Lift Every Voice and Sing

July 6, 2020 by Ernie McCray

by Ernie McCray

I remember days when Mr. Sydney Dawson, one of my two favorite teachers, would raise his baton and we, the Dunbar Junior High Chorus, the best in the city of Tucson, would stand tall and proud and sing the Black National Anthem out loud, ending with:

“Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us
Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us
Facing the rising sun of our new day begun
Let us march on ’til victory is won”

That song, one I’ve never heard anyone sing but black people, has kept us afloat, kept us scratching and crawling and marching, pursuing a victory that perpetually has seemed both elusive and out of reach. Much like a fantasy.

And then I look up one day and I hear a man on ESPN say that at all the opening games of the next NFL season, the game will begin with the words “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” the opening line of my anthem, and I thought I was in an nonparallel universe. As this seemed so out of sync with reality.

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Seven Years After the Shutdown of the San Onofre Nuke Plant, the Scandals Continue

July 6, 2020 by Michael Steinberg


By Michael Steinberg / Black Rain Press

On June 30 the San Diego Union-Tribune reported, “Worker At San Onofre Nuclear Plant Tests Positive For Covid 19.” Plant owner Southern California Edison admitted the infected person was a contract worker at the plant until June 23, but refused to reveal the person’s name or position at the plant. There was no explanation of how the worker acquired the virus or what measures were being taken to protect others in the workplace or surrounding communities.

Seven years after San Onofre closed permanently on June 7, 2013,

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You Are Already Where You Want to Be: Summer Chronicles 2020 #3

July 6, 2020 by Jim Miller

By Jim Miller

You already are where you want to be. Forget the story in your head and the world of screens. Wake up at dawn and hit the street early before the masses crowd the sidewalks and go. Anywhere, everywhere, just walk. This is the ritual of the moment.

In my neighborhood, it means learning the landscape of yards — lush green garden boxes, forests of sunflowers, clusters of cacti on the edge of a canyon. Relearn how to look and listen, see the things you never see. What is most important is what happens to be there at the dead end of the unpaved alley.

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Public’s Help Needed in Hit and Run That Killed Skateboarder Cameron Loren in Ocean Beach – Reward Offered

July 2, 2020 by Staff

The public’s help is being sought in finding the driver in an Ocean Beach hit-and-run that killed skateboarder Cameron “Cam” Loren. Loren was struck from behind as he skateboarded down Voltaire Street.

This was June 4 and he was hit in the 4500 block of Voltaire around 10:30 pm. His body was found by a passerby.

San Diego police said the driver fled the scene, leaving the 25-year-old Loren on the street with injuries. Emergency crews responded to the incident, but Loren was declared dead at the scene, according to police.

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Be a Real Patriot: Stay Home on July 4th

July 2, 2020 by Frank Gormlie

July 4th is America’s day to celebrate our independence and show our patriotism – and usually is a day for Americans to party as hard as we can, with fireworks, with friends, with nature, out on the beach, in the parks.

Until July 4, 2020. This Independence Day is different. It has to be different. This year, to show our patriotism, we’ve got to stay home, away from friends, from fireworks, from beaches and parks – and hang only with household members.

That’s right; to be a real patriot this July 4th, we’ve got to stay home.

No Repeat of What Happened on Memorial Day

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Navy and San Diego Team Up to Tackle Modernizing the ‘Old Town Campus’ in Midway District

July 2, 2020 by Source

 

Editordude: We offer the following without comment as a FYI for our Point Loma and Midway readers.

by Elisha Gamboa / Defense Visual Information Distribution Services / July 1, 2020

To keep Naval Information Warfare Systems Command (NAVWAR) ready to meet its critical, high-tech, cybersecurity mission, the Navy is working alongside advocates throughout the San Diego region to create a state-of-the-art facility in support the command’s diverse, high-priority mission and rapidly growing cyber requirements.

Known as the Navy Old Town Campus (OTC) Revitalization Project, this effort centers around NAVWAR Headquarters, which is currently located on 70.5 acres of Navy-owned land, in the Midway-Pacific Highway Community.

