OB Rag

Trump Calls Reports of Bad Conditions on Board Carrier “Fake News”

On Monday, August 17, members of San Diego’s congressional delegation expressed their view that an independent investigation into the monthslong deployment of the locally based USS Abraham Lincoln is warranted given all the reports of deplorable conditions and a few suicide attempts on board the carrier. The sailors and marines on board are serving on the longest consecutive stretch at sea without a port call in modern U.S. military history.

U.S. Congressmembers Scott Peters, Juan Vargas, Mike Levin and Sara Jacobs — all Democrats — asked in a letter that the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General to “undertake an independent review of the processes, rationale, and decisions surrounding the extended deployment” of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and the strike group it is leading. The local congressional members were joined by California U.S. Senators Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla.

The U-T reported that the carrier — “based out of Naval Air Station North Island, and Carrier Strike Group 3 have been deployed for more than 240 days and at sea for more than 200.”

Editordude: Thanks to reporter Dave Schwab and the Times of San Diego, we have an update on what’s happening with the OB Pier replacement project. It’s been nearly a decade since the Rag broke the story that the pier had reached the end of its service life. (They call it the OB Pier “Renewal Project”, but that sounds like the current pier will simply be “renewed.” Not so, as the current pier needs to be “replaced.”)

By Dave Schwab / Times of San Diego / August 18, 2026

Given the city’s existing budget crunch, residents and business owners have been asking if the Ocean Beach Pier Renewal project has been put on the back burner until the next city administration takes office in 2028 or the budget rights itself.

The city says no.

“The Ocean Beach Pier Renewal project is still in the permitting and environmental review phase,” said senior city spokesman Tyler Becker. “Given the scale of the project, a comprehensive Environmental Impact Report is required under the California Environmental Quality Act, which can typically take anywhere from two to five years, depending upon the findings and potential impacts.”

Planning for a new replacement pier has been ongoing for about 3 ½ years starting in early 2023, when the city began formal public workshops and concept development. However, initial structural studies pointing to the end of the pier’s service life began eight years ago in 2018, when consultants determined continually repairing it would cost more in the long run than replacing it.

From ACLU

The ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties (ACLU-SDIC) has launched a petition calling on the San Diego City Council and Mayor Todd Gloria to “Get the Flock Out” and cancel all of San Diego’s Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) contracts, including those with Flock Safety, the company that owns and operates the city’s ALPR system.

The City of San Diego is currently using taxpayer funds for the San Diego Police Department’s ALPR system, an invasive, around-the-clock mass surveillance technology that collects a massive trove of location and identifying data captured from vehicle and personal information that reveals intimate details of a person’s life. This information demonstrates travel patterns of individuals as they go to work, drop their children off at school, or attend a house of worship, doctor’s office or protest.

DOJ Claims Some State Election Officials Knowingly Allowed Non-Citizens to Vote But Offers No Evidence

By Yunior Rivas / Democracy Docket / August 17, 2026

The Trump administration plans to deploy approximately 1,000 Department of Justice election monitors across the country in November, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said Monday, August 17.

In an interview on Bloomberg’s Balance of Power, Dhillon also said the Justice Department could take its failing campaign to obtain unredacted state voter rolls all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary.

Dhillon’s interview offered one of the clearest previews yet of how the department’s Civil Rights Division intends to approach the 2026 midterms.

Good news! After just one week of fundraising, the Rag has exceeded our goal by $3,000! Our goal was $3,500 but we’ve now reached over $6,600 in donations from readers, friends and supporters.

This means the Rag can continue the quality and quantity of our writings and reports. We can keep our lights on. This is crucial because the country is about to enter one of the most turbulent periods in modern history. Donald Trump is gearing up to unleash a multi-level attack on our November elections — and this is no time for the Rag to go silent.

by Nadia Lathan / Voice of San Diego / August 18, 2026

They’re going for the wholesale workaround.

San Diego lawmakers are weighing new legislation to allow San Diego’s Midway Rising project to bypass state environmental review — a pivot from earlier proposals that sought to exempt parts of the project from certain environmental rules.

The Midway Rising plan involves a 16,0000-seat arena and roughly 4,250 housing units.

