OB Rag

By Sean Bothwell / Guest contributor LA Times / April 30, 2026 

The marine ecosystem along Southern California’s coastline is in crisis. Sea surface temperatures are hitting record highs, rivaling the devastating marine heat wave known as “the Blob” that wreaked havoc on West Coast fisheries and ecosystems a decade ago.

Scientists from NOAA, Scripps Institution of Oceanography and University of California’s Agriculture and Natural Resources are warning that a developing El Niño could intensify conditions further. There are steps we can take that would relieve the pressure on these already stressed waters, and it’s past time for California lawmakers and regulators to act.

Last year, harmful algal blooms led to the illnesses and deaths of hundreds of sea lions, dolphins and seabirds off Southern California. Further north, Dungeness crab shells are dissolving in acidic waters. Fish populations and marine mammals are struggling to survive in growing oxygen-depleted zones that can stretch 50 miles from the coast. Warming ocean temperatures are accelerating all of it.

The critical factor contributing to this crisis within our control is nutrient pollution from wastewater discharges and agricultural runoff.

By Arturo Castañares / La Prensa San Diego / April 29, 2026 

In the race for San Diego City Council’s 8th District, one candidate stands out as uniquely UNQUALIFIED to run for higher office: Antonio Martinez.

Martinez has served on the San Ysidro School Districts Board of Trustees since December 2012, but has also run and lost twice for the same San Diego City Council seat he is running for again this year. He lost twice to Vivian Moreno, in 2018 and 2022, and is now running when Moreno is termed out of office.

District 8 includes the San Diego communities of San Ysidro, Otay Mesa, Ocean View Hills, Barrio Logan, Logan Heights, and Sherman Heights.

Maybe serving on a local school board for 14 years would seem like a good background to run for higher office, but the San Ysidro School District is currently under financial distress and has certified that it may not be able to meet its current year and next two years’ obligations to pay teachers and staff.

by Ernie McCray

I showed up
at the San Diego County Democratic Party’s
46th Annual Roosevelt Dinner
with a mind jumbled with questions
concerning the theme:
“A New Hope for Democracy,”
wondering what could be said
as, seemingly,
the country
is sinking like a ship
in an extremely agitated sea,
even if the keynote speaker
is someone
whom I consider to be
one of the most extraordinary
speechmakers there could possibly be,
my cherished friend,
Shirley Weber,
California’s Secretary of State,

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.

by Scott Hopkins / Times of San Diego / April 29, 2026

There will be new leadership at Point Loma High next school year, after the current principal announced his early retirement. David Jaffe took the job with the school three years ago, succeeding Kelly Lowry, and had planned to work for three more years.

Over the past 34 years, Jaffe has served across all grades from pre-K-12. He has served as principal at four high schools, one elementary school, and for two years as a district superintendent. He began in 1992 as an instructional aide at Lewis Junior High School in San Diego.

From Coastal Caretakers

Senate Bill 79 (SB 79), also known as the Abundant and Affordable Homes Near Transit Act, is a landmark piece of California legislation signed into law in October, 2025. San Diego Mayor and Council members were among the first cities in the State to embrace the bill and create new laws supporting the State mandate.  Look out folks, ‘they’ have just begun.

We can expect the City of San Diego Council to have future meetings about SB 79 legislation.  With San Diego approving tiny, tiny apartments ministerially into high-rises, declaring they are proponents of equity and affordable housing, Neighbors for a Better San Diego saw otherwise: “SB 79 (Wiener) remains one of the most disruptive state housing bills in recent memory.”

May 1st Friday May Day – Together We Stand, hundreds of thousands of people will march, rally, and take action at more than 3,000 events around the country — in more than a dozen events in San Diego County;

By Jordan Atwood / Nation of Change / April 30, 2026

A deadline written in the aftermath of Vietnam to prevent presidents from waging open-ended wars without congressional approval is colliding with President Donald Trump’s military campaign in Iran, raising the prospect of a constitutional test over whether Congress can still restrain unilateral war-making. On May 1, the 60-day limit established under the War Powers Resolution expires for military operations Trump initiated without formal authorization from lawmakers. Under the 1973 law, hostilities undertaken without congressional approval are supposed to end unless Congress authorizes the conflict or the president invokes a narrow extension tied to “unavoidable military necessity.”

That legal deadline has transformed what began as a fight over the Iran campaign itself into a broader struggle over presidential power, congressional authority, and whether statutory checks on war-making still have force.

From organizers:

The Ocean Beach Community Foundation, Pacific Beach Town Council, and Mission Beach Town Council have joined forces to present the San Diego City Council District 2 Candidate Forum: Coastal Issues for the Beach & Bay Communities.

All members of the public are invited to join us on Thursday, May 14th at Paradise Point Resort & Spa from 6:00PM to 8:00PM. The San Diego City Council District 2 Candidate Forum is a moderated, structured event where candidates running for San Diego City Council District 2 will answer curated questions from a panel of community leaders, giving residents a clear, side-by-side look at who is running to represent D2.

Nancy and Ken Freemans’ Storefront “Is the epitome of a brick-and-mortar mom-and-pop.”

by Dave Schwab / Times of San Diego / April 28, 2026

Antiques and collectibles are how Ocean Beach entrepreneurs Ken and Nancy Freeman met, what they draw sustenance from, and what keeps them going — and going and going.

“We moved here from downtown San Diego,” said Ken Freeman, before finally settling in permanently at the Ocean Beach Antique Mall at 4926 Newport Ave.

Earlier this month, the couple marked their 50th anniversary dealing in antiques, half of that time in OB. It’s an occupation that began with the opening of their first antiques business on April 1, 1976.

How Ken first got involved with antiques is an interesting tale. “He answered an ad for a part-time job as an apprentice working on imported German clocks,” said Nancy Freeman, adding that her husband also “became quite a proficient woodworker” as an understudy in that trade too.

Mike James Refutes City’s Reasons for Dis-Allowing OB Drone Show

It was just yesterday, April 29, that writer Tessa Balc of Times of San Diego wrote the startling headline, “City Says SeaWorld Can But OB Can’t,” in referring to 4th of July shows with drones. She began:

If you spent your 2023 Fourth of July in Ocean Beach, you might recall a drone show instead of fireworks. Well, hold onto those memories because it’s looking like you won’t be able to remake those any time soon. Organizers of the event tried to secure permits for the event last year and for this upcoming Fourth. They’ve been met with rejection from the city.

A city spokesperson says it’s because of the lack of availability from SDPD to enact a road closure, and that the 2023 had drones that operated outside of approved boundaries. The chair of the committee who put on the show disagrees with what the city has to say. “But where SeaWorld has a path forward, Ocean Beach hit a wall,” he said.

Balc was referring to Mike James – the chair of the committee — the Luminosity Committee — who put on the drone show in 2023.

Mike told the Times that Ocean Beach was “ahead of the curve” in replacing traditional fireworks with more costly, but less environmentally damaging drone displays.

“The community’s 2023 drone show, which replaced traditional fireworks, drew widespread attention for its quieter, environmentally-friendly approach and was seen by many as a successful new model for celebrating Independence Day,” James said.

James also said that when he and others began to revive the drone show for 2025, they were met “almost immediately” with resistance from the city,