Last Call at Nati’s in Ocean Beach

by on June 21, 2018 · 2 comments

in Ocean Beach

By Gail Powell

Thursday, June 7 was the last call for the popular Nati’s Mexican Restaurant, once located at 1852 Bacon Street in Ocean Beach.

My daughter and I made sure to be there right when it opened for business at 11 a.m on this final day and the spacious parking lot was already full early on. The vibe felt like you were attending a wake. But things were about to get much more depressing when I made the acquaintance of a fellow lady in mourning.

After trying to sit outside, it was just too hot out so my daughter and I ventured inside to visit with the portrait of beloved former waitress Luisa, one more time. We sat down to some really slow service–the place was so busy, book-keepers and family-members were pitching in to help. However, we slowed down our roll to just try and enjoy the experience.

Next to us sat a poor soul in despair. This older Point Loma High School alumni was torn apart by her favorite restaurant being sold.

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85°C Bakery Café: Euro-Asian Fusion Pastries In Point Loma

by on June 21, 2018 · 0 comments

in Ocean Beach

85°C Bakery Café
Loma Square
at Rosecrans and Midway

by Bob Edwards

Up until a few weeks ago, the only Chinese pastries I’d ever tasted were at tea houses or “dim sum” palaces, huge restaurants where you can enjoy a brunch of fried or steamed noodle dumplings with savory fillings such as minced shrimp, pork, or vegetables. \

Dim sum parlors also usually have a few sweet buns that are baked or steamed and filled with sweetened bean paste. The only beverages served are hot tea or, if the tea house also has a liquor license, cocktails. You can’t get coffee but you can slam bloody marys, mimosas. or Tsingtao beer to your heart’s content!

Since opening in February of this year in Loma Square, 85°C Bakery Cafe has been serving Asian-influenced pastries that are mostly quite different from dim sum. At this busy restaurant near Sprout’s Market you will find one company’s versions of classic European baked goods as well as unique Chinese/European/American/Japanese fusion treats.

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Claudia Jack Returns to OB Historical Society Monthly Event – Thurs., June 21

by on June 20, 2018 · 0 comments

in Ocean Beach

It’s true – Claudia Jack returns to the monthly Ocean Beach Historical Society get together.

Due to the popularity of her previous OBHS program Claudia Jack is returning to talk about her O.B. tales – going back to when she came to Ocean Beach in 1957.

She will also show her latest sign collection acquisitions and

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America’s Soul On the Line as Trump Moves to Set Up 4 Prison Camps for Babies and Toddlers

by on June 20, 2018 · 10 comments

in San Diego

UPDATE: Under pressure from the entire country, Trump signed an executive order today, Wednesday, that is meant to keep families together at the border, halting a policy he instituted earlier this year.

13 Governors Pull Back their National Guard Units from Border in Protest of Trump Child Separation Policy

Rachel Maddow wept openly on TV as she struggled to read the last report of her nightly broadcast on MSNBC last night, June 19. It was an AP story about how the Trump administration was moving to set up a 4th prison camp for hundreds of babies and toddlers in south Texas, euphemistically called “Tender Age Centers”.

Maddow’s empathy matched that of most of the country, as America reeled under the horrifying images and audio recordings of small children wailing for their parents -torn from their arms in the most despicable policy yet from the Trump administration.

In polls, two-thirds of Americans opposed the policy. All living First Ladies have also come out against it. 13 governors – both Democrats and Republicans – have rescinded orders to send their state National Guard units

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Some San Diego Primary Election Results Are Changing – Pease Inches Closer to Campbell in District 2 Balloting

by on June 20, 2018 · 7 comments

in Ocean Beach, San Diego

By Colleen Cochran

You know the 2018 San Diego County Primary Election is not officially over, don’t you? As of Tuesday evening, June 19, roughly 15,000 ballots are left to be counted.

The results first announced after election day, which was held June 5, 2018, reflected votes compiled from precinct ballots, as well as those from mail-in ballots received early by the San Diego County Registrar of Voters.

Tallies of mail-in ballots dropped off at the polls were completed late last week. Only the provisional ballots remain uncounted.

