OB Rag

By Arturo Castañares / La Prensa San Diego / October 3, 2025

A local drywall installation company that systematically underpaid its workers on two local affordable housing projects has agreed to settle a civil lawsuit filed by the US Department of Labor by paying $790,000 in back wages and fines.

Escondido-based Innovative Wall Systems, Inc., doing business as Alta Drywall, was sued in San Diego federal court for underpaying 580 employees who worked more than 40 hours a week, including weekends, without receiving the required overtime rate or minimum wage as mandated by federal law.

The Department of Labor and Alta Drywall entered into a Consent Judgment and Order on September 12, 2025, over 580 employees who were not paid overtime on two affordable housing projects; the 200-unit Columba project in Chula Vista’s Millenia development, and the 309-unit Mt. Etna St. complex in San Diego.

SD Union-Tribune Editorial Board / October 5, 2025

The City Council’s decision this week to put off a vote on a 62% water rate hike and a 31% sewer rate hike to be phased in over the next four years was welcomed by the many San Diegans who live paycheck to paycheck.

But there’s bad news ahead for anyone counting on genuine relief from Mayor Todd Gloria and council members. In coming weeks, final approval still looks inevitable for the massive rate increases beginning in January. The case that rates have to go up to sustaincurrent levels of service hasn’t been challenged, and there is no appetite for budget cuts elsewhere to cover the bills.

And nothing in the council’s recent history suggests that most members’ message-we-care rhetoric at Tuesday’s meeting is meaningful. These same politicians depicted their crusade against digital-only grocery store coupons as a bold defense of elderly constituents — even as they forced constituents of all ages to pay sharply increased trash fees — and approved first-ever parking fees at Balboa Park and the San Diego Zoo — and imposed punitive “dynamic” parking rates that will hammer families visiting downtown.

Jamacha Neighborhood Council Flags Application Discrepancies in Controversial Jamacha Bonus ADU Project and urges the owner, Godavari LLC, and the City of San Diego to immediately halt the 1441 Woodrow Ave project.

This is on October 7, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. at 1441 Woodrow Ave, San Diego, CA, 92114.

The Jamacha Neighborhood Council (JNC), representing residents of the Jamacha community, is calling on the City of San Diego to halt the proposed six two-story, 12-unit Bonus ADU project at 1441 Woodrow Ave and to revise city policy to exclude communities of concern in RS 1-7 single-family zones from the Bonus ADU program.

By Kate Callen

Golden Hill is stepping up its fight against a monolith apartment complex by mounting a legal battle to block a construction that is proceeding at a beat-the-clock pace.

Land use attorney Everett Delano is filing the lawsuit on behalf of Preserve Greater Golden Hill against Chicago-based developer CEDARst, which is building a 180-unit, 8-story rental housing complex at 2935-2961 A Street. Upon completion, it will be the largest high-rise structure directly under the final approach into Lindbergh Field.

More than 30 Golden Hill activists gathered for an October 2 news conference to announce the suit. It took place near the Albert Einstein Charter Academy, which is directly across from the development site and will be overshadowed by the tower.

Golden Hill has traditionally been one of San Diego’s most affordable and ethnically diverse neighborhoods. As speakers pointed out, a surge of extensive Golden Hill upzoning is pushing out elderly residents, residents of color, and low-income families. They are being replaced by people who are richer, whiter, younger, and more amenable to living in studios and one-bedroom rentals.

By Dani Miskell / 10News KGTV / Oct. 2, 2025

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the Harmony Grove Village South development on Wednesday, October 1.

Harmony Grove Village South will build 453 homes and businesses in unincorporated San Diego near Escondido, despite fierce opposition from residents who say the project puts lives at risk during wildfires.

The development will be built on open land off Country Club Drive, but longtime residents argue the new homes could block their only evacuation route during a fire emergency.

At Wednesday’s Board of Supervisors land use meeting, Supervisor Jim Desmond pressed Rancho Santa Fe Fire Chief Dave McQuead on fire evacuation safety concerns.

Editordude: Many Americans have been affected by the mainstream media blackout of this and have been unaware of the humanitarian flotilla that was bound for Gaza. In contrast, people in Europe are totally aware of it and are protesting the Israeli military’s interceptions. 

By Alastair McCready and News Agencies / Aljazeera – English / On 3 Oct 2025

The Israeli military has dismantled an entire humanitarian flotilla seeking to break its siege on war-ravaged Gaza, arresting hundreds of activists from dozens of vessels.

