News from Ocean Beach and Point Loma – Early November 2016

Trump Chew-Toys – screen capture from NBC7

OB Dog Barked Every Time Trump Came on TV – Gives Owner Idea to Market Trump Dog-Chews

Every time Donald Trump came on TV, Josh Morse noticed that his dog, Cody, began barking.  An idea was formed: How about a Donald Trump chew toy? The recent SDSU graduate created a design and ordered his first batch of 1,000 Trump toys earlier this fall. They sold out in a few weeks. With no formal marketing plan, Morse took the toys to events around San Diego, like the Pride Parade and the Ocean Beach Street Fair. Dog owners loved them, and not just because of their political persuasion.

Their pups loved them, too.  “Once people see them, they go crazy for them. They laugh,” he said. “I’ve had Republicans. I’ve had conservatives and people across the political spectrum by them.” Today, Morse, in his first year of law school, has 10,000 toys stacked up in a shop in Ocean Beach. He has a website, Chompachump.com (his name for the parody dog toy business), where you can order your own one for $10. His one-man business is still informal. He ships them all himself, all over the world. One of his orders came from Orsay, France. “What I do is I pack them up, grab my skateboard and skate down to the post office and drop them off,” he said.

It’s an unconventional approach for a guy with a unique story. During part of his childhood, Morse lived homeless. But he valued education, so he attended Point Loma High School, enrolled at San Diego State and became the university’s student president in 2013. Now, he’s using the Chompa Chump business to help pay for law school. For every Trump toy sold, he will donate one to an animal shelter. So be prepared to see a lot of squeaky, miniature Trumps around town.  NBCSanDiego

EPA Approves San Diego’s Recycle Plan – Pt Loma Treatment Plant Avoids Upgrade – Again

San Diego’s ambitious plan to recycle up to a third of wastewater for drinking won tentative approval Wednesday from the federal Environmental Protection Agency. The approval came in the form of a new five-year permit for the city’s aging Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant, which will not need to be upgraded because of the city’s recycling program. Times of San Diego

OB Man Dies in Motorcycle Crash

A motorcyclist involved in a crash on Interstate 8 in Mission Valley has died, authorities said Thursday. Ocean Beach resident Samuel B. Hepburn, 61, was piloting a motorcycle that collided with at least one car in the eastbound lanes approaching the Interstate 805 interchange around 10:45 a.m. Wednesday, according to the county Medical Examiner’s Office. Hepburn died in a hospital about two hours after the crash, authorities said. It was not immediately clear whether anyone else involved in the accident was injured. The wrecked vehicles left eastbound lanes blocked for a time and prompted the California Highway Patrol to issue a congestion alert for the area. Fox5

OB Lab Owner Concerned about Pesticides on Marijuana Products

Greg Magdoff is co-owner of PharmLabs in Ocean Beach. He also is very concerned about residual pesticide getting into marijuana products. He’s interviewed in this timely article from the San Diego Union-Tribune:

Regulation is on the horizon for California’s medical marijuana industry — and for recreational weed, too, if voters pass Proposition 64 next month — but from now until at least 2018, it’s up to consumers to make sure their pot is free of harmful doses of toxins. In the decade marijuana has been approved for medical use in California, the state has not regulated pesticides or fungicide in cultivation or solvents in processing of the plant product. Like other crops, marijuana is vulnerable to destructive insects and fungus. Unlike other crops, pot is illegal under federal law and therefore the federal Environmental Protection Agency has not approved any pesticides or fungicides for it.

There are no federal guidelines for how much residual pesticide can be left on marijuana products sold to customers.  Left to their own devices, pot farmers treat their plants with whatever chemicals they deem effective and use as much as they see fit to protect their valuable crops. There’s no requirement that the products be tested before sale or that test results be disclosed to consumers.

Come Together and Get Your Groove On! – Fundraiser for OB Woman’s Club – Sat., Nov. 5th

In celebration of “Year of the Pier” – 1966, the OB Woman’s Club is holding a costume fundraising party, Saturday, November 5, 2016, 6-10pm. The event offers food by Hodads, Music, Silent Auction
Raffle, 50/50, Tickets: presale $25, at the door $35

News Blog for Point Loma Nazarene

LomaBeat.com, a new online news source for Point Loma Nazarene University, has been posting, and says it is combining the multimedia efforts of Point TV, The Point, Point Radio, The Mariner and The Driftwood. We wish them good luck!

