May 2023

Peninsula Planners to Consider Rescinding Request for Stop Sign Along Voltaire — Thursday, May 18

May 17, 2023 by Frank Gormlie

Back in early December 2022, the Peninsula Community Planning Board approved sending a letter to the city requesting a stop sign along Voltaire Street either at Bolinas or Soto. The letter was sent on Dec. 27.

Since then, there’s been a noticeable push-back by residents and property owners who live on Voltaire near those streets. They oppose a stop sign and they have a bunch of good reasons.
And this is on the Board’s agenda Thursday night, May 18.

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Annual OB Kite Festival at Robb Field — Sat., May 20

May 17, 2023 by Staff

The Annual OB Kite Festival is this Saturday, May 20, at Robb Field. Plus there will be carnival and “Off” Street Fair of artisans, community booths, and food trucks.

It’s all from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. (Robb Field is officially at 2525 Bacon Street in OB 92107.) For those coming for the kites – fly your newly made kite, or bring a kite from home and show it off. You can make and decorate your own, and there will be free materials, and instructions, and help with kite making.

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San Diego Set to Sue SeaWorld for $12 Million in Back Rent as Park Rakes in Record Revenue

May 16, 2023 by Frank Gormlie

The bickering between landlord and tenant is getting very intense over the back rent the landlord says it’s owed. Normally, this wouldn’t raise an eyebrow, but the landlord is your city and the tenant is the multi-billionaire dollar theme park on public land called SeaWorld.

This bickering has gone on for two years but on Monday, May 15, your city council gave the city attorney the authorization to take SeaWorld to court to get the $10 million in rent and another $2 million in penalties and interest. And when he heard that SeaWorld hadn’t paid its back rent, the president of your city council, Sean Elo-Rivera, got mad, real mad.

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‘Spike’ the Sea Lion Learns How to Play Video Games Off the Coast of Point Loma … for the Navy

May 16, 2023 by Source

by Domenick Candelieri / Fox5 / May 12, 2023

“Spike” the sea lion is making waves in the science community, learning how to play video games on the deck of a sea pen in the San Diego Bay off the coast of Point Loma.

The U.S. Navy Marine Mammal Program cares for the branch’s sea lions and dolphins, aiming to keep marine mammals happy and healthy longer. “His (Spike) ability to understand the concept of controlling a cursor on a screen,

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Now Is the Time to Comment as FAA Evaluates Jet Noise Standards and Mitigation for San Diego Airport

May 16, 2023 by Source

By Dr. Matthew Price, Chris McCann, Anthony Stiegler / La Jolla Light / May 15, 2023

The FAA recently opened a public comment period on its Noise Policy Review for the San Diego International Airport, which will evaluate:

• Whether the current use of the “day-night average sound level” (DNL) should be the primary noise metric for assessing cumulative aircraft noise exposure

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Colin Parent Shows His True Colors as Sole Vote for Monster 950-Unit Complex in La Mesa With No Affordable Housing

May 15, 2023 by Frank Gormlie

Last week the City of La Mesa City Council voted 4 to 1 against a monster apartment complex that would have included up to 950 units and 8 stories in the west section of the city.

Opponents criticized the size of the 4 building sprawling structure and its lack of affordable housing. The sole vote in favor was Colin Parent – the head of the controversial group Circulate San Diego. The Alvarado Specific Plan was proposed for a 12 acre site, located at 7407 Alvarado Road,

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The OB Pier: ‘A Requiem for an Icon’ — A Video by Charles Landon

May 15, 2023 by Source

Join Charles Landon and his short brand new video of the Ocean Beach Pier. “A Requiem for an Icon”

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Election 2024: A Cautionary Tale — Look Beyond Trump and Biden

May 15, 2023 by Source

By Colleen O’Connor

Last December, I wrote a column and predicted that neither Biden nor Trump would be the next President. Then it was an outlandish suggestion. Much less so now.
Why? Things are exponentially worse. Trust is lacking. Solutions non-existent.

Increased anger over gun violence, immigration surges, abortion restrictions, financial corruption, inflation, homelessness, war, a pandemic, climate change, the dark web, and global rise of dictatorships, etc., has unleashed a rare form of political and social near-insanity

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A Return to the Cradle of Bitchin – OB Historical Society Thursday, May 18

May 15, 2023 by Source

Please join Ocean Beach Historical Society and Point Loma High Alumni Association, Thursday evening, May 18, at 7:00 pm, at Water’s Edge Faith Community, 1984 Sunset Cliffs Blvd., as we return to the Cradle of Bitchin with author A. Lee Brown and sculptor Richard Arnold.

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San Diego Has a Shortage of Affordable Housing – Busting a Few Myths on Why

May 12, 2023 by Source

By Danna Givot / May 11, 2023

I have not heard anyone say we have built too many homes in San Diego.  What I have heard people say is that what we have a shortage of AFFORDABLE HOUSING, not luxury housing.

