News and Notes for Ocean Beach and Point Loma – Early March 2017

Newport Ave Re-Paving Begins Thursday, March 9

The long-anticipated re-paving of Newport Avenue begins Thursday, March 9th. Beginning at 8am, the work crews will re-pave the normally-busy commercial street from Abbott to Sunset Cliffs Blvd.  Workers will grind down the old asphalt 3 inches, and then pour in 3 inches of the fresh smelly, gooey, stinking-hot new asphalt (ever worked with it? it’s pretty bad stuff).

Gas Leak Tuesday at Sunset View Elem

Several Point Loma residents and an elementary school were ordered to shelter in place Tuesday morning due to a gas leak in the neighborhood. The leak was reported in the 4300 block of Hill Street, near Sunset View Elementary School, just before 9 a.m. Several residents in the 900 block of Amiford Drive and teachers and students at Sunset View Elementary were told to shelter in place during the response. The shelter-in-place order was lifted at about 10:30 a.m., but crews remained at the scene to repair the leak. 10News

“Impeach at the Beach” Got Some Press

The March 4th “Impeach” and “Resist” on the sands of OB did garner some press, although not much far from our shores. The San Diego Union-Tribune, several TV stations – and the NBC affiliate in Los Angeles covered it. Here’s Dave Rice’s take at the San Diego Reader. Also, here’s CBS8 , Fox5 , SDGLN.com

The SDUT reported:

Earlier Saturday, an estimated 500 to 600 anti-Trump protesters created human banners, spelling out “Resist!” at Dog Beach and then marched to the Ocean Beach Pier, where they spelled out “Impeach!” One participant put the crowd at about 1,000. The idea for the oversized message came from a similar event in San Francisco, said one of the organizers, community activist Mike James. “We don’t want any possibility of this being swept under the rug,” James said. “We feel Congress is stonewalling on the issue of the Russian ties and we believe it should be fully investigated.”

Friends of OB Library Raise Over $600 at Book Fair

The Friends’ first book sale of the year brought in a record-setting amount – $663!  – held back on Feb. 25th in front of the OB Library. They attribute the success to a change in the format of the sales, lots of good signs, a blitz in the OB social media, a cracker-jack cashier, and they stayed open until 1 pm instead of closing at the usual time of 12:30. Mary Cairns, the treasurer and weather guru, held off the rain until Saturday night.

Friends’ Monthly Meeting Moved to the 3rd Saturday of every month – the committee has moved their monthly meetings to the weekend in hopes of having a gathering that’s more convenient to people’s calendars. The next one is Saturday, March 18th at 10:30 am in the Library Annex next to the OB Library (4817 Santa Monica).   For more information, call or text Laura Dennison at 858-255-0053.

Vacancy on OB Town Council

There’s a vacancy on the Board of the Ocean Beach Town Council. If you are interested in serving out the term of a Board member who just took a sabbatical, please send a letter of intent to info@obtowncouncil.org and copy our President at gretchen.newsom@gmail.com. Also, the next OBTC Board meeting will occur on Tuesday, March 14th at 6:30pm – if you are an applicant, please plan on attending this meeting to be interviewed by the Board. For more info.

OB Rag Looking for Writers

The OB Rag is looking for writers or bloggers who live in the OB or Point Loma area. General agreement with the policies of this website and a love for the community are prerequisites. If interested, please email us and let us know what you’re interested in, any experience, etc. at obragblog@gmail.com . We can pay some monies for assigned articles once established.

OB Brothers Bring Donation Shuttle to the Village

Two brothers are giving people who live in Ocean Beach another ride share option besides Uber and Lyft.  “It’s actually something we started on Halloween,” Jack McClay said. Jack and his brother Brett dressed up like Mario and Luigi on Halloween, from the popular video game Mario Kart. They used their golf cart to give people rides all night, and decided to try to turn it into a full-time business. 10News

“Basically it’s a donation shuttle here in Ocean Beach,” McClay said. Their golf cart seats up to six people at a time, and the brothers give people rides every day of the week. “It’s called The OB Shuttle,” Jack said. “The idea is kind of you know ‘Oh how’d you get there? Oh we took the shuttle.’” The brothers let passengers sign their golf cart with permanent marker to give it character.  “We almost thought of it as kind of like an Ocean Beach yearbook kind of theme,” McClay said. “Really no better way to get to know the people in the community. Cutting down on drinking and driving and all the positive things that it can be.” For the schedule and how to get in touch with The OB Shuttle, you can visit their Facebook page.

Lifeguard Stats for January

Lt. Lonnie Stephenson of San Diego Lifeguards gave a report of their stats for the month of January, at the last OB Town Council meeting. For their entire jurisdiction – from the tip of Point Loma to Blacks Beach, they reported:

• 84,000 visits to the beaches
• 800 preventative actions taken;
• 5 water rescues;
• 20 medical aids;
• 1 cliff rescue.