Clean-Up on Voltaire Street – Nov. 5th

OBMA’s North OB Committee will hold a volunteer cleanup day for the Voltaire Corridor on Saturday, Nov. 5 (meet 10 a.m. at Ocean Villa Inn, 5142 West Point Loma Blvd.). Unwind at Mike Hess Brewing after the event. The efforts in North OB are being spearheaded by Cory Ransom of Ocean Villa Inn and Matt Kalla of Matt Kalla State Farm Insurance. Call 619-224-4906 for information.

Audubon Urges Wetlands Conservation in De Anza Cove Restoration November 7th

Audubon says overlapping projects need to support the same goal of a sustainable Mission Bay. With the first unveiling of City of San Diego’s three draft options for the restoration of De Anza Cove, San Diego Audubon urges community members and the City to prioritize wetlands conservation in the North East corner of Mission Bay. Since 1994, the City has planned to restore wetlands in the area to benefit wildlife and local communities. The City will host the November 7 meeting to share restoration options, and the public is invited to ask questions and provide input. ReWild Mission Bay, a project of San Diego Audubon to enhance and restore up to 170 acres of wetlands in the northeast corner of Mission Bay, overlaps with the De Anza Revitalization Plan, an effort by the City of San Diego to revitalize the De Anza area within Mission Bay. WHEN: Monday, November 7, 6 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. WHERE: Mission Bay High School (2475 Grand Avenue, San Diego 92109)

How tall is too tall in Point Loma?

Julie Stalmer at the SD Reader gave us a report on the City Council revisiting how to measure 30 feet in the coastal overlay zone. She opened her report with this:

On October 24, the city council voted 7-1 in favor of amending the Land Development Code to get developers in line with the intent of 1972’s Proposition D. The amendment will take the form of a footnote added to Section 131.0431, spelling out that no residential multi-family structures are allowed to be taller than 30 feet within Point Loma’s coastal overlay zone.

Point Loma Girl, 10, Competes on TV Cooking Show – Viewing Party Held at Raglan

A 10-year-old San Diego girl showed off her culinary skills on television Tuesday as she competed on a program designed for mini chefs-in-training.  Point Loma resident Ashley Carter appeared in an episode of the Food Network show, “Chopped Junior,” aired at 8 p.m. The fifth grade student at Richard Henry Dana Middle School has been interested in cooking for much of her life, her mother, Megan Carter, told NBC 7. Her skills really began to blossom about two years ago, when she began cooking more on her own. … Ashley and her family watched Tuesday’s episode of “Chopped Junior” surrounded by family, friends and their community at a viewing party hosted by Raglan Public House. The event also doubled as a fundraiser to support Ashley’s middle school and Ocean Beach Elementary School, with some proceeds from sales and Happy Hour specials going to the schools. 7SanDiego

Animal Rights Activists Call Navy’s Treatment of Dolphins Worse than SeaWorld

An animal rights group, the Marine Mammal Conservancy, obtained reports from the Navy that could indicate potential animal abuse or harmful testing being done in the military program. “This is a little dirty secret in San Diego hiding in plain sight.” Just off Harbor Drive, down the street from Lindbergh Field, is the place on the property of Naval Base Point Loma that the group is talking about.  It looks like a bunch of boat docks, but these are more than docks…they’re water pens for dolphins and sea lions. “This program is obsolete, it’s 30 years forward,” Ellen Erickson said, an animal activist, referring to the U.S. Navy’s Marine Mammal Program.  The Navy has stated in the past that the program uses trained dolphins and sea lions to locate underwater mines and submarines.

The animal advocate groups obtained the report from the Navy through freedom of information requests.  The list consists of animals who have died while participating in the mammal program and there are patterns in the dolphin’s deaths.  “The most bizarre and baffling one is that some of them have drowned,” Erickson adds. Out of nearly 60 deaths listed in the report since the mid-70’s, 13 of them are confirmed by the Navy. “It can’t be easy to drown a dolphin and it’s pretty alarming to see that the Navy has done it multiple times,” Jane Cartmill said. Besides drowning, other dolphin deaths have been ruled as toxic shock and heat exhaustion.

Besides the training of finding mines and submarines, these dolphins are also used for other testing. “The Salk Institute actually is using these dolphins for diabetes testing too,” Erickson said. “They’re doing animal research on these animals which is another form of animal cruelty,” Erickson said. “Speaking out against captivity at SeaWorld, take a look here and you’re seeing something actually worse,” Cartmill adds.  CW6

Point Loma Residents Still Upset Over FAA Changes in Airplane Departures

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) hosted a public forum on Thursday evening, October 28th, to discuss changes to air traffic routes over Point Loma. The controversial proposed change had gotten backlash from many community members rallying about 4,000 homeowners against it. They feared it would add to the air and sound pollution in the area. Point Loma residents gathered to get their first look at the FAA’s new departure plan. That plan will push planes more than a mile south of what had been the accepted eastern turn point.