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‘Urged on by Travel Platform, Jen Campbell Throws Her Constituents Under the Short Term Rental Bus’

July 2, 2020 by Source

Here is the response released Wednesday to Councilwoman Jen Campbell’s proposal on regulating short term vacation rentals in San Diego by the main organization that has opposed STVRs for the past half-decade, Save San Diego Neighborhoods:

Driven By Expedia D2 Councilmember Jennifer Campbell Throws Her Constituents and San Diego Residents Under the Short Term Rental Bus

July 1, 2020 – It appears Councilmember Campbell has learned the political ropes in San Diego fairly quickly. She was elected less than two years ago. She told voters in District 2 that she was adamantly opposed to short term vacation rentals in San Diego residential zones – her constituent’s neighborhoods. And she said, she would work with her fellow councilmembers to enforce the existing Municipal Code, which prohibits short term rentals.

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Councilwoman Campbell Shepherds New Short Term Rentals Proposal With Union and Travel Platform

July 2, 2020 by Frank Gormlie

On Monday, Councilwoman Jen Campbell announced that she had coordinated a new proposal for short term vacation rentals along with UNITE HERE Local 30 – a hospitality union – and Expedia Group – the parent company for travel platforms Vrbo and Homeaway.

Campbell claims the new regulatory framework could potentially cut the number of whole-home vacation rentals within the city limits by 70 percent. Based on the City Auditor’s estimation that 16,000 STRs exist today in San Diego, 70 percent equates to 3,750 permits, which would reduce the overall number of whole-home STRs.

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Fraud at Sweetwater? Maybe But Unlikely

July 2, 2020 by Source

By Thomas Ultican / Tulican / July 1, 2020

For the past week, local San Diego TV and Print media have been filled with damning headlines like the NBC affiliate’s, “Audit of Sweetwater Union High School District Finds Evidence of Fraud” or the online publication Voice of San Diego’s “Audit Finds Sweetwater Officials Deliberately Manipulated Finances.” Every local news outlet published the story with some version of these headlines.

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The San Diego Progressive Green Calendar for July 2020

July 1, 2020 by Source

The following calendar for progressives and greens showing July events was put together by our friends at the OB Green Center.

Every Saturday at 10:30 a.m. Climate Mobilization Coalition Zoom Meeting. July 4th, 11th, 18th, 25th. Keep up-to-date on climate issues and Climate Action events. To register email Jon Findley at jon@climatemobsd.org. More info: https://www.facebook.com/SDClimateMobilization

July 9th Thursday 4 pm – 6 pm Interview with Dr. Michael E. Mann Hosted by North County Climate Change Alliance Join us to hear from renowned award-winning scientist and climate activist Dr. Michael E. Mann during a one-hour interview and Q&A session moderated by journalist Steve Horn.

July 10th Friday 11:15 am – 1:30 pm Protest Del Mar Race Track – Opening day Opening day protest.

July 10th Friday Protest Sea World San Diego Hosted by Ellen Ericksen Since we have all had a “taste” of what captivity feels like the last three months it is important for us to protest the opening of Sea World. The animals once again will be forced to perform stupid tricks to entertain the humans

July 19th Sunday 2 pm 4 pm Police Repression, Police Unions, and the Role of the Labor Movement. Hosted by San Diego Labor Democratic Club

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The Saga of Mr. X and the Crows Goes On

July 1, 2020 by Judi Curry

By Judi Curry

It’s been a little over a week since I wrote about the problem that “Mr. X” was having with the crows in his backyard. They followed him everyplace he went; dive-bombing him unexpectedly at different intervals. It did not matter if he was in his own backyard; in my backyard; walking on Sunset Cliffs, etc. For the most part they missed him, but I noticed that even the neighbors were staying away from him in fear that they too might be injured by these crows.

Since that article appeared, someone suggested that Mr. X have some peanuts available for the crows to eat. Maybe they were hungry.

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San Diego Black Panther on Current Black Lives Matter Protests

July 1, 2020 by Source

By Beth Accomando / KPBS / June 30, 2020

San Diego Black Panther Party chairman Henry Lee Wallace V looks to the 1960s to provide context for today’s protests.

If you grew up in the 1960s like I did, then the image of young Black men in black leather jackets and berets, and carrying guns and chanting “Power to the People” was a powerful image that you don’t forget. It was also an image that scared a lot of mainstream white America and immediately got the attention of those in power who wanted to maintain the status quo.

But what was even scarier to someone like the FBI’s J. Edgar Hoover was the way the Black Panther Party focused on providing free meals to kids and education that could help people in the Black community become self-reliant.

