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SoCal Edison Pulls the Plug on San Onofre Nuke Plant

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By Doug Porter

Today’s news round up starts with the announcement from Southern California Edison saying that the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station is finished. Kaput. Shutdown. Over.

Citing “continuing uncertainty about when or if it might return to service”, the company concluded that questions over when or if the plant might return to service was not good for customers or investors. Concerns about the environment or planet earth were not mentioned.

Since the shutdown of the nuclear power generating station in January of 2012, there has been an epic struggle over whether the plant could safely be returned to operating status.  A small radioactive leak in faulty steam tubes prompted the closure and subsequent questions over the plant’s processes and procedures have lead to protests, innumerable hearings and calls by California Senator Barbara Boxer for the Justice Department to investigate Southern California Edison and its statements to federal regulators about swapping out generators.   [Read more…]

Beats in Peru: A Daily Travelogue – Part III

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By Mikey Beats

San Diego DJ Mikey Beats, and his nurse wife Jenny, decided to take a vacation to Machu Pichu, Peru. For the next few days San Diego Free Press will publish their daily adventures. See Days 1 & 2 here.

Tuesday 6/4/13

From what we could tell, there were no signs of altitude sickness and Jenny didn’t wake up with a hangover. We slept in on purpose to get as much rest as possible. Water and coca tea had been our drinks of choice to stay well hydrated….   [Read more…]

Making Room for Lyric Allen on the Family Tree

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By Ernie McCray

Lyric Allen Anderson arrived on this earth on May 29th, 2013. He’s become the tenth person I can claim as a grandchild and every one of them is dear to me. But this beautiful baby boy is particularly special in that he’s the first to carry within his veins the blood of his Grandma Nancy, who passed away four years ago, and mine. She was my valentine and I welcome Lyric Allen to the world in behalf of both of us.

Oh, I don’t know if I can describe what it felt like holding him in all his raw innocence, for the first time, as what words can convey how one feels when one of the dearest beings in the world to him gives birth to someone equally as cherished? I’ll portray it as simply a wonderful moment in time.

And we’re just the family for him. I mean he was due on Wednesday of one week and didn’t as much as take a peek until the Wednesdayof the next week – and we can relate to that. We are true blue late kinds of folks, disciples of “Hey, we’ll get there when we get there or sometime thereafter” kind of thinking. So he passes the muster with us, with flying colors.   [Read more…]

Writing for the San Diego Free Press

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By Judi Curry

Fifty-seven years ago I said to my first husband – Ed – that I wanted to be a writer.  He laughed at me and told me that I didn’t have the intelligence to write; did not have any experiences to write about, and I should forget that goal.  I was 17 at the time.  (Yes, I was married very young.  I was also stupid, a fact that I hope has changed over the years!)

In the back of my mind, as I wrote essays, thesis’, opinions, case studies, etc. to obtain my Master’s Degree, I always remembered Ed’s comments to me.  As I taught my students English and Creative Writing skills, I wondered how I could be a successful teacher with so few “experiences” under my belt. When more and more of my students were producing wonderful writings, I began realizing that Ed may have been right then, but he no longer was correct in his perception of my abilities – we were only married 10 years so many things had changed. Basically, I grew up!

  [Read more…]

Why Do I Write for the San Diego Free Press?

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By John P. Anderson

Why do I write for the San Diego Free Press?  Simply, because I was asked to.

Today I’m extending that invitation to you.  I’d like you to write for the San Diego Free Press.  You can’t say that no one invited you to the party.

June 4, 2013was the one year anniversary of the Free Press going ‘live’.  I was invited to a meeting of the Free Press in July 2012 and my first article on The New Children’s Museum was posted on August 16 of that year.  Since that time I’ve written many pieces mostly under four categories: free things to do in San Diego, bicycles, environmental issues, and beer.   [Read more…]

Beats in Peru: A Daily Travelogue Parts I & II

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By Mikey Beats

San Diego DJ Mikey Beats, and his nurse wife Jenny, decided to take a vacation to Machu Pichu, Peru. Over the next few days San Diego Free Press will publish their daily adventures.

Sunday 6/2/13

We woke up just before 8am to the coffee grinder. All our things were prepped and all my stuff needed to be placed into my travel backpack. That backpack had been to Brazil with me, Ecuador and Panama with Jenny and now it would get me through Peru.

We stopped by Ramiro’s taco shop after a few quick texts to tie down loose ends and we hit the road. My breakfast burrito ended up all over my shirt as I was eating and driving. Just another aroma to remind me of home I guess.

We got to LAX a few hours early and took our time finding a cheap option to park the car for ten days. The garage was called Quick Park….   [Read more…]

Tying Up Loose Ends: Around City Heights, Jacaranda Weather, Too Many Cats and This Very Old House

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By Anna Daniels

I’m taking a month off from writing my weekly column and will return July 10. Next week I will start working on projects that have piled up inside and outside our aged house–more on that below–and nothing will get done once the weather turns hot.

