OB Rag

By  Colleen O’Connor

Remember the timeless holiday poem by Dr. Suess., aka, Theodore Geisel.

The Grinch hated Christmas! The whole Christmas season!
Now, please don’t ask why. No one quite knows the reason.
It could be his head wasn’t screwed on just right.
It could be, perhaps, that his shoes were too tight.
But I think that the most likely reason of all,
May have been that his heart was two sizes too small.

Familiar?  As in current political events?  Global mayhem and sadness?

By Paul Sisson / San Diego Union-Tribune / Dec. 17, 2023

Four months into a church disciplinary process, the possibility of reinstatement looks remote for Selden “Dee” Kelley, the San Diego pastor who lost his job after writing 1,218 words that called for a broader dialogue on same-sex marriage in the Church of the Nazarene.

Kelley, who led San Diego First Church of the Nazarene for 17 years before his dismissal on Aug. 14, said last week that a regional church court denied his initial appeal on Nov. 20.

Here’s the link to the City of San Diego’s website on the OB Pier Renewal – and here is how it begins:

Ocean Beach Pier Background

The Ocean Beach (OB) Pier first opened on July 2, 1966. Conceived as a sportfishing pier, the facility enables the public to access and interact with the ocean. There is no fee for walking out onto the pier and fishing licenses are not required.

By Michael Smolens / San Diego Union-Tribune / Dec. 17, 2023

Mayor Todd Gloria’s re-election bid may have become more complex with a challenge from social justice advocate and former district attorney candidate Geneviéve Jones-Wright.

So far, the former public defender mostly has kept a low profile as a mayoral candidate, with no formal announcement speech or extensive media interviews to talk about running for the region’s most powerful local government office.

J

By Brooke Binkowski / Times of San Diego / Dec. 16, 2023

A judge rejected a final legal challenge to Measure C Friday, clearing the way for the Midway Rising redevelopment project in the Sports Arena area.

The voter-approved measure removed the 30-foot coastal height limit for the Midway District, including the 48.5-acre Midway-Pacific Highway Community Plan area.

A 19-year-old man has been charged in connection with the death of 12-year-old girl who was struck by a personal watercraft as she was paddle boarding in Mission Bay last summer.

Arsanyous Refat Ghaly, 19, was arrested in Los Angeles on Nov. 8 on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, San Diego police spokesman Lt. Adam Sharki confirmed Thursday. Fox 5 was first to report the arrest Thursday. Ghaly, who was 18 at the time of the crash, was arraigned in San Diego Superior Court on Nov. 16. His bail was set at $20,000.

..

Fox5SanDiego – AP / Dec. 14, 2023

California energy regulators voted Thursday to allow the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant to operate for an additional five years, despite calls from environmental groups to shut it down. The California Public Utilities Commission agreed to extend the shutdown date for the state’s last functioning nuclear power facility through 2030 instead of closing it in 2025 as previously agreed.

By The Los Angeles Times Editorial Board / Dec. 13, 2023

If you have tuned out the many crazy things that Donald Trump has said since he left the White House, it’s time to start paying attention.

The twice-impeached insurrectionist holds more than a 40-point polling lead over his closest rival in the Republican primary, and many Americans remain in denial about how close we are to returning an aggrieved and emboldened authoritarian to power. As former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) warned recently, the U.S. “is sort of sleepwalking into dictatorship.”

By Noah Perkins / Pt Loma – OB Monthly / Dec. 11, 2023

The Sea Lions defeated Washburn University 1-0 in the championship game at the Sportsplex in Matthews, N.C. The title is the first national championship in any sport for PLNU.

By Scott Lewis/ Voice of San Diego / Dec. 9, 2034

This week, former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer endorsed Sunbreak Ranch, the plan to move all homeless San Diegans into a camp somewhere out in the desert. It would be a vast campus of shelters and services. It is Pedro from Napolean Dynamite: Vote for Sunbreak Ranch and all your wildest dreams will come true.

“The successful implementation of Sunbreak Ranch will save hundreds of thousands of lives, alleviate widespread suffering, unlock unfathomable human potential, and clean up America’s cities for all of us,” wrote George Mullen, who came up with the idea, and basketball legend Bill Walton.