Said Michael Vu, Registrar of Voters:

“The results announced on election night can, and have, changed.”

Thus far, election results have changed in two races:

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This Is Not the America We Want

June 19, 2018 by Frank Gormlie

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Reader Rant: ‘Point Loma Cannot Afford More Development Without Infrastructure and Water Improvements’

June 19, 2018 by Source

By Michael Winn

Water Rationing? Affordability? Traffic?

Elected officials in San Diego and California, both Republican and Democratic, speak about “growth” as if, “thou shalt build” was inscribed on stone tablets that Moses brought down from the mountain after a talk with God, whose name, by the way, is neither Manchester nor Trump.

Every new residence we build in San Diego adds a new demand on water resources, and in Southern California we must import water or extract it from sea water and/or sewage, which are expensive solutions and risky in view of the possibility of breakdowns, drought and seismic activity.

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An OBcean Responds to Faulconer’s Proposal on Short Term Vacation Rentals for San Diego

June 19, 2018 by Source

Ocean Beach Now Has Up to 519 Whole-Home Vacation Rentals

By Kevin Hastings

The new short term vacation rental (STVR) proposal from the mayor’s office addresses whole-home vacation rentals. It would allow 1 full-time STVR per “person”, in addition to part-time STVR use of their primary residence.

The may sound restrictive at first glance, but the devil is in the details.

In fact this “1+1” proposal isn’t new at all. It first came about during a city council meeting in December 2017 in an effort to find compromise during the marathon meeting. The idea was to block the big money operators from snapping up multiple homes, while still leaving the door open to resident hosts or those with a 2nd/ vacation home here.

The 1+1 concept failed.

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Activists Rally in Mission Trails Park to Oppose SDG&E Gas Pipeline

June 19, 2018 by Source

By Colleen Cochran

This past Father’s Day, many San Diegans celebrated their dads amidst the green, rolling hills of Mission Trails Regional Park. One group, holding colorful signs, gathered for more than celebration; they were there to protect this 7,000-acre wilderness area.

SDG&E and SoCalGas would like to install a new gas pipeline to run approximately 47 miles through San Diego County. These utility companies are considering several potential routes for this pipeline, one of which cuts through the park.

The rally’s attendees sought to bring public attention to the fact that pipeline installation will destroy wildlife habitat and forever mar the landscape. They warned about the dangers of continued reliance on fossil fuels, which causes climate change and, thus, leads to drought and harm to plant, animal, and human life.

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3 Proposed ‘Granny Flats’ Up for Review by Ocean Beach Planners – Wed., June 20

June 18, 2018 by Frank Gormlie

There are 3 projects up for review this Wednesday by Ocean Beach planners – and all three are proposed “granny flats” (you can bet ‘Granny’ will never live there) – 4629 Coronado, 4828 Long Branch, and 4741 Brighton.

It’s a meeting of the Project Review Committee, a subcommittee of the full board, which gives recommendations to the board on proposed projects. They meet at 6pm at the OB Rec Center, 4726 Santa Monica Avenue.

On June 20 then, the planners will review the following:

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Save San Diego Neighborhoods Responds to Faulconer’s Short Term Vacation Rental Proposal

June 18, 2018 by Source

From Save San Diego Neighborhoods

On Thursday, June 14, without fanfare, Mayor Faulconer rolled out his proposal to change San Diego’s Municipal Code – residential zoning ordinances – to legalize the use of residential dwellings as Airbnb mini-hotels – short term vacation rentals.

There are over 10,000 homes in San Diego that have been turned into Airbnb mini-hotels for tourists. Faulconer wants to take even more San Diego houses and use them for tourist lodging.

He’s doing this despite the fact that San Diego’s residents and economy have struggled — for over a decade — under crushing housing costs because of a severe housing shortage.

Unbelievably, Faulconer proposes allowing everyone who has a “primary” residence in San Diego to rent that residence to tourists for 6 months out of the year – AND allow everyone who has a “primary” residence in San Diego, to own and operate another San Diego home as a short term vacation rental for tourists.

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Around Ocean Beach

June 18, 2018 by Frank Gormlie

What’s Behind That Green Curtain at the OB Fire Station?