Under the new proposal, the city’s own study of the project’s environmental impacts would be enough to meet requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act, according to proposed amendments of the bill obtained by Voice of San Diego.

A public hearing on the bill — which amended previously unrelated legislation about human remains — is expected to take place later this week. Lead author Sen. Akilah Weber Pierson could not be immediately reached for comment.

Assemblymember Chris Ward, who’s a co-author on the bill, said lawmakers are introducing the bill now after facing roadbacks locally.

By Debbie L. Sklar / Special to the OB Rag

The Fleetridge section of Point Loma doesn’t look like most postwar neighborhoods.

Its streets curve with the hills instead of following a straight grid. Homes sit on generous lots, tucked among mature trees and landscaping. And the neighborhood’s midcentury character feels remarkably intact.

That was no accident.

When Fleetridge was developed in the 1950s, its planners deliberately worked with the natural contours of Point Loma rather than flattening the hills and laying out a conventional subdivision.

The story begins in December 1949, when the Point Loma Holding Corp. purchased 175 acres. The corporation was headed by aviation pioneer Reuben H. Fleet, with attorney Ruel H. Liggett as secretary and paving contractor Roscoe E. Hazard. In November 1950, the corporation recorded the first Fleetridge subdivision map, containing 72 lots. Unit 2, with another 108 lots, followed in 1953.

The man whose name became part of the neighborhood was David Girton Fleet, Reuben Fleet’s son.

The Jetty
4934 Voltaire St.
Ocean Beach 92107
Open from noon – 9pm
www.thejettyob.com
 
By LKBruce

The Jetty Bodes Well

Some might question the wisdom of reviewing a restaurant before it’s officially open but Yelpers and Googlers are already out there so why not.

Having opened on June 12 for the first American soccer match in the 2026 FIFA World Cup, The Jetty has been testing and refining its menu ever since.

It’s time for SUMMER FUN at …
OB Historical Society’s first Ice Cream Social!

Thursday, August 20, 2026, 6 pm.

by Nadia Lathan / Voice of San Diego / August 14, 2026

A new bill related to San Diego’s Midway Rising project was set in motion Thursday, August 13, as lawmakers began a process to gut and amend an unrelated bill that would potentially give broader environmental exemptions for the planned dual sports arena and housing complex.

New bill language isn’t available yet, but it’s expected to appear next week ahead of an Assembly Natural Resources Committee meeting

By Steve Rodriguez

The NY Times recently reported that while departing Turkey after the NATO summit last month, President Donald Trump hid in an airport catering container and was taken to a military jet for a secret flight out of the country. The ruse involved Trump appearing to get on Air Force One but then secretly evacuated via an opposite side exit where he hid inside an airport catering container.

This container was subsequently transported by a catering truck to the military jet. According to the NY Times account, this action was taken in response to a credible threat posed by an Iranian terrorist cell armed with shoulder fired missiles. Most of the staffers and reporters on Air Force One were not notified of the president’s emergency evacuation or the threat, and continued the flight as unsuspecting passengers.

By Kate Callen / San Diego Union-Tribune Commentary / August 16, 2026

The city’s decision to restore free parking in Balboa Park has silenced public demands for a change in park governance. The sense of urgency has abated. But the reality of park mismanagement hasn’t.

City Hall still has total control over park administration. It can keep shirking its responsibility to perform adequate maintenance. And it can always seek new ways to tap the park for cash.

Right now, the issue of park governance is in a holding pattern. It has been placed on the docket of the 2026-2028 Balboa Park Master Plan Update. This periodic assessment identifies park priorities, like capital projects and infrastructure upkeep, that the city isn’t likely to have the money to support.

The original 1989 Master Plan Update was highly aspirational. Some of its recommendations, like park tram service, were adopted. Others, like a pedestrian bridge between Golden Hill and Inspiration Point, were not.

by Ernie McCray

The words,
“Be excellent to each other out there,”
that I read on a Facebook post recently
really struck a chord with me,
especially considering
how too many of us
treat each other these days
on social media,
attacking a fellow human being’s very person
rather than challenge
a specific point-of-view intellectually,
the very opposite
of treating someone
the way you want to be treated.