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71 Residents and 28 Staff Have Tested Positive for COVID at Paradise Hills Nursing Home

July 1, 2020 by Source

By Melissa Mecija / 10News / June 30, 2020

A Paradise Hills nursing home sees a surge in COVID-19 cases, worrying the families of those who live in the facility.

According to the administrator of Reo Vista Healthcare Center, 71 residents and 28 staff members have tested positive for COVID-19. One resident passed away. State data from Monday shows Reo Vista Healthcare Center with the highest one-day positive patient total in the county.

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Kumeyaay Tribe Blocks Border Blasting in Burial Grounds

July 1, 2020 by Frank Gormlie

On Monday, June 29, members and supporters of the Kumeyaay Nation in Campo blocked construction of the border wall by standing in front of an area where pre-construction blasting was scheduled to take place.

Community members sang and chanted peacefully to express their concerns about explosives planned to be used to blast away portions of the old border fence.

Construction contractors working for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers were scheduled to begin Monday, blasting the old portions of the border fence to clear the way for the construction of new sections of the border wall, a project championed by the Trump administration. The planned construction area is located along the U.S.-Mexico border in far east San Diego County, about 75 miles from the city of San Diego.

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‘None Dare Call It Treason? ‘

June 30, 2020 by Staff

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San Diego COVID Numbers for Today – June 30

June 30, 2020 by Frank Gormlie

Here are the daily charts produced by the San Diego Union-Tribune on San Diego County’s latest COVID-19 numbers. These figures are good as of June 29, 2020.

In the first graph, notice the “Daily positivity rate” of an astounding 7.21%. Also notice the upward-moving curve of daily positive cases.

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San Diego County Orders All Bars, Breweries and Wineries to Close Midnight Tuesday, June 30

June 29, 2020 by Frank Gormlie

Well, we did it, San Diegans. We just hit a record high of nearly 500 new positive COVID-19 cases (498) and of the 6,908 tests reported today, Monday, 7 percent were positive.

And we have returned to the days of (some) of the restrictions. County officials have just ordered all bars, breweries and wineries in San Diego to close by midnight Tuesday. Other reopenings are being “paused” through at least August 1.

This all places a grim outlook for the upcoming July 4th weekend. County Supervisor Greg Cox said, “We simply cannot celebrate July 4 as we have in the past.”

Supervisor Nathan Fletcher added that if cases continue to rise at this alarming rate, San Diego County could return to near total lockdown. Fletcher said:

“It’s certainly a possibility, but the worst-case scenario for our region. We cannot do this alone. We can’t stop (the spread of the illness), but we want to slow it. It’s better if we can take incremental steps to dial things back.”

This weekend will certainly be a challenge. Especially for those folks who rallied to impeach Governor Newsom the other day.

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Next OB Planning Board Meeting Is Wed., July 1 via Cisco Webex – Pre-Registration Required

June 29, 2020 by Frank Gormlie

The next OB Planning Board meeting is Wednesday, July 1, 2020 at 6pm

This meeting will be held via Cisco Webex. You can register for the meeting here. Please allow a few days for your registration to be accepted. Once you are accepted a link will be sent to your email that will access the meeting.

If you would like to speak during non agenda public comment or during one of the Action items, please email obplanningboard@gmail.com

There are two projects to be reviewed; 4775 Pescadero and 4614 Cape May.

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To Be or Not to Be VP: Harris or Warren? That Is the Question

June 29, 2020 by Source

By Colleen O’Connor

Unless Biden is clueless, one of these two female Senators will be his pick to be the Vice-Presidential nominee; Kamala Harris or Elizabeth Warren.

Neither one is needed to carry their respective state. California and Massachusetts are reliably Democratic. Forget the need to campaign in either state, except for cash, down ticket teams and some press.

Both of these women bring something to the campaign that Biden lacks. Plans, experience, enthusiasm, heritage, and a big cheer from multi-generations of all women (Republican and Democrat) heretofore left out of the highest ranks of U.S. politics.

Both of these women also make no secret of their desire to be selected for a ticket that just might win.

Then, the debate starts. Choose. Harris or Warren? Why? We need both.

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Summer of the Black Veil: Summer Chronicles 2020 #2

June 29, 2020 by Jim Miller

By Jim Miller

It’s the summer of the black veil, and a good number of us are none-too-happy about it. While many understand it as a reasonable public health mandate that serves to protect others, and, in fact, makes it possible for us to be more in the world during a pandemic with less fear of doing potential harm, others see it as an instrument of oppression. Of course, the obvious explanation for this response is the facile politicization of masks in the service of Trumpism, but could there be something deeper going on as well?

