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South Bay’s Future Greenbelt: An Interview with San Diego County Supervisor Greg Cox

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By Barbara Zaragoza / Part Three of Four

The big new items that Supervisor Cox shared with me during his interview were three visions for the South Bay’s future:

  • A “barrio to barrio” bike path, which will link the Virginia Avenue Pedestrian entrance at the border (due to open in 2016) to the Bayshore Bikeway;
  • The Bayshore Bikeway completion within the next 5 years. This will become the major artery through the South Bay, linking North and South, East and West, to the Pacific Ocean to Otay Ranch. It will also link into the California Coastal Trail that spans up to the Oregon border;
  • The Sweetwater Reservoir will eventually have a completed loop for hikers, bikers and, most importantly, equestrians.

  [Read more…]

North Of The Fence: It’s All About The San Diego-Tijuana Border

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By Barbara Zaragoza/ SouthBayCompass

The Times of San Diego reported that former Arkansas governor and Presidential hopeful, Mike Huckabee, visited Border Field State Park on Saturday, October 10th. Standing alongside former congressman, Duncan Lee Hunter, Huckabee talked about illegal border crossers, saying: “They’re not coming to make beds and pick tomatoes. They’re coming to sell drugs. They’re coming to commit crime and to bring the mayhem that they have in their hearts upon the American people.”

Huckabee didn’t cite his sources. The statement was interesting because more than 68% of the 1.6 million people living in Tijuana legally cross the border at least once a year (sometimes once a week); they have in their hearts a desire — to shop. They spend at least $6 billion a year, or more than $1 of every $8 in retail sales in San Diego. (Check page 7 of the linked report.) That means legal, peaceful Tijuanese put a heck of a lot of sales tax dollars into our economy each year.   [Read more…]

Freeps in the News: Jim Bliesner, Barbara Zaragoza, Jeeni Criscenzo

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By Anna Daniels

San Diego Free Press contributors are a diverse and talented group of individuals. It will be a busy weekend for three of them with the unveiling of Jim Bliesner‘s sculpture Cultural Fusion, Casa Familiar’s Abrazo Award for Barbara Zaragoza and An Evening of Provocative Poetry with Jeeni Criscenzo. These events follow upon last week’s screening of SDFP video- journalist Horacio Jones‘ short film “Wingin’ It” at the 48 Hour Film Project in San Diego.   [Read more…]

The Filipino-American Tour of the South Bay

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By Barbara Zaragoza / South Bay Compass

Ethnic enclaves are generally defined by a cluster of stores and eateries that feature culinary delights from a specific country from abroad. Within that cluster of businesses, you’ll usually hear that foreign language being spoken. In addition, there will often be a religious organization (usually a church) in the vicinity where the members of that ethnicity go to worship, but also come together as a community to support one another.

So how do you like my definition?…It’s imperfect for sure, but I am fascinated by residents who identify with more than just one country and one “ethnic” label.   [Read more…]

The Rising Star of Chula Vista: Jason Paguio

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By Barbara Zaragosa / South Bay Compass

The town of Chula Vista, California happens to be home to the World Champion Drum Major, Jason Paguio. He’s the only Filipino-American to have run for city council (at the age of 28), he’s a current policy advisor to councilmember Steve Miesen, and he operates two non-profit organizations as well as a small for-profit business.

Jason has so many pots bubbling that San Diego Business Journal gave him the 2014 Emerging Generation: 25 in their 20’s award.

I sat down and talked with Jason and you’ll soon see why I call him the rising star of Chula Vista.   [Read more…]

Geo-Poetic Spaces: Borders

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On the other side of fence
a girl is blowing bubbles:

Tiny undocumented worlds
floating over
lines of deportation
defying inspection   [Read more…]

San Ysidro’s The Front Art Gallery Announces First Prize Winners

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By Barbara Zaragoza

The judges made their final decisions on Monday, February 23rd for the 8th annual Dia De La Mujer hosted by The Front Art Gallery in San Ysidro. The theme was Cleansing: Spiritual-Emotional-Magical and thirty-five emerging and established artists competed for first place and two honorable mentions in each category. Three additional visiting artists participated, including the Mayor of Chula Vista’s mother.

