OB Rag

By Geoff Page

A volleyball company’s use of OB’s sands to make money has residents who live nearby upset. This was all detailed in The Rag’s February 22 piece. It appeared that this problem was solved recently when the city denied Volo Sports, the subject of the previous Rag story, a permit to use “pop-up” volleyball nets.

The immediate issue, the apparent reason why the city denied the permit, was a safety concern brought forward by the lifeguards. The official word from the lifeguards is not forthcoming, but it is known the objection had to do with “pop-up” volleyball nets.

By Frank Gormlie

In my book, The May 1970 Rebellion – about the  height of the anti-Vietnam war movement, I discuss “outside agitators.” Here’s an excerpt:

From college administrators, mayors, local politicians and governors to the President of the United States, the real instigators of all the violence and turmoil were the outside agitators, the Weathermen, professional instigators and rioters.

For example, Kentucky Governor Louie Nunn blamed “outside agitators” and “professionals” for the disturbances at the University of Kentucky. At Ohio University Athens and at the University of Minnesota in Duluth, outside agitators were blamed for the violence.

The May Rebellion of 1970: It Hastened the early withdrawal from Cambodia and the End of the Vietnam War

By Frank Gormlie

The month of May 1970 was the very height of the anti-Vietnam war movement — and I just wrote an entire book about that fateful month, The May 1970 Rebellion. Here, then, is an excerpt from an earlier edit.

The May Rebellion changed America and changed American politics forever – both in the immediate sense and over the ensuing decades.

There’s a movement afoot to have the San Diego County Grand Jury investigate the city of San Diego’s planning process, and it just recently picked up support from the La Jolla Community Planning Association.

The idea for such an investigation started with a complaint from the Community Planners Committee, which meets monthly and is composed of the leaders of community planning groups across the city. (OB Planning Board head Andrea Schlageter chairs the CPC.)

CPC has asked the planning groups to “endorse a request for an investigation of the San Diego city Planning Department, Development Services Department and reporting structures that have led to improper project classifications, improper legislation of municipal code and non-compliant communications.”

By Arturo Castañares / La Prensa / May 2, 2024

San Diego State University and the California State University Chancellor’s office now claim there are no public records related to a 2022 proposal from a private developer to build a new sports arena at no expense to taxpayers within the SDSU West campus in Mission Valley, although a term sheet was reviewed in mid-2022.

SDSU President Adela de la Torre, several University officials, and two private businessmen flew to Texas on a private jet in May 2022 to tour a similar sports arena built at the University of Texas at Austin’s campus

By Chris Lindahl / Patch San Diego / May 5, 2024

From automatic service charges to vague “living wage” fees, California restaurants have increasingly been tacking on extra costs to diners’ bills in recent years, much to customers’ chagrin. But starting later this year, that practice will become illegal — the menu price (plus tax) is all you’ll have to pay.

Signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom in October and set to take effect July 1, SB 478 will prohibit hidden fees, defined by state officials as fees in which a seller uses an artificially low advertised price to attract a customer, disclosing additional required fees in fine print or tacking on unavoidable charges later in the buying process.

By Jared Aarons / ABC10News / May 02, 2024

By Jared Aarons / ABC10 / May 02, 2024

A team of researchers from UC San Diego has come up with a unique solution to help with the world’s plastic problem.

They created a form of plastic that can basically recycle itself.

Dr. Adam Feist and Professor Jon Pokorski combined traditional polyurethane with a microbial spore to create plastic that can break down in compost or any other natural environment in around 5 months.

They published a paper this week in Nature Communications detailing their process and results.

“There are some studies that show, of the millions, trillions of microbes out there, some can eat the plastic itself,” says Feist. “So we were saying if we combine them together, what would happen? And how can that better facilitate that massive problem we have with polymers everywhere?”

By Colleen O’Connor

“Ahead of the movie’s world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on May 14, the first trailer for Francis Ford Coppola’s sci-fi passion project, Megalopolis, has been released online.”

Coppola, the magician of movies with relevance (Godfather I and II and Apocalypse Now) worked on his new film for more than a decade.  Part Sci-Fi and part morality play, it may demonstrate a last chance for salvation.  Dwindling audiences define politics while Blockbuster moments prevail elsewhere.

Barbie and Oppenheimer in movies. In sports.  Katlin Collins and the WMBA finals. Add Saturday’s 150th Kentucky Derby crowds and photo finish.  Blockbuster concerts like Taylor Swift. All mega events. All with cheers. Massive crowds of appreciation. Not so in current U.S. politics.

Roll up for Cannabis Equity

By Terrie Best

The Department of Justice has announced they plan to move “marijuana” (they call it that because they are silly and won’t get onboard) from class I to III on the controlled substances schedule.

74% of Americans live in a state with a cannabis program of some kind. This is the first change to federal cannabis policy in decades and it is to be celebrated for sure. Still, the goal is and must remain full legalization and removal from the controlled substances schedule altogether. Which could mean that medical cannabis will take a different track then adult use.

By Geoff Page

Mayor Todd Gloria’s Complete Communities Housing Solutions are coming for OB in the form a 20-unit anthill on a 7,396 square foot lot with virtually no parking or outdoor space.

Anyone who wants to defend Ocean Beach from this kind of mutant development showing up next door to them should attend the OB Community Planning Board meeting tomorrow, May 7, 6:00 p.m., at the OB Rec Center.

The Project

The project was detailed in The Rag’s April 16 story.  The project is designed to take advantage of the city’s new Complete Communities Housing Solutions, or CCHS, program. The problem is, the city’s own CCHS documents state the project is not allowed because it is within an historic district.

The OB Planning Board meets this Tuesday May 7th at 6pm at the OB Rec Center.

There is one project on agenda: 4705 Point Loma Ave.

The Board’s sub-committee, the Project Review Committee reviewed the project on April 17, 2024.  Their action was as follows:

“Motion to approve the project with a condition of approval requiring a 30-day minimum rental agreement for all building occupants. (Passes 3-2-0)”

What’s being proposed at the corner at 4705 Point Loma Avenue is a 3-story, 20 unit complex — but only 3 of its units will be “affordable” and it will only provide 9 parking spaces.

The density that is being proposed in way out of whack with OB’s normal density limits. But the developer can bypass local community plans as long as it’s complying with Mayor Gloria’s so-called Complete Communities.

Here’s the official agenda (see below for more on “The Point”).