San Diego Free Press

Grassroots News & Progressive Views

Crowd Packs Julian Forum on Drone Testing Over East County

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By Miriam Raftery / East County Magazine

Back Country Voices, a citizens group in East County, held a forum on November 11 regarding a proposal to test drones–unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs– over backcountry areas in San Diego and East County.   Concerned citizens packed into Julian’s library to learn more about the implications of drone testing in our region.

The first speaker was John Raifsnider, a local resident.  “San Diego Military Advisory Council, the Economic Development [Council] and then the Chamber…What does that mean? “ he asked. “Money and military. What does that mix create? We want to know.”

Raifsnider voiced concerned that county Supervisors and all five Congressional representatives have sent letters in support of this plan without input from rural residents.  Supervisor Ron Roberts has said he backs the plan to bring more manufacturing jobs to our region. Supervisor Dianne Jacob envisions use of drones to spot brush fires.   [Read more…]

What Mainstream Media isn’t Telling You About the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in the US

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10 Surprising and Counterintuitive Facts About Child Sex Trafficking

<By Jodie Gummow / Alternet< There are fewer crimes in society that trigger greater public outrage than sex trafficking of children.   Trafficking is a serious problem in the United States, yet many of the stereotypes surrounding the issue and the counter-productive approaches to fixing the problem, make it increasingly difficult to address the real dilemmas and oppression of those children in need of help. At present, the commercial sexual exploitation of children has become a staple of often scary tabloid and other media coverage.  The sensationalist sex trafficking narrative commonly depicted in mass media by celebrities and activists doesn’t always reveal the full story of this complex and misunderstood phenomenon, which is often buffeted by data and themes that detract from potential remedies.  Here are 10 child sex trafficking statistics that you most likely didn’t read….   [Read more…]

Basta! Barrio Logan Group Files Lawsuit Citing Illegal Signatures on Referendum Petition

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By Doug Porter

The stories have been circulating for weeks about simply outrageous falsehoods being told by signature gatherers employed by backers of a referendum to overturn the Barrio Logan Community plan. Now community members, led by the Environmental Health Coalition (EHC), are fighting back.

The three biggest lies being told are:

  • 46,000 jobs were endangered
  • Businesses were going to be replaced by condominiums
  • The Navy would abandon San Diego

This morning they filed legal documents seeking to block any referendum on the basis that organizers deliberately made misrepresentations in order to gather signatures.   [Read more…]

Analyzing the Responses: Virtual Mayoral Forum–Building Permits and the City Planning Department

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Big developer interests should not receive preferential treatment.

By SDFP Staff

Though his brief tenure came to a tumultuous end, former Mayor Bob Filner did do some good things for the city while in office. Arguably, one of the best things he did was to revive the city’s planning department, dismantled and incorporated into the Development Services Department by Jerry Sanders. Filner then went on to hire Bill Fulton to lead the department, a veritable rock star in civic planning circles.

In the past, due to lax enforcement by the City of San Diego—particularly during Sanders’ tenure—developers tended to view the rules more as guidelines or suggestions than they did hard and fast laws they were required to follow or face consequences. Filner changed that, but with his departure, there is concern that developers will once again be allowed carte blanche to skirt the rules when it suits them.

“It’s not a problem of building permit enforcement,” wrote Mike Aguirre, but a problem of whether, when, how, and what type of permit should or should not be issued in the first place.”   [Read more…]

How to tell if what you’re reading or watching is still part of the JFK assassination cover-up.

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By Frank Gormlie

We’re all fairly aware now that this month is the 50th anniversary of the Kennedy Assassination. President John F Kennedy was murdered on November 22, 1963 in Dealy Plaza in Dallas, Texas.

And boy, we’re being swamped with films, articles, videos and books about the assassination and the subsequent cover up. For example, both the History channel and National Geographic channel are throwing new films at us this month at almost a daily basis.

So, how can you tell if what you’re reading or watching is still part of the Kennedy murder cover-up?

Here’s three simple rules:
  [Read more…]

A State Capitol Awash In Oil Money

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Big Oil treated legislators to $13,000 dinner before fracking bill vote

By Dan Bacher/Indybay.org

The oil industry, the largest and most powerful corporate lobby in Sacramento, dumped millions of dollars into its successful lobbying efforts to eviscerate an already weak fracking bill, Senator Fran Pavley’s Senate Bill 4, at the end of the Legislative Session.

Chevron, the Western States Petroleum Association and Aera Energy LLC spent the most money lobbying legislators in the third quarter of 2013, according to California Secretary of State documents.

Chevron spent $1,696,477, the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA) spent $1,269,478 and Aera Energy LLC spent $1,015,534. That’s a total of $3,981,489 just between July 1 and September 30, 2013. In the first three quarters of 2013, WSPA alone spent a total of $3,578,266 on lobbying legislators.

