Culture

Thumbnail image for Those Uninvited Guests at Your Barbecue

Those Uninvited Guests at Your Barbecue

by Source 05.18.2013 Environment

With most samples of several common store-bought meats testing positive for antibiotic-resistant “superbugs,” factory farming practices must change.

By  / OtherWords

Planning a Memorial Day barbecue? When you buy meat for that festive meal, watch out for some uninvited guests. An alarming amount of American meat harbors not just pathogens, but “superbugs” — antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

For now, you’d better cook your meat well enough to kill the germs (165F is the magic temperature), but there might be hope for safer alternatives in the future. Consumer advocates and lawmakers are trying to push changes that make these superbugs a thing of the past. That’s never been so important because industrialized agriculture delivers efficiency, productivity, and profit at the expense of food safety.

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Thumbnail image for Bicycle Weekend – A Summary of Great Cycling Activities for this weekend

Bicycle Weekend – A Summary of Great Cycling Activities for this weekend

by John P. Anderson 05.17.2013 Activism

By John P. Anderson

Today, Friday May 17, is Bike to Work Day and there are pit stops all over the county for cyclists to stop, enjoy a bite to eat, meet some fellow riders, and generally start the day on a good foot.  I enjoyed the morning at the 30th Street & Upas Street corner with fresh coffee and pastries and some conversation with neighbors.

If you weren’t able to join the festivities today (or did but want to keep the party going) there are a number of great cycling activities going on this weekend.

Sunday, May 19

Bike Local Sundays - South Park – All Day

The second edition of this program from the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition rolls into action on Sunday in South Park.  The Bike Local Sundays program is held in a different neighborhood every third Sunday of the month and South Park follows the Hillcrest debut in April.  Per the SDCBC:

“Bike Local Sundays started with a goal to get more people riding bikes to support business in San Diego. Trends show that more people riding bikes versus driving improves community health, air quality and traffic congestion, as well as boosts business by relieving residents of the costs of owning and operating a vehicle, transferring those savings to the local economy.”

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Thumbnail image for Desde la Logan: The Ice Cream Man Cometh to Barrio Logan

Desde la Logan: The Ice Cream Man Cometh to Barrio Logan

by Brent E. Beltrán 05.17.2013 Columns

Family Owned Tocumbo Ice Cream Opens at Mercado del Barrio

By Brent E. Beltrán

Monday, May 13 was a beautiful, hot day in San Diego. Temperatures broke records throughout the county. But in my community of Barrio Logan things were a lot nicer because Tocumbo Ice Cream opened shop. And neighborhood residents flocked to get their cool ice cream fix.

On May 4, as I was walking to a few community events here in Barrio Logan, I was handed a flyer announcing the opening on May 13. Not only did the flyer announce their opening it also offered a free scoop! Happy happy! Joy joy! The opening was around the corner and I was gonna get a free scoop too!

Tocumbo Ice Cream was founded in 2004 by the Ramirez family which includes patriarch Gerardo Ramirez — who works between 80-100 hours a week doing what he loves, his wife Martha and children Omar, Kelly and Crystal. Grandson Junior also helps out as well as do other family members.

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Thumbnail image for Restaurant Review: Gloria’s Taco Shop

Restaurant Review: Gloria’s Taco Shop

by Judi Curry 05.17.2013 Culture

Gloria’s Taco Shop
1233  28th St.
San Diego, CA 92102
(619) 239-8093

By Judi Curry

For many months after I joined online dating services, Joe and I went out to try new restaurants in a variety of areas. Although Joe and I have remained good friends, he has another lady friend and I asked the two of them to join me in reviewing  Gloria’s Taco Shop.  

This restaurant is part of the “Golden Hill” area that the San Diego Free Press is highlighting this month.  If you have been reading SDFP this week, you may have noticed that Emma Goldman has also reviewed several restaurants in the area, bordering the same streets as Gloria’s.

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Thumbnail image for It’s a Sad Day in America When the Navy Launches a San Diego-Built Drone off a Carrier

It’s a Sad Day in America When the Navy Launches a San Diego-Built Drone off a Carrier

by Frank Gormlie 05.16.2013 Culture

It’s a sad day in America. The US Navy launched the first carrier-based drone off its deck the other day, off the coast of Virginia. It’s an even sadder day for us in San Diego, as the drone was manufactured – in part, at least – by plants and engineers right here in our own city.