Have you driven by OB’s Fire Station on Voltaire Street only to become curious of just what’s behind those green curtain fences? This reporter dropped by on Friday, June 15 to find out. Without the proper procedure being completed which can take days and maybe weeks, reporters cannot visit inside, and as this was just a peak over the fence, I bypassed that.

Is that a food truck? No, it’s a …..

Ocean Beach Plaza Begins Its Domination

Work has been progressing on this major construction project,

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Summer Chronicles 2018 #1: Scattering Ashes

June 18, 2018 by Jim Miller

In the summer of 1967, the great Brazilian writer, Clarice Lispector, began a seven-year stint as a writer for Jornal de Brasil (The Brazilian News) not as a reporter but as a writer of “chronicles,” a genre peculiar to Brazil. As Giovanni Pontiero puts it in the preface to Selected Chrônicas, a chronicle, “allows poets and writers to address a wider readership on a vast range of topics and themes. The general tone is one of greater freedom and intimacy than one finds incomparable articles or columns in the European or U.S. Press.”

What Lispector left us with is an eccentric collection of “aphorisms, diary entries, reminiscences, travel notes, interviews, serialized stories, essays, loosely defined as chronicles.” As a novelist, Pontiero tells us, Lispector was anxious about her relationship with the genre, apprehensive of writing too much and too often, of, as she put it, “contaminating the word.” It was a genre alien to her introspective nature and one that challenged her to adapt.

More than forty years later, in Southern California—in San Diego no less—

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Housing Commission Accuses Point Lomans of NIMBYism in Opposing Huge Housing Project on Open Space

June 15, 2018 by Frank Gormlie

Last night, Thursday, June 14, about 80 Point Lomans crowded into the meeting room at the local library and gave representatives from the San Diego Housing Commission a piece of their collective mind about the proposed 78 units on the table to be built.

It was a special meeting of the Peninsula Community Planning Board on the open space land at Famosa and Voltaire – and although the Board failed to manage a quorum – they really didn’t need one as it wasn’t a voting meeting for them. What it the meeting represented was another chance for the Housing Commission to explain their project and get feedback.

Apparently, the discussion became testy – as different sides were being heard

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28th Annual San Diego Wooden Boat Festival at Shelter Island – this Weekend June 16 – 17

June 15, 2018 by Source

A San Diego Father’s Day weekend tradition

From website:

A San Diego Father’s Day weekend tradition, the San Diego Wooden Boat festival – held at Shelter Island – is the premier annual event for Southern California wooden boat enthusiasts and provides a rare opportunity for the general public to view some of the most beautiful and well maintained wooden crafts up close.

While this event features mostly well preserved vintage vessels there are also plenty of new crafts that have been hand crafted with skill and meticulous detail.

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Young Man Rescued Off Sunset Cliffs Near Foot of Hill Street in Point Loma

June 15, 2018 by Staff

A young man had to be airlifted off the rocks at the bottom of Sunset Cliffs as he was so badly injured – on Thursday morning, June 14. The as-yet-to-be identified man was reportedly bleeding from his head from a 30 foot fall.

A woman collecting shells saw him around 6:15 a.m. and called 911. She told the press the man was breathing and moved a little when sirens were heard arriving.

Lifeguards, police and firefighters responded and he was eventually airlifted off the rocks near the foot of Hill Street in Point Loma

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The OB Mermaid Sends a Message

June 14, 2018 by Source

The OB Rag received the following message today from Marina, the OB Mermaid:

To the humans of Ocean Beach and all of San Diego

I want to thank you for the warm and wonderful reception you gave me upon my arrival. I came to OB upon the tides of the full moon in hopes of catching a glimpse of those who might still believe in the ancient legends.

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Missing Point Loma Man Murdered, Suspect in Custody Already

June 14, 2018 by Frank Gormlie

A Point Loma man, Peter Bentz, went missing just before Thanksgiving last year. His family went to the police and reported that he didn’t show up for a planned family outing out of town, and it was unlike him to not contact friends and family members. Bentz, 68, was last seen at Dog Beach in Ocean Beach on November 19. Missing posters went up.

