OB Rag

Roll Up for Cannabis Equity – A Monthly Column

By Terrie Best

By now there have been many articles written about political operatives Jesus and Andrea Cardenas alleged shenanigans with a Federal PPP loan. These alleged actions led to a criminal indictment against the siblings but not enough has been said about Jesus’s connection to the cannabis lobby.

I’m not an expert on the politics of cannabis but articles from local news outlets gave us some insight and I have many more questions.

A detail which concerned me was the disclosure that as late as 2021 March and Ash, the largest cannabis retailer in San Diego county, was paying Cardenas for consulting work

Here’s a projection into San Diego politics 2024 – who is running for what office?  Here’s what we know now broken down by district and office, now that we’ve passed the signature qualification phase:

San Diego City Council

District 1

Joe LaCava represents north coastal District 1 and will run unopposed for re-election. Anthony Olmo was challenging him but failed to submit enough valid signatures to qualify for the ballot.

District 2

Jen Campbell is not up for re-election in 2024. She was re-elected in 2022.

WHDSF stands for “Wildfires, Heatwaves, Droughts, Storms, and Floods,” and is a handy way to remember the range of catastrophic change we’re going through.

By David Helvarg / Common Dreams / Dec. 17, 2023

If people can remember socially important acronyms like LGBTQ + and an older generation can’t get toxic advertising acronyms like LSMFT out of their brains (BTW—it stands for “Lucky Strike Means Fine Tobacco”) we might all want to start remembering WHDSF whenever the issue of climate change comes up.

WHDSF stands for “Wildfires, Heatwaves, Droughts, Storms, and Floods,”

By Roma Chang / Hoodline – Fox5SanDiego / December 21, 2023

It’s lights out for the Ocean Beach Playhouse. The cherished San Diego theater is taking its final bow this Saturday, Dec. 23, after seven years of operation. Citing crushing rent hikes, owners Bill and Jennie Connard have to wave goodbye to their dual-concept space, which houses both OB eBikes and the intimate 50-seat stage.

In a city where gentrification is as common as the sunny days, small business owners are finding to barely keep up with the deep-pocketed retail chains. “The rent just too high for what we’re doing and way too high for a community theater,” the Connards told FOX 5 San Diego.

By Thomas Fudge / KPBS / December 15, 2023

There are still taxi drivers in San Diego despite the storm of changes to the industry brought by ride-hailing companies. You can still call a dispatcher to get a ride from drivers with the United Taxi Workers of San Diego (UTWSD). But now those taxis also have an app, just like Uber and Lyft.

“You can go to your Apple App store, your Google Play store and just search for Ride United. You’ll see ‘Ride United (Passengers)’, and just click download like with any other app,” said UC San Diego communication professor Lilly Irani.

Surfer Today / December 19, 2023

Progress and technology are often associated with quality of life and happiness, but they sure come with more or less various downsides.
Throughout the history of surfing, beach surf cameras have always been the subject of love-hate discussions and some serious attacks on private property.

By beach cams, we mean video cameras installed near beaches and surf spots seldom pointed toward the best wave peaks.

Back in the day, in the pre-Information Age (roughly before the 1950s), apart from tides, surfers knew little about what to expect from the ocean.

By Jennifer Ludden / NPR / December 15, 2023

Homelessness in America spiked last year, reaching a record high, according to an annual count that provides a snapshot of one night in January. The report, released Dec. 15 by the department of Housing and Urban development, found more than 650,000 people were living in shelters or outside in tents or cars. That’s up a whopping 12% from the year before.

To advocates, it hardly comes as a surprise.

ON Monday, December 18, the city published the “notice of preparation” for the sports arena area redevelopment — inviting the public and others to help craft what’s studied in the environmental analysis of the proposed development.

As we all know, the Midway Rising re-development team was selected in 2022 by the city council to remake the property in the Midway District. And as we all must know by now, the re-development team was headed up at the time by Brad Termini, head of housing developer Zephyr, who – along with his spouse – were the biggest contributors to Mayor Gloria’s campaign for mayor.

The mayor was the biggest fan of Midway Rising and convinced the city council to select it for one of the most massive redevelopment projects in modern San Diego history.

Point Loma Nazarene University’s inaugural class graduates 28 students.

By Paul Sisson / San Diego Union-Tribune / Dec. 18, 2023

They came to the stage one at a time, trailing parents, siblings, spouses and significant others who took white coats from a rack, holding them up as the graduates shrugged into them, getting a feel for a new level of responsibility in the medical world. And just like that, Point Loma Nazarene University minted its first 28 physician assistants Friday,

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?