Author: Staff

By OB Staff 

David Garrick, the San Diego Union-Tribune’s City Hall Reporter, will give a Saturday, December 13 presentation on “This Just In: Covering the City Hall Beat.”

The forum, part of a series organized by the San Diego Community Coalition, will take place from 12 noon to 1:00 p.m. at the Logan Heights Library, 567 S. 28 Street. Following Garrick’s brief remarks, the floor will open for questions from the audience.

Garrick has had a front row seat in San Diego politics for more than a decade. When he started covering City Hall in 2014, Kevin Faulconer was the new Mayor, Todd Gloria was City Council President, and Sempra Energy occupied the tower at 101 Ash Street.

San Diego County Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer held a community meeting in Encinitas Thursday, Dec. 4, to urge the public to take a stand against the Trump administration’s plans to expand Califonia’s offshore drilling. She was joined by Solana Beach Mayor Lesa Heebner. The meeting had been organized by the environmental groups California Coastal Protection Network, Oceana, Surfrider Foundation and Wildcoast.

The Thursday gathering followed the Nov. 20 announcement by the Trump administration that it will reopen ocean waters off the Pacific Coast to oil drilling leases, generating rapid opposition from California officials and environmentalists.

Lawson-Remer said she and others are united in defending the San Diego region, and told President Donald Trump and oil executives to “go pound sand.”

“We are not going to go backwards,” no matter how much Trump calls clean energy “a con job,” Lawson-Remer said during the meeting.

Once again, we return to Letters to the Editor for the truth — and it’s so much more fun to see letters written by people  you know. So, here’s a couple from today’s Union-Tribune, one from Rag writer Kate Callen and another from Ralph Teyssier, a commenter on the Rag.

Re “Campillo’s reforms a smart response to Gloria’s trash fee machinations” (Nov. 30):

Thank you for pointing out that San Diego has one elected official with a functioning moral compass. Yes, Raul Campillo is pushing the reform rock up the hill — for now. But widespread disgust with the mayor’s mendacity and the connivance of eight City Council members is changing the political landscape. We see this in the overflow crowds at council meetings and the scores of angry letters you print.

By Jillian Butler

Ocean Beach residents are once again grappling with the consequences of corporate overreach. As many long-time OBceans have feared, the Target Express at 4864 Newport Avenue is backtracking on the assurances made to both Ocean Beach residents and business owners. In 2017, Target applied for ownership of the building formerly housing the Newport Avenue Antique Center.

According to NBC 7:

The store is part of Target’s master plan to open what it calls “small-format stores” in urban areas and in dense suburban neighborhoods – namely places where a full-size Target store may not fit. These smaller stores aim to offer an assortment of products that cater specifically to the community in which the store stands.

With Ocean Beach’s historical opposition to large corporate franchises and diverse array of small businesses, this was met with stark opposition from the community back in 2017. A petition against the Target garnered over 2,600 signatures. Local print shop, James Gang, sold “No Target in OB” shirts. Ocean Beach Town Council meetings were filled to the brim with community members opposing a mega corporation on one of Ocean Beach’s liveliest streets. Crowds of concerned OBceans gathered on Newport Avenue to protest the installation. One resident even traveled to the Target headquarters in Minnesota to demonstrate against the Target Express.

This OBcean Actually Rides the Bus

By South OB Girl

San Diego City officials who tout “transit-oriented development” for Ocean Beach may have never actually taken the bus in our community.  I have, and what I’ve seen is both instructive and alarming.

OB streets are not wide enough for buses to operate safely.  Cable Street, the main thoroughfare for MTS Bus #35 and MTS Bus #923, which are the current buses in OB, is one lane on both sides, with cars parked up and down the whole length of it. Buses routinely drive close to or over the double yellow lines. When the bus makes a left turn down Cable from West Point Loma Blvd. or a right turn onto West Point Loma Blvd. from Cable, it takes up all the space of both roads, and it blocks the entire intersection of Cable and West Point Loma Blvd.

Most drivers in cars behind the bus try to pass because of the frequent stops along the route. Because there isn’t much room, passing cars cross over into the other lane when there is no oncoming traffic. Too often, the result is a collision.

Check out this cute and quick video of the OB Christmas Tree, just erected today, Tuesday December 2. The vid is produced by Charles Landon.

OB Rag Staff Report

In an August 8 Rag Post, “2026 District 2 Council Race: Will Voters Get Fooled Again?”, we promised to “scrutinize the candidates in the … primary: who they are, what they’ve done, what they say, and most importantly, where their money comes from.”

The primary is six months away in June, and candidates have filed early campaign financial reports. A review of the city’s Campaign Disclosure Reports (Series 400) shows a real difference in the sources of support for three candidates who filed disclosures: Josh Coyne, Mandy Havlik, and Nicole Crosby.

Three other candidates in the race – Mike Rickey, Nicole Quillin, and Daniel Smiechowski – do not have reports on the website, which is common for candidates who don’t reach the reporting threshold.

Josh Coyne

Coyne is in first place in District 2 fundraising totals with $69,148. He has made a $30,000 loan to his campaign. According to the Voters’ Voice Initiatives, his contributions from outside District 2 amount to $57,000, or more than 80 percent of his take.