If we go back to the 1917 flu pandemic, we know that anti-mask politics in the service of “freedom” were evident then even as many more people died than have at present, so there is a precedent for the current derangement. But perhaps, at another level, the fear of the mask speaks to a profound American aversion to any sort of emblem of isolation.

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San Diego Media Need to Stop Calling Our Airport ‘Lindbergh Field’ After White Supremacist and Anti-Semite Charles Lindbergh

June 29, 2020 by Frank Gormlie

The leaders of the Orange County Democratic Party are pressuring to drop actor John Wayne’s name, statue and other likenesses from the county’s airport because of his racist and bigoted comments.

It’s part of a national movement to remove white supremacist symbols and names from American institutions, monuments, businesses, nonprofits, sports leagues and teams. And now airports.

Orange County officials passed an emergency resolution condemning Wayne’s “racist and bigoted statements” made in a 1971 interview. They are also calling on the Orange County Board of Supervisors to drop his name, statue and other likenesses from the international airport, whose name is simply John Wayne Airport. They want to restore the airport to its original name, Orange County Airport.

Now seems like an excellent moment to do the same here in San Diego and stop calling our airport after Charles Lindbergh – a known anti-Semite and white supremacist,

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Disturbing Trends in San Diego County and California COVID-19 Cases

June 26, 2020 by Frank Gormlie

Tracking coronavirus in San Diego County and across California

[Some of the following charts and graphs are by Los Angeles Times staff, and were updated June 26, 9:20 a.m. Pacific; others are from the New York Times]

San Diego County

Confirmed cases: 11,961
None yet today
+335 yesterday

Deaths: 352
None yet today
+5 yesterday

What we know

  • Over the past two weeks, San Diego County has recorded 2,963 new cases, failing one of the governor’s performance metrics.
  • In that time, it has reported 44 deaths.

    • Here are self-describing charts and graphs for San Diego County and for the State of California.

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The Widder Curry Says: ‘They’re Fire Crackers – Not Fireworks!’

June 26, 2020 by Judi Curry

By Judi Curry

Within the past few weeks, Sunset Cliffs has become a more dangerous place to live than ever before. Dangerous because of the noise and air pollution; dangerous because of possibility of more accidents, both “cliff-wise” and automobile wise; more dangerous because our first responders will not be able to fulfill their job because of the additional traffic on the road. Yes, I am angry; upset, tired and irritated.

Let’s start with the new 4 way stop signs on the corner of Pt. Loma Avenue and Sunset Cliffs Blvd.

I counted 29 cars stopped at the corner going north after the sunset yesterday. Prior to that I watched people speed up once they passed the stop sign, going south to watch the sunset. I watched people on motor scooters and bikes ignore the signs completely and just go through them while cars were making turns onto the same road as the riders.

I watched – and hoped – that there was not an emergency because if there was there would be no way that our first responders would have been able to respond because there was no place for the lines of cars to go. They could not have pulled over; chaos would have reigned. But just because there were no accidents yesterday,

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San Diego Is Surrounded by Regions that Are Having Spikes in COVID-19 Cases

June 25, 2020 by Frank Gormlie

Late June 2020 finds San Diego County surrounded by regions that are suffering spikes in the numbers of COVID-19 cases.

From Orange County to Imperial County to the Tijuana border – the numbers are all going up. What does all this portend for our secluded paradise?

Let’s check out some of these other regions.

There are troubling signs that hospitalizations may be starting to rise again in Los Angeles County. Tuesday, June 23, LA County had a 28% increase in daily coronavirus hospitalizations since mid-June with 2,259 people hospitalized. Some of the rise could be caused by more widespread testing, but officials said the jump in the case numbers is also caused by granter transmission of COVID in recent weeks.

L.A. County’s public health director, Barbara Ferrer, stated this week: “The numbers do tell us that we’re seeing an increase in community transmission.” Nearly two weeks ago, only 5.8% of coronavirus tests were coming back positive over the previous week in L.A. County. But on Monday, June 22, that number had risen to 8.4%.

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Study Shows CBD Could Replace Opioids for Pain

June 25, 2020 by Source

CBD for Pain: 2020 Study of 1,453 U.S. CBD Consumers

By Dwight K. Blake / American Marijuana / Last updated on June 25, 2020

Should you consider CBD for pain relief? Studies upon studies on CBD’s effectiveness against pain relief has been put on the tables. Even though most of them came up with positive results, there still are a few studies that concluded otherwise, claiming that studies still ARE NOT enough.

