OB Rag

Beginning August 1, NPR Music will publish a week-long list of stories and podcast episodes exploring the legacy and future of the Grateful Dead fandom. And they want to hear from you!

They want to know: How did you become a fan of the Grateful Dead? Maybe it was a specific album that converted you, or you were transformed by a show you saw. And what would you say to someone who just doesn’t understand the band’s appeal?

ArtWalk Liberty Station encourages attendees to immerse themselves in the art world and supports the appreciation and acquisition of original artwork.

Public Has Until August 24 to Give Feedback to Port

By City News Service / 7SanDiego / July 10-13, 2026

The comment period for a proposed redevelopment of East Harbor Island for a Topgolf and Waterfront Park Project is open, Port of San Diego officials announced Friday.

The port published a Draft Environmental Impact Report for the project, with the public comment period open through Aug. 24.

The project, if approved, would entail a 10.1-acre public waterfront park with a promenade, plaza areas, playgrounds, restrooms and public art. It also includes a 16.5-acre section designated as an entertainment district, with 9.8 of those acres set aside for the popular arcade/ driving range company Topgolf. The remainder is slated as “eatertainment” concepts, to be determined by a competitive public solicitation process.

Additionally, the proposal calls for realignment of Liberator Way with new public parking, sidewalks, planting buffers and reconfiguration of adjacent intersections.

If you walk down the south side of West Point Loma Blvd. between Abbott and Bacon Street you might notice a cute and charming new addition to the neighborhood that celebrates OB’s love for our four-legged residents.

With the words “Take a toy, leave a toy” written on the library door, fun artwork, and dog celebrating quotes, the Ocean Beach Dog Toy Library has been open since April 2026 and has quickly become wildly popular due to its location in a sweet spot between OB Dog Beach and OB’s many parks.

The Library, installed by Tracy Dezenzo (long-time community volunteer) and Bill Orvis (OB holiday tree Santa), celebrates OB’s vibrant dog-loving community and encourages sharing and reuse vs consumerism and waste. Instead of letting gently used or ignored tennis balls, squeaky toys, and other chewies wind up in the garbage, neighbors can now drop them off for other dogs to enjoy.

By Shannon Handy / CBS8/ July 6, 2026

(slighted edited for clarification)

Visitors to Mission Bay now have to walk further to find a public restroom, as the city began closing nearly half of the facilities around the bay starting Monday, July 6.

A total of 13 out of 28 public restrooms will be shut down by the end of this week due to budget restrictions, a move that many local visitors and business owners are criticizing. [and just plain locals.]

The closures, which come after the 4th of July holiday, aim to save the city approximately $546,000, primarily from cleaning and maintenance costs.

Affected restrooms include:

Movement Against ‘Golden Pacific Powerlink’ 

PRESERVATION ACTION ALERT
Help Protect Backcountry Historic Resources and Anza-Borrego Desert State Park

By Steven Mihailovich / PB Monthly / July 30, 2026

Local outrage over the city’s closure of 13 public restrooms in Mission Bay Park to balance the budget was evident at the Pacific Beach Town Council’s July meeting.

As the sole city government official present, Savannah Stallings — PB rep for Council President Joe LaCava — bore the full brunt of criticisms and frustrations arising from the move projected to save San Diego about $547,000 through the elimination of six custodian positions at the Parks and Recreation Department. Their responsibilities included the public restrooms’ maintenance.

The audience of about 35 was audibly upset that the city’s decision caused outsized disruptions for minor savings.

“Personally, don’t you think this should go a little further than just, it’s a budget cut, just accept it?” asked Ron, a resident who didn’t give his surname. “I understand it’s a budget cut. What about the people in the community? I mean, we’re all not homeless here. We’re all taxpayers here. I don’t understand why they targeted the bathrooms.”

Stallings said the initial budget proposal called for closures of restrooms along the shore, but were reinstated after heavy lobbying by LaCava.

In addition, Stallings said only one of the 13 closed restrooms is located in District 1 under LaCava. The remaining 12 are in District 2 served by Councilmember Jennifer Campbell.

Editordude: The following is the substance of Ralph Teyssier’s presentation (slightly edited for clarification) at the Town Hall event at the Point Loma Library, July 28, 2026.

By Ralph Teyssier

Engineering Challenges in Delivering Affordable Housing

Eric Law has discussed the legislative promise of affordable housing, and Patty Ducey-Brooks has addressed the environmental concerns around Midway Rising and Senate Bill 958. I’d like to spend just a couple of minutes discussing the engineering realities of delivering affordable housing.

As a structural engineer, I support affordable housing. But we also need to recognize that SB 958 extends well beyond the Midway Rising project. If enacted, it could influence how future coastal developments are evaluated throughout California. That makes it all the more important that we fully understand the engineering realities, geological conditions, and economic consequences before establishing a statewide precedent. Political will alone does not create affordable housing. Engineering, geology, construction, and economics all play important roles. Nor should we assume that simply allowing taller buildings  automatically results in more affordable housing.

In fact, when increased building height is removed from meaningful CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act) review, it becomes more difficult to fully evaluate the engineering and economic consequences associated with that increased height. In that sense, it works against one of CEQA’s fundamental purposes—providing informed decision-making.

By Debbie L. Sklar / Special to the OB Rag

Today, Mission Bay Park is one of San Diego’s most recognizable recreational destinations, filled with beaches, sailboats, paddleboards, bike paths and visitors enjoying the waterfront.