4 Men Rescued Off Sunset Cliffs After Sailboat Hits Rocks

A sailboat grounded on the rocks off Sunset Cliffs on Sunday, March 5th, tossing one mariner into the ocean and forcing lifeguards to rescue him and three other men on the boat. A witness called 911 shortly after 11 a.m. to report that a boat was getting too close to shore near Sunset Cliffs, and that waves were pounding the side of the vessel. Two lifeguards from OB responded, along with a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter, a lifeguard rescue boat and a fire boat. They found a 27-foot sailboat had been returning from Mission Bay to its home berth in San Diego Bay, when it went aground about 80 yards offshore, near Sunset Cliffs Boulevard and Ladera Street. Four men, all in their 60s and 70s, were rescued unharmed, but lifeguards could not dislodge the 27-foot boat from the rocks. At midafternoon, lifeguards were waiting for the tide to rise before attempting to pull the boat from the rocks. Times of San Diego

Dead Leopard Sharks Found at Dog Beach

Several carcasses of leopard sharks have been spotted along Dog Beach in OB after the strong storm on Monday, Feb. 27. This is a rare sign of stress among the species. Marla Adame, who walks along Dog Beach daily says, “I saw some sharks, a couple actually, big ones. There was two of them, huge leopard sharks I’ve never seen before.”  She spotted leopard shark carcasses in late-January after another strong storm.

This is an occurrence marine biologist & shark researcher Andrew Nosal with Scripps Institution of Oceanography believes is worth looking into, ”it’s interesting it happened a day after a big storm. It does seem related to the rain somehow.”  Nosal … says pollution may be to blame, “it’s possible the sharks were poisoned or there’s toxins in the water.” As Nosal points out, we know the water along San Diego’s coast is not always safe enough for humans after heavy storms so it may not be safe enough for some marine life either.  Leopard sharks are salt water creatures but they’re often found at the mouth of the San Diego River where the river meets the ocean. So one of the theories for why they may have died is they couldn’t survive the rush of freshwater from all the rain. CW6

San Diego Police Still Looking for Woman Whose Car Was Found Near Sunset Cliffs

San Diego Police are still searching for a woman last seen near Sunset Cliffs.  Amanda (Mandy) Cruse, 30, first arrived in San Diego on Feb. 18, 2017 from out of town. On that Saturday, nearly two weeks ago, Cruse visited the Sunset Cliffs region on Point Loma, near Ocean Beach.  The following day, in the early morning hours of Feb. 19, Cruse may have went back to the Sunset Cliffs area, near Monaco Street.  Cruse was known to take photographs and may have been in the area to capture photos, police said.

Cruse’s family flew in from out-of-state and have posted fliers around OB and in the Sunset Cliffs area. Cruse, a Sri Lankan native, is described as 5 feet 3 inches tall, 115 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a grey sweatshirt, blue jeans and black white converse sneakers. Any information on Cruse is asked to contact the San Diego Police Department at (619) 531-2000 or Detective Shelly Luna SDPD Missing Person’s Unit (619) 531-2277.

March 11th Beach Clean-Up

OBceans and other volunteers are doing a beach and graffiti clean-up on Sat., March 11th, beginning at 8:30am. Councilwoman Zapf and I Love a Clean San Diego are helping to coordinate the event. Meet at Mother’s Salon at Bacon, and participants get a free brew.

March 15 – OB Planning Board Election

The annual election is being held Wednesday, March 15th.  The balloting takes place inside the OB Recreation Center between the hours of 4 to 6pm. Any tenant, resident, property owner or business owner in Ocean Beach can take part in the election. More info.

Peninsula Community Planning Board Election – Thurs, March 16th

The election will be held on Thursday, March 16, 2017 from 4:00pm – 8:00pm, at the Point Loma / Hervey Branch Library located at 3701 Voltaire Street, San Diego, CA 92107. Proof of residence, business operation, or property ownership within the PCPB boundaries must be provided for an individual to vote. More info.

Midway – Pacific Hwy Community Planning Group Election – March 15

The planning group will hold its annual election on March 15th from 2:30 to 3:00, prior to the monthly meeting at the San Diego City College – West City Campus on Fordham Street in the Midway District. The election will take place on the first floor and the meeting will commence at 3:00 on the second floor, room 208. More info.

OBHS Wisteria Garden Party – Sunday March 19

Join the Ocean Beach Historical Society annual Wisteria Garden Party, Sunday, March 19th, 1:00 – 3:30 PM at 4761 Niagara Ave., O.B. 92107. Come celebrate Spring at this wonderful event as OBHS thanks their members and also pays tribute to Carol Hart Bowers, Co-founder of the OBHS.
Spend the afternoon in the garden of a historic O.B. Wisteria Cottage under the largest wisteria canopy in O.B. Enjoy tasty hors d’oeuvres & desserts while listening to live music including songs from the 1920s by local Billy Lee and the Swamp Critters band (includes dance area). Enjoy a beautiful afternoon of O.B. history, culture and fun. Dress: Historic, garden party, purple attire, or O.B. casual.
Minimum Suggested Donation: Members $10, or $20 (Admission plus Membership) Includes an opportunity drawing ticket.

March 18 – The Wine Pub to Feature OB’s only Winery in “Community-Style Dinner”

Point Loma’s gourmet restaurant and wine bar, The Wine Pub, will host a community-style dinner complete with a variety of savory wines crafted by the neighboring Gianni Buonomo Vintners. Beginning at 6:30 p.m., on a long community table a a five-course dinner complete with six wine tastings and gourmet food will be served. Keith Rolle will present dinner guests with elected glasses of wine for each course.  Tickets for Wine and Dine are $59 per person. Reservations are required and tickets are available here.

March 25 Class on Tree Advocacy

Folks at Save Peninsula Trees are holding a Tree Advocacy Class on Sat., March 25th, from 10am to noon at the OB Recreation Center, 4726 Santa Monica. The class will provide tools for citizen action to protect trees and plant more trees. Please join them for coffee and bagels at 9:30 – (bring your fave mug). There is no fee, but please register here.

OB Kite Parade – May 13th

OB Rag Readers Asked to Hit the “Like” Button

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