Category: Culture

After years of lawsuits, delays, and archeological surprises, Oceanside’s Ocean Kamp surf lagoon is finally under construction near real ocean waves.

By Dashel Pierson / SURFER / Apr 7, 2026

Key Points

• The $45 million Oceanside wave pool project is finally moving forward after years of delays.
• The 92-acre mixed-use development will include a 3.5-acre customizable surf lagoon as centerpiece.
• Developers aim to open before the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics; no official date yet.
• News about Oceanside’s inbound wave pool is, well, nothing new.

The San Diego, CA project has been in the works for years, in fact, but there’s been a number of setbacks that have left the manmade surf park – located near the coast, and one of the Golden State’s popular, although sleepy, surf towns – in something like limbo.

But now, it appears the $45 million project is moving finally moving forward.

Previously, some four years ago, the Ocean Kamp project had been announced and everything seemed to be moving forward. But then, it stalled. The project got embroiled in a number of hurdles – including lawsuits, city approvals, and the discovery of Native American artifacts on the site. And so, the bureaucratic hoops, as they say, were set.

Construction on the project is currently underway, and according to the video above, the narrator describes: “A massive surf lagoon is coming to Oceanside, San Diego, and they’re targeting to have it finished by the [Los Angeles] 2028 Olympics…the centerpiece of this project is a $45 million surf lagoon. It’s going to have a 3.5-acre wave pool, which produces perfect, customizable waves all year round.”

By Katie Anastas / KPBS / April 15, 2026

The San Diego Unified School District will offer free after-school child care for all elementary and middle school students starting next school year.

The district’s PrimeTime program is already at all 144 elementary and middle schools in the district, but space has been limited. At the start of the 2025-26 school year, about 7,000 students were on the waitlist.

The demand has grown over the last several years, said Tobie Pace, the district’s senior director of extended learning opportunities.

“Working families in San Diego County need quality, safe places for their kids to go,” she said.

by Dave Schwab / Times of San Diego / April 14, 2026

Three Point Loma High School students have swept first through third places in a districtwide public service announcement contest about school safety — and earned $2,500 for their efforts.

First place and $1,200 in prize money went to Seraphina Bush for her video titled “Life is Worth Too Much,” offering an anti-suicide message. Her work is especially poignant, given that a PLHS student tragically ended her life on campus in 2024 while a school football game was happening nearby. …

Second place, along with its $800 in prize money, went to Natalia Ritterman for “PSA.SSSS.” Third place and $500 in contest winnings were claimed by London Kwasizur for his video “Ebike.”

All three students are in the class of theatre instructor Anthony Palmiotto.

There are still water quality advisories in effect at Dog Beach in OB all the way to 300 feet south of the River outlet, according to the County of San Diego Beach Water Quality website. This has been in effect since April 2th under the catch-all advisory: “Bacteria levels exceed health standards. Avoid water contact in the advisory area.”

This is the statement on the Water Quality Board website:

Advisories are issued to warn beach users as follows:
– A Bacterial Exceedance Advisory is issued when ocean or bay water sample results exceed State health standards due to high bacteria levels.
– A Precautionary Advisory is issued when DEHQ determines there is a potential for elevated bacteria due to dredging, lagoon opening or other sources in the vicinity of coastal areas.

Here’s more on the District 2 candidates — first in a video of the April 7 Ocean Beach Planning Board meeting where 3 candidates were questioned, and second, in interviews of 3 candidates by the editor of Explore Clairemont, an online platform.

OB Planning Board video

— Only three were present as per plan by the OBPB. They will interview others at the next board meeting. See OBPB for the video.

h4>Interviews of Bailey, Rickey and Crosby by Explore Clairemont publisher Tanja Kropf

Belmont Park in Mission Beach is unveiling a multimillion-dollar revamp just in time for the busy summer season, featuring upgrades to its historic Giant Dipper roller coaster and new attractions for visitors.

The nearly century-old amusement park expects about 150,000 visitors during peak summer months as families return to enjoy the updated rides, beachfront views and classic attractions.

One of the park’s most iconic features, the Giant Dipper, recently underwent a $1.6 million rehabilitation project focused on improving the ride experience.

“So the Giant Dipper, which just turned 100 years old last year, it’s going into a 101st birthday in July, just went under a six-week rehab this past February,” said Sarah Abelsohn, marketing director for Belmont Park.

The work primarily focused on smoothing out the wooden track to enhance comfort for riders while preserving the coaster’s historic charm.

In addition to the coaster upgrades, Belmont Park has introduced new attractions, including a free-access play structure near Shipwreck Cove designed for younger visitors and families.

By Joni Halpern

We have a new savior. We saw his picture on the holy card of Truth Social.

