Category: Culture

From organizers:

The Ocean Beach Community Foundation, Pacific Beach Town Council, and Mission Beach Town Council have joined forces to present the San Diego City Council District 2 Candidate Forum: Coastal Issues for the Beach & Bay Communities.

All members of the public are invited to join us on Thursday, May 14th at Paradise Point Resort & Spa from 6:00PM to 8:00PM. The San Diego City Council District 2 Candidate Forum is a moderated, structured event where candidates running for San Diego City Council District 2 will answer curated questions from a panel of community leaders, giving residents a clear, side-by-side look at who is running to represent D2.

Nancy and Ken Freemans’ Storefront “Is the epitome of a brick-and-mortar mom-and-pop.”

by Dave Schwab / Times of San Diego / April 28, 2026

Antiques and collectibles are how Ocean Beach entrepreneurs Ken and Nancy Freeman met, what they draw sustenance from, and what keeps them going — and going and going.

“We moved here from downtown San Diego,” said Ken Freeman, before finally settling in permanently at the Ocean Beach Antique Mall at 4926 Newport Ave.

Earlier this month, the couple marked their 50th anniversary dealing in antiques, half of that time in OB. It’s an occupation that began with the opening of their first antiques business on April 1, 1976.

How Ken first got involved with antiques is an interesting tale. “He answered an ad for a part-time job as an apprentice working on imported German clocks,” said Nancy Freeman, adding that her husband also “became quite a proficient woodworker” as an understudy in that trade too.

Mike James Refutes City’s Reasons for Dis-Allowing OB Drone Show

It was just yesterday, April 29, that writer Tessa Balc of Times of San Diego wrote the startling headline, “City Says SeaWorld Can But OB Can’t,” in referring to 4th of July shows with drones. She began:

If you spent your 2023 Fourth of July in Ocean Beach, you might recall a drone show instead of fireworks. Well, hold onto those memories because it’s looking like you won’t be able to remake those any time soon. Organizers of the event tried to secure permits for the event last year and for this upcoming Fourth. They’ve been met with rejection from the city.

A city spokesperson says it’s because of the lack of availability from SDPD to enact a road closure, and that the 2023 had drones that operated outside of approved boundaries. The chair of the committee who put on the show disagrees with what the city has to say. “But where SeaWorld has a path forward, Ocean Beach hit a wall,” he said.

Balc was referring to Mike James – the chair of the committee — the Luminosity Committee — who put on the drone show in 2023.

Mike told the Times that Ocean Beach was “ahead of the curve” in replacing traditional fireworks with more costly, but less environmentally damaging drone displays.

“The community’s 2023 drone show, which replaced traditional fireworks, drew widespread attention for its quieter, environmentally-friendly approach and was seen by many as a successful new model for celebrating Independence Day,” James said.

James also said that when he and others began to revive the drone show for 2025, they were met “almost immediately” with resistance from the city,

Are the County Supervisors executing a term-limits power play? Yes, says the U-T Editorial Board.

Everything You Need To Know About The San Diego Padres New Husband-And-Wife Owners — SanDiegoVille has the story.

San Diego’s roller coaster effort to cement long-term public control of Liberty Station is broken down by David Garrick at the U-T. It is becoming steadily more bitter as city officials and the complex’s largest leaseholder trade barbs and accusations.

By Jillian Butler

On April 27, 2026, more than 200 residents gathered at the Liberty Station Conference Center, shared with Point Loma Nazarene University, for a wide-ranging forum featuring candidates vying to represent San Diego’s District 2. Hosted by the League of Women Voters, the event gave Peninsula residents a chance to hear directly from those hoping to replace termed-out Councilmember Jennifer Campbell.

OBceans and Point Loma residents hope that the next councilperson will take the concerns of Peninsula residents seriously. Currently, there are six individuals vying for Ms. Campbell’s position.

Mr. Josh Coyne is a former Campbell aide who has a professional background in Student Affairs at the University of San Diego. He has a robust background in providing aid to LBGTQ+ youth. Ms. Nicole Crosby is a former City Attorney and a mother. She is extremely involved with Parent-Teacher Association meetings, and her experience as a devoted parent drives her desire to better her community.

Ms. Mandy Havlik is the wife of a disabled veteran– a group of Point Loma voters that is often overlooked. Mr. Jacob Mitchell is a younger man with no political background who is hoping to make this region more affordable. Mr. Paul Suppa is an attorney and fellow alumni of the University of San Diego. Finally, Mr. Richard Bailey the former mayor of Coronado is throwing his hat in the ring for a District Two seat.

By Debra Sklar / Times of San Diego / April 27, 2026

Stand at the intersection of Rosecrans Street and Avenida de Portugal, and you’re standing in what was once the heart of Roseville — a waterfront settlement that, for a brief moment in the late 1800s, carried ambitions far bigger than its footprint.

Today, it feels like just another Point Loma neighborhood: residential streets, steady traffic, and a quiet connection to the bay. But in the mid-1860s, this stretch of shoreline was being shaped into a planned community with its own identity — and its own future.

