OB Rag

By José Martinez / Electronic Frontier Foundation  / March 15, 2024

In a stunning reversal against the popular Transparent & Responsible Use of Surveillance Technology (TRUST) ordinance, the San Diego city council voted earlier this year to cut many of the provisions that sought to ensure public transparency for law enforcement surveillance technologies.

Similar to other Community Control Of Police Surveillance (CCOPS) ordinances, the TRUST ordinance was intended to ensure that each police surveillance technology would be subject to basic democratic oversight

By Arturo Castañares / La Prensa San Diego – Editor-at-Large / March 23, 2024

San Diego State University officials received a proposal in 2022 to build a new sports arena within the Mission Valley development at no cost to the public but have kept the offer under wraps even as the City of San Diego is currently negotiating to develop a similar facility at the existing Sports Arena site.

SDSU President Adela de la Torre, the University’s Athletic Director, and several prominent San Diegans flew to Texas on a private jet in May 2022 to tour the Moody Center at the University of Texas at Austin (UTA) at the invitation of the company that led the development project.

By Colleen O’Connor

The wind, weather, and small craft advisories did not stop great fun in the greater Point Loma/Ocean Beach neighborhoods. Crowded streets were non-existent while the weather commanded attention. Rain, winds, and small craft advisories.

First, the many calculations on rain and winds fluctuated wildly, but most came true. Over time, they ranged from 1.2 inches of to .5 of rain, with wind gusts from 20-30 mph. The two-day rain tally hit .85…and winds did whistle by at 20 to 30 mph.

The sun shines on the snow at Mt. Laguna, at 6,000 feet, Monday, March 25 at 9 a.m.

By Amber Paulin / Lomabeat.com / March 20, 2024

To be a Point Loma Nazarene University student is to come into contact with our furry, nocturnal raccoon friends of San Diego. Maybe their fluffy silhouettes bumble across Caf Lane as you take a sunrise run. Or perhaps a pair of reflective eyes beams down at you from the top of the dumpster leaving you unsure of how to process the contents of your trash bag at 11 p.m.

The Loma raccoons are icons, and while PLNU’s mascot is technically the sea lion, the @loma.raccoons Instagram account might just hint otherwise.

But how much do we know about our stripe-tailed neighbors? It turns out that with March well upon us, raccoon breeding season is in full swing,

Rival Groups Challenge Uptown and La Jolla CPGs

By Mat Wahlstrom

Today — Thursday, March 21 — at 1:00PM, the City Council’s Land Use and Housing Committee will vote to recommend which community planning group (CPG) will better represent the planning areas of La Jolla and Uptown: those currently elected, or those vetted for appointment by the mayor.

This represents the culmination of a years-long effort to paint elected CPGs as not representative of their communities by virtue of the fact that the people elected can’t be counted on to toe an ideological line.

Much like a shell game, in which an object is hidden under a number of covers which are shuffled around, the existing CPGs have been repeatedly tasked

Apparently, a domestic argument in the parking lot of the Ocean Beach Pier Wednesday night devolved into the 22-year old man running over the 20-year old woman and the guy getting shot. Both are expected to recover.

According to police, the two got into an argument with the ex-boyfriend trying to mediate around 9 pm. SDPD Officer John Buttle told NBC7:

“The 22-year-old male got into his girlfriend’s car, put it in reverse and ran over his girlfriend. Shortly after two gunshots were heard.”

Mayor Gloria has picked from within the current ranks of the San Diego Police Department for his new chief – and announced Thursday that it will be Assistant Chief Scott Wahl. The current chief David Nisleit retires in late June.

Wahl, a native San Diegan, was selected after a nationwide search for candidates and still must be approved in a majority vote by the San Diego City Council before being sworn in.

Check out this report from 10News:

The San Diego City Council has approved an agreement to build an affordable-housing project featuring support services in the Ocean Beach neighborhood, and construction is expected to begin next month. The agreement approved Tuesday, March 19, calls for the city and the San Diego Housing Commission to collaborate on developing the $6.8 million Abbott Street Affordable Housing Project and have it open next year, officials said.

By Lisa Mortensen

Good Morning:

I am writing all of you because I hope Todd and Steve are aware of the complete outrage from the Uptown community regarding the city’s undemocratic takeover of our community planning group, Uptown Planners.   WE WANT UPTOWN PLANNERS TO REMAIN OUR PLANNING GROUP!!

Why encouraging more private development won’t solve the housing crisis

By Michael Friedrich/ The New Republic / March 15, 2024

Sonja Trauss, the charismatic founder of the YIMBY movement, recently spoke at a conference of fellow travelers about the importance of supporting small home builders. “Most neighborhoods are still zoned low-density, and so if you’re seeing new housing, it’s going to be small projects,” she said at Austin’s YIMBYtown 2024, a gathering of people who believe that saying “yes in my backyard” to private development will fix America’s housing crisis.