News from Ocean Beach and Point Loma – Early April 2021

Dottie of OB Hardware Passes

One of the most familiar faces on Newport Avenue, Dottie of OB Hardware, has passed. She had worked at the storefront for more than 30 years. The La Jolla Light did a delightful article on Dottie a while back. Dottie walked to work and back each day, a round trip of about 5 miles, and that’s what she credited with being healthy for so long. She had been a Special Ed teacher and a girls PE teacher before moving to hardware. She had a master’s in general education and administration from SDSU. Originally from Syracuse, New York, Dottie said she studied at the New York State College for Teachers, and moved out west to San Diego in 1957. For 30 years, she was a special education, elder education and girls physical education teacher, earning a master’s degree in general education and administration from San Diego State University. After her career in education, she retired. And grew bored quickly. “I don’t want to sit in a rocking chair,” Dottie said. Unhappy with her retirement, she took to the streets of Ocean Beach to find a job. “I couldn’t stay retired, I needed to be active and busy,” she explained. “So, I came down to the hardware store and asked if they were looking for anybody, then I went home, had lunch, came back and started working. And that was over 30 years ago.” Dottie also experienced – at least initially – the sexism of male customers who wanted to speak to male employees, whom they wrongly thought would know more about hardware than she. She said: “I don’t get that anymore. A lot of men come to me now, over a male, since I’ve been here longer!” Rest in peace, Dottie – you helped so many of us.

Pt Loma Football Team Ends Season Due to Safety Concerns

After sitting out for more than a year, the Point Loma High School football team took the field against Lincoln High last Friday. What happened next, was a night to forget for the Pointers. A 64-0 defeat to a tough Hornets team. “We went in there unprepared, and I’d say it was half our fault, half the coach’s fault,” said Joquin Quintanilla, a senior captain for the Point Loma Pointers Football team. He said that after the lopsided defeat, he and his teammates were motivated to come back and work hard on Monday to prepare for their next game against Madison on Friday. That’s when Quintanilla and the rest of the seniors were invited to a meeting with the coaching staff. “We walked in, sat down, and then they kind of told us that they were pulling the varsity team and it was like a safety concern,” he said. “I think that pulling the plug after just one game is so premature and it’s not the right thing to do at all.” CBS8

OB Man to Stand Trial for Murder of His Mother

An Ocean Beach man was ordered on March 26 to stand trial for killing his mother with the special circumstances of murder during torture and murder during a robbery. The two-day preliminary hearing resulted in Daniel Chase McKibben, 39, being held to answer for the May 1, 2019, slaying of Heidi Green, 59. If McKibben is convicted of first-degree murder with the special circumstance charges, he would face either the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole. Deputy District Attorney Kristie Nikoletich told San Diego Superior Court Judge Theordore Weathers the torture charge is based on the victim being stabbed 45 times in the face, neck, and head. She said one stab wound punctured the brain.
San Diego Community News Group –

Bike Rentals Boomed During Pandemic – New Shop Opens in P.L.

Bicycles and e-bicycles were one of the few industries that boomed during the pandemic. Spring of 2020 might not have seemed like the best time to launch a new business, but for Devin Raymond , the timing proved to be perfect. “With the pandemic, a lot of companies stopped hiring,” Raymond said during a phone interview. “I had a side business in the electric bike industry for the past couple years; it was my side hustle. Effectively, I was selling bikes out of our garage. It was a fun thing to do, and a way to make a little extra money. So once the (logistics) jobs dried up last year, I pivoted into working more on this, and then it just so happened that bikes, especially e-bikes, became the hottest ticket item of the year.” EZE Ryders provides rentals and repairs on electric bikes, and sell a variety of brands, including its own custom line called Coastal Cruisers. Best-sellers include motorized beach cruisers and more unique products, like OneWheels, which are motorized, one-wheeled skateboards. Pacific San Diego

The Return of the Scooter

Shared electric scooters are gradually returning to San Diego streets after a long dip in ridership amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Six scooter companies are now authorized to operate in the city, including mainstays Bird, Lyft, Spin and Wheels along with newcomers Link and Veo. The devices took the city by storm in 2018 along with several bike sharing companies that have since left the city. Trips on the “shared mobility devices,” as the city officially calls them, peaked in July 2019 with more than 793,000 rides, according to city data. Trips plummeted in April 2020 immediately after the COVID-19 shutdown orders but had rebounded to more than 250,000 by September, the last month for which the city provided trip data. The data suggest users are spending more time on the scooters and riding them for longer distances. As of January 2021, companies were authorized to keep up to 9,750 scooters in the city, down from 11,050 at the beginning of 2020. Companies must pay a fee for each device they keep in circulation. KPBS

