Just about everyone, liberal or conservative or in between, seems to agree that the city’s made a mess of the Barrio Logan neighborhood. It’s a crazy patchwork of family homes and pollution-belching industry and city officials want to improve things by overhauling its blueprint.
On Tuesday, torn between two competing plans, the City Council will consider what to do. VOSD land-use reporter Andrew Keatts has pored through more than 1,000 pages of planning documents and offers a new guide to what’s at stake and what the plan would do.
Among other things, the plan will discourage driving by cutting down on parking requirements and provide a buffer between sea-related industry and homes. That buffer, particularly the way it works, is the big issue that’s dividing people.
• In an editorial, U-T San Diego says it supports a compromise but, failing that, “we think the industry-supported scenario offers the best plan to protect the shipyards and suppliers — as well as Barrio Logan residents.”
Outside Prison, Inside the Health Care Maze
Among the many issues former prisoners must navigate when leaving prison is securing health insurance coverage. One former prisoner said it was No. 3 on his priority list after finding a stable home and an income to maintain it. Second Opinion, our weekly Q-and-A series about the new era of health insurance that begins Jan. 1, examines how former prisoners can sign up for coverage.
The Weekend in the Mayoral Campaign
• Contributing photographer Sam Hodgson launches a series of photo essays chronicling the mayoral campaign with a look at Councilman David Alvarez’s campaign on Saturday.
He started off in his backyard in the south part of the city then went looking for support in San Diego’s southeastern neighborhoods. They’ve been stronghold for the black community since at least the 1960s but have become increasingly Latino.
• Local minister John Warren, publisher of the black community’s Voice & Viewpoint newspaper, writes that mayoral candidates should buy ads in ethnic-oriented publications like his. He also urges community organizations to take part in his newspaper’s debate instead of smaller ones.
• Campaign-related news tops our list of the week’s 10 most popular stories on the VOSD website.
Quick News Hits
• The U-T examines how the trial of a renegade San Diego cop “has generated a spate of civil lawsuits against the city and raised questions about whether command staff condoned improper behavior.” The department “strongly disputes any suggestion of a culture of corruption,” the paper says.
• Like some new local architecture? Hate some new local architecture? You’re in luck: the Orchids & Onions people — who continue to spotlight the best and, thankfully the worst — are accepting votes for their People’s Choice Awards. A bizarre Holiday Inn and an unusual tree sculpture — both near the airport — are among the nominees. The U-T has details.
• Back in 2007, Labor Day beachgoers in Pacific Beach lost control. They threw bottles at cops, acted like idiots and convinced Councilman Kevin Faulconer (now a mayoral candidate) to support a ban on booze at the shore.
It was, as VOSD describes it, a “melee.” It’s a great word, especially since no one — to use the royal “no one,” since I’m basically talking about me — knows how to pronounce it. But is it correct?
Local Twitterites searched for alternatives the other day. Riot? Too extreme. Fracas? Too elegant. Rumble? Too WWF.
My favorite comes from KPBS’s Sandhya Dirks: “Bro-haha.”
Randy Dotinga is a freelance contributor to Voice of San Diego and vice president of the American Society of Journalists & Authors. Please contact him directly at randydotinga@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter: twitter.com/rdotinga.
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