Author: Patty Jones

OB Community Development Corporation Launches “Better OB Contest,” Calling on Residents to Share Vision for the Neighborhood

Winner to be announced October 23 at the “Get to Know the OBCDC Event” – Idea submissions due by September 30, 2026

The Ocean Beach Community Development Corporation (OBCDC) has launched their Better OB Contest, a new community ideas competition inviting residents, business owners, and neighborhood groups to submit proposals for projects that would make Ocean Beach an even better place to live, work, and visit.

The contest was introduced by Scott Therkalsen, a long-time OB resident who joined the OBCDC Board of Directors in 2024.

As he explained:

“The OBCDC has been making Ocean Beach better for more than 30 years, we’ve done everything from planting the palms lining Sunset Cliffs and funding the entryway plaza, to helping fund the expansion of softball fields at Robb Field. We recently launched a grant program that has helped fund improvements at OBE and along Newport avenue and more but we really wanted to find a way to get individual community members from OB involved.

By Alexandra Hutzler / Democracy Docket / September 14, 2026

In a major win for voters, the Supreme Court Monday rejected the Trump administration’s attempt to reinstate its mail voting restrictions ahead of November’s pivotal midterm elections.

The justices declined to lift a block on the measure that a lower court judge has said is likely unconstitutional.

“The Government is unlikely to succeed on the merits of its challenge to the District Court’s preliminary injunction,” the court said in a brief, unsigned order. “And the equitable factors applicable for obtaining emergency relief from this Court do not favor a stay.”

The ruling* was 6-1-2, with Justice Brett Kavanaugh writing a concurring opinion and Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas dissenting.

An Ocean Beach native by the name of Bryson is hospitalized after surviving a 45-foot fall from the top of a palm tree while trimming it at work Tuesday, Sept.8. He suffered more than 25 broken bones, including severe fractures to his femur, elbow, ankle, pelvis, wrist, nose and forehead, all on the right side of his body.

Bryson has already undergone three emergency surgeries, with another scheduled, and faces months of hospitalization and rehabilitation. His family launched a GoFundMe to help cover his medical care, physical therapy and living expenses while he is unable to work. As of this writing, over $15,000 has been raised. As an aside, he should be eligible for Workers Compensation as well.

Here is some of the text from the GoFundMe page:

On Tuesday, our brother Bryson fell roughly 45 feet (around four stories) from the top of a palm tree during work tree trimming.

The fact of him being alive is a miracle.

NY Times Editorial Board – RSN / Sept. 9–11, 2026

President Trump has a long record of threatening rather than protecting the integrity of American elections. At his worst, he sought to overturn the 2020 results. Now he is menacing the midterms, with an executive order that would throw voting by mail into chaos if it went into effect.

It is up to the Supreme Court to prevent that. Nearly one in three voters now vote by mail. Mr. Trump’s order has already sowed doubt about whether Americans can continue to trust the Postal Service to deliver their ballots and prompted bipartisan alarm from states and local election officials. The sooner the court puts Mr. Trump’s ill-advised directive to rest, the better.

Mr. Trump’s order is illegal. He does not have the authority to set the rules for election administration. The Constitution gives that role to the states, with Congress providing oversight. “The times, places and manner of holding elections for senators and representatives shall be prescribed in each state by the legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by law make or alter such regulations,” Article I states.

As a bipartisan task force said in 2021 in response to a relatively minor executive order from President Joe Biden, “Presidents don’t have much of a role in how elections are run — and that’s a good thing.” Nevertheless, Mr. Trump ordered the Postal Service in March to decide which voters would receive mail-in ballots, a decision that states have always made for themselves.

Originally published Nov. 23, 2011.

By Patty Jones

I want to share a family secret with you – one long held in the Jones family holiday tradition – on the accepted method of “flipping the bird” at Thanksgiving.

Many years ago my mother stumbled through her early morning Thanksgiving ritual of prepping a huge turkey for the afternoon feast. Before her first cup of coffee she dropped the bird in the roasting pan and shoved it into the oven. A couple of hours later she opened the oven door and she realized she had put it in the pan upside (or breast-side) down.

By Patty Jones

I want to share a family secret with you – one long held in the Jones family holiday tradition – on the accepted method of “flipping the bird” at Thanksgiving.

Many years ago my mother stumbled through her early morning Thanksgiving ritual of prepping a huge turkey for the afternoon feast. Before her first cup of coffee she dropped the bird in the roasting pan and shoved it into the oven. A couple of hours later she opened the oven door and she realized she had put it in the pan upside (or breast-side) down. At this point the huge bird was too hot to handle so she basted it, tented it and shoved it back into the oven. The resulting bird has lingered in mouthwatering memory…

Author’s note: During the last few days I have come to know and develop a deep respect for a man I have never met. I do family history as a hobby and have been doing research on Frank’s uncle, …. What follows is what I have discovered, and what has brought me to tears a few times while collecting it all, here, for Memorial Day.
Lawrence Edward Webber, USMC, MIA – POW – KIA
Lawrence Edward Webber was born in 1920, in Malden, Massachusetts, the son of Frank Webber and Elizabeth Benson. He was the youngest of four children. He had one brother, Frank Webber (long-time local businessman and owner of Ocean Beach Camera, in the Newport Avenue area) and two sisters, Mildred and Dorothea (mother of our own editor, Frank Gormlie).

As a young man Lawrence moved to San Diego, where his siblings also lived, and enlisted in the Marine Corps on May 2, 1939 at the age of 19. He was stationed in San Diego until December 1939 when he was transported to Shanghai, China.

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We’ll see you soon!

Frank is taking a much needed break and won’t be posting much for the rest of the week. Keep posting…

Check out this fabulous view of snow in Mt Lagunas – taken from the parking lot of where Patty Jones – the tech girl for the OB Rag – works in Lakeside.