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Pharmaceutical Corporations Gouging US Customers Out of Billion$ Every Year

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But Indian Supreme Court Rules Against Big Pharma

America spends about $200 billion a year on prescription drugs. It’s becoming part of American culture from preschool, where kids are started on Ritalin for ADHD, to old age where typical seniors are consuming an entire palette of pills for everything from arthritis to high blood pressure to cholesterol. Drugs are the fastest growing part of the health care bill.

In 2002 the average price for the fifty drugs most used by seniors was nearly $1500. for a year’s supply. That’s for each drug. Most seniors are taking an average of six.

Drug prices are highest for people who are the poorest. That’s because they have no insurance, and, therefore, no bargaining power. Drugs are marketed extensively by means of TV ads. Those ads are usually followed by ads for law firms trolling for clients who have been harmed by said drugs.   [Read more…]

Barrio Logan No Longer a Food Desert: Gets Spiffy New Supermarket

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The new Northgate Gonzalez supermarket opened on December 12, 2012 bringing fresh foods and groceries to an area long neglected by mainline supermarket chains – Barrio Logan. It is located at the corner of Cesar Chavez Parkway and Main Street. Prior to opening, this ethnic Latino neighborhood had only the usual complement of fast food restaurants offered to poor ethnic neighborhoods such as McDonald’s and Church’s and Popeye’s fried chicken chains.

In a food desert there is little in the way of fresh fruits and vegetables, but thanks to the Mercado Redevelopment Project, Barrio Logan has been considerably spruced up and is a food desert no more! In 2010 The San Diego City Council approved plans to transform two city blocks of vacant land in Barrio Logan into the Mercado Project which also featured 92 affordable housing units.   [Read more…]

A Tale of two City Council Meetings

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The contentious, adversarial nature of one meeting gives way to the spirit of cooperation and common ground.

What a difference a couple of days make, eh? Last Tuesday the San Diego City Council—save one member—looked like it was fully intent on joining forces with the local hotel lobby to declare an all out war on the newly elected Mayor. The Mayor was backed into a corner while the Council attempted to force him to sign a contract he was vehemently opposed to signing. But this Council was unbowed, determined to show the mayor just exactly who ran this city—they would show him who was in charge.

It was a rather embarrassing episode, really.

At the conclusion of agenda item S501, it was clear what interests the City Council represented, and it wasn’t those of the voters who elected them. Their strings were being pulled by someone else.   [Read more…]

Easter Celebration 2013 in Barrio Logan

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by Alejandra Enciso Guzmán

The new ‘Mercado del Barrio’ and Northgate Market (a supermarket chain from LA) were the proud hosts of a great family gathering organized to celebrate Easter in the heart of Barrio Logan. A free afternoon event was held at the recently opened retail center. These projects had been in the works for over two decades.

“We partnered with Chelsea for the affordable housing. Everything came together pretty smoothly; the community was really positive about it. We did not have any kind of disputes so we wanted to make sure we got the community involved with this center and do some events for families and make them more aware that we are here” explained Kimberly Powell, Real Estate Manager for the Honors Association and Shay Realtors.

There is a also a new residential area above the retail center. It has a very urban and ‘downtown’ look. “It is mixed use. To build this it took about two years, but had been an ongoing project for about five years; we worked with the community to make it happen. It is a multimillion dollar project that had A LOT of people involved to make it happen” explains Powell “We are talking about 91 apartments –all affordable housing, based on your income”.   [Read more…]

Fathom Bistro, Bait and Tackle – An Instant San Diego Classic

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I’ve seen ads in CityBeat for the past couple of months featuring a large pink Lichtenstein-ian tentacle pouring a draft beer and the tagline “San Diego’s Only Tap House on the Water”.  Tentacles, beer, and an address on Shelter Island (1776 Shelter Island Drive, 92106) that I couldn’t immediately place.  Mysterious and involving beer?  I was intrigued and recently made a visit.

The mystery deepened when I arrived at the address (directed by my smartphone navigation app) and saw no bar or restaurant in sight, nor a sign directing me to one.  There was a hotel on one side of the street, a playground on the other, and a pier with a few fishermen on it.  My daughter was with me and insisting that Elmo needed to play on the slides so we headed to the playground.  I agreed under the circumstances that I could continue to search for Fathom on my phone.  (Yes, I use a phone while watching my child.  Distracted dad indeed.)

This was my first time at the Shelter Island playground and it is a great location to enjoy playing outside.  Views of Point Loma and the ocean, gulls and pelicans swooping over the bay just a few feet away, and to the east downtown San Diego with mountains in the background.  I studiously ignored the views and craned my head closer and closer to my phone, trying to solve my puzzle.  Google Maps gave me walking directions: Walk 46 feet along Shelter Island Drive and you will arrive at your destination.  Looking all around, there were clearly no buildings in that proximity to me.   [Read more…]

Awash Ethiopian Restaurant: A Home Away From Home for African Immigrants

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In 1980, Aster Keleta arrived in San Diego. It was just three months before the United States began granting Ethiopians refugee status. Seeking citizenship was more arduous, but it allowed her to settle in and be of assistance to other incoming Ethiopians, a passion of hers that has continued on for over 30 years.