The launching of the drone off that deck demonstrates clearly that as drones become more and more integrated into becoming the armament of the nation’s military, they are becoming more and more accepted – here domestically, back in the good ol’ US of A.

And as drones become more and more prevalently utilized, not just by our armed forces overseas, but by law enforcement, border patrol, and local police departments here within our very own borders, American citizens are more and more subjected to a high-tech surveillance that is quite unlike anything we’ve known in the past – a surveillance that is becoming so pervasive, that it challenges our basic civil rights, freedoms and privacies.

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Thumbnail image for SD For Free: Golden Hill Recreation Center

SD For Free: Golden Hill Recreation Center

by John P. Anderson 05.16.2013 Culture

By John Patrick Anderson

A weekly column dedicated to sharing the best sights and activities in San Diego at the best price – free! We have a great city and you don’t need to break the bank to experience it.

Golden Hill Recreation Center

Address: 2600 Golf Course Dr, San Diego, CA 92102

Date and Time: Monday – Friday 2 PM – 9 PM, Saturday – Sunday 10 AM – 3 PM

Best For: Exercise, relaxation, walking, getting outdoors

Increasingly, when you mention the neighborhood of Golden Hill you will get a reaction that indicates the person you are talking to either knows where it is or has a pretty good idea (e.g. “Somewhere south of Balboa Park, right?”) instead of a blank stare. However, even those who know where the neighborhood is likely don’t know where, or what, the Golden Hill Recreation Center (GHRC) is.

Located on the south-east portion of Balboa Park (just east of Golden Hill Park), the GHRC is nestled between 26th Street and the Balboa Park Golf Course, just north of Russ Boulevard.

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Thumbnail image for Restaurant Review: Rama Thai

Restaurant Review: Rama Thai

by Judi Curry 05.14.2013 Culture

Rama Thai
327 Fourth Avenue
San Diego, CA. 92101  (Between J & K St.) 
Phone: (619) 501-THAI (8424)

By Judi Curry

What a week this has been.  Out of town guests have prompted me to go out to eat at places I have wanted to try for a long time.  Then comes along a new date – yeah! From an online site, no less, and Mike suggested that we go to one of his favorite Thai restaurants downtown.

So rather than have to fight to find a parking place, he picked me up at my home in OB, drove to his condo near the Santa Fe train station, and then we WALKED the mile or so to the RAMA THAI. (And yes, we walked back, too!)

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Thumbnail image for What Kind of Person Steals a Kid’s Bike Trailer?

What Kind of Person Steals a Kid’s Bike Trailer?

by Staff 05.14.2013 Culture

Help appreciated locating our reporter John P Anderson’s stolen family bicycles!

Stolen morning of 5/13/2013 in North Park.

Editor’s Note: John P Anderson writes the SD for Free column for SDFP, reports on biking news and covers community events for the San Diego Free Press. He’s been taking a break from writing for the past couple of weeks, since he and his wife just had a new baby.

This morning two bicycles and a children’s bicycle trailer were stolen from my house in North Park (near 30th Street & University Avenue).  The items were stolen between 9:30 AM and 11:15 AM on Monday, March 13, 2013.

Inside are detailed descriptions of the bicycles and trailer – if you could share this story via social media and keep an eye out for these item it would be greatly appreciated.

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Thumbnail image for Eating 25th Street in Golden Hill

Eating 25th Street in Golden Hill

by Source 05.13.2013 Culture

Part I: Breakfast

By Emma Goldman

“MOM! I’m hungryyyyy!”

It was 9:00 AM on a Sunday morning. I was still in my Wonder Woman jammies finishing my coffee.

I looked at my nine year-old who was lounging on our couch watching cartoons, clutching his belly, and said: “Golden Hill Café or Los Reyes?

Eggs, bacon, and hash browns? Or a breakfast burrito? Or donuts and pastries at Panchitas? A Wonchi with bacon at Krakatoa? Or we could wait for lunch and get a slice of pizza at Luigi’s or a falafel wrap at the Kabob House….”

You see, we are surrounded by food places where we live in Golden Hill. And more places have been opening up to keep things interesting. Later on, as my son was devouring his massive egg, bacon, potato, and cheese burrito from one of our taco stands, I decided to do a three part series on eating in Golden Hill with a special focus on 25th Street, as that has the greatest concentration of places to go in this historic neighborhood.