Does CBD work well for easing chronic, arthritis, and other kinds of pain?

In this study, AmericanMarijuana look at 1,453 Americans that use CBD for pain relief to see how well it performed compared to opioid. Specifically, we’ll look at its effectiveness, advantages, potential downsides, and practitioner’s perception towards the application of CBD for pain relief.

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OB’s Adopt-a-Block Looking for a Few Good Stewards

June 25, 2020 by Frank Gormlie

Just before our world changed with the pandemic, a group had formed in Ocean Beach to organize block-by-block volunteers to help keep paradise clean. It’s the Ocean Beach Street Stewards – and they’re still around and still are searching for volunteers to be OB street stewards.

Here’s what they say on their facebook page:
Ocean Beach Street Stewards

As OB Street Stewards we strive to keep our little portion of this magical neighborhood clean! If you sign up, we just ask that you take a walk around your block around once a week and clean up trash you might see in the street, around sidewalk, thrown into bushes, etc.

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Keeping the Legacy Going

June 25, 2020 by Ernie McCray

by Ernie McCray

In these times of social distancing and isolating I’ve managed to still find something to celebrate. Like high school graduations.

I take my hat off to a brilliant descendant of mine, Alonzo (A.J.) Morgan, my great-grandson, who just moved his tassel from the right to the left at San Diego’s Lincoln High.

And I’m particularly proud that he’s following my path by accepting an athletic scholarship at my alma mater, the University of Arizona in Tucson, my hometown. Sixty-four years after me.

Different sport, though. I played basketball during my college days and he’s going to make his way on the gridiron.

We, however, both played each other’s sport. I could cut a figure on a football field and he can play some hoops – and we both have played a number of other sports. But we both dedicated time and effort to our favorite sport, the one we wanted to really excel in.

I can’t even begin to express how stoked I am in his decision to go to my school.

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Join Ocean Beach Town Council on Facebook Live – Wed., June 24

June 24, 2020 by Source

Tonight at this month’s OBTC Public Meeting we are excited to host guest speaker Genevieve Jones-Wright for a discussion about San Diego’s criminal and social justice systems. Genevieve serves on the Board of Directors for the David’s Harp Foundation, is Vice President of the Earl B. Gilliam Bar Association, and is a volunteer attorney for the California Innocence Project. Genevieve is also an adjunct professor at Point Loma Nazarene University.

Please join us on Facebook Live, Wednesday June 24 at 7:00 pm, for an interactive Q&A and the opportunity to leave comments and suggestions.

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Complete Communities: Scourge or Savior?

June 24, 2020 by Source

By Norma Damashek / NumbersRunner / June 23, 2020

Part I: Complete Communities

Over the past six months, the international scientific community has been working its tail off to subdue the coronavirus scourge wreaking havoc on the world population.

Meantime, Americans are taking to the streets demanding the annihilation of other malignant viruses infecting our nation–namely, racist violence by the police and the embedded racism that underlies too many of our country’s institutions.

How are San Diego leaders responding to this pandemic moment of economic, political, and life-threatening upheaval? The answer won’t make you proud. It could make you angry.

Throughout these past months of social turmoil, racial reckoning, and a deadly health crisis, San Diego’s Mayor, along with city planners and the development industry, have laser-focused their efforts on fast-tracking an extraordinary proposal called “Complete Communities: Housing Solutions and Mobility Choices Initiative” which:

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In Meeting on Zoom, Peninsula Planners Express Desire to Get Back to Work for the Community

June 24, 2020 by Staff

Volunteer Board Grapples With How to Fill Vacant Seats

By Geoff Page

It is interesting to see the lengths people are going to today, in their efforts to establish a modicum of normalcy. The reasons for this are varied. For many it is a serious worry about money. For some, who may not have a money worry, it is a chance to get back to making more money. And some, like many celebrities out there in front of laptops, are starving for attention.

The volunteers on the Peninsula Community Planning Board want to resume their business, which has been on hold since their last meeting in February of this year. While it may not be the motive for everyone, most of the sitting members expressed the same sentiment, a genuine concern that the work for the community the board normally does was not getting done.

The kick-off effort to restart their work, Thursday, June 18, was an on-line meeting using used a popular on-line meeting software called Zoom.

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