But before the bay became the sprawling aquatic park San Diegans know today, the shoreline was home to something unexpected: a small airport.

Known as Peik Airport, the airfield operated along the southwestern shore of Mission Bay during the mid-20th century. At the time, the area looked nothing like today’s landscaped parks and beaches. Much of Mission Bay was made up of tidal marshes, mud flats and undeveloped shoreline.

The airport’s story began with Arnold H. Peik, a pilot who arrived in San Diego in the 1930s. A 1967 San Diego Evening Tribune article by John McPeek (reprinted in PB newsletter below) recalled Peik’s arrival as a young barnstorming pilot flying a Stinson monoplane into San Diego before eventually establishing his flying operation near Mission Bay.

“It all began when a young barnstorming pilot in a battered Stinson monoplane flew into San Diego” in 1934, the article recalled.

By Tom Coat / SD U-T Commentary / July 31, 2026 

As battles swirl around Pacific Beach’s Turquoise Tower, Midway Rising and ADU “apartment buildings,” a more fundamental concern surprisingly has been pushed to the sidelines.

For 54 years, historic Proposition D protected San Diego’s coastal communities with a 30-foot height limit. That allowed all San Diegans access to our magnificent shoreline.

In an essay published in The San Diego Union-Tribune’s Opinion section, City Council President Joe LaCava summed up Proposition D’s importance to San Diego: “San Diego’s 30-foot coastal height limit symbolizes a commitment to preserving the city’s coastal access and differentiating our valued shoreline from walled-off cities like Miami. The height limit is not only a regulatory restriction but a reflection of San Diego’s identity,” LaCava wrote.

Today, this “reflection of San Diego’s identity” has been blacked out — “voided.” All it took was a declaration of a crisis in the Legislature and bureaucratic approval. That’s so easy, it begs the question: What is the next declared crisis where votes won’t count?

The will of 64% of San Diego voters who approved Proposition D in 1972 was trashed because the state said Proposition D conflicts with developer-friendly state density bonus housing laws. Those laws, incidentally, resulted in a hugely unpopular “unintended consequence” — the 268-foot high Turquoise Tower proposal over which the city and developer are still haggling.

District 4

On election night during the June 2 California Primary, incumbent Henry Foster and challenger Martha Abraham secured the top two spots and will face off in November.

On that fateful night, Abraham led Foster by 249 votes when final election night totals were posted in the early morning hours of June 3.

San Diego needs money. Meanwhile, San Diego teens are jumping off Sunset Cliffs, some being seriously injured, others having to be rescued. But most don’t.

The two candidates running for city council district 2 that includes Mission Bay have both called out the disconnect.

Richard Bailey:

“If you’re going to build these facilities, you need to have a plan in place to operate them, to maintain them and then eventually fund their replacement.”

Nicole Crosby:

“There is money, and the problem is that there hasn’t been a full budget audit; we have done a lot of contracts, and there are overruns that go on contracts.”

by: Wiley Jawhary / Fox5 / July 30-31, 2026

A 17-year-old who was seriously injured after jumping from Sunset Cliffs is speaking publicly about his recovery, as San Diego lifeguards warn they continue to see teenagers making the same dangerous jumps despite the viral rescue that captured national attention.

While his family did not want FOX5/KUSI to identify him by name, the 17-year-old told us he is unable to walk without a walker, but is on the path to recovery.

“I slammed against the rock and I felt like paralyzed, and I couldn’t move,” he said.

The teen was injured after striking the cliff face before crashing into the ocean. Video of the incident spread rapidly across social media, showing bystanders rushing into the water to help keep him afloat before lifeguards and firefighters rescued him using a technical rope system.

“My lungs were burning, my ribs were burning, my spine, it was the weirdest feeling it was just burning,” he said.

Editordude: House Representative Scott Peters has come out in opposition to the infamous PB “Turquoise Tower”. In a public letter addressed to Mayor Todd Gloria, dated July 21, he urges the city to deny the application of Project Vela, and states, “It should not be built at the outrageous height currently proposed.” Here is the entire letter:

July 21, 2026

Dear Mayor Gloria

I urge the city of San Diego to finally deny the current application for Project Vela, commonly known as the Turquoise Tower, in Pacific Beach. It should not be built at the outrageous height currently proposed.

In my conversations with constituents over the past several months I have been struck by the unity and anger over this proposal. The thought of a 23-story tower in this location, I imagine, was likely what set off the same furor that drove the adoption of the 30-foot height limit more than 50 years ago.

By Shannon Handy / CBS8 / July 7, 2026

San Diego’s apartment vacancy rate has surged to a record 6.1 to 6.2 percent, driven largely by a boom in new construction. This figure surpasses the previous record of 5.7 percent set during the Great Recession in 2009 and reflects a dramatic increase from 2.6 percent in 2021, according to Josh Ohl, senior director of marketing analytics for the real estate tracker CoStar.

The increase is primarily attributed to a significant influx of new apartment units, with around 5,000 new units added in 2024, followed by another 5,600 in 2025. This year alone has seen about 4,000 new units enter the market. Ohl noted the steady uptick in vacancy rates, which has mirrored the growing supply of apartments. “It’s definitely been ticking up steadily for probably about the last four straight quarters,” he said.