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Thumbnail image for Restaurant Review: Peohe’s (On Mothers Day)

Restaurant Review: Peohe’s (On Mothers Day)

by Judi Curry 05.13.2013 Culture

Peohe’s
1201  First Street
Coronado, CA 92118
619-437-4474

By Judi Curry

Who goes out to eat on Mother’s Day?  And at a restaurant that crowded regardless if it is a holiday or not?

Two of my daughters wanted to take me out for a Mother’s Day brunch.  (My middle daughter had to work today.) Stephanie really enjoys Eggs Benedict and had never been to Peohe’s, so she and Michele decided that would be a good place to go.

The view is fantastic; the surroundings beautiful, and every time Michele has had a meal there it was delightful. 

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Thumbnail image for Working Mother’s Day

Working Mother’s Day

by Source 05.12.2013 Culture

By Robert Reich / RobertReich.org

My mother went into paid work soon after my father’s clothing store was flooded out in a hurricane, almost wiping him out. She had no choice. We needed the money.

This was some two decades before a tidal wave of wives and mothers went into paid work.

For the few with four-year college degrees the transformation was the consequence of wider educational opportunity and new laws against gender discrimination that opened professions to well-educated women. But for the vast majority it was because male wages were dropping, and wives and mothers had to get paid jobs in order to prop up family incomes.

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Thumbnail image for On a Slow Ride from Golden Hill to South Park

On a Slow Ride from Golden Hill to South Park

by Ernie McCray 05.11.2013 Culture

By Ernie McCray

Often when I tell someone I live in Golden Hill they say “Oh, yeah? Where?” 30th and Cedar is my reply and then they say “That’s South Park.”

“No, Golden Hill,” I say and they, like we’re in a debate competition, and they’ve got me on this one, start quoting passages from a map to prove that I’m not a Golden Hillian. And then I have to explain to them, in a nice friendly “home is where the heart is,” kind of way, that no matter what some chart has to say, I live in Golden Hill.

And I don’t say that out of any animosity towards them or South Park. Not at all. It will be a slow ride if it happens but I might claim to live there some day since I do “officially.” It’s just that I’m a Golden Hill O.G.

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Thumbnail image for The Continuing Long Hard Slog for Streetlights in City Heights

The Continuing Long Hard Slog for Streetlights in City Heights

by Anna Daniels 05.10.2013 Activism

By Anna Daniels

There isn’t any mystery as to why residents expect to have streetlights in their respective communities. It’s important to be able to see where you are walking at night; streetlights are an essential element of crime deterrence; and they contribute to our perceptions of personal safety.

City Heights is a transit dependent community and residents don’t tend to work bankers hours. Many of my neighbors go to work while it is still dark or return home when it is dark. Many of these commuting workers are women working in the hospitality and food service industries or providing in home personal care.

This is also a community that sustains elevated incidents of assault, robbery and break-ins. City Heights should be one of the best lit neighborhoods in the City of San Diego simply on the basis of need and yet it is unfunded $26 million for streetlights.

The City of San Diego does not get a free pass on this issue because of the economy. City Heights was starved of streetlights twenty five years ago when I moved here and it is still starved of that critical infrastructure investment. That real story here has little to do with the economy.

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Thumbnail image for Book Review: In Praise of Tomatoes A Year in the Life of a Home Tomato Grower

Book Review: In Praise of Tomatoes A Year in the Life of a Home Tomato Grower

by Anna Daniels 05.10.2013 Books & Poetry

A Golden Hill Vegetable Chain Letter that Knits the Neighborhood Together

By Anna Daniels

…It is Shepherd’s passion for growing tomatoes, resulting in his tomato patch close to the sidewalk in one of San Diego’s mid-city neighborhoods, that provides the framing “story” for his book. The story encompasses numerous connections that begin with soil and seeds and soon include family, neighbors, friends, a neighborhood and strangers past and present whose interests have also been ignited by the tomato.

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Thumbnail image for Desde la Logan: Our Focus on Barrio Logan for-the-Month “Wrap Up”

Desde la Logan: Our Focus on Barrio Logan for-the-Month “Wrap Up”

by Brent E. Beltrán 05.09.2013 Columns

By Brent E. Beltrán

In April many of us here at San Diego Free Press focused our journalistic efforts on my community of Barrio Logan. Twenty three articles were written about this vibrant, working class neighborhood.

They were stories that broke the old stereotype of Barrio Logan being a violent, gang infested place where people are scared to go to. I’m proud that our little website that could helped advance the image that Barrio Logan is a beautiful place to not only live but visit and enjoy.

