OB Rag

by Dave Schwab / Times of San Diego / Jan. 21, 2026

Liberty Station’s historic North Chapel, closed since the previous tenant proposed modernizing the building to convert it into a restaurant and event venue, has been reopened and repurposed.

The World War II-era North Chapel accommodates 320 guests for weddings, services, meetings, or other special occasions. Since 1942, the building has hosted Navy services, weddings, memorials, and numerous other community events.

The chapel was officially reopened last December by Michael Esposito, founder of Snake Oil Venue Co. He is also co-founder and chief executive officer of Snake Oil Cocktail Co.

Esposito took over for the previous tenant, 828 Events, which had proposed altering the historical building to adapt it for possible new uses. That notion drew serious blowback from some preservationists and neighbors, who dismissed the character-altering chapel proposal as being insensitive and inappropriate to the building and its original design and mission.

By Kate Callen

The tangled saga of Mayor Todd Gloria’s decision to monetize parking in Balboa Park has taken a new and interesting twist.

San Diego County Crimestoppers is offering up to $1,000 reward for tips leading to the arrest of suspects “responsible for multiple cases of felony vandalism to [52] parking pay stations located throughout the Balboa Park area.”

According to the February 10 announcement, “The suspect(s) vandalized the parking pay stations by spray-painting them, shattering the digital glass screens, and placing a sticky substance on the keypads deeming them inoperable. The total cost of the damages is estimated to be approximately $77,500.”

The notice included pictures of kiosks that were smashed and covered with paint. It didn’t include pictures of a more common sight around the park: kiosks plastered with Todd Gloria name tags and petitions for Gloria’s recall.

The OB Rag does not condone vandalism. Destroying public property as a form of protest is counterproductive.

A locally-based real estate company has just purchased a huge, 180-unit project in the Point Loma / Midway area — the site of the former Barnard Elementary School.

MG Properties, a San Diego-based multifamily real estate investment firm, announced the purchase of Dylan Point Loma Apartments, a massive piece of property that opened in 2016 consisting of one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans. The colorful announcement states that the project is “complemented by a resort-style saltwater pool, a fitness center, community club house, a conference room, game lounge, demonstration kitchen, dog park and a volleyball court.”

It’s “colorful” because although the announcement claims the project is in “Point Loma,” it’s actually situated in the more problematic neighborhood of the Midway District, which is beset with a large homeless population, fast-food joints, malls and shopping centers, often described in negative terms by urban planners, police and developers. In contrast, the announcement asserts “Dylan Point Loma is situated in one of San Diego’s most desirable coastal submarkets, offering residents convenient access to major employment centers, beaches, dining, and entertainment.”

The purchase price was undisclosed. MG Properties bought the site which has a formal address as 2930 Barnard St, San Diego, CA 92110, from JLL Income Property Trust.

A man who was responsible for punching another guy in Ocean Beach so hard that he fell and hit his head on the pavement, lapsing into a coma and dying 3 months later, has pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter.

Andrew Phillip Restrepo, 34, had been charged with the murder of Sean Glenn for administering what was called a “Superman punch”, agreed to the new charge and having the murder charge dropped, just before he was to stand trial.

The incident occurred on May 10, 2023 in the 5000 block of Newport Avenue in Ocean Beach. Restrepo also pleaded guilty to felony assault for punching another man on an MTS bus in the Midway area in a month before the fatal encounter.  Restrepo was arrested in August 2024.

By Donna Frye

Back in the mid ‘90s, I remember going to city council meetings to speak on issues that were important to me such as clean water and the public’s right to know what its government is doing and why.

I showed up because I hoped it would make a difference and also to help educate the public about their right to participate in government decisions, before, and not after, the decision was made. The open meeting laws that require public decisions to be made in public are known as the Brown Act. It also includes laws about public participation and remedies if the laws are not followed.

More often than not, however, I would wait hours to speak for my two or three minutes only to be made to feel like what I had to say didn’t matter; it felt like the decisions had been made in advance of the public meeting.

I referred to this exercise as “going through the drill.” The Brown Act refers to it as a collective concurrence and it’s not allowed. But it was usually really hard to prove.

Marimar Martinez is the Chicago woman who was shot 5 times by an ICE agent back in October 2025 and who lived to testify about it before a Congressional committee last week.

Because her testimony was edited by every news network and effectively back paged for lack of a better term, we here quote verbatim Marimar Martinez’ testimony before Congress in it’s entirety, just weeks after getting shot 5 times and leaving 7 bullet holes by ICE. This is the testimony that should have been heard by every American and heard around the world. Marimar Martinez testimony should have dominated the news cycle last week:

To the Rag reader who sent us the following, “Marimar is strength and love personified. This is what courage looks like, and she is an example for us all.”

[00:00:00:30 – 00:00:01:57]

Thank you for having me here.

[00:00:02:57 – 00:00:13:55]

Before I begin, I would like to take a moment to express my gratitude. Thank you, Chairman, for giving me the opportunity to be here today, for taking the time to hear my testimony.

