Month: July 2026

A View From the United Kingdom

By Will Howard / Dangerous Minds – UK / July 4, 2026

July 4th is more than just a holiday in the United States of America. It’s a marker of the time the country threw off the shackles of oppression and told the (once) most powerful country in the world exactly where they could stick them.

Precisely what they did with those shackles of oppression afterwards is a different and much, much more depressing story, but that’s for another time.

The question is, how do you celebrate it? There’s an argument to be made that it should be a sombre reflection. After all, declaring independence led to a blood-soaked war which cost the young nation thousands of lives. They won, but by the absolute skin of their teeth and not without a lot of help from Britain’s countless other rivals.

The parallel universe where the nascent United States lost the Revolutionary War wasn’t a million miles away from happening, so perhaps Independence Day should be a day of remembrance, filled with quiet marches, a wreath around a statue, and a prayer for those lost.

Or, I guess you could house enough beer and hot dogs to kill a bull, blast some Guns N’ Roses as loud as it will go, and pass out watching the mother of all fireworks displays. That does sound a little more fun, to be fair.

This is, actually, in accordance with what the Founding Fathers actually wanted. In a letter that none other than John Adams sent to his wife Abigail, he detailed that the American Independence Day “ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.”

Ironically enough, it wasn’t actually the 4th of July he was talking about, but the day that Congress first voted to approve the Declaration of Independence, July 2nd.

The point still stands, though, and one wonders what he would have thought of the way that Ocean Beach, California, decided to celebrate American Independence.

 El Pueblo Viejo de San Diego: Hiding in Plain Sight, Part 5

By Alexander D. Bevil, California State Parks Historian II (Retired) / SOHO / July-August 2026

The following California State Landmarks (CHLs) reflect the years 1821 to 1847 when San Diego evolved from a military outpost to a Mexican pueblo.

CHL No. 74: Casa de Carrillo (see above)
Presidio comandante Francisco María Ruiz reportedly built this house next to his pear garden in 1810 for his cousin and fellow soldier Joaquín Carrillo and his large family. On April 15, 1829, Ruiz’s godchild Josefa Carrillo—with the help of her cousin Pio Pico, a caballero and future Mexican governor of California—eloped with ship captain Henry Delano Fitch to Chile. After her brother Ramón Carrillo sold the property, the large casa deteriorated, leaving only a single-room structure. Given landmark status on December 6, 1932, local businessman George Marston repurposed the building in 1931 as the Presidio Hills Golf Course’s clubhouse. He later deeded both the building and the course to the City of San Diego.

Hailed by legendary film critic Roger Ebert as best film of the year and the ninth-best overall film of the 2000s.

By Kendra Syrdal / Parade / July 6, 2026

Based on writer and director Cameron Crowe’s real-life experiences as a teenage writer for Rolling Stone, the movie Almost Famous has become a cult classic sensation since its release in 2000.

When Crowe was just 16 years old, he spent three weeks touring with The Allman Brothers Band and interviewing its members as well as the road crew. Because Crowe was younger than many of the journalists, he was more inclined to interview the hard rock bands that his older colleagues didn’t yet understand. Because of this, he landed interviews with the likes of Fleetwood Mac, Joni Mitchell, and Eric Clapton.

This is what would serve as the inspiration and backbone for Almost Famous.

Crowe used many different points of reference when he created Stillwater, the fictional band, for the movie. According to Greg Allman’s 2012 memoir, My Cross to Bear, many of the moments and aspects of the film are taken from Crowe’s time spent with the band for the 1973 Rolling Stone cover feature. The movie was shot over the course of just 92 days, around San Diego, Ca. on Ocean Beach and Sunset Cliffs.

The soundtrack for Almost Famous has been lauded as one of the best compilations of music made for a movie, with some even considering it the best of all time. In 2001, it took home the Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media.

