OB Rag

From Power San Diego

Creating a non-profit utility in the City of San Diego deserves serious cost-benefit analysis, said Bill Powers, chairman of the Power San Diego campaign, which is gathering signatures to put creation of a public electric utility on the ballot this November.

“Instead of serious analysis, SDGE has grossly inflated costs and completely ignored the benefits,” said Powers, a licensed electric systems engineer. “The utility seeks the veneer of independent review. But what their paid consultant says in footnotes and attributions is that the key data in their recent report came directly from SDGE, not from the consultant’s own assessments”

SDGE has already invested more than $560,000 in a political action committee to oppose the campaign for a non-profit utility.

By Erik Anderson / KPBS / March 18, 2024

San Diego Gas & Electric is going up in March, just a month after the utility reported record profits for 2023. The rate hike eliminates some savings from an unexpected 11% cut in delivery charges in January. The delivery charges jump 8.7% in the March billing cycle and the average customer bill will increase about $8 a month.

“Customers are still benefiting in March 2024, about a 6% savings than what they were spending in March of 2023,” SDG&E’s Anthony Wagner said. The move comes after the investor-owned utility posted record profits during the last calendar year. Company profits in 2023 hit a new record of $936 million, $21

David Garrick of the U-T reported last week: A long-debated plan to transform much of northeast Mission Bay into climate-friendly marshland got official support Thursday [March 14] from San Diego City Council members for the first time. The council’s Environment Committee unanimously approved the plan, calling it a fair compromise between environmentalists, supporters of camping and advocates for recreation like tennis, soccer and water skiing.

The plan approved does these:

Three of the Ocean Beach beers crafted by Pizza Port brewery won gold medals in this year’s competition in the annual Brewers Cup of California. Pizza Port also won a 4th gold medal from its Carlsbad location and two silver medals.

In total, six San Diego breweries brought home gold medals for their beers Wednesday in the competition’s fourth year. And all together, San Diego breweries won a total of 26 medals including 12 silver and five bronze.

Here are Pizza Port’s OB beers and its 1 Carlsbad beer:

There is some good news on Newport Ave in OB. Four locals have purchased The Harp bar and grill — including Miles Doughty of Slightly Stoopid and 3 friends — and they opened not coincidentally on St Patrick’s Day this past weekend.

The 3 friends include Jeremy Diem, the current president and CEO of Hodad’s, and longtime OB fixtures Tyson Green and Steve Ashton who are some of the people behind OB bars like the former Mother’s Saloon, the all-time popular Sunshine Company Saloon, and Aquarius Bar & Grille in closeby Mission Bay.

The tuna fishing industry had a profound influence on the Roseville community, known as ‘Tunaville.’

By Eric DuVall / Point Loma – OB Monthly /March 15, 2024

Commercial fishing can be a lucrative business. It also can be a very dangerous business.

The tuna fishing industry has had such a profound influence on the development of Point Loma’s Roseville community, aka “Tunaville,“ that the area was once widely known as the “Tuna Capital of the World.”

Thirty new banners are gracing the lamp posts of Ocean Beach. Thanks to the OB Mainstreet Association.

19 banners are on on Sunset Cliffs and 11 are on Newport. They will be up until November, when holiday-themed banners will take their spots.

Here the rest are:

Thurs. Mar. 21, 5-7 PM- Celebration of Spring at the Wisteria Cottage Patio!

Please join the Ocean Beach Historical Society on March 21, 2023, from 5 PM to 7 Pm at the Wisteria Cottage Garden at 4761 Niagara

A storm sweeping into our region is forecast to bring Santa Ana winds through Friday, with rain countywide and gusts up to 70 miles per hour in high desert areas.

Mountains and deserts could have thunderstorms through Saturday, with snow down to 5,000 feet in elevation. The above photo was taken off the Mount Laguna Lodge live webcam today at 3:25 pm.

The big news coming out of City Hall that affects the beach is that San Diego is no longer allowing private companies to stage picnics, corporate events, large parties, bonfires or similar organized activities on the vast majority of city beaches.

According to David Garrick today at the Union-Tribune:

A city spokesperson said the crackdown, which comes as spring break is beginning and just before the busy summer beach season, was prompted by complaints from beach-goers and nearby residents.

About a week ago, the Union-Tribune issued its stance on the results of the just-held Primary and took swipes at Todd Gloria and gave props to the independent Larry Turner, all the while longing for the heavyweight pro who didn’t appear.

For Mayor Todd Gloria, the results are anything but a confirmation of voters’ faith in him.

And the editors rightly acknowledged that the incumbent mayor barely won half the vote, something the Rag did in our recent analysis; this is big; after 4 years a Democratic mayor in a Democratic city and all Democrats on the City Council barely won half the freaking vote!!??

In barely winning half the vote against well-meaning opponents with little mastery of basic issues,