OB Rag

Everything that came after the dramatic exposition Wednesday night of the Council’s problems and the reactions from community members fell into its deep shadows. But, here in brief is an encapsulation of what we’re calling “news” announced by different individuals either representing community groups or city agencies.

OBMA – “Shop Local” — Businesses Hurt by Pier’s Closure

Denny Knox of the OBMA described how after the lights along Newport Ave went out just before the Holiday Parade back in early December, the Mainstreet Assoc stepped up and spent $8,000 in installing new ones — just a day before the event. There was a quick round of  applause.

By Jason DeRose/ KPBS / January 24, 2024

When Americans are asked to check a box indicating their religious affiliation, 28% now check ‘none.’

A new study from Pew Research finds that the religiously unaffiliated – a group comprised of atheists, agnostic and those who say their religion is “nothing in particular” – is now the largest cohort in the U.S. They’re more prevalent among American adults than Catholics (23%) or evangelical Protestants (24%).

By Lyndsay Winkley / San Diego Union-Tribune / Jan. 23, 2024 

The City Council on Tuesday [Jan.23, 2024] voted to overhaul San Diego’s hard-fought surveillance law, a move officials said was necessary to prevent city-wide disruptions, but that privacy advocates saw as a gutting of oversight powers.

City officials have warned for months that without amendments, San Diego’s surveillance ordinance, which created a multi-layered review process for many city technologies — from body-worn cameras to emergency dispatch systems to fingerprint scanners — could seriously impact vital operations.

When well-known OBcean and local ecologist Jim Bell was alive, he lived in a large building on Voltaire Street that his friends called the “Jim Bell Compound.” It had numerous rooms — up to five and a large back patio and was considered quite the hippie pad. The address was 4862-4866 Voltaire.

The Ocean Beach Green Center took over the front room of the house for their facility. Now the compound is up for sale for $2.3 millions.

During Wednesday’s night OB Town Council meeting, several people in the audience who live in the small cottages just to the south of the OB Pier had a singular complaint.

It was that a group of unhoused people have literally taken over the top of the pier and the area just under the pier and have set up habitation. 

Former San Diegan politician Peter Navarro who became a Trump advisor, was sentenced on Thursday, Jan. 25, to four months in prison for contempt of Congress after refusing to cooperate with an investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Navarro, 74, was well known in San Diego back in the day because as a slow-growth advocate he founded a group called PLAN for “Prevent Los Angeles Now” when he was a Democrat and ran unsuccessfully for local and state offices five times. He ended up teaching at UC Irvine for years … until he underwent a severe change into his dark side.

In an extraordinary session, the Board of Directors of the Ocean Beach Town Council met last night before a large crowd at the Point Loma Library and made a statement explaining some details of the internal turmoil that has rocked the organization in recent weeks.

The immediate upshot is that president Cory Bruins has been ousted and that the group’s financial accounts have been turned over to an independent auditor. The former treasurer, Connor Harrington, has also resigned.

Come celebrate the OB Woman’s Club’s 100 year Kickoff Party on Tuesday, January 30th.

Their 100 year kickoff event starts at 5:30 pm with some socializing/mingling, followed by proclamations from City and State Assembly commencing at 6 pm. They will be serving cake, champagne, and sparkling cider. The party goes till 7:30pm.

by Ernie McCray

I was an only child
and what has been said
about folks like me
is that we are likely to be spoiled
and lonely
and selfish
and go about life without social skills
and all I can say is
I didn’t get the memo
about any of this
because I, when I was a kid,
was too spoiled
as a billionaire
would be to being broke and on the skids.

Colleen’s views on the 2024 Presidential race do not necessarily reflect those of the OB Rag.

By Colleen O’Connor

It is an odd time in U.S. politics.  The majority of Americans do NOT want a rematch between Biden and Trump.  Advancing age, declining mental acuity, multiple wars, global financial maladies, and fear, rather than fortitude, seems in ascendancy.

The GOP nomination is almost guaranteed to be Trump.  The Democrats to be Biden. The pairing few want.