policy shift long sought by advocates who said cannabis should never have been treated like heroin by the federal government.

The order signed by Todd Blanche does not legalize marijuana for medical or recreational use under federal law. But it does change the way it’s regulated, shifting licensed medical marijuana from Schedule I — reserved for drugs without medical use and with high potential for abuse — to the less strictly regulated Schedule III. It also gives licensed medical marijuana operators a major tax break and eases some barriers to researching cannabis.

The Trump administration also said it was jump-starting the process for reclassifying marijuana more broadly, setting a hearing to begin in late June.

UPDATE CLARIFICATION: the election voting is taking place NOW through Monday, April 27, at 11:59 pm
It has been confirmed that the election for the board of the OB Community Foundation runs now through Monday, April 27, at 11:59 p.m.

Fourteen candidates are running for 8 seats. Here’s the link to the OBCF website, where people can become members if they are not already (featured on the home page banner), and vote for their favorite candidates.

Here are candidate profiles and photos, in the order sent to the Rag.

Sheinbaum Also Pushes Back on Trump’s Policy on Cuba

By Megan Janetsky and Will Weissert / Associated Press PBS News / April 14, 2026 

The Mexican government on Tuesday protested the deaths of its citizens in U.S. immigration custody as President Claudia Sheinbaum pushes back against U.S. President Donald Trump’s policies on multiple fronts.

The progressive Mexican leader has walked a careful line with Trump for more than a year, addressing provocations with a measured tone and meeting U.S. requests to crack down on criminal cartels more so than her predecessors, in an effort to offset threats of tariffs and U.S. military action against the gangs.

But in the wake of mounting deaths of Mexican citizens in custody of immigration officials and the Trump administration’s decision to impose an energy blockade on Cuba — a key Mexican ally — Sheinbaum has taken a harder line.

Register to Become Member and Vote — Ocean Beach Community Foundation’s 2026 Board of Directors Election is OPEN through April 27th!

Election is open to all members of the Ocean Beach Community Foundation. Not a member? Not a problem. Register for membership below and receive a ballot.

OBCF Membership is open to anyone who:

• lives,
• works,
• owns property, or
• operates a business in the 92107 area code and surrounding peninsula community!

Register below to receive your secure digital ballot today!

by Brooke Binkowski / La Jolla Village News / April 21, 2026

Ernest McCray has never stopped to consider whether something is impossible. There’s only one thing he says he isn’t capable of.

“I tried to be a grown-up — for about 30 seconds,” he said, laughing.

McCray’s life began in Arizona to a hardworking, music-loving family in which he was raised mainly by his mother. It was a different country then, and Tucson was still enforcing Jim Crow-style segregation.

“I was born in 1938, to give you an idea,” said McCray. “They didn’t desegregate schools in Tucson until I was going into the 8th grade. We couldn’t eat at the white restaurants, we could only swim in the ‘colored’ swimming pool.”

He found refuge from Jim Crow in the local library. Despite the animus enforced from above, McCray knew he had a voice — and he used it.

“That’s how I make it in the world,” he said. “Through writing and being an educator and a teacher and a principal…  I use my writing in school communities and working with kids and turning them on to writing.”

Above all, McCray said, he does everything he can to make the world a kinder place.

SB-958 Was Offered by Calif. Senator Weber Pierson to Allow CEQA Exemptions for Midway Rising

By Katheryn Rhodes 

SB-958. California Environmental Quality Act:

“This bill would, for purposes of CEQA, prohibit the environmental impacts that are associated with increased building height alone from being considered significant impacts on the environment, if a project meets specified conditions, as provided. Because a lead agency would be required to determine if a project meets the specified conditions, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program…”

“SECTION 1. Section 21081.5 is added to the Public Resources Code, to read: 21081.5.

a) For purposes of this division, the environmental impacts of a project that are associated with increased building height alone, including, but not limited to, air circulation, noise and light refraction or reflection, the potential to attract wildlife, or geotechnical or hydrological effects, shall not be considered significant impacts on the environment if the project meets all of the following conditions: