OB Rag

by Ernie McCray

The seventy
and eighty
and ninety-year-olds
and beyond
compose a generation
whose days,
after so many yearly journeys
revolving around the sun,
are moving on,
yet,|
though their days will be done,
along with their memories
of a war that was won,
the ending of Jim Crow shenanigans
and marches in the street
for peace and justice and equality
that faced firehoses and snarling dogs
with bared teeth
and so many things –

Restaurant Review

La Perla Cocina Mexicana #3
1224 Rosecrans Street
San Diego, CA 92106
619-795-0063

By Judi Curry

It is seldom that I do not have to make dinner for my foreign language students on a school night, but tonight all three of the students had things to do and none of them were going to be home until late, so Steve and I decided to try another new restaurant in the neighborhood.

This time we decided to try a Mexican restaurant we had gone to a long time ago when it was Hector’s.  The few people that I had talked to about the new owners gave it favorable reviews, and since we were doing shopping in the Rosecrans area anyway felt it was a good time to try the place.  And I have to say that we were really happy that we did, because the food was very, very good!

By Colleen O’Connor

The false choices for bringing Trump to account for violating “gag orders” are looming large.

Special Prosecutor Jack Smith (January 6th investigation), the judge in Trump’s civil fraud case, the Attorneys General in Georgia, and New York have all railed against the not-so-subtle threats against themselves, their families, and/or clerks and Georgia election workers.

Fines have failed to deter Trump’s outbursts on social media, in front of the press, and at rallies that would have landed any other defendant in jail.  $5,000 or $10,000 are meaningless. 

Some Point Loma residents are upset about the city considering a plan to create a mixed-used homeless shelter site on a 5-acre city-owned plot of land near the airport — called “Barracks H.” They took their case to the media last week and have set up an online petition for their cause.

Vacant buildings on the site have for years been utilized for firefighting practices – and some of the buildings have already been demolished. From NBC7:

According to the city’s Homeless Shelter and Solutions Strategy, the site could have traditional shelters, but also potentially include a safe sleeping parking lot with tents and a safe parking lot for people to sleep in their vehicles. … the proposed timeline has the site opening as early as summer of 2024.

By Judi Curry

Dozens of people attended the Neighborhood Watch meeting at St. Peter’s by the Sea meeting room earlier this month. Over half a dozen signs had been put over the local area notifying people that there was a watch group forming in the neighborhood. Two people – Rosamaria Acuna and Gary Werchak – were responsible for bringing the effort together.

The City of San Diego served notice on October 23, 2023, of a upcoming decision by the Development Services Dept on the permit to build a new 3-storty multi-unit complex at 4705 Point Loma Avenue in south OB.

Development Services Staff will make a decision to approve, conditionally approve, modify, or deny an application for a (Process 2) Coastal Development Permit to demolish an existing commercial structure and to construct a new 3-story multi-dwelling unit, located at 4705 Point Loma Av.

Development of the 0.17-acre site has long been anticipated – and the corner itself has an interesting and controversial history.

Earlier this month U-T reporter Phillip Molnar wrote that a new study by Lending Tree, a loan website, determined that “6 percent of homes in the San Diego metropolitan area — which includes all of San Diego County — are vacant. In terms of raw numbers, that is 74,936 homes.”

Again, that is nearly 75,000 homes, houses, apartments, condos, studios, ADUs – that are taking up space that have no humans in them. In an area in an affordable housing crisis, that’s an astounding number.

SOHO has released a Preservation Action Alert and Call to Action for today, Oct. 26 for San Diego’s Preservation Ordinance is in jeopardy.

By Geoff Page

This is an account of a disabled homeless woman who was tossed out, at night, from the city’s homeless encampment at the city’s Operations Maintenance Yard at 20th and B. She was left to fend for herself huddled against a fence with a few of her belongings in the dark and the drizzle of a Tuesday night.

This writer met Jane – not her real name – last Friday, October 6, during a visit to the camp. She had contacted The Rag around noon desperate for some immediate help because she was about to be kicked out of the camp that day. Jane is disabled because of issues with a leg making walking difficult.