OB Rag

By Colleen O’Connor

Campbell or Newsom: Which One Reaches “Escape Velocity?” Make an educated guess. Based on what the public facing information thus far, consider these points.

The Recall initiative against Governor Newsom has already gathered the necessary, probably verifiable signatures, to require a special election; over two million.

The Recall initiative against Councilmember Campbell is just getting started, so the signature gathering numbers are as yet unknown.

Just as an aside, the volunteer effort is stronger against Campbell than Newsom and necessarily so. Factor in that professional, paid signature gathering, now costs $7.50 per valid entry. The statewide Republican war chest helped pay for, and deliver, the professional results to recall Newsom.

The OB Rag has followed the tragic saga of Elizabeth Sullivan, a 31-year old Point Loma Navy spouse, who disappeared in mid-October, 2014. Nearly two years after she vanished, her body was found off Point Loma and Liberty Station, in San Diego Bay.

Four years after her disappearance, her husband, Matthew Sullivan, was arrested in 2018 at his home in Delaware and extradited to San Diego on murder charges.

In 2020, Matt Sullivan was convicted of of second-degree murder for fatally stabbing Elizabeth. On Friday, March 12, this year, he was sentenced to 16 years to life in state prison.

Here are some details – some new – about the case

by Ernie McCray

One day
Rapper Mellow,
known for his
smooth flow
was kicking it in his studio,
free stylin’,
spittin’ lyrics
‘bout
nigga this
and nigga that
and bitches and hos
and who
had more
riches and fame,

By Judi Curry

What I am about ready to write about is only my experience with trying to help the environment. Others may not have had the same experience and I want to say, again, that this is only my opinion and experience.

In August of 2018, I decided that I wanted to put solar on my roof. I thought it would help the environment; it would lessen my enormous electric bills; and with the offers of “no pay” it was too good to turn down.

I checked with my accountant, and she told me that I would be able to take a write-off on my taxes every year. So, I had it installed.

Editordude: Eric DuVall, president of the OB Historical Society, has written another OB history piece, published today in the OB – Point Loma Monthly.

By Eric DuVall / March 15, 2021

The blustery breezes of March have always blown some added anticipation and excitement into the hearts of Ocean Beach children. In fact, all true Obcecians feel the same way, for we know that those March gusts portend the arrival of kite season! And in the kite capital of the country, that is no small thing.

So return with us now to a time not so long ago — those simpler days of, say, the 1980s, an era before entertainment and experiences had become “virtual” and when the Kite Parade still proceeded proudly down the middle of Newport Avenue.

Leucadia Boulevard pylons contribute to killing cyclist

By Phillip Young / San Diego Reader / March 8, 2021

City planners and some cycling advocates insist that protected bike lanes are the best and safest way to encourage many San Diegans to ditch their cars and join the cycling transportation revolution.

Bordered by raised asphalt barriers and bright plastic pylons, these lanes create a sort of safety bubble that protects cyclists from vehicles moving alongside them, in the same direction. In theory, cyclists of all ages and abilities can enjoy the San Diego sunshine and scenery, while cars and trucks whizz by in the adjacent vehicle lane. Motorists will see the fun-loving bikers not slowed by traffic jams and join them in droves. Soon, we’ll all be pedaling together in cycling bliss.

But those rosy assurances crumble, when we confront the real dangers of protected bike lanes, and the emotional and economic cost of the accidents, injuries, and deaths that plague them.

A man standing on the corner of Abbott and Lotus streets in Ocean Beach early Sunday, March 14, was shot in the hand and stomach after he refused to turn his phone over to a robber.

The 48 year old victim was approached about 12:45 am by a young White man who demanded that he turn over his cellphone.

When the unidentified victim refused, the other man fired a weapon. The bullet appeared to penetrate through the victim’s hand and entered his lower abdomen. He was taken to a hospital with injuries not believed to be life-threatening by paramedics.

The suspect was last seen headed north on Abbott Street

Water & Wastes Digest / March 11, 2021

San Diego, California is ready to build the Pure Water sewage recycling system.

According to city officials, officials resolved litigation that delayed the project 18 months and increased its estimated cost to $5 billion.

The Pure Water sewage recycling system will recycle 83 million gallons of treated sewage into potable drinking water by 2035. The project consists of 10 projects in its Pure Water phase one.

Regulatory permits have been secured and construction bids are being opened and analyzed for the 10 projects. A large treatment facility is slated to open in 2025 near Miramar that will be connected to many miles of pipeline in the northern part of the city.

For phase two of Pure Water, a separate recycling facility near San Diego International Airport is slated to start operating in 2035.

Residents along Abbott Street in Ocean Beach have been complaining about street lights that need repair for a long time. So have residents near Sunset Cliffs Boulevard – especially since the pandemic as the cliffs have become a magnet for people and cars at night.

And now we find out the city just doesn’t have the money nor the staff to make the needed street light repairs.

City officials report that about 8% of the city’s 54,000 streetlights have open service notifications and are in need of repairs. A study by a local media group found there have been more than 5,000 complaints across the city about street lights from September 2020 through January of this year. The most complaints came from Point Loma, PB and downtown.

Mayor Todd Gloria was in Ocean Beach Wednesday, inside the OB Rec Center touting a new approach to San Diego’s homeless population. The city, he said at a press conference, has put together a coordinated outreach program that will send out 12 outreach caseworkers into neighborhoods across the city to provide help to those living on the street.

The coordination will be through the People Assisting the Homeless (PATH) program whose team members will have the ability to connect the houseless with the assistance they need – that day. Gloria said:

“With this new coordinated outreach program, we’re acknowledging that we need to provide a whole toolbox of options to the people who interact with our homeless.”

In referring to the outreach team, he said:

“They will help them overcome the unique challenges, whether it’s drug or alcohol addiction, mental illness, physical health problems or other legal entanglements. We call it ‘person-centered, neighborhood-based, trauma-informed, housing focused approach.”