OB Rag

By Brent E. Beltrán / San Diego Free Press

On December 9, 2016 Sandy Naranjo was unjustly fired by UFCW Local 135 President Mickey Kasparian and subsequently filed a lawsuit. That firing and lawsuit lead to a chain of events that will soon culminate in the end of Kasparian’s Machiavellian grasp on San Diego’s progressive body politic.

After Sandy’s termination former Local 135 staffer Isabel Vasquez stepped forward and filed a sexual harassment complaint against Kasparian and the union.

Shortly after expressing support for Sandy and Isabel, Nohelia Ramos filed a lawsuit against Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE) claiming retaliation for showing solidarity for the two women, UFCW Local 135 is a funder of ACCE.

by Corinne Hauck/ lomabeat.com / April 6, 2018

Vibrant yellow and green dockless bikes are popping up around San Diego that only require a smartphone and an adventurous person to use them. This is one of many initiatives within San Diego to make urban living more affordable and sustainable, but is it convenient for college students who are busy and trying to make financial ends meet?

In order to ride a dockless bike, all one has to do is find a nearby bike or scooter through the various smartphone apps, unlock it, and ride.

It doesn’t look like the hot issue of short term vacation rentals will go before the San Diego City Council until June.

“We anticipate the issue of short term vacation rentals won’t be before Council until June,” Donna Cleary, Communications Manager for Councilwoman Lorie Zapf’s office told the OB Rag this morning.

Right now, Mayor Kevin Faulconer is wrestling with time and political pressure to come up with a compromise on this most contentious of issue where he has to find the support of 5 councilmembers. “It’s completely in the Mayor’s office,” Cleary said.

by University of California, San Diego / April 9, 2018

New research is shedding light on how mechanically placed sand on San Diego County beaches moves and its potential impacts. The study, published in the journal Coastal Engineering, could help planners develop beach nourishment projects that will reach their intended goals without causing unintended problems. North San Diego County, for instance, is planning a 50-year, $160 million series of beach nourishments intended to combat flooding and erosion, and provide recreational space for tourists.

The new study, conducted by researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego,

The Peninsula planning board is not the only community planning panel in the city that’s having conflicts. Over in Barrio Logan, there’s some really funky stuff going on these days.

Consider this: in the middle of counting ballots for the most recent annual election to the Barrio Logan Planning Committee held on March 18th – all counting stopped.

Why?

Photo by Albert C Elliott

Recently, when the San Francisco Chronicle endorsed Marshall Tuck for California Superintendent of Public Instruction, they did so because, according to their editorial board, he has “the skills and vision to bring about needed change” and would stand up to “the status quo” (read: teachers’ unions).

While it has become quite common for mainstream corporate media outlets to blindly parrot the rhetoric of corporate education reformers, in this case, it is an exercise in doublethink of Trumpian proportions. Far from being a populist outsider fighting the establishment, Tuck is the pure product of the billionaire class.

Originally posted April 6, 2018.
Is this the last battle of San Diego’s nearly-century old Naval Training Center – the fight to preserve North Chapel?

That’s what is apparently going on over at the former military site on the edge of Point Loma. In a nutshell, Corky McMillin Company wants to turn the historic NTC North Chapel – built in 1942 – into a “restaurant space” – it already advertises it as such – and this is meeting some fairly stiff resistance from the community.

Human Banner Event Set for Saturday April 21 on the Sands of Ocean Beach : “VOTE!”

OB and Point Loma Planning Boards Have Vacancies

STVRs Return to City Council in April

Women’s Museum at NTC #METOO Art Exhibit

OB Bike Path Still Closed due to Trolley Construction

OB Rec Center Gym Closed for Maintenance

Slightly Stoopid to Headline Beer X Festival – Special Presale Sale for “OBceans”

$9,000 Reward Offered in Midway Shooting

AND MUCH MORE … COME INSIDE FOR THE STORIES

The local Point Loma bike track – called the “Famosa Pump Track” – has to shut down, according to Darren Miller who attended Wednesday’s meeting with the Mayor’s Office and the San Diego Housing Commission.

“It’s a loss,” Miller told me, “but there’s a potential win,” he added, explaining there’s some real motivation to find another potential site for an OB / Point Loma kids’ bike track.

The Famosa Pump Track is a plot of hilly land across Catalina from Bill Cleator Park, and has been used by local kids and adults for decades. Miller has been instrumental in organizing efforts to build and maintain the site. As Fred Robinson described it in a recent OB Rag post:

The Ocean Beach Planning Board met last night, Wednesday, April 4th, under the guide of its new chair, Blake Herrschaft, and easily approved one project on the 4700 block of Pescadero, okayed a bluff repair – that promises to provide more beach once completed, extended T-Mobile’s term for its antennae on the Masonic Center, and went through an exercise in efforts to make meetings more efficient.

Board members also recast their votes for the Executive Committee, after complaints were made by board member Richard Aguirre that last March’s selection process was flawed. The election results from March remained the same: Herrschaft as chair, Andrea Schlageter as vice-chair, Craig Klein as treasurer and a floating secretary role begun by Dan Dennison.

April Events at the Ocean Beach Green Center

April 12th Thursday 7:00 p.m. Film Night “Black Snake Killaz: A#NoDAPL Story”
This 2017 documentary by Unicorn Riot is about the resistance to the Dakota Access Pipeline.

April 20th Friday 7:00 p.m. Book Release: “Last Days in Ocean Beach”.
Jim Miller, author, teacher and activist will read from his new novel that deals with climate change that is based in our community of Ocean Beach.

April 28th Saturday 2:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. Ocean Beach Green Center’s 29th Anniversary Celebration
Come help us celebrate Earth Day and 29 years of environmental, peace, and social justice activism. Great Local Live Music, Speakers, Refreshments, Raffle Prizes

COME INSIDE FOR DETAILS AND MORE …