U.S. Hits 81 Targets in Iran; Iran Attacks 85 U.S. “Assets”; Oil and Gas Prices Rise, Stocks Fall

Just when you thought you could settle into the summer, with gas prices coming down and some things appearing to get normal — BOOM! Trump’s war with Iran is back on and he says the MoU is over.

Ostensibly because Iranian forces attacked three tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, Trump’s military unleashed a barrage against 81 Iranian targets and in response, Iran attacked 85 targets considered U.S. “assets” within the region.

The Iranian foreign ministry stated that the U.S. attacks violated Article 1 of the MoU relating to the ceasefire, Article 5 – related to the management of the Strait of Hormuz, which says Iran is responsible for managing passage through the waterway – and Article 10, which pertains to a waiver on Iranian oil exports.

The impacts of all this was immediate. Oil prices rose and the Dow Jones initially fell 700 points this morning.

The tankers Iran struck were attempting to skirt the passage way that according to the MoU, Iran is responsible for managing.

Now Trump says the ceasefire deal with Iran is “over”, and that dealing with Tehran is a “waste of time”.

In the middle of the NATO summit in Turkey, Trump also threatened more attacks tonight, Wednesday. (He also ramped up his insane pressure to get Greenland.)

Everyone is urging calm and a return to the ceasefire and more negotiations.

By Shannon Handy / CBS8/ July 6, 2026

(slighted edited for clarification)

Visitors to Mission Bay now have to walk further to find a public restroom, as the city began closing nearly half of the facilities around the bay starting Monday, July 6.

A total of 13 out of 28 public restrooms will be shut down by the end of this week due to budget restrictions, a move that many local visitors and business owners are criticizing. [and just plain locals.]

The closures, which come after the 4th of July holiday, aim to save the city approximately $546,000, primarily from cleaning and maintenance costs.

Affected restrooms include:

Movement Against ‘Golden Pacific Powerlink’ 

PRESERVATION ACTION ALERT
Help Protect Backcountry Historic Resources and Anza-Borrego Desert State Park

by Cody Dulaney / inewsource / July 6, 2026

Earlier this year, inewsource revealed a glaring loophole in a San Diego law that allows property owners to obtain a short-term rental license even after carrying out an illegal eviction.

More than four months have passed and that loophole still exists, and city officials haven’t said how they plan to fix it.

Councilmember Jennifer Campbell, who represents Ocean Beach, Point Loma and Mission Beach, continues to tout the regulation of short-term vacation rentals as a signature achievement, leading the charge to pass the ordinance that took effect in 2023. The ordinance has been hailed as one of the best examples of vacation rental regulations in the country.

Campbell plans to bring amendments forward to a committee meeting next month for consideration, said Venus Molina, the councilmember’s chief of staff. But Campbell nor her staff have answered questions about the loophole or how they plan to fix it.

Since inewsource revealed the gap in city law, hundreds of San Diegans have been evicted from their homes and the city has no way of knowing whether any of those evictions led to short-term rental licenses.

The loophole deals with a specific type of action called a no-fault eviction — it happens when a property owner wants to end a lease for reasons unrelated to a tenant’s behavior. State law allows property owners to exit the rental housing business for a number of specific reasons, including a substantial remodel or to allow for the owner or their family to move in.

After 60 years on Rosecrans Boulevard, Denny’s in Point Loma has closed. The old-school, 24-hour diner permanently shut its doors in late June. According to KFMB-TV, customers arriving at the restaurant found professionally printed signs directing them to another Denny’s nearby on West Point Loma Boulevard.

Because of its late-night fare, Denny’s was a favorite for generations of Point Lomans.

Yet, according to Econostrum the major breakfast chain has shut down 150 locations across the U.S. and it appears that the Point Loma site wasn’t up to snuff.

The iconic breakfast chain has continued to close underperforming restaurants following its acquisition by a private investment group earlier this year. The latest shutdown in San Diego comes after the company closed 150 locations during 2025, while several franchise operators have also faced financial difficulties. …

There has been two suspicious deaths in the general Point Loma area in the last five days.They appear totally unrelated.

