More News From Ocean Beach and Point Loma – Early February 2021

OB Town Council Presses City for Regulations for Sidewalk Vendors

During their most recent public meeting in late January, the OB Town Council pressed city representatives for resolutions and solutions for problems in OB. President Mark Winkie pleaded with Jen Campbell’s OB rep, Teddy Martinez, for an ordinance to regulate sidewalk vendors who local leaders say are taking too much advantage of the village, particularly around Veterans Plaza at the beach. Winkie said, “We certainly don’t want to wait until the middle of summer to bring something in. You can imagine what that’ll be like to try to claw back a situation that would be sort of out of control [by then].”

Martinez responded that a proposed ordinance had reached the Economic Development and Intergovernmental Relations Committee when the COVID-19 pandemic took hold in March, which pushed the issue away from being dealt with. Martinez said meetings to gather community input on an ordinance are already in place. He tried to assure the audience that the issue is a top priority for Campbell. Also, Kohta Zaiser, the District 2 representative for San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria, was present – which pleased Winkie and the rest of the Board. “The good news is that we have a permanent representative from the mayor’s office that will be showing up,” Winkie said. “It’s a breath of fresh air that we finally have the mayor’s office being represented on a regular basis at our community meetings.” Pt Loma Monthly

Local Artists and Their Work on Display at Liberty Station

Located between Moniker General and The Presley at Liberty Station, the latest addition to Installations at the Station — an outdoor art exhibit featuring a few artists a year — was created by artist James Armenta in partnership with Intuit. “I wanted to play on the nautical theme,” Armenta explained. “What you see in the center of the mural are called maritime signal flags. Each one of them represents a letter and they have for many years been used by maritime vessels to communicate with one another.” Armenta went to middle and high school at High Tech High, in Liberty Station and now works as a software engineer at Intuit. Intuit has a program that gives employees time to volunteer to causes they’re passionate about.

The artist partnered non-profit NTC Foundation, whose main purpose is to renovate historic buildings in Liberty Station from Naval Training Center to arts district as well as offering a ton of programs for artists. Artists chosen to be featured submitted proposals to use art “to transform the monochromatic, rigid former military base into a creative place that reflects the historic and cultural vibrancy of the San Diego-Baja border region,” according to the NTC Foundation. “If it wasn’t for this wonderful opportunity, we wouldn’t have this wonderful art installation this year because we’ve tried to refocus our resources to keep our tenants supported in business. So we weren’t able to do our normal two to four outdoor art installations,” explained Lisa Johnson, President and CEO of NTC Foundation. Liberty Station is also trying other things to keep visitors engaged with local artists during the pandemic. Their monthy First Friday event has gone virtual. Check out local art every first Friday of the month from 4 to 8 p.m. at this link. 7SanDiego

New Mural of Diversity at OB’s Little Lion Cafe

His assignment was to represent inclusivity in Ocean Beach. Artist Aaron Glasson went one better. Figures he painted in a mural on the side of Little Lion Cafe at 1424 Sunset Cliffs Blvd. not only expound on that theme but are Ocean Beach residents. “Jacqueline (Coulon, cafe co-owner) spoke to me of doing something really speaking to unity during this time when the country is very divided,” said multi-disciplinary artist Glasson, who also does sculpture, painting, and illustrations. “I came up with the concept of painting four women of different ages and ethnicities, all moving forward together collectively as a kind of symbolic gesture open to interpretation.” The end result is a mural as minimalist as it is imaginative, depicting four women along with a dog and a seagull paddling in a canoe. San Diego Community News Group

