San Diego Free Press

Grassroots News & Progressive Views

You are here: Home / Archives for Activism / Environment

SD For Free: A Tree! For Free! Whee! Yippee! For Who? For You! And Who? You Too!

by

By John P. 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.

  1. Address: Your house
  2. Date and Time: Soon – if you send in your application. Don’t delay, apply today!
  3. Best For: Tree huggers, tree lovers, bird lovers, people lovers (Basically anyone that doesn’t own a parking lot)
  4. Website: http://www.urbancorpssd.org/FreeTree.pdf

Like trees? Love trees? Indifferent to trees but your spouse or children like them?  Have I got news for you! If you live in the City of San Diego and own property, you can have a tree planted in your yard for free.  Yes, 100% free.  The tree itself, the digging, calling the utilities, putting it in the ground, everything.  All you have to do is agree to provide a bit of water each year and try to keep it living and healthy.  The cost per year for the watering is estimated at $3.  $3 a year for a beautiful, living addition to your yard and street.   [Read more…]

The Starting Line – Death by Street Planning on El Cajon Boulevard

by

By Doug Porter

It was late Wednesday night on the 2800 block of El Cajon Boulevard. A 53 year old man jaywalked as he walked out from a Wendy’s fast food restaurant and was struck by a white Nissan sedan. Despite attempts by EMTs called to the scene, the man died. Police say alcohol was not a factor in the accident and that charges are unlikely to be filed against the driver of the vehicle.

This might seem like a straightforward argument against jaywalking, but it is actually indicative of a much larger problem. El Cajon Boulevard is one of the most pedestrian-unfriendly streets in San Diego.

The place where the jaywalker died lacks pedestrian crossings at nearby intersections. It’s unsafe at any speed for pedestrians and, at 40 miles per hour (the speed most people, including me, drive on EC Blvd), a pedestrian has only a 15% chance of surviving an accident.

Inside: Cindy Marten’s Laptop Stolen, Burning Down Kansas, Gun Control and Hollyweirdness   [Read more…]

Pacific Beach Planning Group and Local Residents Fight Bar Expansions

by

By Sub-committee

Wednesday, April 10, Bill Allen – owner of the Crystal Pier Motel – and other residents called a press conference at the pier to help expose a simmering problem in Pacific Beach to the larger community. Allen and many other concerned residents have over the last while voiced their complaints about Scott Slaga – owner of the 710 Club (ex-Blind Melons) near the Crystal Pier – in his efforts to obtain a sidewalk encroachment variance for his establishment.

Allen and the complaining residents have issues caused, they contend, by encroachments for bars, problems such as the high crime stats and high noise impact, to lowered property values to no room on the sidewalks for people to walk to the beach.

This is all in preparation for the city council vote today, April 11, on whether or not to allow Slaga to obtain his sidewalk encroachment variance.
  [Read more…]

West Coast Babies Suffer Thyroid Problems After Fukushima Nuclear Meltdown

by

fukushima fallout mapChildren born in Pacific coastal states in 2011 may be at greatest risk.

By Anne Hurley / msn Healthy Living

It’s already well known how devastating the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear reactor meltdown was for Japan — dramatic spikes in radiation-related illnesses, an increase in likely cancer deaths over the next several years, and pollution which may never truly be cleaned up.

A new study suggests what many worldwide have feared — that the devastation from the traveling radiation has in fact sickened infants in other countries, including babies born shortly after the incident in Hawaii, Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and California.   [Read more…]

The Starting Line – Unregulated, Unsafe, Unfair – the GOP Vision for California

by

By Doug Porter

One of the favored propaganda ploys of conservative pundits over the past year or so has been the ‘everybody’s leaving California for Texas’ meme. This all started with an article in the ultra conserve National Review by former assemblyman Chuck DeVore, who left the Golden State for the Lone Star State after finishing third in the 2010 GOP primary race for US Senate.

“California may be dreaming, but Texas is working” said DeVore, who went on to tell a tale of woe including high taxes, burdensome regulations and a bloated bureaucracy that stood in sharp contrast to the lean, mean Texas machine.

And so it began. Thousands of businesses were fleeing “Taxifornia” for the freedom offered by Rick Perry’s Republican mecca, so we were told. By early in 2013, media accounts of a minor ad buy urging businesses to consider relocation to Texas painted a picture of a grand exodus underway.

Today’s report on National Public Radio by Wade Goodwin on the construction industry in Texas paints a sad portrait of the real costs of the GOP’s prosperity paradise.   [Read more…]

What’s an EcoDistrict Anyway? North Park prepares to become first in San Diego

by

North Park in the first stages of becoming the first sustainable-focused neighborhood in San Diego following the U.S. lead of Portland, OR.  Tonight (Wednesday, April 10th) there will be an informational meeting for community members to learn about the project.  The meeting will be at Sea Rocket Bistro (3382 30th Street, 92104) from 5:30 – 7:30 PM and $3 drafts and $2 street tacos will be available.

I recently talked with Paulina Lis, who is heading up the North Park EcoDistrict project along with colleague Jennifer Owens, to learn more about the project.  (The North Park EcoDistrict is currently in ‘start-up’ mode and the official website, northparkecodistrict.com, is under construction. In the interim the best source for information on the EcoDistrict is the Facebook page.)  Paulina directed me to the Portland Sustainability Institute (PSI) as a primary source for information on what an EcoDistrict is and what Portland has been doing.   [Read more…]

©2010-2017 SanDiegoFreePress.org

Code is Poetry