Somewhere along the line – and for as yet undisclosed reasons – developments in the case caused police investigators to believe they had a murder case on their hands and it was turned over to homicide detectives.

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America, the UnBeautiful: Otay Mesa Protest, Border Patrol Harassment, & Children in Cages

June 14, 2018 by Doug Porter

By Doug Porter / San Diego Free Press

In what is likely the first in a series of immigration-related protests, several hundred people came to a rally outside the Otay Mesa Detention Center on Sunday, June 10, demanding the release of asylum seekers fleeing gang violence and state repression.

They were taking up the cause of asylum seekers who –for the most part–have voluntarily turned themselves at the border. Little did the protesters know their own participation in the event would lead to harassment by border authorities.

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OB Mermaid Is Gone But Not Forgotten

June 14, 2018 by Frank Gormlie

This reporter’s cousin, Mindy Elliot, reports on facebook that the OB Mermaid has been blown off “Bird Shit Rock”.

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Mayor Releases His Proposal for Short Term Vacation Rentals in San Diego

June 14, 2018 by Frank Gormlie

Mayor Kevin Faulconer has finally released his proposals for regulating short term vacation rentals in the city of San Diego – he is due to publicly release them Thursday, June 14.

According to today’s San Diego Union-Tribune, Faulconer’s proposal restricts short term rental units to only two per individual owner, with the huge exception of the entire Mission Beach community would have no restrictions.

Short term rental hosts would be allowed, under Faulconer’s proposal, to rent out their entire primary residence while they are not present for up to 6 months a year – plus the host is allowed one additional rental with no limits on the number of days each year.

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The OB Street Fair & Chili Cook-Off Is Coming – Sat., June 23

June 13, 2018 by Source

OB Street Fair & Chili Cook-Off

From OBMA:

Mark your calendar for the 39th Annual Ocean Beach Street Fair & Chili Cook-Off Festival on Saturday, June 23, 2018!

The 39th Annual Ocean Beach Street Fair & Chili Cook-Off Festival will offer attendees eclectic fun in the sun for all ages. Join more than 70,000 visitors from 10am to 8pm on Saturday, June 23, 2018, for tasty festival nosh, art, beachfront entertainment, shopping, and more. Entry to the Street Fair is always free! The Chili Competition featured tastings from amateur entrants competing for the titles of Hottest Chili, Judges’ Award, and Grand Prize: People’s Choice Award.

Attendees of all ages can take part in creating the annual Street Fair Community Mural.

Here are the details:

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A Comparison Between Ocean Beach and Point Loma

June 13, 2018 by Frank Gormlie

Have you ever wondered about some of the demographic and political differences between Ocean Beach and Point Loma – two neighboring communities that make up most of the Peninsula?

If you have, then the Community Almanac published in last Sunday’s San Diego Union-Tribune has many answers for you. Hidden deep inside the Sunday bundle was the almanac of San Diego’s communities in a 153-page magazine. Laden with ads, the mag does shine with maps, good demographics and other data of the County’s numerous neighborhoods, from north county to east and south county and points in between.

Besides the demographic charts and data, there are short sections, such as “How it got its name”, “Local points of interest”, “What to do”,… Spoiler Alert: the OB Rag and

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Kathy Blavatt’s New Book ‘Ocean Beach Where Land and Water Meet’ – OB Green Center – Thurs., June 14

June 13, 2018 by Staff

The Ocean Beach Green Center is honored to host author, historian, and activist, Kathy Blavatt who will present her new book “Ocean Beach Where Land and Water Meet”.

The new book event is at the Ocean Beach Green Center, 4843 B Voltaire in OB, on Thursday June 14 at 7 p.m.

Kathy will focus on the importance of what makes Ocean Beach special

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The 3% Solution – A Response to the City’s Proposal to Add 24,000 Residents to the Peninsula at Midway.

June 12, 2018 by Source

The City Is Posed to Begin a Massive Redevelopment of the Midway District

By Michael Winn

We are told there are 550,000 homeless people in America. We’re also told of a crisis, called, “housing affordability” in urban coastal California cities. Statements of politicians of every stripe: Brown to Cox, Beane to Zapf, Faulconer to Fletcher, all assume we will address housing affordability by developing more housing. This assumption is politically motivated by a desire for endorsements from local governments and for campaign contributions from a development industry that financially benefits from development.

