OB Rag

SeaWorld has now admitted for the very first time, that some of its employees spied on animal rights groups while they posed as activists. This admission is 7 months after PETA – People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals – accused SeaWorld of having one of its San Diego HR employees pose as an activist, attend protests and then make outrageous comments on social media.

Meanwhile, could it be that the big story is actually that SeaWorld’s stocks have fallen nearly 10%? It’s 4th-quarter earnings report, released Thursday, February 25th, stated that its stocks were down 9.2%. The company’s admission here was that attendance for the first quarter this year was down.

* 50 Years Ago – Ocean Beach Held the World Surfing Championships
* Falling Sky Pottery Gallery/Studio – Art by Kathy Blavatt – Reception Friday, Feb. 26

* OB Elementary School News
* Storm Water Hotline
* Credit Card Swindlers at Gas Pump?
* “San Diego I Love You” – Romantic Comedy Performed Around Ocean Beach, Feb 27 & 28

* OB Library News : The AC is now installed and working; The Library is now open to 6pm on Saturdays.Demonstration on landscaping with native plants – Sat., March 19th,
* Official Opening of First Winery in OB and Point Loma
* Midway Post Office Copper Wire Theft Gets 30 Months
* Decriminalizing homelessness
* Shark of least concern caught off pier – “No one should gurgle up their own blood — no one!”
* Sandbags Available
* Sexual Assault and Violence on Newport
* OB Library Essay Contest Awards
* OBMA Collecting Stories of the OB Pier
* Vets Plaza Begun
* Point Loma Extortionist Looking at 11 Years

District 2 – The Heart of OB

District 2 – the virtual center of the community – is indeed the heart and soul of Ocean Beach.

Positioned within the northwest sector of the community along with District 1 to its north, District 2 consists primarily of residential units, apartments, cottages and houses.

It has about 12 blocks of residences along its 3 major streets, Long Branch, Brighton and Cape May Avenues; Brighton and Cape May have the awesome distinctions of being a few of the OB streets that end in the sand.

Somebody is shooting and killing parrots with pellet guns in the OB and Point Loma area. Three parrots have been killed in the last 6 or 7 days.

Five parrots have been killed this year.

Two were found on Monday, Feb. 22nd in the area of Talbot Street and Gage Drive. Number three was found dead near the Mariners Cove Apartments on Point Loma, with an X-ray showing a small pellet in it.

Around 5pm Wednesday, Feb. 24th, a section of Sunset Cliffs collapsed. No one was hurt – as the collapse had been anticipated and an area had been cordoned off.

The falling dirt came at 1303 Sunset Cliffs Boulevard, according to San Diego Fire-Rescue officials, near the first parking lot south of Adair Street.

The annual election to the Ocean Beach Planning Board is coming up on Wednesday, March 2nd. This 14-member board reviews, approves and monitors development in OB as it adheres to the newly updated and approved OB Community Plan as the blueprint for the community.

District 1 – Northwest OB

We begin with District 1 – the northwest sector of OB – a very important section of the community. It’s bordered on the north by Dog Beach, the San Diego River and Robb Field – which makes the district the gateway to two of OB’s parks.

It’s the site of the most famous dog-friendly beach park in the city and due to the district’s proximity to the beach, it has a heavy impact from tourists and visitors.

By John Lawrence

The man who gave us Citizens United and Bush vs Gore is gone from the face of the earth. I for one do not mourn his passing.

His decisions have not only contributed to the destruction of the US, but major portions of the world as well, and he was set to destroy the world consensus on climate change which would have destroyed the entire planet.

It was Scalia who said that unlimited corporate campaign spending is something “we should celebrate rather than condemn,” (Citizens United), that vote-counting should be halted for causing “irreparable harm” to the candidate who might lose as a result (Bush v. Gore), that protecting the right to vote is an odious example of “racial entitlements” (comments related to Shelby County v. Holder), and that allowing local anti-discrimination laws to protect gays and lesbians amounts to “special treatment”

By Frank Thomas / San Diego Free Press

I admire Bernie’s outspoken, honest portrayal of the breakdown of our egalitarian democracy – “a government of, for and by the people” – by a corrupt, immoral plutocratic political-economic ESTABLISHMENT threatening the very existence of our democracy.

I was appalled by David Brooks’ disingenuous critique of Bernie’s call for a ‘political revolution’- systemic reform for a systemically broken, money corrupted governance. Brooks beguilingly discredits Bernie’s bold ideas in the recent article, Livin’ Bernie Sanders’s Danish Dream.

From Restaurants to the Beach, Private Interests Are Taking More Public Grounds

The recent uproar among OBceans over the intrusions into public sidewalks by two Ocean Beach restaurants illustrates a broader and growing wariness by the public of the larger issue of encroachment by private interests into public space.

Just several weeks ago, the 2 OB restaurants, The Joint and the yet-to-open OB Brewery – both on Newport Avenue – have installed permanent fixtures outside their establishments that seriously curtail pedestrian traffic and block the public accesss to the public sidewalk immediately in front of the restaurants.

2016 Elections

The Ocean Beach Planning Board will hold its 2016 General Election on Wednesday, March 2, 2016. Polls will be open 4-7 p.m. at the Ocean Beach Recreation Center at 4726 Santa Monica Avenue. Mail-in ballots are also available upon request.

Seven of the Board’s 14 seats will be up for election, one from each of the seven districts in the OB Community Plan Area (map of the 7 districts). If elected, members serve a two-year term of office. It is a volunteer position and receives no compensation.

There’s a vacant seat on the Board of Directors of the OB Town Council.

And they’re looking for someone interested in becoming more involved with the community. Someone with a strong desire to promote the general betterment and beautification of Ocean Beach and the welfare of our residents, is asked by the OBTC to consider applying for the vacant seat. The Town Council provides a great venue for folks to engage deeply in our community and make a meaningful and lasting impact.

There are requirements and there is an appointment process.

This is a public announcement:

The empty lot at the southeast corner of Abbott and Voltaire will soon be fenced in, as construction on the 2-story units will begin soon.

“No Parking” signs went up Monday – and any cars in the lot will be towed beginning Saturday, February 27th.