Category: Media

By Jillian Butler

As technology advances, it is injected into the educational curriculum for children. Naturally, many parents have questions, concerns, and convictions. A national coalition of parents and educators called Schools Beyond Screens is advocating for research and evidence-based guidelines to be put in place for educational technology.

Ocean Beach mother, lawyer, and administrative judge, Angelika Oliver, is one of the parents leading the fight in San Diego, and there’s at least one other woman from OB involved. Below is an interview with her, conducted via email.

1) I have read up a little bit on your background and why you got involved with Schools Beyond Screens. Please tell me in your own words why you got involved in the movement.

My initial concern was screen and internet use at home. I believed that if we could agree as a community to limit our kids’ access to devices and the internet, we could help safeguard childhood. This thinking came largely from The Anxious Generation, the idea that kids need more supervision online and less in the real world, so they can take on independent tasks, explore freely, and develop grit and resilience.

But then I realized even if we limit screens at home, kids are on them too much at school. At first, I hoped our school site would respond to what parents clearly wanted and make changes at our elementary school. When I kept hearing that Chromebook use couldn’t be addressed at the school level and would have to be decided at the district level, I felt obligated to push for change there.

By Shawn Styles / CBS8 / June 4, 2026

San Diego’s coastal beauty offers endless opportunities for photographers, but capturing the perfect shot often comes down to timing, preparation, and a bit of luck. Local photographer Jim Grant knows that balance well.

Grant gained national recognition in 2024 when his image of a rare “Green Flash” sunset earned the grand prize in the American Meteorological Society’s annual photo competition. The photo featured a sailboat perfectly aligned within the glowing sun as a green flash shimmered above it.

“It was a shot of the green flash, setting sun with the green flash on top with a sailboat right in the middle of the sun,” Grant said.

The award-winning image was not entirely accidental. Grant had been tracking weather patterns and positioning himself between Ocean Beach Pier and the Mission Bay channel, where evening boat traffic increases the chances of capturing a dynamic foreground.

“If I can get at least a good sunset, the sailboat in the image was strictly a bonus,” he explained. “I was just there at the right place at the right time.”

Winners Part of C-SPAN’s Annual Student Cam Competition

by Dave Schwab / Peninsula Beacon – Times of San Diego / May 27, 2026

Correia Middle School students were honored for their prize-winning documentaries in C-SPAN’s annual Student Cam competition.

C-SPAN, a public affairs network created in 1979 as a nonprofit public service, and Cox Communications run the annual Student Cam competition, which presents awards and recognizes winning students, grades 6-through-12, and their teachers, who serve as the StudentCam advisers.

In recognition of the United States’ 250th anniversary, C-SPAN, in cooperation with its cable and satellite television partners, challenged middle- and high-school students across the country to examine the enduring power and relevance of the Declaration of Independence.

For the challenge, students had one of two options: They could explore the Declaration of Independence’s influence on a key moment from America’s 250-year history, or focus on the Declaration of Independence’s impact on them or their community.

Through this project-based learning experience, students competing in the StudentCam competition conduct in-depth research, critical analysis, and original storytelling to explore matters of both personal and national importance.

On May 19 at Correia Middle School, Rachel Katz of C-SPAN recognized prize-winning students for their work.

By Lynne Miller

Ocean Beach Historical Society on May 21 hosted a celebration for Larry Zeiger’s 50-year anniversary of Musical Theater at Point Loma High School. “Gotta Sing, Gotta Dance” became a rite of passage for seniors.  Larry Zieger, often known as ‘Zeiger’, sometimes known as ‘Larmo’, moved to California and got his Masters in Film at San Diego State University.  He applied to the PhD program at USC, but luckily for us, the L.A. smog and the policies at USC changed Mr. Zeiger’s plans.

He decided to listen to the voices of professors and film experts who encouraged him to become a teacher. He stepped into the role of teacher at a time when Required Courses like English could be created, pitched and approved.  Larry offered credited English courses at PLHS  that taught film.  Students watched films, read screenplays and books about film production, wrote their own play, sometimes wrote songs, made the sets, learned to sing and dance and act, and then they rehearsed and rehearsed. Their marketing resulted in sell-out crowds and eventually to nationwide acclaim.

Zeiger’s presentation last week included a slide show that included each graduating class, from the first performance without a stage or auditorium to his 2007 swan song in a beautiful theater now labeled The Larry Zeiger Performing Arts Center.

Here’s three media reports on the candidates for District 2, including on the last candidate debate / forum, held May 14th at Paradise Point Resort & Spa. We have reports from Times of San Diego, the Union-Tribune and Axios San Diego.

Here’s Dave Schwab of Times of San Diego‘s account:

District 2 candidates Richard Bailey, Josh Coyne, Nicole Crosby, Mandy Havlik, Jacob Mitchell, Mike Rickey and Paul Suppa answered curated questions from a panel of community leaders on far-ranging issues from the city’s budget to people living out of their vehicles, homelessness, housing density, public safety and quality of life.