With the stability she has gained in her professional career, she recently decided to plunge back into the restaurant business once again. Aster and her partner Dr Carrol Waymon are now the new owners of Awash, an Ethiopian restaurant on El Cajon Boulevard at 50th St. Aster admits that she has missed having the creative freedom of running her own business, which also allows her the opportunity to reconnect with her identity and culture.   [Read more…]

Neighborhood Solar Power

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By Jay Powell 

Last week state Public Utilities Commissioners at a March 21 hearing threw down the gauntlet. Declaring that the sun don’t always shine and we have to guarantee reliable power for SDGE customers, they said San Diego had two, maybe three years to convince them not to let SDGE charge its customers for two new proposed gas-fired “peaker” power plants.

Peaking power is needed usually on the hottest days when air conditioners and other appliances and equipment are cranked up full. This is, of course when solar photovoltaic panels are at their optimum output. But there is a purported catch. SDGE and conventional power plant developers claim that there is a lag time in the late afternoon when solar generators output is waning, but peak loads continue to require more electricity. That is one of their key arguments for a new kind of peaker plant that best runs in an “intermittent mode”. They even claim that these plants are essential to promote more renewable energy.

So what is it going to take to meet this challenge? First, we are going to have to recognize that the deck is heavily stacked in favor of SDGE and conventional power plant developers. In spite of the promise and demonstrated potential of solar energy and energy efficiency, the current energy supply paradigm favors building more power plants and more transmission lines. The regulatory framework is set to reward that kind of system. Since the PUC is required to provide the investor owned utilities (IOUs) like SDGE a guaranteed rate of return on their asset base, the more they build and own, the more they make.   [Read more…]

Local Pols Lead Rally to Save Historic La Jolla Post Office

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San Diego Congressional Representatives Scott Peters and Susan Davis joined City Councilwoman Sherri Lightner and members of the La Jolla community in an effort to save the historic 77 year old La Jolla post office this afternoon from the United States Postal Service ax.

Davis, whose 53rd District previously included La Jolla prior to redistricting, had introduced legislation in the last Congress that would allow community interests to purchase the building and lease it back to the Postal Service at a nominal rate. Peters, as the new representative to the area, has taken up that mantle and reintroduced the bill.

“The U.S. Postal Service is under attack,” and they need more funding, said Davis.   [Read more…]

The Starting Line – Much Ado About Something? Opposition Research Dressed Up as Journalism Or Journalism to Control the Narrative?

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Carl DeMaio’s back in the news just months after losing San Diego’s Mayoral election. The UT-San Diego ran with a front page banner headline and the hot button sub heads using words like ‘secret project’, ‘financiers’, and ‘legality unclear’. The gist of the story is that DeMaio was the focus of a failed effort by his political enemies to dig up ‘dirt’ under the guise of a journalistic enterprise.

The cast of characters aligned against the then-mayoral candidate includes a downtown developer with a personal dislike for DeMaio, an aide to former Mayor Jerry Sanders, and several individuals ‘aligned with’ the candidacy of Republican-turned-Independent Nathan Fletcher. Additional funding came from a Native American casino and the Firefighters union.

This project was active in the early months of 2012, as a crowded primary campaign was underway for the top spot in San Diego. The contest got very ugly, replete with nasty TV advertising campaigns, charges and counter-charges. Carl DeMaio and Bob Filner emerged as victors. By then the project was dead.   [Read more…]

Emerald: It’s Time to Take the Mayor Seriously

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City Council likely to amend resolution to nullify judge’s ruling

Last Friday Judge Timothy Taylor affirmed his tentative ruling in favor of Mayor Bob Filner in the Tourism Marketing District’s suit against him personally, determining that the Mayor was not in fact obligated to sign a contract negotiated by the City Council and previous mayor. The language in the resolution authorizing the city to enter into an operating agreement with the Tourism and Marketing Authority, Taylor found, allowed the Mayor to sign an agreement, but did not mandate that he sign this agreement.

There is one caveat, however: The judge will entertain another hearing should the City Council see fit to revise its resolution and close the loophole and instead require Filner to sign the contract in front of him. The City Council was due to take up the matter in closed session last week, but tabled it until after Friday’s court hearing. They are now slated to discuss it Tuesday.   [Read more…]

A Walking Tour of Coronado That Doesn’t Include the Hotel Del?

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A few weeks ago, I received a telephone call from a member of one of my support groups telling me of a tour called “SoCal Food Tour.” She wondered if it would be something that I would be interested in, as well as other members of our group. Although not knowing much about it, I thought it might be fun and told her to sign me up.   [Read more…]

The North Park Main Street – Interview with Executive Director Angela Landsberg

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Walking into the office of the North Park Main Street, the main business association for the commercial area of the North Park community centered around University Avenue, I immediately recognized Angela Landsberg, its executive director. She was at her desk in the back, just finishing up in time for our interview. Everyone else had gone home at 3076 University Avenue. I was here to interview her for the San Diego Free Press focus during March on the community of North Park.

“I’ve been to meetings all day,” she declared. “I was out of the office for 3 hours and I now have 62 emails – not junk either – these all have to be responded to,” she said, signing off on her computer. I laughed, and we hugged. I’ve known Angie since she was a teenager, oldest daughter of my ex, and we’d lived together for a couple of years way back in the late Eighties.

And now she was the head of this North Park business group. Actually, North Park – a huge area, in fact, has several business groups, as there’s the El Cajon Boulevard Business Improvement Association, and another one south of Angela’s area. Her North Park Main Street area goes from the Georgia Street Bridge or Florida Street to the west, all the way to the 805 on the east, but it’s only 2 to 3 blocks wide, from Upas to Howard on the north.   [Read more…]

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