OB Rag

by Ernie McCray

Black Lives Matter
recently asked
what Black joy means to me.
Well, Black joy just happens to be
in my DNA.
Passed along
through the ages
from Africa
as a way for us
in the diaspora,
to survive in a world
that would just as soon
do without us,

From Peninsula Newsletter of Pt Loma Association

One of the gems of Shelter Island is the Pearl of the Pacific Park. It’s classy, inviting, calming – and if you’re walking the full loop, arriving here means you’re half-way back to where you began.

By Olivia Rosane / Nation of Change / Oct. 13, 2022

Much of the movement to reduce ocean plastic pollution has focused on the single-use plastic bags used to cart purchases away from the supermarket.

But there’s another type of plastic bag that is ubiquitous in grocery stores across the country: the handleless plastic bags typically on offer by the produce or meat sections for shoppers to tear off and use to separate their apples or cold cuts from the rest of their haul.

In California grocery stores, however, these other plastic bags will soon be a thing of the past. The state became the first in the nation to ban them in grocery stores

Interested and concerned residents in San Diego County can learn about the public health crisis at the border during the community bike and van tour co-hosted by the Surfrider Foundation and the Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve (TRNERR), starting at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 15.

This tour, which starts and ends at the entrance to Border Field State Park (1250 Monument Road) is the last in a month-long series of education and stewardship events that are part of the 13th annual Tijuana River Action Month, organized by the Tijuana River Action Network.

By Geoff Page

The proponents of removing the 30-foot height limit in the Midway area – Measure C on the November ballot – are deliberately misleading San Diegans. That is putting it politely. The proponents are telling the public that redevelopment of the Midway area is doomed unless the height limit is removed.

That is completely untrue, evidenced by the previous redevelopment proposals the city received in 2020. The proposing firms each submitted two proposals, one showing development at the current 30-foot height limit and the other showing development if the height limit was removed.

Ta da. Proof positive development is possible with the 30-foot height limit.

Helen Fricker is a geophysicist at UC San Diego who studies ice sheets such as the ones in Greenland and Antarctica. Back in August, she stated:

“The amount by which the ice is being added to the ocean is increasing. And we know that from satellite monitoring as well. What we are seeing is we’re actually tracking the high end of the worst case scenario of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) projections.”

Residents of San Diego will see the effects of rising sea levels in their lifetimes, as coastal flooding becomes more frequent and longer in duration, she said. Fricker pointed out that some low-lying areas will soon be underwater, specifically the area around San Diego’s Sports Arena, known as the Midway District.

In a report on their Politifest event held last weekend, the Voice of San Diego’s Scott Lewis highlighted an apparent flip by County Assessor candidate Barbara Bry on the 30-foot height limit in the Midway District.

Bry supports height limit exemption…: When she ran for mayor, Bry was an outspoken opponent, in 2020, of Measure E, which would have allowed developers to construct buildings higher than 30 feet in the Midway neighborhood.

In the midst of a fentanyl epidemic in San Diego, an Ocean Beach man was sentenced recently to 150 months – or 12 1/2 years – for selling fentanyl to another Ocean Beach man who died of an overdose in 2020.

Anthony Souza, 47, was sentenced to federal prison by U.S. District Court Judge Gonzalo Curiel for causing the death of Chad Stevens, 28, who worked for two years at the Wonderland Ocean Pub, a well-known OB restaurant.

Join the OB Town Council and Point Loma Association in their:

Virtual Voter Information Forum – October 17 @ 6:30PM

On Tuesday, October 11, the San Diego City Council approved an $8 million contract to start working with a consulting firm to replace the Ocean Beach Pier.

Moffat & Nichol will now begin the process of planning for a brand new pier with the city’s engineering team. The firm was approved back on September 14 by the council’s transportation and infrastructure committee for additional services needed for the OB Pier improvement project.

The consultation company expect to begin an evaluation of the pier this year and to have construction begin on the new pier by 2026.

Numerous groups oppose Measure C on November’s ballot, not only Keep the Coast30. Here’s a recent Op-Ed in the Presidio Sentinel from the group “Save San Diego’s Character”:

Save San Diego’s Character, an organization created in response to the U.S. Navy’s proposal to redevelop the NAVWAR/SPAWAR site, opposes San Diego County Measure C. This Measure would remove the 30-foot height limit on construction in the Midway-Pacific Highway Community Plan area. It would affect approximately 1,300 acres stretching from Interstate 8 south along Interstate 5 to the San Diego International Airport currently included in the Coastal Zone of the City of San Diego.