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Thumbnail image for The Starting Line – The President is Doomed: Darrell Issa’s Benghazasm

The Starting Line – The President is Doomed: Darrell Issa’s Benghazasm

by Doug Porter 05.08.2013 Columns

By Doug Porter

Well here it is folks. This is the day we’ve all been waiting for. Congressman Darrell Issa’s going to blow the lid off the foreign policy scandal that’s been festering for over six months now.

Representative Steve King of Iowa, perhaps best known for his comparison of immigrants and dogs, says:

“I believe that it’s a lot bigger than Watergate, and if you link Watergate and Iran-Contra together and multiply it times maybe 10 or so, you’re going to get in the zone where Benghazi is,”

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Thumbnail image for Joint-use Fields and the Sidewalks Where Sexy Streets End

Joint-use Fields and the Sidewalks Where Sexy Streets End

by Source 05.08.2013 Activism

By Beryl Forman

Where there is a lack of public park space in a neighborhood, as is the case in San Diego, often a solution is to convert a school field into a joint-use field. This allows a park to remain open to the public after school hours. In the City of San Diego, the our Park & Recreation Department and the San Diego Unified School District have created legal agreements to establish joint-use fields.

Unfortunately, that is only half the solution. What is lacking from many of these joint-use parks is the ability to function as a public park. Take for example Wilson Middle School in City Heights. The entrance to the school is in on Orange Ave, at the corner of 38th Street. It once faced El Cajon Boulevard, but the structure was reversed during a period of re-developing buildings to become earthquake proof. This left El Cajon Boulevard with an expansive fence line and no available access (because the door remains locked) to the school and the park. In fact, there is only one entrance on Orange Ave, which is difficult to find and limits access to residents living north of El Cajon Boulevard.

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Thumbnail image for The New Arms Race? 3-D Printed Guns and the Power of the NRA

The New Arms Race? 3-D Printed Guns and the Power of the NRA

by Anna Daniels 05.07.2013 Activism

Will the Dawn of the WikiWeapon Threaten the NRA’s Sugar Daddy, Gun Manufacturers?

By Anna Daniels

The gun debate is about to going to get even more interesting. A video was just released of a 3-D printed gun, the Liberator, successfully firing a .380 caliber bullet. The gun, almost completely constructed of plastic, exploded into pieces however when a higher charge rifle cartridge was used.

The Liberator isn’t quite ready yet for prime time–staving off tyranny here at home, standing ground against kids with Skittles and bringing more blood and mayhem to our streets and homes. It’s efficacy is as yet unclear for suicidal purposes.

But the Liberator is big. This video captures the Liberator’s promise of something so big that it deserves a big heroic musical score, images of bombers in flight and a tumescent sun rise. “Fucking-A!”

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Thumbnail image for The Greater Golden Hill Community Development Corporation: Striving to Emphasize Community over Corporation

The Greater Golden Hill Community Development Corporation: Striving to Emphasize Community over Corporation

by Jim Miller 05.06.2013 Activism

By Jim Miller

When we at the San Diego Free Press decided to turn our focus to the community of Golden Hill, one of the first people I thought it would be good to talk to was my friend, neighbor, union brother, and colleague Judd Curran.  Judd and his wife Victoria both teach at Grossmont College, live in Golden Hill, and sit on the board of the Greater Golden Hill Community Development Corporation Board  and are quite active in the community.  I know Judd and his wife as smart, progressive, compassionate people who want the best for their community.  Thus Judd is uniquely suited to speak to the issues of community identity, gentrification, and the past, present, and future of Golden Hill. 

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Thumbnail image for BLOG UGLY: SD Rostra’s Nostrums

BLOG UGLY: SD Rostra’s Nostrums

by Source 05.06.2013 BLOG UGLY

By Bob Dorn

In modern times nothing has been more effective in bringing down the Republicans than the Republicans.

Hubris it might be called. From Richard Nixon’s embarrassing proposal for a White House ceremonial guard dressed in musical comedy uniforms to Ronald Reagan’s naked affection for ranchero machismo to George Dubya’s endorsement of even faker ranchero machismo (he didn’t like horses and went awol from his national guard post); professed Republicans have tended to talk tough. And done poof.

They’re fantasists, of a particular variety.

Locally, there’s no better example of this commitment to the wet dreams of destiny than the website, San Diego Rostra.

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