OB Rag Staff / OB Rag
There is a small group of SeaWorld supporters (apologists?) who have directly taken on the OB Rag and editor Frank Gormlie. They have a blog and posted a recent article calling out Gormlie by name in a headline refuting his claims about SeaWorld.
About a month ago, Gormlie wrote an article entitled “Why SeaWorld Can’t Build a Hotel at its Location on Mission Bay”, citing the proximity of the old Mission Bay landfill which is known to contain toxic materials. [Read more…]
Steve Schoenherr / South Bay Compass
On May 1, 1933, you could finally get a drink in Chula Vista. From the day the city was founded in 1911, it was a dry town.
Ordinance No. 11 passed in 1912 prohibited the sale of liquor and no bars were allowed. Of course, during the prohibition era of the 1920s, there were illegal speakeasies along highway 101, the “Road to Hell,” and Tijuana was open night and day for anyone who could get across the border. But when state voters in Nov. 1932 (including Chula Vista voters) approved the repeal of California’s Wright Act, the state’s “Little Volstead” prohibition law, it opened the door for new business enterprises. [Read more…]
By Steve Kowit
Woke with a start, the dogs barking out by the fence,
yard flooded with light. Groped my way to the window.
Out on the road a dozen quick figures
hugging the shadows: bundles slung at their shoulders
& water jugs at their hips. You could hear,
under the rattle of wind, as they passed,
the crunch of sneakers on gravel. Pollos. Illegals
who’d managed to slip past the Border Patrol,
its Broncos & choppers endlessly circling
the canyons & hills between here & Tecate.
[Read more…]
By Murtaza H. Baxamusa / San Diego UrbDeZine
With rising inequality, a looming climate change crisis, and persistent state of housing unaffordability being the defining issues in the growth of American cities in the twenty-first century, it is time for urban planners to take social policy seriously.
Too often, social policy is relegated to a specialized role for advocacy planners, at other times ignored completely for being too political, and often times dismissed as “creeping socialism” that is inappropriate in land-use planning. This prompted planning legend Norman Krumholtz to call the profession “timid,” not as much to reflect on the work ethics of rank-and-file planners, but the leadership of those in power, who do not allow planning to pursue equity objectives. The most powerful piece on the planning chess-board is unavailable to most urban planners.
A myth that discourages planners is that social policy is antithetical to American politics. From the common sense approach of Thomas Paine in providing a basic income for seniors and disabled to protecting mothers and soldiers in the early twentieth century, to more recent approaches on poverty, pollution, retirement, and healthcare, successful U.S. social policy is informed by pragmatism, inclusion, and innovation. [Read more…]
By Diane Takvorian / Environmental Health Coalition (EHC)
Environmental Health Coalition (EHC) is supportive of the proposed City of San Diego Climate Action Plan with amendments to include equity for impacted communities and commitments for implementation funding.
EHC is very supportive of the strong targets and actions in the City of San Diego’s Climate Action Plan (CAP) and appreciate the great amount of work staff and the Environmental and Economic Sustainability Task Force has done to bring the CAP to this point. Although we appreciate the mention of equity in the CAP, in order to ensure that the CAP goals are met within the timeline prescribed in the plan in an equitable manner funding for implementation and integration of specific equity focused directives must be included in the CAP in each section of the plan. [Read more…]
By Francisco J. Bustos
I remember playing on the kitchen floor when the shots started firing.
I remember my cousin and I running outside the apartment, like many others did.
The sound of bullets instantly changed everybody’s eyes and nobody could
explain it.
We lived on Sunset Lane, just a couple blocks, de aquel Mac Donals, 30 years ago.
We jumped outside at the sound of more bullets,
if we could make it to the corner, we could catch a glimpse of our San Ysidro
Boulevard.
I don’t know why we tried running to that corner. Something pushed us. With every step that we took, more shots sliced the air,
and more shots and more shots, again and again and again. [Read more…]
By Rebecca Paida
Now is the time to welcome refugees, not shut them out. Given the recent controversy over refugees, I am compelled to write about my refugee story and call on cities to create inclusive Citizen Commissions on Refugee and Immigrant Affairs. My refugee journey began in 1997 when my family escaped from Sudan to join my father in Nairobi, Kenya. We stayed in Kenya for nearly three years as part of our vetting process.
During this time, we were subjected to rigorous and comprehensive background and health screenings. My parents provided a myriad of confidential documents to different U.S. agencies, participated in live interviews, as well as attend a mandatory cultural orientation. On June 3, 1999, my family and I came to the United States as political refugees and began establishing our roots in the City Heights neighborhood of San Diego, California. [Read more…]
By Hutton Marshall/ SanDiego350.org
San Diego Gas & Electric, our friendly neighborhood energy provider whether we like it or not, continues to prove that their claims to support clean energy are merely superficial. Especially in regards to solar energy, the most efficient, environmentally friendly energy source available to homes and businesses, SDG&E continues to favor policies that diminish the critical financial incentives that allow San Diegans to generate their own clean energy. [Read more…]
By Dr. Linda Williams / Invisible Disability Project
I recently attended a Special Education IEP (Individualized Educational Program) meeting for a boy in first grade. Academically bright, he looks just like his peers: neat, dressed in current clothing, he runs around with the latest gadgets, and wears the cool shoes. However, he was diagnosed with Pragmatic Language Impairment and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. He’s on the Autism Spectrum, and struggles to understand the social cues of others. [Read more…]
By Jess Jollett / Reclaim the Community
On Friday night, the Southeast community of San Diego hosted nationally renowned public intellectual and activist, Dr. Cornel West.
Dr. West came to speak at Lincoln High School after learning of the gang injunction case brought against 33 young, black men using an untested penal code, P.C. 182.5. The case brought national attention to District Attorney’s use of this draconian and obscure code resulting from a proposition passed in 2000.
The event was sponsored by Reclaiming the Community, a coalition of individuals, community leaders, and organizations that embrace the historic, rich, and diverse culture of Southeast San Diego, and recognize its ability to become a leader in community participation. [Read more…]
By Bill Adams / UrbDeZine
I read an op-ed in the San Diego Union-Tribune that made me want to stand on top of a downtown high-rise and scream . . . YES!!!
The opinion piece was entitled “A higher and better use for downtown,” and was written by Wayne Raffesberger and co-authored by Rob Quigley, Jack Carpenter, Pete Garcia and David Malmuth – individuals who have exceptional knowledge of downtown San Diego’s East Village neighborhood and a promising vision for its future.*
I was compelled to write a lengthy comment to the piece and perhaps I should have just stopped there (in any case, I have regurgitated some of it in writing this piece). But this topic has been an issue that has been sticking in my craw for several years. [Read more…]
By Juanita Lopez
It is the year of 2014 and both of my grandparents are very old but alive, though suffering from dementia. I decided to pay them a visit to interview them. Believe it or not, they still live in the same one-bedroom apartment in San Ysidro where they established their U.S. residency in the late 1970s. From their yard, I am able to look at the thousands of tiny houses in Tijuana, where they once lived, dreaming of crossing over for a better opportunity. I look at my dark-skinned grandmother and admire her toothless smile. Her eyes light up every time she sees me. She normally asks me how my brother is doing, and I tell her he’s okay, working like always since he has a baby to take care of now. She smiles and two minutes later asks me the same question. I go over to her kitchen and wash some strawberries that were in her refrigerator. I offer her some after I cut them and sprinkle some sugar on top—my grandmother smiles again and starts telling me about her life, a not-so-sweet story about the times she labored as a farm worker picking strawberries and cutting flowers. [Read more…]