Livestream video showed Israeli forces forcing their way onboard the last vessel Friday morning. The Polish-flagged Marinette, which reportedly has a crew of six, was the final boat of the Global Sumud Flotilla – once a 44-strong fleet – to be seized by Israel.

The International Committee to Break the Siege of Gaza also announced in a statement that several detainees arrested by Israeli forces had “entered an open-ended hunger strike from the moment of their detention.”

Israel’s Foreign Ministry says it has already deported four Italian citizens who joined the flotilla and is preparing to deport the rest of the activists. “Israel is keen to end this procedure as quickly as possible,” the ministry said in a post on X.

Memorial Installed Along OB Bike Path

By Perla Shaheen / 10News / October 2, 2025

A new memorial near Robb Field in Ocean Beach honors Steve Krueger, the 61-year-old UPS driver who was killed when a plane crashed into his delivery truck in Santee in 2021.

“It’s very moving for my family. We’re really excited about this,” Jeffrey Krueger said about the memorial for his brother.

The memorial, installed on Wednesday, features two benches and a plaque just blocks away from where Steve used to live in Ocean Beach.

“He’d be pretty emotional about it, he’d be moved, obviously very grateful,” Jeffrey Krueger said.

Steve Krueger died in 2021 while delivering mail for UPS on the same route he had worked for decades when a plane crashed into his truck and two homes in Santee.

Couple Hundred Local Residents and Supporters at Town-hall Meeting at Pt Loma Assembly

By Jillian Butler
A proposed 56-unit apartment complex at 1004 Rosecrans has sparked fierce opposition from Point Loma residents, who say the project violates zoning rules, threatens public health, and endangers the neighborhood’s historic character.With residents of other San Diego neighborhoods faced by the same issue, and former Coronado Mayor turned policy advocate Richard Bailey given a platform, this meeting of a couple hundred folks at the Point Loma Assembly on Tuesday, September 30 served as a rallying cry to fight for the interests of the citizenry and against the push of shadowy developers and their political backers.

Protect Point Loma is a grassroots 501c4 organization which aims to protect the often overlooked interests of Peninsula residents and preserve the rich history and heritage of the Point Loma area. Their mission is “making certain that our community projects are built with responsible guidelines and community input.”

by Trena Turner / Cal-Matters / Sept. 19, 2025

As a California redistricting commissioner, I have witnessed firsthand the careful, deliberate and transparent process that drew our congressional lines to reflect the real people of our state. The work was not easy, but it was honorable — and it safeguarded the principle that every community deserves fair representation.

Which is why I am both alarmed and deeply disappointed at the way conversations around Proposition 50, California’s mid-cycle redistricting measure, have often been reduced to a single, shallow question: “What will it cost?”

Yes, this special election carries a financial cost. But if we view it only through dollars and cents, we ignore the greater risks. An estimated 3.4 million Californians stand to lose health care coverage due to Medicaid cuts, and another 3.1 million people — children, veterans and families — face the loss of vital nutrition assistance through SNAP.

There are measurable consequences of this moment that will reshape the health and stability of our state, while steadily eroding the foundations of our democracy.

We cannot ignore the reality that this year’s map-redrawing in Texas and other states, at President Trump’s urging, has been widely challenged as racial gerrymandering. This continues a generational pattern in many states where lines are drawn to weaken Black, brown, immigrant and working-class voices so politicians can pick their voters.

by Dave Schwab / Times of San Diego / Oct. 2, 2025

Ocean Beach residents are beginning to wonder when – or even if – their community’s landmark pier will ever be replaced.

The old pier was closed to the public since October 2023 because of its deteriorating condition.

“Us old-timers would like to see the pier rebuilt in our lifetime,” said Mark Winkie, a former member of the now-disbanded Ocean Beach Pier Task Force. “That would be a good goal.”

Noting he “used the pier almost every day,” when he first moved to OB in the ‘80s, Winkie added that the pier is special to OB residents.

“It gives people who can’t get out on the ocean an experience of connecting to the water and the natural environment: It’s a public resource,” he said, “It’s one of the crown jewels of the city and county.

“We want to see it rebuilt and put back to its former glory.”

Another former OB Pier Task Force member, Ralph Teyssier, who is a structural engineer and the son of Leonard Teyssier – who built the OB Pier – said he is as concerned with finding funding to replace the pier as he is with the timeline for the project, which he noted continues to be extended.

by Ernie McCray

Oh I wonder if we will ever solve this gun problem
that hangs over our nation
like a vicious thundercloud,
the latest tragedy
involving Charlie Kirk’s life being taken,
an assassination
that apparently has triggered,
no pun intended,
a few celebrations
which kind of chills me to the bone.