OB Rag

By Danna Givot

The College Area community showed up in force on October 9 to support the 7 Visions Plan the community has worked on since 2016. But, despite the factual arguments raised by all presenters, six Planning Commissioners voted unanimously to support the City’s 2 nd Draft College Area Community Plan Update without recommending any amendments. Arguments regarding excessive density, lack of supportive infrastructure, fire safety concerns, inequity, and violation of affirmatively further fair housing goals fell on deaf ears.

People came from across San Diego (including from Encanto, Jamacha, Linda Vista, Clairemont, Kensington, Talmadge, Uptown, Pacific Beach, North Park, and
Scripps Ranch) to support the College Area and cede time to speakers opposing the City’s proposed 2nd Draft College Area Community Plan Update. Nate Wilson, an
SDSU student, even called in to oppose the City’s proposed plan.

Backing up the presentations opposing the City’s massive upzoning of the College Area were official letters from the College Area Community Planning Board, the College Area Community Council, the San Diego Community Planners Committee and the San Diego Parks and Recreation Board. The primary concerns raised by
all included the excessive upzoning versus other recent community plans that is unaccompanied by realistic commitments for supportive infrastructure, especially parks and fire protection.

The College Area is essentially a “park desert” with only one existing public 1.6 acre park that is only partially usable (part is a drainage swale). It has no playground or dog park. There is no recreation center in this community. The only public building is the library, which has only 28 dedicated parking spaces when it should have 80. (This was the only point the Commissioners were sympathetic to.)

By Austin Grabish / 10News / Oct 06, 2025

Some business owners are speaking out to warn others after being threatened with lawsuits over the type of receipt paper their stores use.

“We feel strong about taking a stand,” said Adam Zack, owner of Jensen’s grocery store in Point Loma, who was served with a Prop 65 violation notice in May.

The notice, signed by attorney Noam Glick of Entorno Law, is on behalf of Environmental Health Advocates, which alleges a Jensen’s receipt had BPS, a chemical California has linked to cancer and listed as a reproductive toxin.

BPS is almost like an invisible ink that’s used to make words appear on thermal receipt paper.

Thermal receipt paper can contain a chemical called BPS that is linked to reproductive harm and cancer.

By Sue Garson / The San Diego Reader / March 31, 1988

Thousands of dollars’ worth of floral arrangements filled the sanctuary of St. Agnes Church in Point Loma. Below the statue of Our Lady of Fatima were anchors and nautical wheels made of blue and white carnations. Floral replicas of tuna vessels were laid beneath Our Lady of Good Voyages, whose plaster arms held the infant Jesus and a tuna clipper. A blanket of white orchids covered the casket containing the remains of a ninety-three-year-old fisherman, and when members of the Brotherhood of the Holy Spirit filed past the cherrywood coffin, each placed a single red rose on top.

After hymns were sung in English, a Portuguese choir sang songs of the sea. The president of the American Tunaboat Association extolled the deceased as a pioneer in San Diego’s tuna industry – Manual Oliver Medina was responsible for starting the high-seas tuna fleet in the United States, and he was first to build and skipper ocean-ranging tuna clippers, the speaker noted. “M.O. was first to use radar and first to install refrigerated holds and radios,” he added in tribute. On this March Wednesday in 1986, Medina’s body made its final voyage to Holy Cross Cemetery, where it received the last blessing. Afterwards, hundreds of mourners paid their respects at Medina Castle, the hilltop mansion on Point Loma’s San Elijo Street, where they had often sought the padrinho’s counsel.

By Brian White / CBS8 / October 6, 2025

Big changes to a busy street in Clairemont are drawing strong opinions from both residents and cyclists. A new road striping configuration on Clairemont Drive has reduced the number of traffic lanes and added separated bike lanes.

What was once two lanes in each direction is now one lane each way. The re-striping also added bike lanes along the sidewalk and relocated street parking to the outside of the traffic lanes, creating a physical buffer between moving cars and cyclists.

“It’s confusing, it’s frustrating, and I feel like it’s causing a dangerous situation,” said Martina Malray, a homeowner who lives near the North Clairemont Library. “Somebody could get hurt.”

Malray says her biggest concern is safety when parking and exiting her vehicle, now that parked cars sit directly adjacent to moving traffic.

“This is very unsafe, trying to get in and out of my car,” she said.

She also believes the city didn’t provide enough advance notice or signage about the changes.

by Dave Schwab / Times of San Diego / Oct. 6, 2025

For more than three decades, Surfrider Foundation San Diego County Chapter has gathered in the fall for its annual Paddle for Clean Water event, celebrating and defending the oceans.

The annual event, a cornerstone of Surfrider, brought together surfers, paddlers, and ocean lovers to raise awareness about the urgent need to protect clean water and healthy coastlines.

However, Surfrider has decided not to hold the Paddle for Clean Water this year, pausing the event until further notice.

Times of San Diego contacted Tom Cook, Surfrider’s executive committee chair, for a Q&A about the rationale behind the organization’s canceling one of its signature events until further notice.

TOS: Why was the Paddle for Clean Water canceled?

COOK: It was a very tough decision that our staff and volunteer leadership had to make and was not taken lightly. There were a number of factors we considered, but mostly, it came down to the point that the level of effort required to put on an event of this size exceeded what we could provide.

By Kate Callen

A proposed ballot initiative to create a San Diego Vacation Home Operation Tax that would fund general services will be put before the City Council’s Rules Committee on October 22 by District 9 Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera.