Many of Coyne’s contributors are corporate leaders and lobbyists, some of whom have close ties to Mayor Todd Gloria. They include:

Back in late April of 2024, three surfers with connections with Point Loma took a camping and surfing trip to Baja. Carter Rhoad and brothers Callum and Jake Robinson ended up in Punta San José in Ensenda. Callum lived in Ocean Beach, where his brother Jake was visiting him — both brothers are from Australia — and Rhoad, a Point Loma resident, graduated from Point Loma Nazarene University in 2014.

Rhoad and brothers Callum and Jake Robinson were reported missing after they failed to show up at their planned accommodations, and days later they were found dead in Santo Tomas, Baja California.

Back in May, the governor of Baja California, Marina del Pilar Ávila Olmeda, reported that there were three people in custody as a result of the investigation into the execution-style killings. The medical examiner of Baja California said at that time that each of the victims died from a bullet wound to the head.

And much more recently on November 19th, prosecutors with the State Attorney General’s Office in Baja said a woman named Ary Gisell Silva Raya was convicted and sentenced to 20 years for robbery with violence and vehicle theft in connection to the case. Silva Raya pleaded guilty at the hearing on Wednesday and waived her right to a trial. She was fined about $3,000 as well, a number that will increase with payments due to her victims.

By Csaba Petre

As promised, these last two weeks I have resumed my journey attempting to sample the (as it turns out, rather extensive) coffee scene of Ocean Beach as completely as possible. Some readers, in the comments for Part One, expressed surprise at the number of coffee shops in OB. [Here is Part One.] For those interested in how our coffee density measures up to larger cities, OB (population ~15K) has ~20 coffee shops, giving one coffee shop per only 750 residents, an amount that tops even Seattle (2300) and Berkeley (2000)!

Rankings in the promised categories are given at the end. Let’s jump in!

Coffee Cycle Roasting, Nov. 23

4856 Voltaire

Coffee Cycle is a recent addition to the North side of OB, having opened in 2024. A spacious and unabashedly hipster space, the shop offers spots to sit and plenty of room to socialize. While not particularly quiet inside, it has outdoor seating on offer in the back. The feel was definitely unique; on the day I visited, a lively (impromptu?) piano performance was ongoing. The shop also hosts local art and music events.

The cappuccino was $4.75, and I wasn’t disappointed by it. The flavor and foam were solid and bitterness was low. As a bonus, they roast their own beans. They have teas, drip coffee, and mocktails as well.

Recommended for: stopping in for one of their events; catching up with a friend.

Trump called for the Democratic lawmakers to be “arrested and placed on trial” in social media posts because of their video message.

President Donald Trump on Thursday, Nov. 20, accused six Democratic-lawmakers of “seditious behavior,” calling for them to “be arrested and put on trial” for behavior that, he said, could be “punishable by death.”

All because of a video they made earlier in the week and distributed widely telling military and intelligence officers to “refuse illegal orders.” Which is the law.

The lawmakers, all of whom are veterans or had worked in the CIA did not urge any illegal actions. They include Democratic Senators Elissa Slotkin, of Michigan and Mark Kelly of Arizona, and House of Representatives members  Chris Deluzio of Pennsylvania, Maggie Goodlander of New Hampshire, Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania and Jason Crow of Colorado.

In response to their video, Trump responded on social network:

“It’s called SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL. Each one of these traitors to our Country should be ARRESTED AND PUT ON TRIAL. Their words cannot be allowed to stand – We won’t have a Country anymore!!! An example MUST BE SET,” the president wrote in one Truth Social post Thursday morning, linking to an article about the video from the Washington Examiner.

“This is really bad, and Dangerous to our Country. Their words cannot be allowed to stand. SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR FROM TRAITORS!!! LOCK THEM UP???” Trump wrote in another post.

In a third, he wrote: “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!”

By Csaba Petre

Last week, I embarked on a journey here in Ocean Beach; an expedition of discovery to a place many have been before, and might not imagine life without: the humble coffee shop. Specifically, all the coffee shops in OB.

While a good number of us drink coffee daily, few of us do so at a different establishment every morning. A bit over a week ago, I took it upon myself to do just that: to visit a different local coffee shop each day, until I have visited all of them (17 total). At the end of my travels (in the upcoming part two), in addition to general impressions of each place, I will compile a more structured comparison. I will rank the top three shops in each of the categories:

• tastiest cappuccino;
• biggest kick (strongest);
• best social/hangout spot;
• best place to work; and
• most unique vibe.

I’ll also comment on each place’s specialty, non-coffee offerings and anything unique about them.

Why cappuccino? This is partially a personal bias, but as a “standard” espresso drink, every shop can make one, giving me a baseline for a point of comparison. I believe I am qualified for this weighty task as a daily coffee drinker of twenty+ years; I have often asked why we don’t have a word like “hungry”, but to refer specifically to how one feels before the first coffee of the day.

With that established, I bid a two-week farewell to my trusty Breville, and embarked. See you on the other side, friend.

In this part one, one week in, I have visited eight shops so far. Most were around the more Southern and Eastern sides of OB.