Category: Culture

Editordude: The Rag has been highlighting this fight to save land for a park in Emerald Hills for over a year and half now. Here is some commentary from local resident and occasional Rag writer, Rob Campbell:

The City is attempting to limit public comment by instituting new rules starting July 1st. The public meeting is July 7th. The City is pulling out every measure they can to stop resident voices. They are calling the new program “Enhanced Community Engagement at City Hall” and have thrown up significant barriers to pool voices together during public comment. See you all on July 7th at 2pm, when the City of San Diego makes history – one way or another.

Here’s the latest on the battle:

By Katie Hyson / KPBS /  June 24, 2026

Two radio towers mark a high point in Emerald Hills. For now, the 31-acre property is quiet, green and mostly empty. An upcoming appeal hearing could decide how that changes. It offers a rare 360-degree view from Mexico to La Jolla.

From his backyard, Kenny Key uses a rope and makeshift boards to scale a steep incline and take in the view. Every morning, he can look to the east and watch the sun rise over San Miguel Mountain. He tracks its wide arc through the sky to set between the Coronado Bridge and Point Loma Lighthouses, and sees the moon rise in its stead. He can see every plane that flies over the city and every ship that docks in its harbor.

“We see the beauty of San Diego every day,” he said. “And so we love our community.”

Key’s mother bought their home in the early ‘70s, around the time redlining had recently ended. The hilltop property had been a country club and golf course. “Blacks weren’t allowed to play up here. Blacks weren’t allowed to build up here. So when we came up here … it was like, ‘Upgrade!’” he said.

By Jillian Butler

Citing environmental preservation, public safety, and concerns about commercialization, the City of San Diego has increased legislation and enforcement against pop-up events at Sunset Cliffs. However, some businesses are using loopholes to continue their operations in the letter, rather than the spirit of the law.

Once a sacred Kumeyaay site, Sunset Cliffs Natural Park is an area of immense beauty. The quintessential section of the San Diego coastline brings in over 1.7 million pedestrians, surfers, birdwatchers, tidepoolers, site seers, and artists per year.

In our current digital era, many people prioritize the social media share-ability of an experience as much as the experience itself. Businesses have taken note of this trend and picked up on Sunset Cliffs as the perfect place to fill a gap in the market. Using this stretch of coast between Ocean Beach and Point Loma, entrepreneurially minded individuals have capitalized off of Instagram-worthy picnics, yoga classes, concerts, and raves.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many restaurants, nightlife venues, and fitness classes closed down. Many organizations adapted by moving gatherings outdoors. This is when the rise of pop-ups began. However, decades long codes and licensure requirements regarding gatherings were not applied to these new businesses.

Editordude: The following is an unsolicited manuscript involving a personalized account of locals and our history, and especially that of the famous “Osprey Mansion.”

By Steven Franklin

Margaret McIntosh, the flamboyant, beautiful and emotionally demonstrative mother of a close friend and a woman who was very kind to me when I was a child while living in difficult circumstance, died last week at 85.

Margaret´s death sent me searching nostalgically into our common past, where I found this photo of the historical Osprey Mansion taken from where Sunset Cliffs meets the Pacific in Point Loma, California, a place where Margaret´s family once lived.

Despite the great distance between us, I was able to remain close with Margaret on-line these last few years, and we communicated often. Just before she passed away Margaret shared a post about her favorite musician. I commented, recounting the day her fourteen year-old son saved that musician´s life after he had suffered a long fall from Sunset Cliffs onto the rocks and into the tidal pools below and was seriously hurt and drowning during a daring rescue in front of the old mansion, and how that musician recovered from the fall and went on to become a member of one the greatest rock and roll bands in history.

My recalling to Margaret what I had largely witnessed pleased her immensely, and she responded to me how proud it would make her if I wrote down what happened that day and shared it with our many mutual friends, which I promised Margaret I would do. Margaret died, however, just a few days later. I am fulfilling the promise that I made to her here.

The year was 1973. The unexpected hero´s name is David, but I understand that these days he goes by his middle name “Granger.” I´ve called him plenty of other names also, over the years, as young boys and men are often fond of doing. But back then we knew him mostly as David…David Granger Faulk.

I spent thousands of hours of my youth at David´s house, as his mother Margaret had generously given me a safe harbor in her home while escaping my own alcoholic and broken family circumstance.

By Debbie L. Sklar

Rose Creek is one of San Diego’s quieter but most ecologically important urban waterways, flowing from inland canyons through residential neighborhoods before emptying into Mission Bay. Often overlooked by commuters on nearby freeways, it remains a rare continuous green corridor in a heavily developed coastal city.

The creek begins far inland on MCAS Miramar east of I-15, a detail that still surprises many who know only its lower stretches. From there, it flows west through Rose Canyon to I-5, then turns south toward Mission Bay, forming the main freshwater tributary feeding the bay’s ecosystem. Along the way, it passes through a patchwork of neighborhoods, including University City, Clairemont, and Pacific Beach, linking upland canyon habitat to coastal wetlands.

Long before Mission Beach developed into a resort and residential community, Rose Creek carried seasonal flows from inland canyons into the marshes and tidal flats that once dominated the northern end of Mission Bay. As the bay was dredged and reshaped during the 20th century, the creek remained one of the few natural waterways still feeding the system.

Much of the upper watershed is protected as part of Rose Canyon Open Space Park, where native sycamores and willows still line sections of the creek.

