OB Rag

Hundreds of people were forced to flee a homeless shelter near downtown San Diego as floodwaters rushed through the front door just recently, leaving many with few belongings.

Officials evacuated Alpha Project’s Bridge Shelter, a massive gray tent near 16th Street and Newton Avenue on the edge of Barrio Logan, early New Year’s Day. About 325 men and women are now sleeping in the Municipal Gym in Balboa Park.

More than 2 inches of rain fell on San Diego County on New Year’s, breaking local records and causing multiple water rescues. The shelter was one of the first casualties.

Now Alpha Project is calling on San Diegans to donate items — and they’re asking people to deliver them to the Recital Hall in Balboa Park.

Compare Editorials from Washington Post with New York Times

Below the masthead at the Washington Post sits this small phrase: “Democracy Dies in Darkness”.

But with the almost giddy editorial by the Post on Saturday, Jan. 3, in total full-throated support for Trump’s illegal strike in Venezuela, the Post editorial board have now proven that they’re willing to help snuff out whatever light is left in American democracy. They need to remove that phrase from the masthead for the American people can no longer rely on the Washington Post for truth and any light in the darkness.

If Jeff Bezos had owned the Post back in the early 1970s, we would never have known about the Watergate scandal — that eventually forced President Nixon to resign.

With Bezos’ manly bear hug of Donald Trump’s authoritarianism, America not only lost one of the country’s great pillars of truthful journalism, it’s just one more incredible sign that US corporate media are bending their knee to our tinpot dictator wannabe. One more institution has fallen.

Here are a few key segments of the Post’s editorial:

A parade featuring more than 100 antique automobiles will take place in Point Loma on Sunday, January 11th, retracing a historic six-mile road race that occurred in 1915. The free event, organized by the Horseless Carriage Club, will begin in Balboa Park and conclude with a car show at Liberty Station.

“We will have over 100 antique cars. I think the oldest signed up right now is 1906,” said Dave Ness, San Diego Excursion organizer.

“In 1915 they used a route that you can drive today. They went down Rosecrans, up Chatsworth, all the way along Catalina, a short jot on Talbot, down Cannon Street back to Rosecrans,” said Hess.

The vintage car collection will include a diverse range of vehicles. “We’re going to have a spread of cars. We’ve got Rolls Royces, Packards, Pierces, a lot of Model T’s and Model A’s,” said Ness.

Organizers plan to drive two laps around the route to give spectators multiple opportunities to view the vehicles. “We’ll drive two laps of the race route, so people can see the cars twice as we go around,” said Hess.

By Andrew Keatts / Times of San Diego / Jan. 2, 2026

San Diego’s housing shortage routinely ranks among residents’ top concerns, and disputes over specific projects routinely rank among the region’s biggest policy fights.

Here are six housing projects that could deliver a significant impact this year, either because the project’s are so big on their own or because of the precedent they could set.

Golden Hill’s test of “Complete Communities”
“The Lawson,” an eight-story, 186 unit development, shook neighborhood groups in Golden Hill into organized opposition in 2025.

Those groups won a rare and seemingly major victory in October, when their lawsuit over the project convinced Superior Court Judge Joel Wohlfeil to issue a restraining order halting construction.

The judge last month declined to extend the work order, after he determined the group does not have “a probability of prevailing” at trial.

Still, the outcome of that trial will determine more than whether one Golden Hill project goes forward.

By Gary Wonacott

The time has com for the District 1 office to initiate a formal review by the Planning Department to evaluate the feasibility and benefits of consolidating the Mission Beach and Pacific Beach Community Planning Areas (CPA).

The current boundaries— drawn more than half a century ago— no longer reflect the realities of how our communities function, nor do they support the level of representation and planning capacity required to address today’s coastal challenges. Reunification is not simply an administrative adjustment; it is a necessary modernization that would restore political balance, strengthen resident voices, and finally give Mission Beach a fair opportunity to secure long?overdue infrastructure investment.

Mission Beach was originally part of the Pacific Beach CPA before being separated in the mid?20th century to provide more localized planning control. Yet the Mission Beach Precise Plan, drafted in the 1970s, identified a long list of deficiencies— aging infrastructure, visual blight, inadequate landscaping, and a lack of community amenities— that remain largely unresolved today.

Over the past two decades, the situation has only deteriorated. The seawall continues to crumble along its entire length. Alleys and utilities lag behind modern standards.  In spite of many “Get it Done Requests,” court lamp lights remain burnt out for months at a time.  Vehicles fail to stop at stop signs and speed down Mission Blvd with impunity.

By Brian White / CBS8 / Jan. 2, 2026

Parking frustration is boiling over in Bankers Hill, where several newly installed parking meters along Sixth Avenue have been vandalized just weeks after enforcement began.

CBS 8 found several meters near Balboa Park appear to have been deliberately damaged, some clogged with what looks like spray foam or contractor-grade glue, and one spray-painted green, obscuring the screen and payment slots.

San Diego Police tell CBS 8 that 12 pay parking stations were vandalized over the course of a month. According to San Diego Police Officer Anthony Carrasco, one was covered in a “biological material, believed to be fecal matter.” He said officers investigating took a DNA swab of what was smeared on the screen.