City News Service – Times of SD /  Feb. 6, 2026

A San Diego federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to return three families that he ruled were deported unlawfully.

U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw wrote in a Thursday, Feb.5, ruling that the deportations “clearly violated the spirit” of a 2023 settlement agreement that he approved, which sought to reunite and provide services for families separated at the southern border.

“Each of the removals was unlawful, and absent the removals, these families would still be in the United States and have access to the benefits and resources they are entitled to under the Settlement Agreement,” the judge wrote.

Sabraw, who has in previous rulings found that the Trump administration has violated the terms of the settlement, wrote that the family members were removed despite legally being in the U.S. on parole.

By Arturo Castañares – Editor-at-Large / La Prensa / Jan. 29, 2026

A member of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors has launched a campaign for County Treasurer-Tax Collector against the person a majority of the Supervisors just recently appointed to the position, while his own Party is considering supporting another candidate to run against him.

Supervisor Joel Anderson, a longtime elected Republican, just entered the second year of his second four-term on the County Board of Supervisors, but recently filed to run for County Treasurer in this year’s election cycle.

Joel Anderson

If Anderson were to win the election in November, he would vacate his Supervisor seat halfway through his term and create a vacancy his Democratic colleagues could fill.

The race for a usually low-profile position comes after longtime Treasurer-Tax Collector Dan McAllister announced his unexpected resignation on August 2nd after having been elected to the post six times over the past 24 years. McAllister’s current term expires in January 2027.

Every month, local writers unite in Ocean Beach to work through guided creative prompts in community. At the end of each meeting, the group selects one piece of writing from a participant to share with the wider community. The featured work below was written during a recent Writing Club gathering.

If you enjoy what you read and would like to get involved, please contact shanecoopersmith@gmail.com for more details.

And below is the selected piece from January’s Writing Club

A woman who stabbed two men in an Ocean Beach alley, pleaded guilty and will be sentenced to prison on February 17. Jana Nicole Halaska’s sentence will range from four to eight years. She is 29.

Halaska pleaded guilty to two counts of assault with a deadly weapon on Jan. 14 as her trial date approached. It all extends from an incident on April 13, 2025, when she stabbed the victims, Gabriel Millan and Christopher Abrahamsen in an alley at Bacon Street and Newport Avenue just after 1 a.m. Millan and Abrahamsen were seriously injured, were rushed to an emergency room at a hospital, where they remained for many days.

Halaska famously declared “that’s not how you treat a lady” before stabbing the two men.

Halaska’s attorney tried to resolve the case by entering her into a mental health diversion program, but Judge Chandra Reid denied the motion on Dec. 10, records show. and she remains in the Las Colinas Women’s Detention Facility on $500,000 bail.

More than 500 healthcare workers at Kaiser Permanente locations in San Diego County are joining their sibling nurses’ unions who have been on strike for two weeks. They are members of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 135 and are beginning an Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) action Monday, February 9, 2026. The strike will begin at 7:00 AM with picketing to commence shortly after.

The walkout comes after workers voted overwhelmingly to authorize a ULP strike in response to Kaiser’s refusal to return to National Bargaining and negotiate in good faith. Close to 350 pharmacy workers including technicians, assistants, and other classifications approved a ULP strike with a vote in October 2025. In January 2026, approximately 150 Clinical Lab Scientists and Medical Laboratory Technicians in San Diego County also voted to authorize a ULP strike.

Picketing will take place daily from 7:00 AM to 3:00 PM at two San Diego County locations: San Diego Medical Center at 9455 Clairemont Mesa Blvd, San Diego, CA 92123 and in North County at the San Marcos Medical Center, 400 Craven Rd, San Marcos, CA 92078.

A rally and press conference will also be held at 11 a.m. Monday at the SD Med Ctr, involving Todd Walters, President, UFCW Local 135 and former San Diegan Lorena Gonzalez, President of the California Federation of Labor Unions.

By Donna Frye / Op-Ed SD Union-Tribune / Feb. 8, 2026

On Jan. 5, the city of San Diego began charging residents and nonresidents to park at Balboa Park. To say that the rollout went badly is a gross understatement; the only way it could have been worse is if the city made everyone parallel park before paying.

There was extensive news coverage both before and after the paid parking was enacted showing widespread opposition to the parking fees for residents and nonresidents alike.

On Jan. 27, three City Council members who had voted in support of paid parking in Balboa Park held a press conference inside City Hall.

At that press conference, Council President Joe LaCava, Council President Pro Tem Kent Lee and Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera jointly announced their proposal to suspend paid parking fees for residents, but keep the parking fees for nonresidents.

LaCava said he was docketing their proposal for the council meeting that would be held on Monday, Feb. 9. There was no mention of a ballot measure as part of their proposal.

On Jan. 28, the Rules Committee had a meeting. LaCava, Lee and Elo-Rivera are three of the five members who serve on the Rules Committee; LaCava is the chair and Lee is the vice chair.