This is an edited version of Voice of San Diego’s “Reining in E-Bikes”

The San Diego City Council passed new e-bike regulations on Tuesday. It joins Chula Vista, Coronado and Carlsbad, which have also passed regulations.

The new law will ban children younger than 12 from riding Class 1 and 2 e-bikes. (Class 1 and 2 bikes can not go faster than 20 miles per hour. Class 3 bikes are already limited in California to people 16 and older.) Children who break the law will be subject to fines.

A study at one trauma center in San Diego found that e-bike accidents involving children increased by more than 300 percent between 2019 and 2023, according to a report by city staff.

Chula Tacos is heading to Ocean Beach. It’s bringing its Tijuana-style street tacos to the heart of Ocean Beach, and announced it has plans to open a new location at 4994 Newport Avenue, taking over the space most recently occupied by Doughboy’s Grill, at 4994 Newport Avenue.

Founded by Rigo Muñoz Jr., Chula Tacos began as a food truck before evolving into its brick-and-mortar location at 1719 Palm Avenue in National City. Reportedly, fans delight on its signature

By Colleen O’Connor

Wonder of Wonders.  A real treasure exhibited itself Saturday, June 20 at the Peninsula Community Senior Center’s “Summer Celebration.”

Hard to ignore the chaos, fear and tragedies that surround us now.

But, fabulous to watch senior citizens and their friends, family and neighbors converge on a triumph of grace, humor, and support for not just those present, but all of Point Loma and environs.

Lisa Nokes, the Executive Director, and her staff, volunteers, neighbors, and friends, delivered a celebration of what “Neighboring” is— that great coming together to protect and aid those in need of their services.

Feds Proposal to allow Cyanide poison bombs, hound hunting and trapping impacts San Diego’s public lands

By Renée Owens / EastCountyMagazine / June 19, 2026

San Diego County residents should be aware that a little-known federal proposal is sneaking under the radar, one that will have serious local and national consequences. Why is it such a secret? It could be because the new rule’s creators want it to be adopted quickly before the majority of Americans understand what a harmful precedent it sets.

On May 27 the Trump administration announced a proposed rule to massively increase hunting and fishing throughout over 2.5 million acres of public wild lands, 95 percent of the entire National Wildlife Refuge System (NWRS) managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). It expands not only refuge access but also targets species lists, seasons, bag limits, and allowed methods for hunting and fishing, and promotes a discretionary approach that is based not on science but on appeasement of a few powerful lobbies. To add to the chaos is a clause in the fine print that removes bans on lead ammunition and fishing tackle — protections fought for by scientists for decades – and reopens doors nationwide for hound hunting, traps, bait, and poisons, despite mounting bans on their use due to unambiguous evidence of their cruelty. This on the heels of deep cuts in USFWS staff and funding.

From San Diego Energy Justice Alliance

With City studies concluding a not-for-profit utility would save San Diegans billions, a coalition of groups is calling on the City Council to begin organizing a public utility.
The most recent city-funded study will be presented to the council this Monday afternoon, June 22, during a meeting set to begin at 2 p.m. in council chambers.

Using the most conservative assumptions, the city’s consultants concluded in the study that not-for-profit public power would save utility customers $500 each year.
Under more realistic assumptions, projections, total savings for customers are projected to reach tens of billions of dollars in coming decades. An earlier city funded study also found a not-for-profit public utility would lower electric bills for customers.

“We have the studies and know the facts,” said Dorrie Bruggemann, a board member of Public Power San Diego, which is among the groups in the newly formed San Diego Energy Justice Coalition.

The San Diego Community Coalition publishes this email bulletin to keep our members and the San Diego public informed about important Council hearings and other city public meetings.

Monday, June 22: City Council, 2:00 p.m.

Agenda:

Item 200: Public Power Feasibility Study, Phase II Report

Item 201: SDG&E Franchise Independent Audit Report and Compliance Review

Why they matter: These items will shed light on two options: a new municipal energy utility (MEU) vs. the existing SDG&E utility. The Phase II report found that “financial projections support the feasibility of establishing an MEU.” The review found that SDG&E complies with its franchise agreement but adds “compliance alone does not fully resolve broader concerns regarding affordability, rate impacts, and alignment with the City’s policy objectives.”

Tuesday, June 23: City Council, 10:00 a.m.

Agenda: 

Item S501: Municipal Code Amendment Relating to Electric Bicycle Safety

What’s New on Newport Avenue?

By Michael A. Hernandez

“Pop Punk Never Dies”. That’s the message written on the outside of the building at 5049 Newport Ave in Ocean Beach. Once home to OB’s first Japanese sushi and sake joint, Sapporo Restaurant, then later housing an outpost of Pacific Beach’s beloved dive bar and eatery, Cass Street Bar and Grill, 5049 Newport Ave is currently under new ownership, and what’s coming may be of interest to those who are anti-establishment… but pro-drinking establishment.

On February 13 of this year, a Public Notice of Application For Ownership Change was posted on the front door of the building.

The applicant’s name: “Drink 182 OB, LLC”. Marketing itself as San Diego’s Original Pop Punk Bar, Drink 182 promises to bring “a new kind of hospitality experience to Ocean Beach – built around the music, culture, and nostalgia that defined a generation”.

One of the owners of the pop-punk bar is creative director Jay NightRide. According to his profile on Linkedin, NightRide has collaborated with big names such as internationally renowned DJ and music executive Steve Aoki, motorcycle manufacturer and global lifestyle brand Harley Davidson, and legendary pop-punk band Blink-182, whose name served as the main inspiration for the name of the bar.