He wasn’t exactly like the old Jesus, but the new look was brighter overall. The new savior’s hair was shiny blond and precisely coiffed, as if he had emerged from a salon only minutes before ministering to the crowd of sick people and worshipers. His white cassock looked as if it were a discard from a “Call the Midwife” scene, just before the wet, bloody baby is hauled into the world, spoiling the bleached white garment of the imperturbable midwife.

The red shawl that draped over the new savior’s shoulders was only shades darker than the ruddy red complexion of his face. In this picture, the new savior’s eyes were nothing like those in the portrait that presently adorns the walls of federal buildings. None of that glowering, sinister presence that dares his supplicants to ask for mercy.

The image of the new savior does contain some anomalies, of course: fighter jets and warriors riding the rays of the sun above a battle flag; the Statute of Liberty stuffed into a small space between the worshipful face of a soldier gazing at the new savior; an adoring nurse looking upward at the new savior’s right hand, which lies upon the forehead of a presumably sick fellow slumbering on a pillow, his head emitting rays of blinding light due to his contact with the new savior; the palm of the new savior’s left hand holding a concentrated source of light, and finally, a couple of other contented admirers whose faces and prayerful hands suggest they have finally contacted the Real Thing.

On the beach at the end of Cape May in the sand has stood what locals call “The Lifeguard Chair” — a neighborhood treasure that has been maintained and repaired by people who live on those sandy blocks.

However, lately – after locals spend hours and money on repairing the chair after it had been swept out to the water during a storm — someone with a hatchet walked up to it at night and destroyed it. People were heartbroken … but they haven’t given up.

They’ve established a gofundme to raise dough to rebuilt the chair “one again.”  Here’s their statement:

The Cape May community is coming together to repair ‘The Lifeguard Chair,’ a beloved fixture on the beach in front of our neighborhood for nearly two decades. This chair has been a gathering spot, a symbol of our shared love for the ocean, and a project that many neighbors have poured their time and resources into over the years. After a recent storm destroyed the chair, a group of us spent countless hours and hundreds of dollars rebuilding it, determined to keep this tradition alive for everyone who enjoys our beach.

The new owner of The Black has been finally revealed!

He’s Peter Yaldo, a local businessman from Chula Vista, but with strong family ties to Ocean Beach.

His uncle is the landlord of the building where The Black rents and that’s where he met up with Kurt Dornbusch, the now former owner. Dornbusch did still had a lease obligation on the space. Yaldo assumed Dornbusch’s lease and acquired The Black.

Yaldo had a “soft opening” on April 6th and plans a grand opening later in the month.

Here’s the details from Steve Anderson’s great piece at Times of San Diego

In early February, The Black announced it was closing its doors for good.

Owner Kurt Dornbusch announced his retirement after 45 years at the helm, ending The Black’s 57-year run as a defining countercultural landmark on Newport Avenue.

Letter to City of San Diego & Mayor Todd Gloria 

By Shannon Greenlee

My April property tax bill increased by over $500 due to the added trash fee — and that’s only one of two annual payments.

If I refuse to pay the portion related to the trash fee increase (more than $1,000 total), I face penalties and even the risk of losing my home.

Today, we’re having fun and games with Richard Bailey, a candidate for District 2 of the San Diego City Council.

First, a new PAC for Bailey has just been announced. This is serious stuff. But it’s also a game. Steven Richter, a semi-retired tax attorney, is the principal officer for ‘SD Policy over Politics’, the new PAC.

Here’s Arturo Castañares’ write up about the new PAC, published April 13. Castañares is the editor at large of La Prensa.

A longtime Point Loma resident has launched a new political action committee (PAC) to support a candidate in the upcoming election for San Diego City Council, according to documents filed with the California Secretary of State last week.

By Mandy Havlik, Candidate for San Diego City Council District 2

I didn’t decide to run for City Council sitting behind a desk or at a political event. I decided to run after years of standing and advocating with neighbors asking, why is this still not fixed?

After watching people I care about feeling ignored by a system that’s supposed to serve them. And one of those moments that really stayed with me happened at my kids’ school. As a new parent and the elementary school garden coordinator at Ocean Beach Elementary, I started noticing traffic safety issues along Santa Monica and Sunset Cliffs Boulevard. Cars moving too fast. Lack of signage. No designated pick and drop off area. Kids walking and biking through an area that didn’t feel designed to protect them and keep them safe.

It wasn’t something difficult. It was about protecting my kids and other children in the neighborhood. So I did what I’ve always done, I spoke up. I went to the school administration, thinking this would be something we could work on together. Protecting children shouldn’t be complicated or controversial. But instead of support, I was met with hesitation. Questions about liability. Deflection. A sense that this wasn’t really the school’s responsibility, that it belonged somewhere else.