Category: Ocean Beach

Hailed by legendary film critic Roger Ebert as best film of the year and the ninth-best overall film of the 2000s.

By Kendra Syrdal / Parade / July 6, 2026

Based on writer and director Cameron Crowe’s real-life experiences as a teenage writer for Rolling Stone, the movie Almost Famous has become a cult classic sensation since its release in 2000.

When Crowe was just 16 years old, he spent three weeks touring with The Allman Brothers Band and interviewing its members as well as the road crew. Because Crowe was younger than many of the journalists, he was more inclined to interview the hard rock bands that his older colleagues didn’t yet understand. Because of this, he landed interviews with the likes of Fleetwood Mac, Joni Mitchell, and Eric Clapton.

This is what would serve as the inspiration and backbone for Almost Famous.

Crowe used many different points of reference when he created Stillwater, the fictional band, for the movie. According to Greg Allman’s 2012 memoir, My Cross to Bear, many of the moments and aspects of the film are taken from Crowe’s time spent with the band for the 1973 Rolling Stone cover feature. The movie was shot over the course of just 92 days, around San Diego, Ca. on Ocean Beach and Sunset Cliffs.

The soundtrack for Almost Famous has been lauded as one of the best compilations of music made for a movie, with some even considering it the best of all time. In 2001, it took home the Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media.

By Shannon Handy / CBS8/ July 6, 2026

(slighted edited for clarification)

Visitors to Mission Bay now have to walk further to find a public restroom, as the city began closing nearly half of the facilities around the bay starting Monday, July 6.

A total of 13 out of 28 public restrooms will be shut down by the end of this week due to budget restrictions, a move that many local visitors and business owners are criticizing. [and just plain locals.]

The closures, which come after the 4th of July holiday, aim to save the city approximately $546,000, primarily from cleaning and maintenance costs.

Affected restrooms include:

by Cody Dulaney / inewsource / July 6, 2026

Earlier this year, inewsource revealed a glaring loophole in a San Diego law that allows property owners to obtain a short-term rental license even after carrying out an illegal eviction.

More than four months have passed and that loophole still exists, and city officials haven’t said how they plan to fix it.

Councilmember Jennifer Campbell, who represents Ocean Beach, Point Loma and Mission Beach, continues to tout the regulation of short-term vacation rentals as a signature achievement, leading the charge to pass the ordinance that took effect in 2023. The ordinance has been hailed as one of the best examples of vacation rental regulations in the country.

Campbell plans to bring amendments forward to a committee meeting next month for consideration, said Venus Molina, the councilmember’s chief of staff. But Campbell nor her staff have answered questions about the loophole or how they plan to fix it.

Since inewsource revealed the gap in city law, hundreds of San Diegans have been evicted from their homes and the city has no way of knowing whether any of those evictions led to short-term rental licenses.

The loophole deals with a specific type of action called a no-fault eviction — it happens when a property owner wants to end a lease for reasons unrelated to a tenant’s behavior. State law allows property owners to exit the rental housing business for a number of specific reasons, including a substantial remodel or to allow for the owner or their family to move in.

After 60 years on Rosecrans Boulevard, Denny’s in Point Loma has closed. The old-school, 24-hour diner permanently shut its doors in late June. According to KFMB-TV, customers arriving at the restaurant found professionally printed signs directing them to another Denny’s nearby on West Point Loma Boulevard.

Because of its late-night fare, Denny’s was a favorite for generations of Point Lomans.

Yet, according to Econostrum the major breakfast chain has shut down 150 locations across the U.S. and it appears that the Point Loma site wasn’t up to snuff.

The iconic breakfast chain has continued to close underperforming restaurants following its acquisition by a private investment group earlier this year. The latest shutdown in San Diego comes after the company closed 150 locations during 2025, while several franchise operators have also faced financial difficulties. …

There has been two suspicious deaths in the general Point Loma area in the last five days.They appear totally unrelated.

In the first death, 62-year-old San Diego resident Darrell Cogdill suffered a gunshot wound and was found in a median along Nimitz Boulevard very early Thursday morning, July 2nd. He passed at the hospital.

And late Sunday night, July 5, a man was found dead in a parked car in the Midway District. He is still unidentified.

In the shooting, Cogdill was found laying unresponsive in a Nimitz Boulevard median north of Famosa Boulevard in the 4400 block of Nimitz. Police and medics responded to a call around 1:50 a.m. after someone reported seeing him. San Diego Fire-Rescue medics performed life-saving measures at the scene before transporting Cogdill to a hospital, where he died.

By Debbie L. Sklar / Special to the OB Rag

Shelter Island looks like a quiet stretch of marinas, sailboats, and waterfront hotels today, but its history is anything but ordinary. What appeared to be a natural peninsula was actually a shifting sandbar in San Diego Bay, gradually transformed over decades of harbor dredging, engineering projects,s and the city’s expanding maritime economy.

Even its name tells only part of the story.

1. It Isn’t Really an Island

Despite the name, Shelter Island has never been a true island. It began as a low sandbar near Point Loma that was visible mainly at low tide.

Beginning in the 1930s, harbor improvement projects deposited dredged material onto the shoal, gradually creating the landform visitors see today. Over time, what had once been open water became one of San Diego’s most recognizable waterfront destinations.

Sixty years ago today — the Ocean Beach Pier first opened on July 2nd, 1966.

And OB photographer, Steve Rowell, was there to snap this famous photo of opening day.

It is indeed the last four days of the OB Rag writing contest. Given that we’re nearing the 250th anniversary of American independence, the topic is: “What the 250th anniversary means today … living under Trump.”

