OB Rag

By Colleen O’Connor

Time to be blunt. Teachers, students and children are the new electoral battering rams amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Just as I wrote in June of last year, the 2020 Presidential election it was “not Biden v. Trump, but COVID-19 v. Trump).” And the GOP’s own confidential postmortem report (as quoted on Politico), confirms it.

“The autopsy says that coronavirus registered as the top issue among voters, and that Biden won those voters by a nearly 3-to-1 margin. A majority registered disapproval of Trump’s handling of the virus.

By David Helvarg and Jason Scorse / The Hill / Feb. 4, 2021

Last week President Biden made a firm commitment to transition America from polluting fossil energy to clean renewable power. We and other coastal residents are heartened by his “whole government” approach to tackling the climate crisis, especially his focus on the positive employment impacts of making smart climate investments.

However, we get concerned when the president identifies a million jobs linked to building electric cars in the industrial heartland, yet fails to note the millions of additional climate jobs that could be created in our coastal regions and on our public seas in a new blue economy.

[Editordude’s note: for those inclined to follow-up on issues in this post, please go to the original for any links.]

Coastal jobs solve climate too

Two years ago, recognizing that the Democrats’ Green New Deal resolution lacked sufficient focus on the nation’s coasts and ocean, our organizations began developing an Ocean Climate Action Plan coalition to make sure our public seas are central in U.S. climate policy. Supporters include Special Climate Envoy John Kerry, Leon Panetta, climate activist Jane Fonda and ocean explorer Sylvia Earle.

The Saga of the Widder Curry’s Covid -19

By Judi Curry

I want to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you that sent me prayers, positive thoughts, greeting cards, flowers, soups, foods, magazines, funny sayings, etc. during these past 22 days that I have been wiped out by Covid.

NEVER in my entire lifetime, which is substantial, have I ever been so weak, so indisposed as I have been the past three weeks.

When I say that I had no energy even to lift myself off the commode, that is no exaggeration. I needed help, each and every time. And do you want to know the strange thing about this disease? I had a “mild case.” I never had an elevated temperature; I never had low oxygen; my blood pressure remained normal throughout the entire 22 days.

I just had no energy. None. Nada. And one of the worst sensations I had in the 22 days was that my bones were on fire! Truly! They felt like there were flames emanating from them. All day. All night. For 18 days!

And how did it start?

by Ernie McCray

I got my first vaccine for covid-19 on February 6, 2021. One more to go for this old son of a gun.

But when I got back home after my shot I was reminded that this wasn’t the first time that February 6 was special to me, since on that day 61 years ago I took to the court with my teammates in Bear Down Gym at the University of Arizona and got to shaking and baking and whipping outlet passes to start fast breaks and shot the lights out all over the place, and came away with 46 points, a record that stands to this day.

The fun and glory of that will never go away.

And I couldn’t help but think, in those moments, what a difference six decades can make in one’s life. In so many ways. I was so strong back then physically, even with a bad back, something that’s plagued me since those days.

Today, February 9, the Ocean Beach Planning Board is sending Mayor Gloria and every member of the San Diego City Council a letter with the Board’s proposed changes to any short-term vacation rental ordinance – the subject of an upcoming discussion at Council.

The ordinance being discussed by Council is the proposed “compromise” concocted by Jen Campbell’s office, on the docket for February 23.

Here is the OBPB’s response – in the form of proposed amendments – and we post it below without edit:

RE: The Ocean Beach Planning Board’s Proposed Amendments to the Short Term Vacation Rental Ordinance, to be Docketed on February 23rd

The Ocean Beach Planning Board opposes the conversion of long-term housing to Short Term Vacation Rentals (STVRs). Whole home rentals without an owner or longterm lessee on sight are not a compatible use in residential zones. STVRs exacerbate the housing crisis by increasing investor speculation in the housing market and thus the price.

A lawsuit was filed Friday, February 5, in federal court against San Diego Police that maintains police showed favoritism toward Trump supporters during a protest in Pacific Beach on January 9.

The suit by two San Diego women alleges police unlawfully cracked down on Black Lives Matter activists and other counterprotesters at the pro-Trump rally, and allowed Trump supporters to continue marching undisturbed.

