San Diego Free Press

Grassroots News & Progressive Views

Ocean Beach Planning Board to Elect Officers and Listen to Scott Peters Campaigning for Congress

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On Wednesday, April 4th, at their regular monthly meeting, the Ocean Beach Planning Board will elect new officers for the next year. The selection of Chair, Vice-Chair, and Secretary – the principle positions – is an annual ritual completed after the latest annual Board election. The election was held on March 13th, and the Board will presumptively certify the election results.

Also on the agenda is Scott Peters, who ostensibly, is giving a report on news from the San Diego Port District because he is a Port Commissioner. But as we all know, Scott Peters is also running for the Congressional seat in the 52nd District, which does include OB. So, he’ll be there to expound on his campaign. Peter’s Democratic opponent, former Assemblywoman Lori Saldana, will not be there. Peters is expected to report on the Convention Center expansion and the North Embarcadero “Visionary Project”.   [Read more…]

My Dancing Feet

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Sometimes I get dancing feet.
I’ll hear a song
and can’t help but want to move
to its rhythm,
to its beat.   [Read more…]

First Cuppa Coffee – April 3rd, 2012: Everybody But Romney Edition

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They want their pork back… House Republicans, frustrated with their own inability to come up with majorities in a chamber where they supposedly rule the roost, have come with a game plan to get things moving. Speaker John Boehner, according to Reuters, has convened a secret group to figure out how to undo the earmark ban after the next election. Party leaders have determined that the earmark ban has “has affected discipline” within the party. So, it was nice while it lasted…. (Editordude: btw, Boehner will be in town later this week at a private fundraiser in Pacific Beach and some Dems and friends are coming out to welcome him and his pal, Brian Bilbray. It’s Thursday, April 5 and starts before 5pm at 1025 Pacific Beach Drive.)

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Shame and Injustice in San Diego and America

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The killings of Trayvon Martin and Shaima Alawadi tell us something about our society. And what they are saying is not good.

The entire nation is currently up in arms about the killing of Trayvon Martin, the 17 year old Floridian who was shot and killed over a month ago by a neighborhood watch vigilante. And rightfully so. Martin’s only crime was to enter a gated, middle-class community where his father lived while black, wearing a hoodie, and carrying a pack of Skittles and an iced tea.   [Read more…]

OB Planning Board election results … and vacancies still exist

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On March 13th, the Ocean Beach Planning Board held its annual election. Every year, half of the seats on the 14 member Board are up for election, an election that residents, property owners, and business owners may participate in. Board terms are two years.

The Board meets twice monthly, with the General meeting held on the first Wednesday of every month. Two weeks later, the Project Review Committee – a sub-committee – then meets, to review and make recommendations to the full Board.

According to our Election Committee Chair Nancy Taylor the results are as follows:   [Read more…]

First Cuppa Coffee – Monday, April 2, 2012 : Cash for Carl Edition

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Thanks for the cash, Carl… The OB Rag April Fool’s post yesterday claiming that Fox News had purchased this site was a big hit with readers. Obviously, for those of you that missed the “sarcasm” tag, it was in jest. We’re all still poor this morning. A whole bunch of other progressive leaning blogs did hit the jackpot this weekend, thanks to Mayoral candidate Carl DeMaio. Surfers logging in from computers ID’d as being located in the San Diego area are seeing DeMaio’s ads on websites like Daily Kos, Truthdig, Talking Points Memo and The Nation. It is a little strange reading about the latest GOP outrage with DeMaio’s beady little eyes staring at you from the screen.

TV’s Morning Madness…. Former Alaska Gov. (And reality show host) Sarah Palin has agreed to co-host the Today show Tuesday. She’ll be lining up against Katie Couric, who be stepping in over at Good Morning America. There’s been no word from either network over whether Couric’s “gotcha moment” video interview with Palin will be rebroadcast on either network. NBC’s not taking any chances on losing the ratings war this week, though… other high profile guests appearing this week include: “Octomom” Nadya Suleman, Kim Kardashian, the Duggar family and rapper Nicki Minaj. Observers expect the nation’s IQ to drop by five to nine points this week.
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Play Ball!