A fact sheet about the proposal says it “ensures that those who own a vacation home or a STVR [short-term vacation rental] pay their fair share for taking limited housing stock off the rental or for-sale market.”

Revenues from the tax would be earmarked for housing, homelessness prevention, and infrastructure services. The measure would not apply to homes lived in by San Diego residents. Renters or homeowners who use their home as their primary residence or rent to long-term renters also would not be affected.

The Rules Committee will consider Elo-Rivera’s measure at its October 22 meeting. A press conference on the proposal will take place that morning.

The leaders of the U.S. military may soon face a terrible decision.

By Tom Nichols / The Atlantic – Reader Supported News / October 8, 2025

To capture a democratic nation, authoritarians must control three sources of power: the intelligence agencies, the justice system, and the military. President Donald Trump and his circle of would-be autocrats have made rapid progress toward seizing these institutions and detaching them from the Constitution and rule of law. The intelligence community has effectively been muzzled, and the nation’s top lawyers and cops are being purged and replaced with loyalist hacks.

[Please go to original for important links.]

Only the military remains outside Trump’s grip. Despite the firing of several top officers—and Trump’s threat to fire more—the U.S. armed forces are still led by generals and admirals whose oath is to the Constitution, not the commander in chief. But for how long?

Trump and his valet at the Defense Department, Secretary of Physical Training Pete Hegseth, are now making a dedicated run at turning the men and women of the armed forces into Trump’s personal and partisan army. In his first term, Trump regularly violated the sacred American tradition of the military’s political neutrality, but people around him—including retired and active-duty generals such as James Mattis, John Kelly, and Mark Milley—restrained some of his worst impulses. Now no one is left to stop him:

By Brian White / CBS8 / October 7, 2025

San Diego’s residential trash system has hit a delay. The city’s long-anticipated rollout of new garbage bins was set to begin this week, but delivery of the new bins has been pushed back.

This delay comes as the city plans to replace the old black trash bins with new gray ones, as part of a citywide effort to modernize waste collection. Residents will also eventually see their current blue recycling bins replaced with a lighter blue version in the months to come.

The city’s Environmental Services Department confirmed the rollout has been pushed back. As of last Tuesday’s deadline, fewer than half of San Diego’s 225,000 trash customers had selected their preferred bin size.

Because of that, anyone who did not choose a size will automatically receive the largest available bin, a 95-gallon container, which comes with the highest monthly fee of $43.60.

By Jack Flemming and David Zahniser / Los Angeles Times / Oct. 3, 2025

• Senate Bill 79 would override local zoning, allowing developers to build up to nine-story residential buildings alongside transit stops.
• Homeowners, tenant advocates and others are scrambling to understand the sweeping legislation.
• Carve-outs and complex exemptions have made it difficult for residents to determine which properties would ultimately be affected.

When Brendon Gerisch and his wife searched for a new home, they knew they wanted something with a little privacy — a backyard, some fully grown trees, less crowded surroundings.The couple thought they found their “forever home” in L.A.’s Westchester neighborhood, buying a four-bedroom in 2018 on a quiet street with one-story houses.

Now, he’s not so sure. Landmark legislation now on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk would “upzone” his and scores of other neighborhoods across California, allowing the construction of residential buildings as tall as nine stories, depending on how close they are to a rail station.

State Senate Bill 79, one of the most significant pieces of housing legislation in decades, seeks to address California’s housing crisis by boosting production near public transit stops — mostly rail but also some buses — in Southern California, Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay Area. Newsom has not yet announced whether he will sign the bill.

Overview

What would Proposition 50 change about congressional districts in California?

Ballotpedia reports: California Proposition 50, 2025

[Please see Ballotpedia for any and all links]

Proposition 50 would authorize the state to use a new congressional district map from Assembly Bill 604 (AB 604).[1]

The new congressional district map would be used to elect members of the U.S. House of Representatives from 2026 through 2030. The proposed map would replace the existing maps, which the 14-member Citizens Redistricting Commission adopted on December 27, 2021, for elections from 2022 through 2030. Proposition 50 would provide that the Citizens Redistricting Commission will redraw congressional districts in 2031.[1]

By Csaba Petre

With summer officially over, OB is beginning preparations for its busy holiday season. First up is Oktoberfest.

First put on by Hoy Hoy Boys in Ocean Beach in 2002, Oktoberfest is returning for the 23rd year this Friday to Sunday.

Friday, October 10th

Headlining bands on Friday, October 10th on the main stage all hail from San Diego and include :

• Electric Waste Band, a Grateful Dead cover band known for playing at Winston’s every Monday, starting off the music at 4:20 PM, followed by
• Paging the 90s,
• Band of Gringos (a power trio originating in OB), and
• Spacehall Sound Machine.

CBS8

SAN DIEGO — As staffing issues continue to hit several major airports across the United States, the San Diego International Airport is advising travelers to arrive early to catch their flights.

While San Diego International Airport has not yet reported any immediate issues, in a post on Instagram, airport officials said travelers should arrive two hours early for domestic flights and three hours early for international flights as a precautionary measure.

The warning comes as a federal government shutdown enters its seventh day on Tuesday, impacting air traffic controllers and other federal employees.

On Monday night, the Hollywood Burbank Airport operated without air traffic controllers for several hours, creating a number of flight delays for travelers. The airport had no air traffic controllers in its tower from 4:15 p.m. until 10 p.m.