People who live nearby say they’re not surprised.

“I’m really not surprised,” said Joshua Jones, who lives along Sixth Avenue.

Giovanna Allain echoed that reaction, saying, “I’m not surprised, we’re just kind of rebelling against it.”

The Ocean Beach Planning Board holds its first 2026 meeting Tuesday night, January 6. Here is the official agenda:

By Angelo Haynes

At 3pm Saturday, January 3rd, several hundred San Diegans representing a diverse coalition of local San Diego activist groups gathered in front of the San Diego County Administration Building to protest the recent US military intervention in Venezuela. Groups ranging from feminist activist groups such as Code Pink, to Veteran organizations such as Veterans for Peace came together on short notice to speak and contribute to the march.

The Trump administration’s recent military intervention is an escalation from the recent aggressive naval attacks in the region, resulting in the capture of President Nicolas Maduro and Venezuelan First Lady Cilia Flores.

Organizers began planning the march Friday night after news broke of US forces beginning their bombing operation of the capital city of Caracas. Planning and mobilization efforts were then accelerated when it was discovered that president Maduro was kidnapped to be brought onto American soil to be prosecuted on narco-terrorism charges.

What is the War Powers Resolution? – History and Major Facts

The War Powers Resolution, also known as the War Powers Act of 1973, is a pivotal piece of U.S. federal legislation designed to reassert Congress’s authority in decisions concerning military engagements and to limit the U.S. president’s authority to commit American forces to armed conflict without congressional approval. .

It was passed in the wake of escalating concerns over the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War and executive overreach in wartime decisions.

Although it became law over President Richard Nixon‘s veto, the resolution has sparked significant legal, political, and constitutional debates since its enactment

Understanding the War Powers Resolution requires exploring its historical context, its legislative framework, and how it has been applied and interpreted in the decades since its passage.

Historical Background

The roots of the War Powers Resolution can be traced back to growing frustration among members of Congress over the U.S. executive branch’s increasing control of military decisions, particularly during the Cold War.

The Vietnam War, which began as a limited U.S. advisory role, escalated into one of the most controversial and protracted military engagements in American history, despite the absence of a formal congressional declaration of war. This set the stage for Congress to take action to reassert its constitutional authority over war powers.

From Washington Post / Jan. 3, 2025

President Donald Trump said Saturday at his Mar-a-Lago Club that the United States will control Venezuela for an unspecified period after a U.S. operation captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife.

“We’ll run it properly. We’ll run it professionally. We’ll have the greatest oil companies in the world go in and invest billions,” he said, while declining to rule out U.S. military deployments. “We’re not afraid of boots on the ground.”

The operation involved more than 150 aircraft, including strike and intelligence assets, Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said after Trump’s remarks. “On arrival into the target area, the helicopters came under fire and they replied with that fire with overwhelming force,” Caine added. “One of our aircraft was hit but remained flyable.”

Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, “gave up and were taken into custody” by U.S. forces, Caine said. The couple was removed from the country by helicopter, taken aboard the USS Iwo Jima and will be brought to New York, where both are facing federal charges.

Trump said the U.S. had prepared to mount a second-wave attack in Venezuela but that he doubted it would be needed.

Trump: US Oil Companies Will Take Over Venezuela’s Oil Fields

U.S. oil companies are going to take over Venezuela’s oil fields and industry, President Donald Trump said Saturday, declaring that U.S. oil interests will revive oil production in a country with one of the world’s largest reserves.

Several “No War on Venezuela” protests are being planned across the country today, after the US conducted a large-scale strike on the city of Caracas and captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

“We need to take to the streets and say no to another endless war! The people of this country do not want another war! A U.S. war would cause death and destruction for the people of Venezuela,” the Answer Coalition, one group organizing the protests, wrote in a news release.

Demonstrations are planned for Chicago, New York’s Times Square, outside the White House in Washington, DC, along with city halls and statehouses across the country this afternoon.

Meanwhile, In Congress 

Members of the US Congress on Saturday, Jan. 3, demanded emergency legislative action to prevent the Trump administration from taking further military action in Venezuela after the president threatened a “second wave” of attacks and said the US will control the South American country’s government indefinitely.

Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas), chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), said that “Congress should vote immediately on a War Powers Resolution to stop” President Donald Trump, whose administration has for months unlawfully bombed boats in international waters and threatened a direct military assault on Venezuela without lawmakers’ approval.

“Trump has no right to take us to war with Venezuela. This is reckless and illegal,” said Casar. “My entire life, politicians have been sending other people’s kids to die in reckless regime change wars. Enough. No new wars.”

A day after the strikes on Venezuela and the kidnapping of its president by elements of the U.S. military, I guess we can now relax over any concerns that our military men and women wouldn’t follow illegal orders. For, the invasion of a sovereign country and the illegal abduction of its leader without Congressional approval (or even notice) by our army and navy are clearly illegal and against the Constitution.

Apparently, our boys and girls wearing US uniforms didn’t stop their actions in this attack against US and international law.

What a sigh of relief.

It was not even two months ago that a squad of Democratic congresspeople produced a video distributed widely telling military and intelligence officers to “refuse illegal orders.” Which is the law. Here’s that video they made:  a video .