To mortgage lenders and property managers, “affordable” means that a household’s mortgage payment or rent amounts to no more than 28% of gross income.

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Funky Homeless Count in San Diego

June 12, 2018 by Frank Gormlie

Every year in San Diego, the numbers of homeless people are accessed in the annual point-in-time count. Those numbers – collected by volunteers working for the Regional Task Force on the Homeless – are then used as a measure for the area’s progress in ending homelessness and – importantly – the funds and other resources required and received from the State and Feds.

So, this year the count was on January 26 – and volunteers spread out all over the region with their census sheets. And as it turned out, fortunately for them, Mayor Kevin Faulconer, County Supervisor Ron Roberts and City Councilman Chris Ward all held their pressers and got to announce a 6% drop in homelessness, compared to last year. There was just one problem. The numbers were wrong.

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Special Meeting on Issues Around Famosa Bike Track by Peninsula Planners – Thursday, June 14

June 12, 2018 by Staff

A special meeting of the Peninsula Community Planning Board on the Famosa Bike Track / open space / proposed housing issues will be held Thursday night, June 14.

The PCPB meeting will be held at the Point Loma Library – Hervey Branch at 3701 Voltaire Street, San Diego 92107.

Here is the official agenda:

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Former San Diego Slow-Growth Advocate – Now Trump Trade Advisor – Is Condemned for Attacks on Canada

June 11, 2018 by Frank Gormlie

Former San Diegan Peter Navarro was on my mind this morning. Why, there he was – on the front page of the Los Angeles Times – being quoted about the raunchy views the White House now has of Canada and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Navarro said, “there’s a special place in hell” for Trudeau, that Trudeau engaged in “bad faith diplomacy”, and tried “to stab [Trump] in the back on the way out the door.”

This was all, of course, in the context of the G7 summit just held in Canada. Once Trump left for Singapore, Trudeau stated Canada would impose retaliatory measures in direct response to Trump’s tariffs on Canadian products, warning Canada would not be “pushed around,” and that Trudeau “will always protect Canadian workers and Canadian interests.”

“Canadians, we’re polite, we’re reasonable, but we also will not be pushed around.”

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Protected Bike Path With Parking on West Pt Loma Supported by Ocean Beach Planners

June 11, 2018 by Frank Gormlie

(This is Part 2 of my report of the OBPB meeting last week; here’s Part 1.)

At their monthly meeting held Wednesday, June 6, the Ocean Beach Planning Board approved in concept a protected bike path along West Point Loma Avenue, between Nimitz and Sports Arena. The protected bike path, called a “cycle track”, would allow parking, much like the bike path does along sections of Wabaska Avenue near Voltaire Street in Point Loma.

The Board also approved sending a letter in support of efforts to get the city study traffic calming measures for the intersection of Voltaire and Froude in northeast OB.

Cycle Track Along West Pt Loma

The Transportation sub-committee of the OBPB brought forward their response to a recommendation by the City’s Planning Department to install bike paths along West Pt. Loma Avenue. Apparently, the city had recommended removing parking

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Cape May Property Owner Responds to Charges of Running Short Term Rentals

June 11, 2018 by Source

Editordude’s Note: At the most recent OB Planning Board meeting on Wednesday, June 6, after 3 unsuccessful votes, the Board finally decided it could take no action on a proposed granny flat at 4715 Cape May Ave., particularly after allegations that the property would be turned into a short term vacation rental. The owner of the property, Jason Whitmore, responded to our report of the meeting with the following:

By Jason Whitmore / June 7, 2018

I feel the need to clear a few things up regarding this project as my wife and I are the owners of the property at 4715 Cape May Ave. We have owned this one (1) and only property in OB for nearly 10 years and have rented it both short term and long term during that period.

We have had much better results renting short term regardless of the money than we have with some locals who had stayed long term in the past (bad apples in every group). We have and continue to live in OB for over 10 years together (myself 18 years since moving here in 2000 and spending the first 4 months living out of my car).

There are multiple inaccuracies throughout this article

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