OB Rag

By Bob Edwards

It was a sad time last July when Run For Cover bookstore closed its doors on Voltaire Street after almost two years of serving the reading population of Ocean Beach and greater San Diego.

With revenues down 60% due to the pandemic and overhead costs remaining the same, it was just not sustainable to maintain the storefront, according to Peninsula resident and owner Marianne Reiner. Book lovers mourned the loss of OB’s only independent source for new books (other than the intriguing but limited selection of mostly counterculture and graphic books at the Black).

So, it was great when the OB Rag received an email from local resident Elizabeth Burke reminding us that Run For Cover is still in business and serving San Diego’s readers even though they no longer have a brick and mortar presence. Elizabeth suggested we contact Marianne Reiner and get the scoop on what is still going on with Run For Cover.

This reporter spoke with Marianne last weekend. She had a lot to say about how she has adapted to the new ways of doing business in 2021.

There’s a group out there who firmly believe San Diego is heading the wrong way in its current Master Plan for parks. The group – Parks And Recreation Coalition (PARC) – is made up of a network of volunteers who are highly critical of the city’s Parks Master Plan. They’ve been going around lately and giving presentations to local planning boards and other civic groups, called “Parks for All”.

For instance, they’ve given presentations at the Midway planners and the Peninsula planners.

But their point – in a nutshell – is that the master plan – the first one in 50 years – is wrong, and will actually translate into fewer parkland for this growing city. So, here is an introduction of PARC and their concerns – from their powerpoint presentation.

Today, Wednesday, March 3 – the Ocean Beach Planning Board is holding its annual election. There are 3 ways to vote during this pandemic year: by mail, by drop box or online. Here are the details:

Elections

3 Ways to Vote in 2021

By mail: Print and mail your voter registration form and ballot to Ocean Beach Planning Board, 4876 Santa Monica Ave. #133, San Diego, CA 92107. Must be in our mail box by 4 pm, March 3, 2021 to be counted.

By drop box: Print and hand deliver your voter registration form and ballot to the Ocean Beach Business Center, 4876 Santa Monica Ave. Must be in our drop box by 4 pm, March 3, 2021 to be counted.

A “Feel Good” Story

By Judi Curry

I am going to begin this little story by stating that there is nothing deep about this.

Some of you will think it is a complete waste of time to read; a complete waste of time to even publish it. So let me start out by saying that you are correct. If you are looking for something with deep meaning, something that you will learn from, something that you will want to repeat to others, STOP READING now – because this is none of those things.

Rather, this is about a sweet thing that happened this week.

Drop down to the very end of the article and you get this:

Devices like ShotSpotter’s are supposed to have a psychological effect on communities, reminding anyone who comes into the orbit that they’re being monitored for potentially criminal behavior — in this case, for loud noises that might signal a gunshot.

During her questioning of police leaders, then-Councilwoman Lorie Zapf argued that cameras in Ocean Beach, along with signs telling people they’re under surveillance, had helped reduce crime. She wondered if deterrence was the goal with ShotSpotter too.

“Very much so,” Zimmerman responded. “We say that we would prefer to prevent crime instead of responding to crime.”

From the Ocean Beach Green Center

All events are online and free unless stated otherwise.

* Every Saturday at 10:30 a.m. Climate Mobilization Coalition Zoom Meeting. March 6th, 13th, 20th and 27th.
* Month of March People’s Budget Panel Events by Community Budget Alliance
* March 3rd – Ocean Beach Planning Board Annual Election;
* March 3rd Wednesday 6 pm – 8 pm Nat Talk Climate Series: A 27-Year Wildflower Journey
* March 3rd Wednesday 4 pm California Outdoor Recreation Town Hall with Special Guest Congressman Mike Levin
* March 3rd Wednesday 5:30 pm – 7:00 pm Building Electrification Community Workshop
* March 4th Thursday 6 pm – 7:30 pm Miseducation and Racism in America: A Review of the Education System
* March 4th Thursday 6:30 pm – 7:45 pm Public Comment Training Event by San Diego Green New Deal Alliance
* March 4th Thursday 9 pm Film showing of “The Kitchenistas” on KPBS Filmmakers,

By K-B Gressitt

Having spent half of a Sunday reading the latest news— and everything I couldn’t stomach during the previous week— I find it’s high time for a key revision to the style guides that dictate news reportage.

This is not to disparage the classic or the contemporary. Nope, I keep several of them on my shelf, among them, my old AP Stylebook and Libel Manual, which dominated my newspaper days, Strunk and White’s gem, even Sterling Johnson’s handy analysis of the profane, English as a Second F*cking Language.

Nonetheless, far too much of today’s news reporting is inadequate, and I hold the guides responsible for a small but critical piece of the problem: Formal title standards no longer cut the mustard. It’s time to forsake libel-weary gentility and be honest with readers. We need a new method for presenting the formal titles of news report subjects; we need factual titles that encapsulate the essence of the subject. Think full, but succinct, disclosure.

From Women’s March San Diego

Happy Women’s Herstory Month! It’s been a long road, we know. On behalf of the entire Women’s March San Diego team, we truly hope you and your loved ones are doing okay. We invite you to some upcoming events that honor those who’ve made a path before us, and are helping us navigate the path forward:

Millions of us, longtime activists, new activists, sisters side by side, marched through streets everywhere to guide and inspire a new generation. We broke barriers, we got the vote out, we got more women elected than ever before and you created US, the Women’s March. Despite a global pandemic and an insurrection, we continue onward, fighting for equity — we are not equal, yet.
A woman’s work is never done.

The Ocean Beach Planning Board meets virtually this Wednesday, March 3, at 6pm. To participate, one needs to register (see below).

“quality of life metrics”

The first main item on their agenda includes a possible endorsement of “quality of life metrics” in response to the City Council recently passing a new ordinance on short-term vacation rentals. The council passed 8 to 1 Jen Campbell’s proposal – and it will need a second council vote probably in October before it becomes law in 2022. The metrics are to “ensure a level of efficacy once this ordinance is implemented.”

Campbell’s push on STVRs is one of the chief reasons there’s a recall campaign against her. And it should be noted that the OB Planning Board has taken a leading role in attempting to mitigate the worst of Campbell’s proposal

Nuclear Shutdown News chronicles the decline and fall of the nuclear power industry in the US and beyond and highlights the efforts of those working to create a nuclear free world.

By Michael Steinberg / Black Rain Press

Deep Freeze Shuts Down Texas Nuke

On February 15 the South Texas Project nuclear plant shut down after arctic weather descended on the region, Arctic Insights reported. A spokesperson for the plant said 1350 Megawatt reactor #1 shut down at 5:37 a.m.. The shutdown “resulted from a loss of feedwater attributed to cold-weather related failure of pressure sensing lines to feedwater pumps causing a false signal, which in turn caused the feedwater pump to trip (shut down).”

According to a February 16 Nuclear Regulatory Commission report, the shutdown was due to “low steam generator levels. The low levels in turn were due to loss of Feedwater pumps 11 and 13 (cause unknown).”

By Collen O’Connor

Women’s History Month (March) usually features the deeds of great women; mostly ahead of their times and by now familiar names.

Their gains (since women’s right to vote) often came from progressive or “left leaning” quarters. Yet, even now, they have been unable to secure the Equal Rights Amendment; the White House; or even a woman’s face on a dollar bill. The attempt to get Harriet Tubman’ face on the $20 bill remains stuck in legislative limbo.