I don’t hear many people disagree with this fact, which is supported by this study by the San Diego Housing Commission. When you compare the number of units available by income level to the actual number of households in each income level, you can see exactly where the housing shortage is in San Diego.

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Feeling a More Caring World

May 12, 2023 by Ernie McCray

by Ernie McCray

Had a nice weekend at the
“The 2023 Annual Conference of
California Community College
Trustees”
at the
Monterey Plaza Hotel and Spa
with mi querida
who is a trustee.

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City Struck Out Twice in Replacing Electrical Pole at Ocean Beach

May 12, 2023 by Source

Your City At Work

By Geoff Page

Back in March in Ocean Beach, city crews removed the sand berms along the beach that they put up in October to protect areas landward from high winter surf and high tides.  During this removal work by the small Dog Beach jetty, a loader operator backed into a city pole and broke it just above the sand.

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OB Friends of the Library Newsletter — May 2023

May 12, 2023 by Source

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An Ode to Ed’s Triangle and the Mean Green Team in Ocean Beach

May 10, 2023 by Source

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Fighting the Spotify Algorithm With Joni Mitchell’s ‘Blue’

May 10, 2023 by Source

By Emma Peters / LomaBeat.com / End of April 2023

“Sad girl starter pack”
“My life is a movie”
“Chill vibes”

No, these are not phrases spouted out by a ChatGPT- bot attempting to come up with vague internet-esque phrases to assimilate with the youth, but they may as well be. These expressions, which essentially mean nothing without the context of social media, have now permeated the popular streaming service Spotify. It’s a genius marketing scheme—and it’s ruining the way that we listen to music.

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Demolition Threatens Mission Hills’ Red Bungalow

May 10, 2023 by Source

By Barry Hager – Mission Hills Heritage/ SOHO May-June 2023

For the last 110 years, the Craftsman bungalow now affectionately known as the “Red Bungalow” or the “Red House,” has graced the northeast corner of Fort Stockton Drive and Goldfinch Street near the eastern entrance to the Mission Hills neighborhood.

The bungalow at 850 Fort Stockton Drive was built in 1912 for Perry and Olive Griswold, whose family lived there for more than 20 years. The Red Bungalow is unusual in that it was originally built as a duplex with two full-size porches, one facing Fort Stockton and the other facing Goldfinch.

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Head of Circulate San Diego Has Been Soliciting Donations to the Non-Profit While Serving on La Mesa City Council

May 9, 2023 by Source

By Jeff McDonald / San Diego Union-Tribune / May 7, 2023

Last month, La Mesa Vice Mayor Colin Parent signed a public disclosure acknowledging he solicited a $5,500 donation from a major developer to Circulate San Diego, the charity for which he serves as chief executive officer.

It was the 68th time in the last five years that Parent reported seeking cash contributions to his employer …. Since April 2018, the La Mesa Democrat has disclosed almost $700,000 in what are called behested payments —

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KUSI Being Bought by Mega-corporation and Owner of ‘The CW’

May 9, 2023 by Frank Gormlie

Local San Diego TV media politics might soften up a bit.

The most right-wing news station in San Diego, KUSI, will be bought by media conglomerate Nexstar Media Group, the owner of “The CW.” And KUSI may turn into the CW channel for the area. Or may be merged with Fox5, another TV station here owned by Nexstar. Or maybe both. The purchase of KUSI was for $35 million.

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Web Cam Operator Ordered by Navy to Take Point Loma Cameras Down After Filming ‘Warship Chicken’ Incident

May 9, 2023 by Staff

Barry Bahrami, the man whose livestream caught two Navy ships nearly colliding in the San Diego Bay has been ordered to take the cameras down.

It was Bahrami’s video that showed the near collision of two Navy ships at the San Diego Bay back in November 2022, an incident commonly referred to as “Warship Chicken” which now stands at the center of a new controversy. The Navy Criminal Investigative Service says the camera’s livestream shows military activity in the area, but Bahrami calls, “bologna,” and that he has the right to film.

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OB Artist or Vandal?

May 9, 2023 by Staff

Is this guy an artist … or a vandal? Or a graffitist?

The individual was seen down at the cliffs between Del Monte Ave. and Narragansett Ave.

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Hundreds Protest Mayor Gloria, San Diego’s Housing Policies and SB-10

May 8, 2023 by Frank Gormlie

Hundreds of San Diego residents rallied across a wide swath of  the city on Saturday, May 6, to protest Mayor Gloria and the city’s housing policies, as well as Senate Bill 10 (SB-10).

From University City to Hillcrest, from Mission Hills to the College area, from Clairemont to North Park and in Normal Heights, people stood on street corners at major intersections holding signs that decried the direction Gloria and the City Council were taking their neighborhoods. Councilmembers Steven Whitburn and Kent Lee were also targeted for supporting Gloria’s policies.

It’s a conservative estimate that 600 people took part in the 7 different rallies. Two small counter-demonstrations were also held.