“We eliminated the probably 45,000 flights per year that would have been flying eastbound over the peninsula,” said San Diego Air Traffic Forum Leader, Casey Schnoor. “Was a win for the community.”

Residents in Point Loma still suspicious with the FAA’s recent proposed changes to the flight path for departures from Lindbergh Field.  (Published Friday, Oct. 28, 2016) Schnoor and other homeowners who saw the new plan said they were satisfied but have their suspicions, saying they are concerned that planes will still cut the corner early.  “The airlines are cheating on the flight path even before it’s been implemented in the last year,” one homeowner said.

But FAA Spokesman Ian Gregor says heavy air traffic and safety considerations do sometimes cause flights path variations.  “Our goal is to always keep as many planes as possible on the published root because that is simply more efficient,” Gregor said. Along with the departure path, the rules of combat in this aerial duel are also about to change. Schnoor says ordinary citizens will sit in on the Airport Noise Advisory Committee.  “We’ve never been able to ask a question get and answer and ask a follow-up question and actually educate each other on our viewpoints,” Schnoor said.  For the first time, Schnoor and other members of the Point Loma and Pacific Beach communities formed a subcommittee on the noise advisory board. The departure path change will begin November 10.  Source nbcsandiego

Homeless Serial Killer Suspect Incompetent to Stand Trial

A judge committed Jon David Guerrero Oct. 21 to a state psychiatric hospital after finding he was mentally incompetent to stand trial for the savage murders and attacks upon homeless men [including a man killed in Ocean Beach]…. Guerrero, 39, dressed in blue jail clothing, said nothing after San Diego Superior Court Judge Steven Stone ordered the commitment to last up to three years, but he can return to court sooner if doctors and a judge find he has regained his mental competence. Stone ordered that psychiatric medications be administered to Guerrero involuntarily at Patton State Hospital as he was unable to make an informed decision about taking them. Criminal proceedings are suspended. Deputy District Attorney Makenzie Harvey told Stone that Guerrero was uncooperative with a doctor in jail and he would not give him much information for his report. For more, LGBT Weekly

Mission Beach Parents Receive Anon. Letter Criticizing Them for Raising Kids in “Tiny House”

Two parents in Mission Beach received a shocking letter in the mail criticizing the size of their home and claiming it is too ‘tiny’ for them to live in with their young boys. Parents Mike and Kelly Brüning shared the anonymous letter they received in a Facebook post, that has now gone viral. The couple have two young boys, ages two and four, and have lived in the two-bedroom condominium for nine years. Their Mission Beach neighborhood is built on a strip of land that’s located between Mission Bay and the Pacific Ocean, as the family’s home is just steps away from the beach. The letter, which was simply addressed ‘Mike and Kelli’, was sent by someone who only referred to themselves as the zip code for the area, ‘92109’. More, Daily Mail.

Local Commercial Realty Firm Swinging Its Weight Around OB, Point Loma and Other Beaches

The Franco Realty Group is flexing its muscles. The realty company recently represented the buyer in the sale of the large, 10,000-square-foot building (which some call a “shopping center”), located on the corner of Chatsworth Boulevard and Voltaire Street in Point Loma. The building houses several businesses and sits across the street from Point Loma High School. It sold for $2.2 million and the buyer, Fig Tree Real Estate LLC, paid all cash.

The realty firm is looking to sell the 18,000-square-foot high profile retail building on Newport Avenue known as The Antique Center, another shopping center on Rosecrans, plus the company also just sold 4836 Newport Ave. that was previously occupied by Newport Avenue Antiques and now occupied by The Belching Beaver tasting room and a wine tasting room.  Over in PB, they represented Tower Paddle Boards and the landlord in a long term lease agreement over the 3,213 square foot retail space with over 55 feet of frontage at 1253 Garnet Ave. next to Barrel Republic. They also have a host of other leasing projects, detailed by SD News, including the leasing of about 1,400 square feet of prime retail commercial space located at 4305 Mission Blvd. in Pacific Beach for 10 years to Freedom Bicycles.