In a classic example of the “pay to play” and “wine and dine” corruption that infests California politics, nearly $13,000 of the Western States Petroleum Association’s third quarter spending went toward hosting a dinner for 12 lawmakers and two staff members in September.   [Read more…]

The Ripple Effect of Low-Wage Work

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By Luke Reidenbach/California Budget Bites

A new report from the University of California, Berkeley’s Institute for Research on Labor and Employment (IRLE) estimates the public costs of low-wage work in the fast-food industry. In doing so, the report highlights a key and underdiscussed point about low-wage jobs: They don’t just have an impact on the workers themselves; they have an impact on everyone.

The authors estimate the financial costs of providing critical public services to workers who cannot make ends meet because of low wages, insufficient hours, or inadequate access to health care benefits. The study estimates that nationwide, the public costs of providing health care, nutrition services, and cash assistance to fast-food workers amount to nearly $7 billion per year.   [Read more…]

RIP Immigration Reform 2013

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By Doug Porter

Despite passage of a bill by the Senate, a sustained campaign by activists around the country, and the commitment of the White House to make it happen, the consensus on Capitol Hill is that comprehensive immigration reform will not be voted on by the House of Representatives this year.

Republican and House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy told immigration advocates who were protesting outside his residence last week there is simply not enough time left for action on any bill in 2013. As of today there are just 15 legislative days left on the House calendar for 2013.

Any comprehensive package is dead in the water because House Speaker John Boehner has refused to allow a vote on it unless 150 members of the GOP caucus give their blessing.  House members have indicated they prefer a piecemeal approach, but none of those proposals are likely to make it to the floor.   [Read more…]

What’s Going On In the Old Proposed VFW Building?

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By Judi Curry

Earlier this week I received a notice from the ABC of a “notice of intention to engage in the sale of alcoholic beverages” in the same building that the VFW wanted to move into last year at 4705 Pt. Loma Ave. Before jumping to conclusions as to what was going to move in I decided to do some preliminary sleuthing and am pleased that I did.

Many of us remember when that building originally housed “Sea and Shore Market.” Years later I still miss the convenience of having a market that close to where I lived. It later was purchased by the owners of “Rancho’s Restaurant” – yes, the same Rancho’s that is on Sunset Cliffs. That became the second Rancho’s in the neighborhood and it was delightful to have it there. It usually had many patrons, and that may have been the downfall of the restaurant because due to of lack of parking space it eventually closed.

Now, Chad and Maja Cline want to open an establishment called “Kodiak” on that very same site. I talked to Chad today and asked him many questions re: the proposed restaurant.   [Read more…]

Latino Voters Could Determine the Future … If We Vote

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By Andrea Guerrero

A couple of weeks ago my nine-year-old son and I got into a friendly argument about who should be the next mayor of San Diego. He seemed to get the same thrill out of talking about his favorite candidate as he gets out of talking about his favorite superhero. If you have a child, you may have been asked a thousand (or maybe a million) times what your favorite this or that is and then told why it should be something else.

In our conversation, my son reminded me that he could not vote, but that I could and should vote (for his favorite candidate, of course). It made me think of others who cannot vote, like friends and family whose immigration status prevents them from voting, and why I can and must vote in every election for the candidate or the ballot measure that will move my family and my community forward.   [Read more…]

California Sea Otters Targeted in Defense Authorization Bill

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By Michael Jasny/Switchboard

The Senate will shortly be considering a provision that would allow the U.S. Navy to injure and kill California sea otters, without complying with the core wildlife statutes protecting this threatened species.

Recently, the House added language to this year’s defense authorization bill that outright exempts the Navy from two federal laws, the Endangered Species Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act, for any harm it causes sea otters off its Southern California bases.  The effect would be to thwart conservation efforts there, relieving the military of its basic legal obligation to minimize impacts on this species to the extent practicable.  Senator Reid says the new authorization bill, which is now before the Senate, will come to a floor vote by Thanksgiving.
  [Read more…]

In San Diego, Taxpayers Want More than What They Pay For

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At KNSJ Mayoral Forum, candidates unwilling to discuss raising city revenues.

By Andy Cohen

Last night I had the opportunity to represent the San Diego Free Press as a panelist in the KNSJ mayoral debate, hosted by the California Western School of Law. We were privileged to have three of the four major candidates for mayor participate, with Nathan Fletcher the only missing candidate.

This event had been in the works for months, with the upstart progressive radio station looking to put itself on San Diego’s political map, once again giving those on the more liberal side of the political spectrum a reason to listen to talk radio in San Diego, something we haven’t had since Clear Channel switched KLSD to an all sports format. Apparently they didn’t like the competition to their right wing property, KOGO.

In the debates leading up to this one, in my opinion not nearly enough has been discussed regarding the philosophy behind economic growth and development by the candidates thus far. And the candidates have not been asked to address how they would fund all of the different services that city government is supposed to provide, and all of the so called “goodies” that San Diegans have come to expect from their local government.   [Read more…]

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