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OB Planners Angered by City’s Delay on Re-Surfacing Bacon Street and Puzzled By Who Decided to Install Roundabouts

May 5, 2023 by Staff

By Geoff Page

Most people would agree that weeds growing in pavement cracks are a pretty good indication that a street needs work. Weeds. That is what Bacon Street looks like today, has for some time, and will continue to look that way for the foreseeable future..

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It’s Been 53 Years Since the Kent State Massacre

May 4, 2023 by Frank Gormlie

By Frank Gormlie

For at least an entire generation of Americans, the day May 4, 1970, will always be associated with the shootings of unarmed students by National Guardsmen on the campus of Kent State University in Ohio. Four students were killed – two had nothing to do with the protests, one was an ROTC cadet – and nine others were wounded, including one permanently paralyzed. The shootings will be eternally remembered as a grim stain upon US history.

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After 50 Years of Murals at Chicano Park, New Generation Takes Up the Fight and the Paint Brush

May 4, 2023 by Source

By Katie Hyson / KPBS / April 25, 2023

Nearly everyone passing through Chicano Park calls out to the park’s cofounder Josephine Talamantez, who squeezes them tight and asks after their families. Highway pillars surround them, covered in colorful murals. From the time of Spanish conquistadors to the present, they depict a single message of Chicano resilience and self-determination: “Aquí estamos y no nos vamos.” “We’re here, and we’re not leaving.”

The space was born from this refusal.

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There’s a Beautiful and Mysterious Forest Right Off the Coast of Point Loma

May 4, 2023 by Source

By Benji Jones / Vox / May 3, 2023

A few miles west of San Diego is a stretch of ocean that’s rather unremarkable from the surface. The water is cold and blue. There’s some green seaweed peeking out.

Sink below the waves, however, and a whole other realm appears. Under the sea here, near Point Loma, is a forest as beautiful as any other. It’s made not of trees but of strands of giant kelp, a species of algae that can grow taller than a 10-story building. Tethered to the seafloor and buoyed by air-filled chambers, the kelp strands undulate with the current,

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Why Residents of 6 Neighborhoods Are Protesting San Diego’s Housing Policies — ‘Circulate San Diego’ Also Targeted as Developer Lobbyist Group

May 4, 2023 by Source

From Protest Organizers

The May 6th “Citywide Protest Against the City of San Diego’s Reckless Housing Initiatives” will draw hundreds and potentially thousands of residents from 16 communities across the city, kicking off at 10:00 a.m. in University City, which alone is expecting around 300-400 people. (Go here for the 6-neighborhood rally schedule.)

“Our city officials have been rolling out one high-density housing initiative after another, without regard to the supporting infrastructure that would be needed,…”

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OB Planning Leader Speaks Out Against City’s Enforcement Plan for New Vacation Rental Rules – Plus Over 50 Mission Beach Hosts May Have Committed Fraud

May 3, 2023 by Frank Gormlie

During a 90-minute STRO Zoom community briefing on April 27 by the City’s Development Services Department Code Enforcement Division on their plans to enforce regulations of the City’s new Short-Term Residential Ordinance which took effect May 1, not all went well.

Also, not all is going well with Mission Beach short-term rental hosts, as it turns out over 50 may have lied on their license applications (see below).

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San Diego Privacy Board: More Public Input Needed on Police Push for Streetlight Cameras and License Plate Readers

May 3, 2023 by Source

By Caleb Lunetta / San Diego Union-Tribune / May 1, 2023

The city’s newly-established Privacy Advisory Board voted last week to create an ad hoc committee to gather more research and public comment on the San Diego Police Department’s proposal to install hundreds of smart street lights and automatic license plate readers across the city. The purpose of the committee will be to ensure the board has more community input before its members decide whether to recommend the proposal to the City Council.

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Former Rohr Home in Point Loma Designated as Historic

May 3, 2023 by Source

At the March 2023 meeting of the City of San Diego Historical Resources Board, it designated three houses as historical resources, including one in Point Loma that was once lived in by Fred Rohr, founder of the Rohr Aircraft Company — a major San Diego employer during World War II.

Here is Save Our Heritage Organization‘s description of the site from its May/June newsletter:

555 San Fernando Street in the Peninsula Community is the Fred Rohr/Ralph L. Frank House, a two-story home with a basement built in 1940 in the Colonial Revival style.

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Neighborhood Groups Unite to Oppose San Diego’s Over-development Policies – 6 Rallies Planned for Sat., May 6

May 2, 2023 by Source

Groups from across San Diego are uniting in opposition to San Diego’s reckless high-density housing initiatives and are planning 6 neighborhood rallies this Saturday, May 6.

Residents throughout San Diego are uniting in solidarity on Saturday to peacefully protest San Diego’s irresponsible overdevelopment policies. Neither the Mayor nor the City Council are respecting the development policy concerns of their constituents, so residents are taking to the streets to make their voices heard.

What these groups oppose:

• Mayor Gloria’s intention to implement SB 10

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