Rincon Tribe’s Beer Set to Star in Ocean Beach This Summer

Expansion is now coming fast for 3R, beer produced by the Rincon Band of Luiseño Indians. The first off-reservation tasting room is set to open this summer in Ocean Beach, California – an area well-known for craft brewing. The 3R’s brews – sold in Southern California restaurants, casinos and Costco stores – are distinctly Rincon, with elements of the tribe’s language, story and landmarks, along with tongue-in-cheek nods to reservation life. The Oasis Blonde Ale pays homage to the beautiful oasis on the reservation. Tuupash Blueberry Saison makes reference to the Luiseño word for sky. The dragonfly design on the cans embraces the tribe’s links to the San Luis Rey River. The popular Rez Dog Hefeweizen is named in honor of scrappy reservation dogs. The tribe’s culture is also reflected in the modern design of the tasting room. Filled with Native art, 3R Brewery tells the story all the way down to the coasters, which list the name of the beer on the front and its connection to the tribe on the back. “We have something to give back, and this is our way of celebrating who we are as Luiseño people.” San Luis Obispo News

Feeding San Diego Food Distribution at Pechanga Arena April 7 and May 1 (Sports Arena)

Feeding San Diego has announced a series of large-scale, contactless food distributions serving San Diego County. Distributions will be at Pechanga Arena San Diego, 3500 Sports Arena Blvd., on Wednesday, April 7 and Thursday, May 1, both from 10 a.m. to noon. The large-scale distributions can serve up to 1,400 people. Volunteers place approximately 50 pounds of food in the trunk of attendees’ cars as they drive through, making large parking lots the ideal place to hold these events.  Since February 2021, the organization has held eight of these types of distributions throughout the county and given food to over 20,000 people. Volunteers are needed for all distributions. Those interested can find more information here. For those who would like to support Feeding San Diego’s work during this critical time, they can give online.

Shout Out to The Log for its 50 Years

This year the Log is celebrating 50-years in circulation. In its history, the boating, sailing, and fishing publication has transferred hands to new ownership three times, weathered storms – including a national pandemic – and grown and evolved. The journey began in 1971 when former newsman William O. Roberts founded San Diego Log to provide information to San Diego’s boating community. Working from The Red Sails Inn dining room on Shelter Island, Roberts conducted interviews and meetings from a table reserved just for him. He wrote many of the articles, edited freelance stories, laid out the paper, sold advertisements, and distributed the paper, which began as a monthly publication. Old archives show the now free paper sold for 25 cents in 1974. The Log

Point Loma Woman Celebrates Being 101 – Never Drank or Smoked

The stucco home on Rosecrans Street in Point Loma is well known for its longstanding sun bleached-white shell garden out front. But now it’s noteworthy for another reason: One of its longstanding tenants, Elisa “Tia Elisa” Mendes, just turned 101 years old on March 23. Asked the key to her longevity, Tia Elisa replied, “The secret is I’ve worked all my life and taken care of myself and lived right. I never drank or smoked.” “When she came to San Diego she got a job in the canneries,” said her son Danny. “She came from the island of Madeira crossing over in 1939. She spent nine years in Rhode Island. At night there she worked in a factory making uniforms for soldiers during World War II. She came to San Diego in 1948 because she was told this was a place for opportunity, and because there was an active Portuguese community here.” The Beacon

2-Year Old Podcast Star Got Start in OB

At the world-weary age of 2, San Diego native Saylor has broken out across multiple social media platforms — TikTok, Instagram — and is next set to make her mark on YouTube, with more than a little help from her dad. Zeth has been creating content for nearly 10 years, much of it spent in Ocean Beach and involving his love for extreme sports. But his social media game truly blew up when he started posting videos of interactions with his then very young daughter, Saylor, who took to the camera like a teen takes to likes. NBC7

Mr. Moto Goes for 8

Mr. Moto Pizza is springing into April by adding an eighth location to its existing outposts in Pacific Beach, North Park, Point Loma, La Jolla, Encinitas, Ocean Beach and Seaport Village!

Cesarina Expands … Across the Street

The three Romans behind 2-year-old Cesarina Ristorante in Point Loma announced plans for Angelo, a multifaceted project that’s a pizzeria, mozzarella factory, cake bakery and catering business that will open early next year. Fans of Cesarina Ristorante in Point Loma won’t have to go far to see what’s next for its owners, the husband-and-wife duo of Niccolò Angius and chef Cesarina Mezzoni and their business partner Giuseppe Capasso. They’ve leased a 3,000-square-foot former furniture repair shop directly across the street at 4160 Voltaire for their next collaboration: Angelo. SDU-T

PB’s Crime Rate Rival’s OB’s

Check it out. Does PB’s crime rate rival that of Ocean Beach? Pacific Monthly

Police Pursuit Closed Down Rite Aid

A pursuit of a domestic violence suspect ended in a crash the last Sunday in March in the Ocean Beach area, and the man in custody. The pursuit began around 5:50 p.m. and ended near the intersection of Sunset Cliffs Boulevard and Niagara Avenue when the man crashed his vehicle about 6:15 p.m., the San Diego police said. Initially, the man refused to surrender, but police eventually took him peacefully into custody, police said. The action forced the police to tell employees at a nearby Rite Aid to temporarily lock their front doors, police said.

Local Glass Artist Leslie Perlis Passed From COVID Complications

Point Loma High School alumna and glass artist Leslie Perlis, 70, died recently from COVID complications. She is best remembered by those who shared her life as one of the high school’s biggest supporters. “She was the high school’s patron saint and mom,” said Mel Gillum, her soulmate. “She always was very active in Point Loma High with band moms or fundraising for the school’s music department.” The Beacon