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Opening week is upon us and the Padres ownership debacle has already done a lot to dampen the spirits of local baseball fans even before the first pitch has been thrown. With Jeff Moorad unlikely to ever take over the majority share of the team from John Moores, many fans rightly feel they have been bamboozled once again–left to sit in a park that their tax dollars built and pay through the nose for bad baseball and overpriced beer while the swooning friars stumble uncertainly around the bases toward yet another losing season. If you watch the Vegas line, the Padres are picked to finish last in the National League West with only 70 wins. Oh, the horror!

But, of course, that is the destiny of the Padres fan: losing. As I only half-jokingly tell my friends, I have taught my son to love baseball and love the Padres so he knows from a young age the first noble truth: life is suffering.   [Read more…]

A Hopeful Youth Town Hall Meeting at Jacob Center in Lincoln Park

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This old dude was so tired that evening but there was no way I was going to miss a Town Hall Meeting with such a compelling theme as “Silence is Worse than Violence” – especially considering that a number of youth leaders decided that such a gathering was needed to begin a conversation for solutions to the problem. I love it when our children take the lead.

The night was kicked off with a bumping rap about how, “We got to rise up above it” followed by a spoken word piece about love and respect and honoring our ancestries and histories. Amen.

That set a tone that was soothing to my aging bones and the featured speaker and moderator of the evening, Kevin Powell, a prominent voice in the hip hop generation, jumped right in without missing a beat with anecdotes about the rough edges of his youth and how he turned it all around and has devoted his life to positive hopeful causes like ending violence, in keeping with why we were all gathered at the Joe & Vi Jacobs Center.   [Read more…]

OB Woman Re-United With Her Son After Going Through Government Wringer

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Editor: Here is an update on Larissa Danielli by OB blogger Gail Powell. Larissa, you may recall, was arrested November 3, 2011, in Ocean Beach when she returned to her Cape May apartment to find an adjacent apartment had caught on fire and firefighters had entered her unit. Medical marijuana was found and her troubles exploded. For three months, her young son was taken from her. Larissa has given her side of the story before, yet her travails just stagger the mind.

By Gail Powell

Last year, when a fire consumed the Ocean Beach apartment building where Larissa Danielli and her son, Silas resided, another fire of injustice and persecution started up that very day.

There were terrible consequences suffered by single mom Larissa and her sweet little boy who were doubly victimized by the tragedy that ensued.   [Read more…]

San Diego Women to Rally Against Attacks on International Women’s Day – March 8th

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Women from all over San Diego County will rally in front of the US Federal Courthouse in San Diego on Thursday, March 8th, to support women’s rights to contraception on International Women’s Day. The rally will be held from noon to 1pm, and the Courthouse is located at 940 Front Street, in downtown San Diego.

The rally will address a number of recent attacks on a woman’s right to contraception and family planning:

  • US Rep. Darrell Issa convenes a hearing about contraception with 5 men on the panel, and no women.
  • Presidential Candidate Rick Santorum touts the “dangers” of contraceptives and that sex is “only for purposes of procreation.”
  • Foster Friess, main donor to a super PAC for Rick Santorum, suggests women use aspirin as a contraception method.
  • Rush Limbaugh, on a national radio show, calls a young woman a slut and prostitute because she speaks out in favor of birth control.

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SDSU president’s salary should be on par with the UC Chancellors

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SDSU is one of the largest universities in California, and is competing academically on a level more comparable to the UC schools than the CSU system, despite the numerous obstacles thrown in its way. So why is SDSU still treated by the state government as a lesser institution? And why should the university president be any less valued than some of his UC counterparts given the growing reputation and increased stature of SDSU?

There was a story in the LA Times the other day about how California Governor Jerry Brown’s appointment of Herbert L. Carter to the CSU Board of Trustees was rejected by California Senate Republicans, largely because he voted in favor of paying newly hired San Diego State University president Elliot Hirshman a $400,000 annual salary.   [Read more…]

Student Walk-Outs Planned at City College, SDSU, and UCSD for March 1st

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As part of the March 1st National Day of Action for Education, three area college campuses are planning student and faculty walk-outs tomorrow, the first day of March. Students at City College, San Diego State University, and University of California at San Diego have all joined in this national day of demonstrations, and each campus […]

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