City Heights News–the very good, the good and too soon to tell… City Heights will be getting its first skate park plaza! The Central Avenue Mini-Park and Skate Plaza in City will include a tot lot, a playground for older children, small open turf area for passive recreation, a plaza with games, landscaping, and relocation of trees.

This is the very good news-construction will begin in October 2014 and the park will be open to the public in November 2015. Congratulations and thanks to the amazing skateboard community, Mid-City CAN, Council members Marti Emerald, Todd Gloria and Mayor Filner.   [Read more…]

Golden Hill – A Sustainable Vision

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By Beryl Forman

Golden Hill is a wonderful place to live, but it could always be better. Applying sustainable methods of urban design, green development, and enhancing its natural environment will certainly set a new bar for what is possible.

Golden Hill is located just above downtown San Diego, and is adjacent to the southern portion of Balboa Park. It is unfortunate that the access to either one of these locations is less than accommodating. Walking downtown entails crossing over the I-5 freeway on a large sparse bridge. Instead, I imagine this bridge becoming the welcome gateway to Golden Hill, lined with greenery, public seating, and food stands.
  [Read more…]

Ending Bikelash: Bicycling Surges Nationwide As Urbanites Support Bike Lanes and Bike-Sharing Programs

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Studies show that bike lanes make streets safer for everyone and are better for business.

By Jay Walljasper / AlterNet 

Former New York mayor Ed Koch envisioned bicycles as vehicles for the future. In 1980, he created experimental bike lanes on 6th and 7th avenues in Manhattan where riders were protected from speeding traffic by asphalt barriers. It was unlike anything most Americans had ever seen, and some people roared their disapproval. Within weeks, the bike lanes were gone.

Twenty-seven years later, New York mayor Michael Bloomberg and his transportation commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan saw the growing ranks of bicyclists on the streets as a key component of 21st-century transportation, and began building protected bike lanes in Manhattan and Brooklyn. They had studied the success of similar projects in Copenhagen and the Netherlands, noting how to make projects more efficient and aesthetically pleasing.

These “green lanes” and pedestrian plazas were an immediate hit, but they ignited a noisy reaction from a small group of well-connected people unhappy about projects in their neighborhoods, including Bloomberg’s former transportation commissioner Iris Weinshall (who happens to be married to Senator Chuck Schumer). Lawsuits were filed while New York Post and Daily News columnists thundered about the inconvenience to motorists and supposed dangers to pedestrians. New York magazine declared the situation a “Bikelash” on its cover.   [Read more…]

Excavating Golden Hill: The Golden Hill Fountain Grotto

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By Jim Miller

For my last Golden Hill piece, I turned to the wisdom of my 9 year-old son Walter, who, in answer to my query about what he liked best about his neighborhood said, “It’s old and grungy, not fake like the suburbs.”  And of all his favorite places in the neighborhood, he chose the Golden Hill Fountain Grotto because, “It’s a ruin.  You can tell it used to be all fancy and now it’s falling apart with graffiti and stuff.  It’s like something they’d find if we became an extinct species.”

Walt also likes the surrounding Golden Hill Gateway Park because, “it’s where the wilderness meets the city.  There are animals that live there and secret paths and canyons that make you forget where you are.”  So off we went to investigate.   [Read more…]

Tío Emilio and the Secrets of the Ancestors: Chapter 2 — A Warning

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“Your parents tried to create a protective shield around you to keep you isolated from the trouble going on around you in this neighborhood.”  Tío Marcos

 

By Richard Juarez

Bam!

The door slammed behind me. She almost hit me with it, but I didn’t care. She wanted me out of the house, and I was glad to get out of there. She had been crying all day, just like yesterday and the day before, crying and yelling. It seemed like it went on and on nonstop since two cops and the Coke delivery guy showed up. The three of them gave me a long lecture in front of my parents. The Coke guy said he would not press charges, but the cops said it would be on my record anyway, in case I ever did anything like that again.   [Read more…]

Restaurant Review: Pho Convoy

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Pho Convoy
4648 Convoy St., #101-B
San Diego, CA 92111
858-277-0133

By Judi Curry

When I reviewed “Saigon” a few weeks ago, I likened that restaurant to one that my husband and I liked many years ago. That restaurant was “Pho Convoy”.  The “gang of five” that were part of the “Saigon” group suggested that we try Pho Convoy and make a comparison of the two.

Last night we set out to do just that.  Three of us are journalists for the San Diego Free Press – Anna, Rich, and myself, along with George and Mary who were visiting from D.C.   [Read more…]

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