Category: Ocean Beach

by Mike Lee / Union-Tribune / July 16, 2009

Add playing in the sand to the long list of fun things that may be bad for your health.

A new study says you risk getting an upset stomach and diarrhea if you dig into the granular stuff to fill toy pails, build sand castles or bury yourself. You’re better off walking along the shore or swimming in the surf.

From San Diego Crime Stoppers

San Diego County Crime Stoppers and detectives from SDPD Western Division are asking for assistance from the public in determining how a man was seriously injured on July 4, 2009 in Ocean Beach.

On July 4 at about 11 p.m. SDPD dispatchers received a call from a citizen saying that he found a man who had sustained a head injury and was unconscious in the 1800 block of Bacon Street.

MORE ON CHRIS BOWD – CRIME STOPPERS OFFERING REWARD …

by Frank Gormlie

San Diego Police are still conducting an investigation into what happened to Chris Bowd, the OBcean found unconscious at Newport and Bacon the night of July 4th. Bowd remains unconscious.

To get an update, I spoke with Detective Patrick Hall, who is leading the investigation, and his sergeant.

by Gary Gilmore

The rockets’ red glare is gone. The echoes of the bombs bursting in air have faded. The volleys of marshmallows have been put to rest for another year. It’s time for an accounting. Where did all the money go?

At the risk of tainting the innocent pleasure that our fireworks bring to the happy hordes of revelers that flock to our little beach town on this holiday I’m going to tell you what they cost.

Twenty five grand. $25,000. …

by Frank Gormlie

Up until a few hours ago, no major mainstream media, print, online or television had covered the tragic and still unfolding story of Chris Bowd – the OBcean who was knocked unconscious after the fireworks on July 4th. Bowd is still unconscious and in the hospital, although as of this writing, he is in a stable condition. This mainstream media blackout on him is finally ending.

The OB Rag blog has been the only media covering this story …

Originally posted July 9, 2009

by Frank Gormlie

Earlier this week I set out to get to the bottom of this July 4th OB Pier Parking Lot controversy. On Monday, July 6, the Reader ran an on-line article that we supplemented about how 26 RV owners were evicted from the Pier parking lot by police in the early morning hours of July 4th. They were threatened with arrest and having their vehicles impounded. The police wanted the parking lot for their own vehicles. …

by Frank Gormlie

It wasn’t all fun and fireworks in Ocean Beach on July 4th. Christopher Bowd was somehow and somewhere knocked unconscious possibly on Newport Ave after the marshmallow fight and taken to a hospital – where he remains today still unconscious. Bowd’s family and friends are seeking answers and are turning to the rest of OB for help.

Police are currently conducting an investigation and believe Chris was injured at Newport and Bacon around 11pm July 4th.

The Reader reported on Monday, July 5th, that over two dozen RV owners were forced out of the OB Pier parking lot by San Diego Police.

And alot of grumbling was going on. Apparently, many of the RVs had pulled into the parking lot at the end of Newport Avenue in the early hours of the 4th in order to get close, set up their grills and their families. The police arrived at 8 am and forced them all to leave, upon threat of arrest and towing of their vehicles.

Fireworks at the end of the OB Pier are always good for a huge crowd. The beach, the pier, the surrounding blocks, the overlooking hilltops, and the cliffs are packed. It seems like the whole world comes to OB for the fireworks every 4th. And why not? They’re great!

by Larry Kosta, Jr.

When I got to know Dave Gilbert a little better, I asked him what he did. He told me he was a dog walker.

I thought to myself, is that really a job? This isn’t New York City. Do people in San Diego actually pay to have their dogs walked?

Most locals know about the famous OB Marshmallow Fight that happens after the fireworks each July 4th right at the beach. Two great throngs gather and begin pelting each other with the mushy white gobs. This goes on, with each side advancing or retreating until enough people tire and the event melts away like the last fireworks.

Who did start the first OB marshmallow fight?

by Frank Gormlie

Reposted from July 6, 2008

OCEAN BEACH, CA. There are secret caves along the cliffs in Ocean Beach. It just so happens that the stretch of cliffs next to the boulevard of the same name, from Point Loma Boulevard south to Ladera Street, contain an array of beautiful, hidden and fairly inaccessible caves.

Only during real low tides are some of them reachable. But these hidden geological grottoes and cuts in the sandstone cliffs and the beaches and pools inside them are nature’s displays of the wondrous interplay of land and sea that has occurred over time – right here on our front porch.