In the first death, 62-year-old San Diego resident Darrell Cogdill suffered a gunshot wound and was found in a median along Nimitz Boulevard very early Thursday morning, July 2nd. He passed at the hospital.

And late Sunday night, July 5, a man was found dead in a parked car in the Midway District. He is still unidentified.

In the shooting, Cogdill was found laying unresponsive in a Nimitz Boulevard median north of Famosa Boulevard in the 4400 block of Nimitz. Police and medics responded to a call around 1:50 a.m. after someone reported seeing him. San Diego Fire-Rescue medics performed life-saving measures at the scene before transporting Cogdill to a hospital, where he died.

By Paul Krueger

I can remember when Sean Elo-Rivera, my city council representative, didn’t turn his back on me when I greeted him, when he didn’t talk over me and joke with his colleagues while I testified at council meetings, and when he didn’t leave the council chambers during my public comments.

Shortly after taking office in 2021, Elo-Rivera met with a group of Talmadge/ Kensington residents concerned about the emergence of multi-story apartment buildings in residential areas (branded as “Bonus ADUs”).

To his credit, Elo-Rivera was honest and unapologetic about his intentions. He told us he had no interest in helping us secure even modest reforms to the controversial ADU program. He saw no reason to include minimal requirements for landscaping, off-street parking, setbacks from adjoining homes, and basic design standards.

He did pledge to help make sure the developers complied with building codes and other requirements. But, as we warned him, they didn’t — and he did nothing to stop them.

In the five years since that initial meeting, Elo-Rivera has abandoned any pretense of representation for constituents who disagree with his views, criticize his policy choices, or complain about his behavior.

He’s made it clear that those of us who, in his words, “live north of El Cajon Boulevard” do not deserve his respect or even the basic constituent services of his non-partisan council office.

Elo-Rivera shows a special disdain for those of us who are — in his words — old, white, and “implicitly racist” homeowners. (No matter that Elo-Rivera himself now owns property north of his chosen El Cajon Boulevard battleline.)

By Debbie L. Sklar / Special to the OB Rag

Shelter Island looks like a quiet stretch of marinas, sailboats, and waterfront hotels today, but its history is anything but ordinary. What appeared to be a natural peninsula was actually a shifting sandbar in San Diego Bay, gradually transformed over decades of harbor dredging, engineering projects,s and the city’s expanding maritime economy.

Even its name tells only part of the story.

1. It Isn’t Really an Island

Despite the name, Shelter Island has never been a true island. It began as a low sandbar near Point Loma that was visible mainly at low tide.

Beginning in the 1930s, harbor improvement projects deposited dredged material onto the shoal, gradually creating the landform visitors see today. Over time, what had once been open water became one of San Diego’s most recognizable waterfront destinations.

Rag judges have – finally – determined a winner of the July 4th 250th anniversary Rag writing contest.

It is William Dorsett of San Diego. The Rag will be sending William a check for $100.

There were 7 entries  in the contest and we published them all anonymously. Dorsett wrote number 7, entitled, “What the 250th Anniversary Means Today… Living Under Trump: ‘I love America But It Can Do Better — the Torch Has Been Passed to Us.'”  Dorsett wrote his winning essay on the morning of July 4th.

Here is his essay:

Today marks the 250th anniversary of American Independence Day. It feels very different from the celebrations I remember growing up.

When I was a child, July 4th was a spectacle. My family gathered every year. My grandfather fired up the grill while my grandmother made potato salad and all the fixings. After lunch there was homemade ice cream or fresh peach cobbler. But the real excitement came after dark. Growing up in Texas, fireworks were everywhere, and lighting them was what I lived for each summer.

As we grow older, however, our understanding of history changes. I learned that the celebration of American independence has never meant the same thing to everyone. For many Native Americans, it marked the beginning of the destruction of their way of life. For African Americans, freedom would not come for another 89 years, followed by generations of unequal treatment. Women would wait nearly a century and a half before gaining the right to vote.