Send 500 to about 1,000 word entries to us at our email: obragblog@gmail.com  (The best way is to simply paste the essay into the text of an email and send it to us.) All entries will be judged by a panel of citizen journalists and professional writers. The deadline is 9 p.m. Saturday, July 4th. (Maybe you weren’t inspired until the actual day was upon you — .)

Every Saturday at 10:30 am. San Diego Climate Mobilization Coalition Meetings.  July 4th,11th, 18th, and 25th. Keep up to date on climate issues and Climate Action events. To register email Jon Findley at jon@climatemobsd.org.  More info: https://www.facebook.com/SDClimateMobilization/

Every Saturday 10 am – 12 pm Peace Vigil for Palestine: Advocate for Peace and Justice in Gaza and Everywhere Join CODEPINK SD, San Diego Veterans for Peace, and Palestine Pals every Saturday at 10:00 am at Ocean Beach Gateway Plaza, on the corner of Sunset Cliffs Blvd. and W. Point Loma Blvd.  Wear pink and bring a peace-related poster if you have one!  Contact: Nathanael sandiego@codepink.org  More info:  https://www.instagram.com/codepinksd/

Every Sunday 1:30 pm – 3:15 pm Otay Mesa Vigil Otay Mesa Detention Center 7488 Calzada de la Fuente San Diego 92154 Event recommended by Peace Resource Center Peaceful gathering Bring a sign, friends, music and your voice in honor of the thousands of innocent human beings separated from their families, please join us at our weekly action at Otay Mesa Detention Center. Our movement grows stronger every week- but we need more voices out there with us. The inhumane and deplorable conditions our loved ones are forced to suffer through at OMDC cannot be accepted or tolerated. Please join us to bring HOPE and Solidarity.  Every week a different group brings us food – plenty of parking and good vibes always.  More info: https://www.instagram.com/borderlandsequity/

July 1st, 15th and 22nd. Resist Trump Flash Banner Action Wednesdays 4 pm – 5:15 pm– North Park Event by SanDiego 350   Landis St. and the I-805 3424 Landis St, San Diego 92104 The Raise the Alarm Team continues our Flash Banner Actions (FBAs) because resistance to the Trump administration remains as important as ever. So too is keeping climate change and the need for climate action before the public. We calculate that we are reaching about 5 to 10 thousand vehicles for each hour that our banners are up and the response from motorists is mostly positive. By our count, since 2025 we’ve held more than 30 FBAs in North County, Central SD, and the South Bay! We will banner on the Landis St. overpass of the I-805. We’ll meet on the overpass at 4:00 pm. Local street parking is available. Stay tuned for upcoming events! More info:  https://sandiego350.org/event/civi_event_1831/?instance_id=1496

July 1st Wednesday 6:30 pm – 9:30 pm Monthly Social for Makers, Tinkerers and Creatives Event by Zero Waste San Diego

What Was It, What Is It, and What Will It Be?

By Coastal Caretakers

Today, we will start with what it IS, complicated as it is, beginning with a cement block building, a new owner, and a new future, defined by the City of San Diego in the words of Accela, the city’s new permitting system and the reminder of an old joke ending in, “are you going to believe your lying eyes, or what I tell you?”

The previous owner, Sunset Cliffs Creative House, LLC morphed a $2.2 million investment into a $2.8 million sale to Yoffee, LLC, which has a San Diego mailing address on Casitas St, a San Diego property owned by Yoth, LLC, and a business named Daylight Coffee, LLC, — all Wyoming LLCs. This is a situation that gets us very close to where we are today.

Yoffee LLC is the owner of the property, and the address of Yoth LLC owns the mailing address for Yoffee, LLC, a business to be occupied, according to its application in 2025 for a liquor license for Daylight Coffee, LLC, also at the Yoth, LLC-owned address.

And now we enter the twilight zone of Accela, a new world in Mission Valley without paper but with three windows to pay fees. Any member of the public can right now get an Accela account, log in, and type in (with some difficulty) “1404 Sunset Cliffs Blvd” as the address.  You will see what it says.  (And if you are wondering, you can see the same thing using the Rite-Aid address.)  The paper world has been forgotten, but the original plans are still there.

by Scott Hopkins / Times of San Diego / June 26, 2026 

The new principal of Point Loma High School, set to start this coming school year, is returning to a school where his career in education began. In 2002, veteran educator Michael Santos worked as an AVID tutor in 2002.

In the nearly 24 years since, Santos taught biology and AP biology for 10 years, followed by 13 years in administration, most recently as principal at Orange Glen High School in Escondido, where he has worked since July 2022.

He is a native San Diegan and graduated from Morse High School in 1997 before attending college at UC San Diego, San Diego State University and Cal State San Marcos.

From Neighbors for a Better California

The latest public records released this past week confirm that Project Vela remains under active City review. No final decision has been made on the project’s requested height, scale, incentives, or waivers.

Before the City can make those determinations, the developer must still resolve key technical issues identified during the review process, including floor area calculations, fire protection, stormwater management, and the legal basis for the project’s requested waivers.

Rather than becoming clearer as the review has progressed, the records show that important questions remain unresolved across multiple technical areas.

NFABC has submitted an additional Public Records Act request for missing documents referenced in the file. Our volunteer team brings experience in law, city planning, community planning, public communications, and state housing legislation. This expertise allows us to analyze complex records, ask informed questions, and help hold the City’s review process accountable so Project Vela is not approved for more height, density, or scale than California law and the San Diego Municipal Code allow.

What the Latest Records Show

Fire Safety Review Continues

The City’s Fire Suppression reviewer stated that, after multiple rounds of review, proper and complete responses had still not been provided for the issues identified. The reviewer noted that little progress had been made and advised the design team to resolve the outstanding issues before additional reviews continued.