Apparently the firm has friends in the newsroom of The Peninsula Beacon. The most recent issue published a column purporting to offer readers brief news bits from OB, PB and Mission Beach – but at least 3 of these separated  “news briefs” actually detailed the above exploits and successes of this one realty company.  SDNews.com

New Point Loma History Book Available

Local historic organization, La Playa Trail Association, has recently published a book through Arcadia Publishing, examining the history of one of San Diego’s most historic sections of town – the area commonly referred to as Point Loma giving the book its name. “Point Loma” (Arcadia Publishing, $21.99) is a quick read, replete with rarely-seen historic imagery, making it accessible to readers of all levels. “Point Loma” is available for purchase at the book launch event at Point Loma Assembly, 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 1. Another event will take place at The San Diego History Center in Balboa Park – Tuesday, Nov. 8, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Books may also be obtained at www.laplayatrail.org.  San Diego Community News Group

OB Restaurants Tapped as the “Third Space”

From Thrillist San Diego – There’s something special about the neighborhood and the people who live here [in OB]: I was immediately welcomed with open arms. A fierce sense of loyalty, pride, and neighborly love reigns supreme. Over the last few years, OB has gone through its fair share of change. Old places have closed their doors while new outside businesses, restaurants, and tasting rooms have opened theirs. What’s interesting is that these changes haven’t changed OB. This runs contrary to other neighborhoods, like Pacific Beach (also arguably one of the more “touristy” areas of town), which doesn’t have the same sense of community and charm so often associated with the lore of California beach towns. … My official stance is that OB will never die. The culture of the neighborhood is too strong. But I wanted to see what the people keeping it alive and well — those running the bars, cooking the food, and serving the public — thought.

I tapped seven locations that have distinctive definitions of OB’s culture. At the same time, they’re united by two common threads. First, the food and drinks they serve are an extension of their cultural definition. Second, the intersection of food, drinks, and culture in OB creates what’s called the “third space.” The third space is essentially an extension of your living room, and it’s something I had never heard before investigating OB. You have your home, the “first space,” work, the “second space,” and these locations in OB: the third space. Think of it as an extension of your living room, and suddenly these hangouts take on a new identity exclusive to OB.

World Beach Games Coming to Mission Beach in 2019

Three months ago, the ANOC General Assembly unanimously approved Mission Beach in San Diego to be the site of the inaugural World Beach Games in 2019. More recently, Willie Banks was introduced as president of the team organizing the inaugural, now-downsized event. He’s expected to lead a team that hopes to recruit 5,000 volunteers to stage the novice World Beach Games. Banks, formerly of the USA Track and Field board of directors, has experience organizing international sports events having been deputy events director of the monthlong FIFA World Cup in the United States in 1994. He also directed athlete services at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and was a consultant to Olympic-bid cities Stockholm and Osaka. He also aided with Chicago’s bid for the 2012 Games, which went to London. San Diego Community News Group

$23B defense spending in San Diego County last year, report says

Despite growing uncertainty on Capitol Hill about future defense spending, more than $23.3 billion for troops, veterans and defense projects poured into the county last year, generating one out of every five local jobs, according to the San Diego Military Advisory Council. Released Tuesday, the nonprofit group’s eighth annual military economic impact report showed that overall federal spending on bases, contractors, troops and veterans ticked up about $600 million from the previous year. As the federal funding rippled through the local economy, it generated about $21.4 billion in additional economic activity, according to the data analysis performed by the Fermanian Business and Economic Institute at Point Loma Nazarene University. For more – SDU-T.

“Tellabration” Coming to Ocean Beach – Nov. 12th

A unique concert is coming to Ocean Beach that should enthrall local adults and children 12 years and older.  The event is Tellabration: A Worldwide Storytelling Celebration, and it will tell, in voice and music, stories and tales designed to enrapture audiences told by experienced experts. The theme for the event, honoring Ocean Beach, is “Changing Tides.” The 26th annual concert takes place on Saturday, Nov. 12 from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at the Bethany Lutheran Church, 2051 Sunset Cliffs Blvd. Free parking is available. Tickets are $15 at the door. Tellabration is a worldwide event designed to celebrate the ancient and contemporary art of storytelling globally.

The evening will feature some of San Diego’s best-known storytellers telling tales to delight, captivate and mesmerize the audience. Many have won national awards for their work and performed at festivals and conferences across the country. Besides McPhie and Laskowski, others slated to perform are Jim Dieckmann, Patti Christensen, Mindy Donner, Linda Whiteside, Leo Baggerly and David Schmidt. The guest artist will be local musician and folklorist Jim Hinton, who promises to sing a ballad to resonate with the event’s theme. Event information can be found at www.storytellersofsandiego.org.

An Appeal to Our Point Loma Friends

This is not news, but we turn to our friends and readers from Point Loma and other parts of the Peninsula, in a special appeal. We’d love to cover more of the Point, but we need help in order to do so. We need you to send us information, notices, rumors, projects regarding Point Loma and its neighborhoods. We also need from our PL friends financial assistance so we can pay our reporters some compensation. If you can’t afford a donation, a monthly contribution – how about an ad? We have great rates for online advertising available for local businesses or organizations. Contact us at our email – obragblog@gmail.com .