Three Point Loma Brothers Painting Wooden Flags for Wounded Warrior Project

Three young brothers — Wesley, 11, Mason, 9, and A.J., 6, — have been assembling and painting red, white and blue handmade wooden flags with a little help from their dad, Ted. Wesley says inspiration struck when they saw a flag like these in someone’s yard. “Nobody had a total system going on, so we decided to start doing American flags.” Their mom, Nadine Utz, says it started as a homeschooling project last June to teach responsibility and charity. “We never thought it would turn into this, not in a million years.” She goes on to say, “People have been really touched by these flags which really surprised us. We’ve been told that our flags have been sold, or mailed across the country.” Right now, they are receiving orders for about five flags a week and before major holidays, you may find the boys selling them outside of Jensen’s Foods in Point Loma. Wesley says they’ve now spotted many of their flags in different places. “We actually play a game every time we go in the car and every wooden flag you spot is a point.” Part of the point of making the flags is to donate proceeds to the Wounded Warrior Project. They’ve donated more than $1400 so far. The cause is a fitting one for a family that comes from a long line of service members. Nadine says, “Being a Navy family we don’t get to really immerse ourselves in the community because we move so frequently and this has given us a chance to get to know people on a personal level.” The family says there have been just a few instances when people have mistaken the flags for a political statement. A large flag costs $30, the smaller flags cost $20. You can order them by sending an email to PointLomaFlags@gmail.com. 10news.com

Point Loma High Senior Among Students Pushing Back Against Oil Drilling

A Point Loma High senior is among a group of San Diego high school students will ask the San Diego Unified School board to speak out against oil drilling in California. The student activists are not happy that California Gov. Gavin Newsom continues to issue new permits to drill for oil in the state. They say Newsom issued more permits last year than the previous year, and they say that’s bad for the environment. “We are asking the governor to immediately stop issuing new oil and fracking permits,” said Kate Vedder, a Point Loma High School senior. “And to also produce a solid plan for phasing out oil drilling in California. The activists say the negative health effects of oil drilling and fracking disproportionately hurt communities of color and poor neighborhoods. The students have been lobbying school board members in California’s second-largest district to take a stand because they say their future depends on rolling back the use of fossil fuels now. The students hope convincing the board will help convince the governor to change course. “We feel that adults haven’t really done their jobs ensuring that we’re going to have a safe and healthy future,” said Elisa Delle Monache, a junior at University City High School. “So we’re going to take this into our own hands. We did the research, we met with board members and we put the resolution together.” The SDUSD board will take up the issue at Tuesday night’s hearing. The students promise to lobby other San Diego school districts to pass similar resolutions. KPBS

Using Tech to Steal a Car in OB is Still Theft

High tech thieves struck again, this time in the beach communities. An Ocean Beach woman posted surveillance video of a man believed to have used a keyless remote device to break into her car Wednesday morning. Rosemary Brown said when she walked out to her car, she’d seen it had been ransacked. “The contents were rummaged through and tossed into the passenger seat,” said Brown.  She said she knows for certain that she locked her doors using the key fob to her Subaru parked in her OB driveway off Valeta Street by the YMCA, so she looked at her surveillance video. “Unbeknownst to me, someone was able to access my car remotely by using some sort of technology,” said Brown. When you watch the video, the timestamp at 4:44 am, it shows a person walk past her car with a flashlight and within a minute, her car lights flicker on, indicating the doors are unlocked. A suspect with a flashlight opens the door and rummages through Brown’s car. She said only her sunglasses were stolen, but it’s still unnerving. “It’s pretty creepy to feel like you’ve been violated in that manner,” said Brown. CBS8

OB Be Ware! San Diego Restarting Parking Enforcement and Street Sweeping

Following the California Department of Public Health’s announcement lifting the regional stay-at-home order, the City of San Diego reinstated enforcement of parking regulations effective Jan. 29.  From Jan. 29 through Feb. 7, the City will issue warning notices. Starting Feb. 8, citations with corresponding fines will be issued to vehicles violating street sweeping parking restrictions, metered parking, time limits and yellow commercial zones. Effective Feb. 8, posted street sweeping restrictions will also be enforced in areas with parking spaces designated for restaurant pick-up orders. Drivers are encouraged to follow posted City signage when looking for a parking space.

Popular Point Loma Coach Chris Brisco Passes

Chris Brisco was well-known to kids and parents throughout the Peninsula area. He ran clinics and summer camps for youngsters at area recreation centers and schools. In addition, he was head varsity basketball for eight seasons and an assistant football coach at Point Loma High School. Brisco died Jan. 16 of an apparent heart attack at the age of 57. During his eight years as head basketball coach at PLHS he compiled a record of 102-103. In Central League play his teams were 56-42, capped by a 12-0 first place finish in 2012-13. Brisco worked as a P.E. teacher at Patrick Henry High School but devoted his life to youth on the Peninsula. He worked with boys and girls in the tee ball, soccer and basketball recreation program at Cabrillo Recreation Center and taught P.E. at Sacred Heart Academy in Ocean Beach.  Brisco was a popular assistant football coach for the Pointers, teaching many freshmen and junior varsity players.

