OB Rag

by Ernie McCray

I see
two
displaced groups of refugees
seeking asylum in
the Land of the Free.

One group hails from Ukraine.
The other from Haiti.
The Ukrainians are
running frantically
from the ravages of war,
bombings and such,
into our country’s open arms,

Remake of Death on the Nile on March 29 with Kenneth Branagh

By Colleen O’Connor

Want to beat the heat, avoid the crowds at the Zoo and beaches, and skip the all special effects blockbusters and Covid-affected Oscars this Sunday, here are two suggestions.

Just out at Liberty Station’s The Lot is a good old fashioned forties style movie: The Outfit.

A real surprise treat. It begins slowly, like watching snow melt on a mountain, then comes the avalanche. No spoiler alerts here. Just a strong suggestion that if you appreciate good acting, a fine plot,

The premature death of anyone is a tragedy and certainly it is of one within our Peninsula community – and we hereby take note. And we also take note of the location of yet another death of a pedestrian.

Late Sunday night, March 20, a 61-year-old woman was killed after being struck by a car in the 3800 block of Rosecrans Street in the Midway District. About 10:10 pm. She was hit by a 53-year-old male driver in an unspecified vehicle who was traveling southbound on Rosecrans. He stopped after the crash and cooperated with investigators.

Once again a life from our community is taken from that concrete and asphalt jungle known as the Rosecrans. How many have there been in recent years?

By Terrie Best, San Diego Chapter Americans for Safe Access

In this era of social justice most non-profits who advocate for marginalized people began to look for the most vulnerable within the marginalized people they serve.

Illness societies would find their most in need are likely BIPOC and those living in poverty. All nonprofits should try to reach those people within who are less able to gather resources as successfully as others due to barriers of race, language or economics.

Over a decade ago, when the medical cannabis patient advocacy group I volunteer for, San Diego Americans for Safe Access, was pleading for access to medical cannabis and San Diego City and County were struggling to regulate medical cannabis retail outlets, SDASA should have looked at BIPOC and marginalized neighborhoods with much more care.

by Ernie McCray

Vladimir Putin
pursues his lifelong dream
of reigning over all
the land
and air
and sea
in his proximity,
singling out Ukrainians to take the brunt of his
inhuman atrocities:
bombing and storming them,
looting their wealth and shooting them,
rolling his tanks down their avenues and streets…

Public Service Announcement:

After weeks of decline, experts who track coronavirus levels in San Diego’s wastewater at the Point Loma plant say they are starting to see a slight uptick in viral load, which could be an indication that the new wave of the pandemic that has hit foreign countries has now reached Southern California. The last data analyzed from Point Loma on March 13 and March 14 show an uptick.

“This slight uptick is not something to be alarmed about, but something we’re watching with caution,” Dr. Christopher Longhurt, Chief Medical Officer at UC San Diego Health,

By Geoff Page

A spirited discussion at the Peninsula Community Planning Board’s regular monthly meeting March 17 was a microcosm of the housing dilemma that seems to be affecting everyone in some way today.

Apartments to Condos on Worden Street

A few years ago, 21 apartments on Worden Street, with great unobstructed views of everything to the west, were remodeled. The apartments are located just past the intersection of Worden and Bob Street, heading north. They are on the left as the road rises, bends to the right, and becomes Leland. The property owners now want to convert the units to condos. That means 21 fewer apartments available for rent being replaced by homes the renters probably will not be able to afford.

Thousands of union grocery workers at Ralphs, Albertsons, and Vons, from Central California to San Diego, will be voting the week of March 21 on whether to authorize an Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) strike against their employers.

United Food and Commercial Workers Local 135, along with sibling UFCW Locals in the bargaining unit, have filed multiple ULP charges with the National Labor Relations Board against these companies for violating the rights of members. These unfair labor practice charges range from trying to influence members by providing gifts and bonuses while negotiations are ongoing

A Voice for Residents, Not Special Interests, in City Hall

By Joel Day

Over the last months knocking on doors, attending community meetings, and listening to OB residents, I have heard a clear desire for new leadership in District 2.

I am running to be your council representative because we need a council that works for working families, not special interests. For me, that commitment isn’t just talk – it’s deeply personal. My father went to prison for 25 years when I was 6 years old. My sister and I grew up in a household of serious economic, addiction, and mental health challenges.

But we had a lifeline at our public library – where I learned to read and which set me on a path

By Colleen O’Connor

Apologies to George Eliot for cribbing her classic title about life in a provincial English town. Putting it to more contemporary use, here are three pieces of fantastic news just as relevant now, in the middle of March.

First, the good news from Live Science. “Our universe may have a twin that runs backward in time. An anti-universe running backwards in time could explain dark matter and cosmic inflation.”

The Midway planners, officially called the Midway-Pacific Highway Community Planning Group, are hosting an Open House for the public to come and learn about the 5 different proposals for the Sports Arena Redevelopment.

The event will be Thursday, March 24, from 5:30 – 7:30 pm, at the EF International Language Campus, 3455 Kenyon St., San Diego, CA 92110.

All proposers will be making presentations and, according to a public service announcement by the planning group, “this is a chance to see all at once and to meet the people proposing. Anyone interested in what might happen with this development should try to attend.”

By Jennifer Van Grove / San Diego Union-Tribune / March 16, 2022

San Diego City Council members, as well as the public, will soon get to weigh in on the five development teams looking to remake the city’s sports arena site in the Midway District with thousands of apartments and a new or refashioned entertainment venue.

Proposing teams, which are battling to win a long-term ground lease for the 48-acre property currently home to Pechanga Arena, are scheduled to pitch their plans to the city’s Land Use and Housing Committee on April 21 at 1 p.m.