OB Rag

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.”

Yes, I’m taking today off. Feeling achy and tired as I received my second dose of the Moderna vaccine yesterday. I’ll be back Friday.

Stood in line for about 40 minutes early in the afternoon and luckily no rain fell during that period. The shot itself was totally painless. But I spent a good part of the night watching TV from the couch.

Point Loma Nazarene Takes on Hate vs. Asians and Pacific Islanders

“Superwoman” at 106, Natalie Berndes & Family Settled in Point Loma in 1951

OBceans Continue to Complain to City About Non-Working Street Lights on Abbott

Point Loma Westerly Public House to Open in Spring

Point Loma Women’s Soccer First Top 10 National Ranking

Point Loma Native Garden Gets a Spotlight

…And More Inside …

We’ve had two hummingbird feeders on our deck for years and have come to enjoy watching and knowing about the 2 most common hummingbirds in our area: Anna’s and Costa’s. Recently, a Rufus or Rufous hummingbird showed up, a rare occasion for us.

10 Facts You (Probably) Didn’t Know About Hummingbirds

1. They are the smallest migrating bird. They don’t migrate in flocks like other species, and they typically travel alone for up to 500 miles at a time.

2. The name, hummingbird, comes from the humming noise their wings make as they beat so fast.

3. Hummingbirds are the only birds that can fly backwards.

4. Hummingbirds have no sense of smell.

San Diego City and County Designations

By Amie Hayes /Save Our Heritage Organization / March -April 2021

In January and February, the City of San Diego Historical Resources Board (HRB) designated ten new resources. …

Four new historical resources in the East Village, Bankers Hill, and La Jolla are:

Dying palm trees in Ocean Beach made the news Monday. Sadly.

The San Diego U-T had a spread on Monday that focused on OB and Point Loma at its start:

Ocean Beach and Point Loma have both reported dead palm trees due to the palm weevil. In Ocean Beach, diseased palms can be seen along Santa Monica Avenue, according to Mark Winkie, President of the Ocean Beach Town Council. And in Point Loma, the trees that line Catalina Boulevard are showing signs of infestation, according to Mike McCurdy, chairman of the Point Loma Association.

Ginnette Riquelme, of the Associated Press, has a photo that’s news itself. A woman protester was captured just before throwing a Molotov cocktail during a Women’s Rights demonstration in Mexico City. This is how women celebrated International Women’s Day in that city.

From today’s San Diego Union-Tribune:

Volatile protests engulfed Mexico’s capital on Monday as police clashed with thousands of feminist activists calling for an end to what they say is a crisis of violence against women.

By Roberto “Rob” Camacho

In the unprecedented global crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States has been forced to take a hard look in the mirror and acknowledge societal ills and inequities which unattended have festered for decades.

Over the past twelve months COVID presented a chance to reimagine things such as housing, education, wage increases, access to technology, healthcare, and more. However, due to the actions of the economic elite, and a stubbornly complicit legislature, the lives of everyday people have been crushed to ensure that even in the midst of a deadly pandemic, the status quo has remained the same at all costs. Including the lives of more than half a million people in the U.S. who have died of COVID over the past twelve months.

By Geoff Page

Unfortunately, even the ease of attending community meetings on-line these days is not enough to get folks out for some things. This was evidenced by public attendance at the Peninsula Community Planning Board’s annual Candidate Forum held Thursday, March 4, from 6:00 to 7:30. Of the attending crowd of 25 plus, only three were members of the public.

Historically, it has been this way with Candidate Forums for the PCPB – the public never shows up in any numbers. This is not for lack of trying as the PCPB advertises the event in social media and on its website. Considering how much easier it is to attend, now that the forum is on-line, the lack of interest is glaring.

But, there could be another reason. These candidate forums are not the most fascinating events to attend, to put it politely. Candidates talk about how they want to do good things for the community, which they all do, and there is no really interesting question and answer experience.

By Colleen O’Connor

Pace yourselves and brace yourselves. The pandemic is not going away anytime soon.

Another surge is coming. Look to Europe’s opening/closing and infecting scenario, caused by a new COVID variant, soon to be dominant here.

Germany, a disciplined country, announced they are in the middle of a “third wave.” Also, in the “third wave,” is the Netherlands, where infection cases rose by nearly 19 per cent over the past seven days. Add Stockholm to the list, with a 27 per cent rise in case numbers in recent weeks; again, all due to the new mutation.

So, candor is required. Faced with the latest wave, amid a newer, more efficient strain, the current attempts at mandatory school re-openings (with financial incentives) are near reckless.

One size does cannot and should not fit all students, teachers, schools, all districts or all states.

About International Women’s Day

International Women’s Day (IWD) is marked on the 8th of March every year and is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. In different regions the focus of the celebrations ranges from general celebration of respect, appreciation and love towards women to a celebration for those social achievements.The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity. Significant activity is witnessed worldwide as groups come together to celebrate women’s achievements or rally for women’s equality.

International Women’s Day (IWD) is one of the most important days of the year to:

• celebrate women’s achievements
• raise awareness about women’s equality
• lobby for accelerated gender parity
• fundraise for female-focused charities
  

History

History of International Women’s Day (From International Women’s Day)

International Women’s Day (IWD) has been observed since the early 1900’s – a time of great expansion and turbulence in the industrialized world that saw booming population growth and the rise of radical ideologies.