Plaintiffs Mandy Lien and Erin Smith assert police aggressively dispersed counterprotesters with batons and projectiles at the demonstration – held a mere 3 days after the Trump-incited insurrection at the Capitol – which violated their civil rights and displayed a bias in favor of the mostly White and male supporters of Trump. Police officers even “high-fived and chatted it up” with Trump supporters, the suit says.

As Council president, Jen Campbell sets the agenda for the City Council. And now she has scheduled her own proposed “compromise” on short-term vacation rentals to be heard by the full City Council for Tuesday, February 23.

Campbell’s compromise is more of a sell-out to the vacation rental industry.

Her office announced that the proposal will be on the council’s docket on in about two weeks.

On December 3, the mayor-appointed City Planning Commission voted 7-0 for Campbell’s proposal. The proposal covers licensing them, capping their numbers, and penalizing violators, while creating a City office to administer the new program while making it subject to annual review. Commissioners also agreed to a “carve out” for Mission Beach, the community with the highest percentage of short-term rentals citywide.

Campbell’s sell-out plan is one of the reasons there’s a recall movement against her. Recall backers have until June 3 to collect 14,421 signatures from registered voters in District 2, 15% of its 96,140 registered voters.

by snackdiego

Hello, fellow OBceans, OB-adjacent and OB-curious; I’m Sal, and I’m here to indulge my second favorite hobby, talking about eating (and sometimes cooking) in and around Ocean Beach.

So, dining out has been a bit tricky lately huh? I’ve done my best to support our favorite spots with a lot of take out, and the rare dining al fresco when it was allowed, and we felt the setup was safe.

Can you imagine trying to open a new place during all of this?

That’s exactly what Bobby and Shannon are doing with the imminent opening of Ocean Beach Meat Company.

I stopped by to have a chat with them recently and am super excited. In addition to a butcher counter with all of the cuts, they will have ready to go take away meals, sandwiches, and hot food to eat on site.

You thought you had cabin fever?! The Freaks smoked some super weed 51 years ago and just woke up in 2020.

Here to bring you a much needed laugh in a teaser episode called “Kentucky Fried Freaks”are #woodyharrelson? #tiffanyhaddish? #johngoodman? #petedavidson? and more.

OB Town Council Presses City for Regulations for Sidewalk Vendors

Local Artists and Their Work on Display at Liberty Station

New Mural of Diversity at OB’s Little Lion Cafe

Three Point Loma Brothers Painting Wooden Flags for Wounded Warrior Project

Point Loma High Senior Among Students Pushing Back Against Oil Drilling

Using Tech to Steal a Car in OB is Still Theft

OB Be Ware! San Diego Restarting Parking Enforcement and Street Sweeping

Popular Point Loma Coach Chris Brisco Passes

Thursday Club in Point Loma Is 100 Years Young

Damage from Storm

Assurances on OB Pier

Man Bites Dog (With Knife) Pleads ‘Not Guilty’

Point Loman Shocks by Running for California Governor

by Ernie McCray

Black History Month is in the eye of the beholder it seems, with some saying that it’s too short of a month or that it’s an excuse to give Black folks a cold shoulder the rest of the year.

But to me it’s a month to reminisce about heroes in my personal Black history, people I hold dear.

Like my grandfather who lived the first fourteen years of his life on a sharecropping plantation in Hawkinsville, Georgia, late in the 19th Century, until the attacks on his dignity and his sanity and humanity became more than he could bear to any degree.

Sometimes I can see him in my mind on the day when he decided he had enough, squaring his broad powerful shoulders before snatching a sadistic foreman off his horse and pounding him into the ground unmercifully

This year, the Ocean Beach MainStreet Association’s Annual Awards Celebration went virtual – but it still went. Here is what OBMA said:

Just like everything else this year our awards celebration looks much different. But in the spirit of making Lemonade out of Lemons we decided the show must go on. We are presenting awards to some of the businesses in Ocean Beach who made Lemonade out of Lemons in 2020 and showcased their OB Spirit.

OBMA Annual Award Celebration Winners

Clean & Safe Committee Awards go to:

• Lighthouse Ice Cream for consistently keeping their storefront clean.
• Mallorys Furniture for consistently keeping their storefront clean.
• Vili’s Health Bar for consistently keeping their storefront clean.

and the online voting winner is Lighthouse Ice Cream!