Thursday Club in Point Loma Is 100 Years Young

The Thursday Club was founded in February 1921 by four young married women. So it’s been one hundred years. Obviously, no longer for married women only, the Club does service and charity fundraising. There’s the 93 year old rummage sale [cancelled this year] which has raised nearly $2 million for Balboa Park organizations, which traditionally receive half of the sale’s proceeds every year. Last year, before COVID, it raised $150,000, with half going to four park organizations: the Balboa Park Conservancy, San Diego Junior Theatre, San Diego Model Railroad Museum and San Diego Natural History Museum. In 2020, grant recipients included larger groups such as the San Diego Rescue Mission and smaller ones like the Escondido-based Comfort Club, which provides weighted teddy bears to help people cope with loss and trauma.

Mayor Todd Gloria proclaimed Feb. 4 as Thursday Club Day, because the organization has made good on its pledge to “promote educational, cultural, social, moral and civic activities in San Diego” by raising millions of dollars for local nonprofits and community groups. Even with the 2021 rummage sale canceled, the group has held monthly “safe” fundraisers for San Diegans in need. There have been food drives for the San Diego Food Bank and Jewish Family Service’s Safe Parking Program for unsheltered San Diegans who are living in their vehicles. Club members did a blood drive for children with cancer through the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. There was a clothing drive for New Day Urban Ministries. For more information on the Thursday Club, visit thethursdayclub.org. To watch the recorded centennial celebration, go to youtube.com/watch?v=BbYj3e6lbVI. Pt. Loma – OB Monthly

At least one vehicle was damaged Monday morning when strong winds toppled a tree onto a carport in Point Loma. It happened in the 4300 block of West Point Loma Boulevard. No injuries were reported.  Fox5

Assurances on  OB Pier

On January 11, the south side of the OB Pier was damaged when high surf broke off railing boards. According to Jen Campbell’s office, an assessment of the damage is being conducted by the city Parks & Recreation Department. Nothing conclusive will be made until storms expected in the weeks ahead had passed. Mark Winkie, head of the OB Town Council, did raise the issue with Kohta Zaiser, the District 2 representative for San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria, at a recent OBTC meeting. Winkie stated any damage this winter would simply add to defects already present on the 55-year-old edifice. “The bigger story is that the pier is getting old. It will probably need some serious retrofitting at some point in the not-too-distant future,” Winkie said. Zaiser assured him that immediate repairs are on the front burner. He added a major renovation of the pier dovetails with the city’s Climate Action Plan, which Gloria considers a top priority. “We’re going to be looking for any type of community improvement, things like that, that fit into so many different aspects of our Climate Action Plan as well as general beautification,” Zaiser said.

Man Bites Dog (With Knife) Pleads ‘Not Guilty’

A man accused of stabbing a San Diego police dog during an altercation with officers in the Midway District pleaded not guilty Feb. 2 to charges including animal cruelty and resisting arrest. Dedrick Daknell Jones, 35, is accused of stabbing K-9 Titan on Jan. 25 after an hours-long standoff with San Diego police. The dog was treated for stab wounds to his side that caused a laceration to his colon in three places, police said. Titan had six to eight inches of his colon surgically removed and received more than 100 stitches. Titan “is doing well and in good spirits,” his handlers say.

Point Loman Shocks by Running for California Governor

Former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer shocked the city and state the other day by formally announcing that he is running for California governor, either in the regularly scheduled 2022 election or in a possible recall election of incumbent Gavin Newsom later this year. People had no idea Faulconer, a Point Loma resident, was thinking about running, despite his early and blistering criticism of Gov. Newsom for his pandemic eatery experience, while never complaining about Trump’s criminal negligence in having no plan to combat COVID. Faulconer had a seven-year run as San Diego’s mayor – and has left a checkered legacy. Many people are glad he will be potentially gone. Reportedly, he has raised more than $1 million since establishing an exploratory committee for governor three weeks ago. He’ll need every penny. Faulconer – who the media touts as a “moderate Republican” – admitted he voted for Trump in November. San Diego U-T