Ocean Beach and Point Loma News — Mid-June, 2023

OB Street Fair — Saturday, June 24

Join over 50,000 visitors and guests on Saturday, June 24 from 10 a.m. until 8 p.m. for the Ocean Beach Street Fair! The fair features three stages of music, two community mural projects, an Artist Alley that features local crafters and artisans plus food vendors, merchandise, a Seaside Family Fun Zone, a Chili Cook-Off, and much more. The Beachside Beer Garden will be available all day for guests ages 21+ to enjoy fresh ice-cold brews or cocktails with an ocean view. The Hodad’s burger eating contest and the Ocean Beach Dirty Birds wing eating contest will take place at mid-day on the main stage.  The Seaside Family Fun Zone will feature games, inflatables, the Original Rad Hatter, plus a place for parents to relax and enjoy the music.

The Chili Cook-Off has three categories this year: Hottest Chili, Judges’ Award and the coveted Grand Prize, the People’s Choice Award. There will be an amateur and restaurant division. Entries in the contest can be tasted for $2 or guests can purchase a Master Pass for $25 to sample them all and vote on a favorite. Free parking is available at the Sun Runner parking lot located on Sea World Drive along Pacific Coast Highway. Trolley services run from 9:30 a.m. until 9 p.m. There will also be a free bike valet service at the intersection of Bacon Street and Newport Avenue.

Making the Case for the Palm Tree in San Diego Landscapes and Urban Planning

The city cut down five beloved Mexican fan palms in the Point Loma-Ocean Beach area in April, in spite of neighborhood protests and a lawsuit (subsequently dropped). Ostensibly, this happened because the 90-footers interfered with airport flight paths, but it strikes me that there are several 500-foot skyscrapers near the airport that won’t be coming down anytime soon. Elsewhere, the city is more empathetic. In University Heights, residents lobbied successfully for protection of Canary Island Date Palms from palm weevils, with regular spraying by city maintenance crews. SDU-T

Shootings at Liberty Station Mar Juneteenth Event – Police Still Searching for Shooter

The San Diego Police Department says one person has died in a shooting at a Juneteenth concert in a Liberty Station park Saturday evening. According to SDPD’s watch commander, multiple 911 calls about the shooting at NTC Park at 2455 Crushing Road came in at 6:47 p.m. Police told ABC 10News two people were shot at the event. Police said when officers arrived, they found a large group of people who were attending the event fleeing the area and found a 20-year-old man suffering from at least one gunshot wound to his upper body. Officers performed CPR until San Diego Fire-Rescue arrived to take the victim to the hospital, where he died. The victim has been identified, but his name is being withheld until his family has been notified, SDPD said.

The second victim, also a 20-years-old man, left in a car and was driven a short distance away before an ambulance was called to treat him for his injuries, according to SDPD. He was taken to the hospital with a gunshot wound on his leg. His injuries are not considered life-threatening. His name will not be released. San Diego Homicide Detectives are investigating the incident and say it’s unclear what lead up to the shooting. During the preliminary investigation, detectives learned that victims were attending the event when a fight broke out within the crowd near the end of the event. Moments later, a suspect took out a handgun, shot the victims and left the scene.

Police said it’s unknown if the victims were involved in the fight, if they were targeted by the suspect, or if they were innocent bystanders struck by gunfire. SDPD Public Information Officer Adam Sharki says the shooting happened following an isolated dispute at the event. “I want to make it very clear — this was not an active shooter event or anything of that type. This appears to be an isolated incident resulting from a dispute here at the event,” Sharki says. As of 10 p.m. on Saturday, the shooter was still on the loose. Police said the suspect is described as a man in his 20s wearing dark clothing. Sharki emphasized that the investigation is still in its preliminary phase, so that’s why information is limited at this point. The homicide unit did speak to witnesses on the scene and is actively tracking down evidence and checking the area for surveillance footage. If you have any information for police regarding the shooting, SDPD encourages you to contact the homicide unit at 619-531-2293 or Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477. 10News

The Union-Tribune Pushes Back Against Heal the Bay Annual Beach Report Card

Glaringly absent were the ocean waters off San Diego’s southern coast, from Coronado down to Imperial Beach. Residents there have endured a record number of swimming restrictions over the last 18 months as massive amounts of sewage continue to spill over the border from Tijuana. The issue is so bad that the federal government has ponied up $300 million to expand a wastewater facility in San Diego that treats sewage from Mexico. Mayors across the region just this week signed a letter urging President Biden to declare a state of emergency over the rampant pollution. So why didn’t the Santa Monica-based nonprofit call out these San Diego beaches in its latest assessment of the state’s ocean water quality? The short answer: Advocates with Heal the Bay were somewhat perplexed by a new highly sensitive DNA-based test for water quality launched last year by San Diego County.