The Ocean Beach Community Foundation along with the Pacific Beach and Mission Beach town councils joined forces to host the event ahead of the June 2 primary election. It is the last public candidate forum before the primary, which will send the top two vote getters to a November runoff election to replace termed-out incumbent Jennifer Campbell.

By Kate Callen

Shortly before 12 noon on May 4, I nearly killed a bicyclist.

After I made a full stop at the 30th & Upas four-way stop sign, I stepped on the accelerator to start moving through the intersection. Within seconds, a speeding cyclist ran the stop sign meant for him and flew past the front of my car.

If I hadn’t slammed on the brakes, I would have crashed into him, and it’s doubtful he would have survived. News stories would have accurately reported that I hit him. Biking activists would have vilified me as a murderer.

This awful scenario happens all too frequently in neighborhoods across San Diego because too many cyclists think stop signs and stoplights are a nuisance.

They will literally bet their lives that they can frighten motorists into giving them the right-of-way that the law doesn’t grant them. If they lose the bet, motorists who obeyed the law can still face criminal prosecution and civil lawsuits.

Bicycling activists often talk about “bike safety.” For them, the term seems to mean that drivers should always be deferential to the needs of cyclists.

Back in the late Sixties in San Diego, there was only 3 local TV stations and TV 8 (the future CBS8) was one of them. And one of their best reporters was Harold Keen – who later wrote for San Diego Magazine during its hey-day.

In this video from the past, Keen does a story on OB’s Inbetween, a youth drop-in center on Newport Avenue. Come inside to check it out.

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.

Kayla Epsteinand and Madeline Halpert / BBC / April 29, 2026

Former FBI Director James Comey surrendered to authorities on Wednesday to face a charge alleging that an image he briefly shared on social media posed a threat to the life of President Donald Trump.

It stems from an Instagram post shared by Comey, which contained a photo of seashells on a beach arranged to read “86 47”. “Eighty-six” is a slang term for “get rid of”, and prosecutors allege it encourages violence against Trump, the 47th president.

Comey denies any wrongdoing, saying he did not know what the numbers meant, and accused the prosecution of political motivation.

This marks the second time the justice department has brought criminal charges against Comey, a longtime critic of Trump.

Comey did not enter a plea or speak during his brief appearance at a Virginia court on Wednesday afternoon.

by Brooke Binkowski / La Jolla Village News / April 21, 2026

Ernest McCray has never stopped to consider whether something is impossible. There’s only one thing he says he isn’t capable of.

“I tried to be a grown-up — for about 30 seconds,” he said, laughing.

McCray’s life began in Arizona to a hardworking, music-loving family in which he was raised mainly by his mother. It was a different country then, and Tucson was still enforcing Jim Crow-style segregation.

“I was born in 1938, to give you an idea,” said McCray. “They didn’t desegregate schools in Tucson until I was going into the 8th grade. We couldn’t eat at the white restaurants, we could only swim in the ‘colored’ swimming pool.”

He found refuge from Jim Crow in the local library. Despite the animus enforced from above, McCray knew he had a voice — and he used it.

“That’s how I make it in the world,” he said. “Through writing and being an educator and a teacher and a principal…  I use my writing in school communities and working with kids and turning them on to writing.”

Above all, McCray said, he does everything he can to make the world a kinder place.

The surreal mural on the east side of the Template in OB has gotten some attention. Richard Schulte runs a photo-dominant blog called cool san diego sights and recently shared a series of pics of the mural.

Signatures by the artists appear to be MURALIS, ART BY SOUP, EATHDUST, HAILYBROUS, JORDINDAVID, and SOURCE!

Here are Shulte’s pics, including details:

As we finish up the four weeks of Trump’s war on Iran, it’s time to offer some key observations from Southern California.

• Trump is lying about the pace of “negotiations” with Iran in order to garner more time to accumulate more US troops in the region; this is all his “art of the deal” — confuse your opponent, make them believe you’re about to “walk away” from any talks on resolution. In this case, Trump has confused the American people, the mainstream media, European allies — even his own staff at the White House. On Thursday, he stated he didn’t care about the negotiations.
• Trump earned his TACO nickname, and changed his deadline for Iran, again for the third time. Trump Always Chickens Out.
• Despite Trump’s claims the “war is already won”, Iran and Israel continue to shell each other — even escalated attacks — and more deaths and injuries mount. Iran says 1400 of its people have been killed in the strikes over the last 4 weeks.
• The Straits of Hormuz are still closed to Iran’s adversaries. Trump couldn’t get any NATO or other ally to help free the fiery zone.
• Troops, marines, sailors are on their way; there’s reports that Trump has ordered another 10,000 soldiers to the region; there’s two ships filled with sailors and marines on their way to the Mid-East; there’s a brigade of the 82th Airborne Division on its way.
• America is on the verge of experiencing the largest protest — No Kings — in history, tomorrow March 28th as over 7 million people will be marching and protesting. Thousands of San Diegans will be protesting at the  22 events just in San Diego County. (The Rag will host an all-day liveblog about the events.)
• San Diego is about to enter the war big time: thousands of Marines from Camp Pendleton have been mobilized to go; many of their families live in the San Diego region, and if there are boots on the ground, expect to see many locals on casualty lists.