OB Flashes – News and Commentary

Peace Rocker’s Peace Sign Taken Down for High Winds

If you’ve missed the peace sign on top of the OB Hostel of late, John Asher  from the Hostel has informed us  that it was temporarily “lowered” for the strong winds.  But he assures the community the sign is “still alive and well” and it will be up “shining at night again soon.”

Point Loma High’s Baseball Field to Be Named for Pitching Champion and Local David Wells

Point Loma High School alum David Wells will have the school’s baseball field named after him at a ceremony Saturday, February 20th just before the annual Varsity vs. Alumni game.

Of course, Wells is a former major league baseball pitcher and former San Diego Padre, who grew up in Ocean Beach.

According to Scott Hopkins of the Peninsula Beacon:

Wells has provided thrills for PLHS varsity players by pitching for the alumni team over the past two years and is expected to take the mound again. He will be joined by a squad of former players who wore Pointer colors dating from last year to some who played in the 1980s.

Wells, who grew up in Ocean Beach, is perhaps best known for pitching only the 15th perfect game in major league baseball history on May 17, 1998. He joins fellow PLHS graduate Don Larsen, who pitched a perfect game in the 1956 World Series, making the Pointers the only high school in the U.S. that can boast of two such graduates.

Point Loman Walt Bailey Remembered for His Volunteerism

By Adrian Florido / Voice of San Diego

Every morning into his 90s, Walter Bailey Jr. could be seen running around the block in his Point Loma neighborhood. He ran one uninterrupted mile, except on trash pickup day.

On that day, he stopped into the yard of each of the neighbors on his cul-de-sac and dragged their trash bins into the street, arranging them neatly, single file. They had to be lined up, angled and spaced apart just right. It made things easier for the trash collectors.

He had a special soft spot for the men who collected the yard waste. Unlike the drivers who pick up trash and recyclables in trucks with giant mechanical claws, the yard waste collectors do it all by hand. They walk alongside their truck and use their arms to empty the cans.

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City to Repair Six Coastal Stairways – Three in Ocean Beach

The City of San Diego plans to repair half a dozen coastal and cliff stairways, including three in  Ocean Beach. The City has reportedly begun the permitting process, but at this time, has not identified the source of funding for the repairs.

“Most of them are old. It’s old concrete. Saltwater and erosional forces just take their toll on them,” Helene Deisher, project manager with the city’s Development Services, told the Beacon. “There’s some walkways that have been undermined a bit.”

Stimulus Money Used to Hire Seattle Company to Dredge Mission Bay

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has awarded a $5.3 million stimulus contract to Manson Construction Co. of Seattle, Wash., to dredge Mission Bay.  The company will dredge approximately 500,000 cubic yards of sand from the federal channels. Once dredged, the material will be placed on Mission Beach, where it will mix with the sand already there.

Mission Bay was last dredged in 1984.  The Beacon reported:

The project is funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) which President Barack Obama signed into law in February 2009 to help in the recovery of the U.S. economy.

“This project will vastly improve navigation in and around Mission Bay by clearing out sand that has shoaled into the channel over the years,” said Scott John, of the Corps’ Los Angeles District, who is managing the project. “We have been working closely with the City of San Diego as well as the San Diego Lifeguard Service on this project to make sure that we dredge the areas that need it most, protect important environmental resources and enhance the recreational resources at Mission Beach.”