That vision began with Louis Rose.

Born March 24, 1807, in Neuhaus-an-der-Oste, then part of the Kingdom of Westphalia, Rose was a German Jewish immigrant and early developer who recognized the potential of the peninsula’s shoreline.

In 1866, he purchased land along the bay, laid out streets, and built a wharf and hotel to support a developing waterfront settlement. His goal was simple but ambitious: to create a thriving port community tied to future rail expansion and regional commerce.

Here are some brief thoughts and observations about the candidates running for District 2 of the San Diego City Council. I attended the candidate forum last night in Liberty Station — and the cavernous hall was packed — a great turnout. Someone told me the hall had a capacity of 200 or 250. Lots of gray heads. Six candidates were on the stage: Richard Bailey, Paul Suppa, Mandy Havlik, Jacob Mitchell, Nicolle Crosby and Josh Coyne.

League of Women Voters did a great job in organizing the forum, which was co-hosted by the Point Loma Association.

Opening Statements

Bailey wants us to “stand up to city hall,” as does Suppa and Havlik. Suppa says San Diego is in a state of crisis due to its budgetary problems. Our city, he says, spends twice the national average on the police department, and that we need to “stop overtime for police.”

Havlik knows the city is in trouble. She expressed her love for the community, has spent years serving the community, has stood up against bad projects and her campaign is “grassroots and people-powered.”

The youngest candidate on the stage was Jacob Mitchell, who became the crowd favorite for his honesty and naivete. But nobody thinks he can win.

By Rev. Michael J. Christensen

Don’t be naïve: what’s being sold right now in renewed negotiations with Iran— and in the wider conflicts touching Israel, Gaza, Lebanon, and Ukraine— is not really peace. It’s a deal.

Cap uranium enrichment at a negotiated threshold. Reopen inspections. In exchange, ease sanctions, unfreeze assets, lower the temperature. Declare a breakthrough. Claim victory.

We’ve seen this script before. It’s essentially a reboot— an updated version of the same nuclear framework under President Biden, repackaged for a new political moment.

To be sure, deals like this can slow a crisis. They can buy time. They may even avert immediate catastrophe.

But they don’t reach the deeper fractures driving the conflict in the first place—generational wounds, historical grievances, cycles of injustice and retaliation.
The biblical prophet Jeremiah would call it out for what it is:

“They have treated the wound of my people lightly, saying ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace.”

Call it peace lite.

By Dave Myers / Times of San Diego / April 23, 2026

For more than a decade, warnings about deaths inside San Diego County jails have come from every direction. Families have spoken out. Journalists have documented patterns that should have triggered reform. Disability Rights California raised concerns. The California State Auditor identified systemic failures. I have written about it for years.

What was missing, we were told, was definitive proof.

That proof now exists. Independent statisticians, commissioned by the county’s own oversight body, have completed the most rigorous outside study ever conducted on in-custody deaths in San Diego County. Their findings do not introduce a new story. They confirm, with data and analysis, what has already been seen and too often dismissed.

The study examined 179 deaths over more than 12 years. More than half occurred at a single facility: San Diego Central Jail.

by Robert Steven Mack / Times of San Diego / April 27, 2026

Upon learning of Mayor Todd Gloria’s proposed funding cuts for the arts, and as a professional ballet dancer based in San Diego, I found myself musing over actor Timothee Chalamet’s comments last month that “no one cares about” opera and ballet. Our mayor seems intent to prove Chalamet right.

While Gloria is framing these cuts as a matter of fiscal adjustments, arts leaders need to argue that the arts have a value that goes beyond economic impact.

The mayor announced his budget proposal on April 15, proposing to cut arts funding by $11.8 million to alleviate the city’s $148 million deficit. The remaining $2 million for the arts will only be enough to keep the Cultural Affairs Office open to administer state grants.

Many prominent cultural organizations would be affected by these cuts, including my employer, City Ballet of San Diego, as well as the Maritime Museum, the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Old Globe and many more.

By Staff / CBS8 / April 21, 2026

The State of California and the San Pasqual Band of Mission Indians are suing the city of Poway for moving forward with a 40-home housing development after discovering human remains and tribal cultural resources at the site.

In two separate complaints, state prosecutors and tribal attorneys say the city plowed ahead without any additional environmental review, as required under the California Environmental Quality Act, after finding hundreds of pottery fragments, tools, arrowheads, and other historic artifacts, which the San Pasqual Band of Mission Indians says was likely a sacred site or possibly a village.

“The types and quantities of tools and stone fragments identified on the site reflected that ‘arrow points were being manufactured and rejuvenated on-site,'” reads the state’s lawsuit. “Some of the more unusual stones found on the site (including chert and chalcedony) ‘suggest that trade and/or contact with other groups was an important aspect of the lives of the prehistoric inhabitants.'”

According to both lawsuits, developer Shea Homes began construction in October 2025 using an environmental review more than 20 years old.