“When we plugged in the data, those San Diego beaches, they all failed,” said Luke Ginger, water quality scientist at Heal the Bay. “Our beach bummer list would have just been San Diego County beaches.” Rather than embrace the DNA-based results, Heal the Bay decided to rely on the traditional culture-based method in which scientists examine samples of ocean water for bacterial growth in a lab. The approach is used by nearly all jurisdictions in California. The differences in the side-by-side testing were stark. For example, Imperial Beach’s southern coast failed water quality testing 85% of the time last summer using the DNA-based method, compared to just 20% with traditional testing. LA Times (pay wall)

Driver Crashed into Robb Field Skate Park – Arrested for DUI, Dog Trapped

A driver will face charges after crashing his vehicle into the middle of a popular Ocean Beach skate park. A van vaulted over a protective jersey wall at the end of westbound Interstate 8 and crashed into Robb Field Skate Park just before 4 a.m. Tuesday, June 13. The vehicle leaped over fences before skating around one of the park’s basins and landing in an 8-foot deep concrete bowl that resembles an empty swimming pool. The 62-year-old man behind the wheel of the van was transported to a nearby hospital with minor injuries. He will face charges of driving under the influence officials said. A dog was trapped in the car for an hour and a half. Despite being cold, scared and covered in motor oil, officials said the German Shepherd mix appeared to be uninjured. Medical staff at an emergency veterinary center bathed the dog to remove the motor oil and other fluids. She will be watched carefully over the next 48 hours by workers at the county’s animal care center on Gaines Street. A crane will be brought in to remove the wrecked vehicle from the basin later in the morning. NBC7

USS Recruit at Liberty Station Opens to Public

After almost two decades of sitting idly at Liberty Station, the USS Recruit, a landlocked ship that once was used to train Navy recruits, has opened to the public. The June 7 opening ceremony followed a refurbishment of the interior to include a public exhibit on the history of the vessel. It’s a centerpiece of the centennial celebration of the former Naval Training Center presented by the Liberty Station Community Association, which oversees the outdoor spaces at the Point Loma Navy base turned commercial and cultural center.

The Naval Training Center first opened in 1923 as a boot camp for members of the Navy and Naval Reserve. In 1949, the Navy built the USS Recruit, a two-thirds-scale mock-up of a destroyer escort made almost entirely of 2-by-4 boards of lumber and sheet metal casing. It was nicknamed the “USS Neversail” because it was built on land at the naval base. It measured 225 feet from bow to stern and 41 feet tall from the tip of the mast to the ground. It is the Navy’s only commissioned ship that has never touched the water. SDU-T

5 Sailors Injured When Boat Hits Zuniga Point Jetty Off Point Loma

Five sailors were sent to the hospital Friday morning following a crash at Naval Base Point Loma, authorities confirmed. The San Diego Fire Rescue Department says crews responded the area of Sylvester Road just before 2 a.m. after a caller from the U.S. Navy requested fire and medical assistance due to a crash involving a watercraft. Brian O’Rourke, the media relations officer for Navy Region Southwest, told FOX 5 that a West Coast-based Naval Special Warfare unit conducting routine training operations off the coast of Southern California hit the Zuniga Point Jetty while entering San Diego Bay around 1:50 a.m. Authorities say five sailors were transported from the scene to UC San Diego Health in Hillcrest. O’Rourke says they are all in stable condition with non-life-threatening injuries. According to the Navy, an investigation into “the mishap” is underway. Fox5

Justin Brooks Retires From Innocence Project

Ocean Beach resident Justin Brooks, director of the San Diego-based California Innocence Project — which works to free people who have been wrongfully convicted — announced that he is stepping down from leading the organization he co-founded. Brooks said he also will resign his tenured faculty position at the California Western School of Law. “This was a tough decision that I have agonized about, but it is the right time. Twenty-four years is a long time for a founder to hang around,” Brooks tweeted. In a follow-up tweet, Brooks said he will continue his advocacy work in Latin America.

He told The San Diego Union-Tribune that he is stepping down “because it seemed the right time.” “My staff are competent and know what they are doing,” he said. “Where I am needed more is south of the border, so I am going to find ways to expand that work.” Brooks is the author of the newly released book “You Might Go to Prison, Even Though You’re Innocent.” Brooks helped found the California Innocence Project in 1999. Since then, its work has led to the release of 37 innocent people. Among then was NFL hopeful Brian Banks, whose story later became a movie, “Brian Banks,” in 2019. Brooks was played in the movie by actor Greg Kinnear. Pt Loma – OB Monthly

Man Gets 9 Years for Stabbing 2 Police Dogs in Midway District

Nine years in state prison was the sentence handed down on June 8 for a man who stabbed a police dog in the Midway District which includes three years for stabbing another police dog before. Two San Diego Police officers testified at the sentencing of Dedrick Daknell Jones, 37, about their experiences with Jones as he threatened officers and both dogs with knives. San Diego Superior Court Judge Dwayne Moring ordered Jones to pay $3,283.70 for medical expenses for injuring Hondo, the police dog he stabbed twice on Dec. 17, 2021, in the 3700 block of Riley Street. Additionally, Moring ordered Jones to pay $9,877.65 for medical expenses for Titan, who was more severely injured and lost 6-8 inches of his colon in surgery following a stabbing by Jones in January 2021. Titan also needed more than 100 stitches following his operation. Titan died a few months ago, said Deputy District Attorney Clay Biddle, who added it was not directly related to the stabbing. sdnews.com