Three judges spent an afternoon carefully considering the works:

  • Angelica Villagrana, President of the San Diego Museum of Art Artist’s Guild,
  • Mary Beebe, Director of the Stuart Collection of Outdoor Sculpture at UCSD, and
  • Kevin Linde, Livespan Learning Coordinator at the Museum of Photographic Arts.

  [Read more…]

Andrea Skorepa, The Queen of San Ysidro

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The hard work of the Executive Director of Casa Familiar has helped San Ysidro residents for 35 years

By Barbara Zaragoza / South Bay Compass

Andrea Skorepa, Executive Director of the non-profit organization Casa Familiar, has been advocating for local San Ysidrans for the last thirty-five years. She manages a team of thirty-four employees who use holistic approaches to serve the predominantly hispanic community.

They’ve worked on constructing family housing for first time sale and they’ve developed low income housing for the elderly. They’ve focused on programs to get San Ysidrans civically engaged and they’ve developed ways for parents to increase their participation in school governance and their children’s education. In 2008, Casa Familiar even expanded into the arts by creating The Front.   [Read more…]

Barrio Bits: Barrio Logan Planning Group Begins, SD Workers Center to Open, Break Down Borders Run, La Bodega’s Anniversary y más!

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By Brent E. Beltrán

This is the first in what I hope will be a bi-weekly column within my Desde la Logan column that will highlight the various happenings in the barrios of San Diego. I can’t cover everything but I can highlight those things that I feel deserve to be seen and read about. It’s a work in progress so bear with me.

Barrio Logan Planning Group Holds First Meeting
Barrio Logan finally has a planning group! And I’m on it!

On January 20 the Barrio Logan Planning Group held its first meeting ever at Woodbury University School of Architecture. The meeting was attended by more than 65 people plus the fifteen appointed planning group members that were able to make it. The large crowd was a good start and shows the interest that community members have in getting involved in Barrio Logan.

Maritime industry made it very clear that they were upset with David Alvarez not appointing anybody of their liking to the group. Well boohoo! Elections have consequences and the consequences for their B & C referendum is them not (yet) having a seat on the planning group. There’ll be plenty of opportunities in the future for them to worm their way onto the group. Until then they can give public comment.   [Read more…]

Boundary Monument #257

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By Barbara Zaragoza / South Bay Compass

The boundary monuments between San Diego and Tijuana are approximately 1 mile apart. They number from 258 to 252. They are open and free for the Mexican citizens to admire, but  military landing mat hides the monuments from American citizens. Since 2008, a second wall approximately three-hundred feet away from the original military landing mat has further obscured the monuments.

Each boundary monument has its own tale. I’ve already written about 258 and 255, the most famous of all the boundary markers. In total there are 276 markers stretching from the Pacific Ocean to El Paso, Texas. Some are numbered A & B so that the original numbering from the Barlow-Blanco Commission of the 1890’s are retained. (There were originally 52. You can read all about that here.)   [Read more…]

Friendship Park and Boundary Monument 258

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By Barbara Zaragoza / The South Bay Compass

Inside Border Field State Park you can find the center of the immigration issue. On the American side, each Saturday and Sunday Friendship Park is open to the public from 10am to 2pm.

A gated area heavily monitored by Border Patrol,Friendship Park has a binational garden and thick mesh beyond which you can see Boundary Monument #258 on the Mexican side.

This park is where activist groups come to protest the ever increasing construction of fencing at the U.S.-Mexico border.Border Angels often comes here to bring awareness to the number of immigrants who have died trying to cross to the United States. Protestant Minister John Fanestil provides bi-national religious services on Sundays. Dan Watman has created a binational garden and also hosts events such as binational poetry readings. You can also find out what’s happening at Friendship Park through caring volunteers who run the website FriendshipPark.org.   [Read more…]

What Does Día de los Muertos Mean to You?

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A list of the many Day of the Dead events happening this weekend in San Diego

By Brent E. Beltrán

Every year Mexicans celebrate their dead by honoring and remembering passed loved ones or people they may have admired on los días de los muertos, the Days of the Dead. November 1 is for honoring the children that have moved on from this mortal plane. November 2 is for remembering the adults.

How one honors those that are no longer here varies. The meaning does as well. Though it always comes down to remembering.

I asked some people I know, what does Día de los Muertos mean to you? Here are their responses and then a listing of Día de los Muertos celebrations throughout San Diego.   [Read more…]

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