OB Rag

By Judy Miller

On Friday, I was at Ocean Beach. Sunny day, gentle breeze, new grass on the lawn, crowds of happy visitors spending money during spring vacation.

Then I had to use the restroom. The public restrooms at the O.B. lifeguard station are so run-down that I was embarrassed for my city, just looking at them.

by Andrew Van Dam / Washington Post / March 29, 2024 

Where in the unholy heck did all these bees come from?!

After almost two decades of relentless colony collapse coverage and years of grieving suspiciously clean windshields, we were stunned to run the numbers on the new Census of Agriculture (otherwise known as that wonderful time every five years where the government counts all the llamas): America’s honeybee population has rocketed to an all-time high.

By Mark Doering / SD U-T Op-Ed / April 1, 2024 

While in plain sight, the root cause for why potholes are forming rapidly is not visible to most. I am a native San Diegan and licensed engineer who for years has seen our city streets deteriorate from what they once were — beautiful and smooth — to what they are now, potholed and dangerous. The cause of the deterioration of our streets is very apparent if you know what to look for and know a little of San Diego’s road maintenance history.

The City of San Diego is set to show the public what a replacement design for the OB Pier may look like, and is prepping for the unveiling of a final, preferred design concept at a community workshop on Saturday, April 6.

Three potential design concepts for a replacement pier were presented in September of 2023, and the city has been collecting feedback from San Diegans ever since on what they want to see in the new pier. And now city officials are saying the preferred design is an amalgamation of the three concepts, using the public input received to combine preferred features from each design.

The session will be held 2 to 5 p.m. April 6 at the Liberty Station Conference Center, 2600 Laning Road.

In San Diego, City, county and local offices will be closed today, Monday for César Chávez Day along with courts, public health clinics, family resource centers, libraries and animal shelters. County parks, campgrounds, and neighborhood day-use parks will largely remain open, though county officials said certain facilities will be closed Monday.

There will be mail delivery because César Chávez Day is a federal commemorative holiday, first proclaimed by then-President Barack Obama in 2014, and not a federal holiday.

Over the weekend we heard that Claudia Jack, the unofficial mayor of Ocean Beach, has passed on. Hodad’s gave us the word:

Ocean Beach doesn’t toss the word LEGEND around too easily. Same with LOCAL. So when we tell you that OB lost a true local Legend today, it is with the upmost respect. Claudia Jack… Never enough Thank You’s for all of the energy you pumped into this community. Rest in Peace Claudia Peters Jack.

Here is a tribute I wrote about her a few years ago:

Paul McCartney, 81, shows off new beard and white hair after ditching dye for natural look. Anybody want him to retire?

Please join the ceasefire in Gaza vigil / rally, Saturday, March 30th from Noon to 1 PM at the Ocean Beach portal.

By Geoff Page

The fences came down two days ago – on Tuesday. The long, luxurious grass inside the fence has been trimmed like a long-haired hippie entering the military. A couple of vendors are back. And the public once again has access to what is usually referred to as Veteran’s Park, on Abbott Street between Newport Ave. and Santa Monica Ave.

This particular piece of land was quite a mess before this work was done, as can be seen by the “before” picture taken from Google Maps. The site was mostly sand with some bits of grass. The deterioration of the area was the result of overuse, especially by vendors. Performers and the ocean added to it as well.

Checking in with Denny Knox, Executive Director of the Ocean Beach Main Street Association, for information about the restoration, it was learned that the project was the work of the city’s Parks and Recreation Department.

Forty-five years ago today — March 28th — Central Pennsylvania suffered a historic tragedy when one of the nuclear reactors at Three Mile Island experienced a partial meltdown.

The accident, which occurred at the Generating Station along the Susquehanna River on March 28, 1979, went down in history as the most serious nuclear power plant accident in United States history.

According to the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, researchers were able to determine that the meltdown had “negligible effects on the physical health of individuals or the environment” — but that’s not to say there weren’t any lasting impacts.