OB Rag

By David Helvarg

In 1890 the Census declared the frontier closed but in 1983 President Ronald Reagan established a new frontier, an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) stretching 200 miles out from America’s shoreline. At 3.4 million square miles it’s an area larger than our continental landmass.

Unfortunately for almost four years President Trump has treated the nation’s ocean frontier as little more than a gas station and a garbage dump as he attempted to open up 90 percent of U.S. coastal waters to oil and gas drilling despite bipartisan opposition from governors of coastal states. His administration also undermined environmental laws and regulations from clean water standards to mercury emissions in ways that continue to threaten U.S. coastal jobs, wildlife and seafood.

So, what can we expect from a Biden-Harris administration when it comes to our public seas and blue economy that’s worth an estimated $373 billion?

Community outbreaks of COVID-19 have touched every corner of San Diego County and all types of establishments over the past nine months, but they are most prevalent in big box stores, restaurants and group living situations like nursing homes and jails, according to county outbreak records obtained exclusively by KPBS.

If you’ve gone out at all since the pandemic first struck, you quite likely walked into a place where an outbreak occurred, according to the KPBS analysis of 1,006 outbreak records dating from March through the end of November. For example:

• At least 208 outbreaks have occurred in restaurants, with popular chains like Olive Garden, Cheesecake Factory, Denny’s and The Broken Yolk Cafe having multiple outbreaks each.
• At least 205 outbreaks have occurred in businesses with services that run the gamut from car repair to pet care to banking and shipping.
• At least 125 outbreaks have occurred in large retailers and grocery stores like Walmart, Costco, Target, Home Depot and Trader Joe’s.

This evening, on the first day of astronomical winter, you may be able to see a rare phenomenon witnessed when the famous astronomer Galileo Galilei was alive: Jupiter and Saturn will appear so close to one another in the night sky, the gassy behemoths will look like one star: the Christmas star.

Restaurant Review

Little Chef Restaurant
4910 Newport Avenue
Ocean Beach, CA 92107
619-222-6627

By Judi Curry

This is my third review of the various Chinese restaurants in the Ocean Beach – Point Loma area. I used to go to the Little Chef all the time and I was curious to see if there were any changes since the last time I was here – over 5 years ago. But before I get into the review itself I found out a few things I want to share with you.

It was too early to call in my order to Grubhub so I decided to go through the menu and have everything written down as to what I wanted to order. I also had down the prices on my list, so I didn’t go over the amount I had allocated for this meal. Imagine my surprise when I finally placed the order to find out that everything was more expensive than the menu listed.

by Ernie McCray

I just finished A Promised Land, Barack Obama’s latest writing.

On the whole, laying aside my concerns about “droning” and such, abrupt departures from A Promised Land, it was an interesting and sometimes enjoyable read for me.

One way it was interesting was because as I read Obama’s words, Trump, of all people, kept popping up in my mind.

I mean like Obama would write something and I’d find myself trying to imagine Trump doing likewise.

I mean when I read Obama’s poetic description of his daily stroll to work along a walkway where, at times, he “felt the first slap of winter wind or pulse of summer heat” – all I could think of was a president who has, for four years, sat on his butt and tweeted, using words from a pre-school child’s vocabulary.

On Thursday, December 17, the San Diego City Council and Mayor Gloria opened the bids for the right to provide gas and electric services within the city limits and discovered that San Diego Gas & Electric was the only entity that placed a bid.

This does not mean that SDG&E will be able to continue with its century-long monopoly on the city’s power. Neither the Council nor the Mayor took any action.

Jessica Lawrence, Gloria’s director of policy, informed the Council the mayor’s staff would review the bids along with the City Attorney’s Office to determine whether the SDG&E bid has met all the requirements laid out by the city. His office will then consider what steps should be taken next. Lawrence said, “The mayor may reject (the bids), he may cancel the process entirely, he may make recommendations for award of any responsive bid.”

The folks who are mounting the Recall Campbell campaign have issued a recent update:

“The campaign to recall Councilmember Jennifer Campbell has begun. The notice of intent to circulate a recall petition will be published in early January. As required, within five days of publication, Jennifer Campbell will be served with the notice of intent.

The petition will begin to circulate – signatures of resident registered voters of District 2 will begin to be gathered – 21 days after the date of publication. We will then have 99 days to collect a minimum of 13,553 signatures.”

Nuts & Bolts of the Recall

SOHO Spotlights 12 Most Endangered Historic Sites

Save Our Heritage Organisation, San Diego’s only countywide historic preservation advocacy group, wraps up this year with its 22nd annual Most Endangered List of 12 historic buildings, sites, and landscapes.

The pandemic’s stressors of uncertainty, inequity, and loss underscore the unifying power of our shared multicultural heritage and venerated historic places. The pandemic also threatens historic buildings and places that are not now regularly used, visited, or monitored due to restricted activities.

These threatened sites also reflect and define San Diego’s authentic character, and cry out for preservation before it is too late. Key among these are the vulnerable redwood Red Roost and Red Rest bungalows, which have overlooked La Jolla Cove since 1894. Sadly, a recent fire severely damaged Red Rest and partly burned Red Roost. The pair has appeared on SOHO’s Most Endangered List for more than 25 years, longer than any other threatened historic resource.

By Kathy Blavatt

This holiday season, many people seem to be appreciating simpler things. The New York Times reported Christmas Tree sales are up.

I loved seeing an Ocean Beach yard decorated with an antique truck and snowmen Christmas decorations. It pulls at my nostalgic heartstrings.

I stopped to look at a lovely fence with an ocean swell theme. Then I had to smile at the playful snowman tossing a snow-child into the air behind the fence.

Straight Up With a Twist

By Edwin Decker

Dear Ed, [My ex and I] were engaged in 2007 and broke up at the end of 2010. Immediately after that he got [a 19-year-old girl] pregnant, got married and moved out of state . . . When he discovered my Facebook profile several years later, he blocked me. So why do men cut all communication with their exes if they’ve moved on with their lives and are happy now?

Cynthia T. (via Facebook)

Hi Cynthia, thanks for the question. So, what makes you think he has moved on? How do you know he’s not still harboring feelings? Given the science, it shouldn’t come as a surprise.

There is credible data suggesting that men have a harder time recovering from breakups in the long term.

This Thursday, December 17, newly-elected Mayor Todd Gloria and the newly-seated City Council will review just from whom and what bids have been made for San Diego’s electric and gas franchise agreements.

The Council will not be making any decisions, however, on granting any franchises. There is no vote – and the agenda item is listed solely as an “informational” one.

The old franchise agreements run out on January 17, 2021. They’ve been held, of course, by San Diego Gas & Electric. The current one was granted in 1970, and SDG&E had held the earlier 50-year agreement. So, that’s one hundred years that the company has had a monopoly here in San Diego. A lot of people think it’s time for a change, where the utility company with the franchise places the residents and businesses of the city at the top of whomever it serves – not its investors.

Diego Marquez
“The Marketplace”
619-672-5911

By Judi Curry

Several years ago, my daughter bought me a very pretty, glass bird bath to attract more birds into my back yard.

For months I loved watching the birds come and drink from the bowl or take a bath when the weather was warmer.

And then, one day, a “murder” of Crows landed on the glass bowl and quickly toppled it. And from that day on I have been searching for another bird bath.

I found that many of them were built very flimsily; and knowing that not only do I have crows that have heard that the water is good at the “Curry Household” I have been providing several different hawks with the same good water so it is imperative that the bird bath be strong enough to handle several large birds at one time.