OB Rag

By George Mullen and Bill Walton / Times of San Diego / January 10, 2024

San Diego is currently living a homeless humanitarian catastrophe of epic proportions. The time is now to consider deploying what we call the Sunbreak Ranch Emergency Parachute.

The tragic numbers are staggering. According to our own local government’s Regional Task Force On Homelessness, in the San Diego region there were over 4,751 new unsheltered homeless people in 2023.

Before Trump, his sycophants, and media pundits make too much of the Donald’s “win” in the GOP Iowa caucuses, let’s consider the reality of his really miserable numbers coming out of Iowa.

First of all, we’re talking about a state with only a population of 3.193 million (2021). In comparison, the County of San Diego has a population of 3.286 million (2021). So, our county has more people than the entire state of Iowa. Plus, Iowa is 90% white.

Currently, there are 752,200 registered Republicans in Iowa. Reportedly, 110,298 Iowans caucused. That’s only 15% of the total — which, yes, we know Iowans had to brave a sub-zero Arctic blast Monday night, but historically, was very low; usually the totals are 20% to 30%.

By Lori Weisberg / San Diego Union-Tribune / January 14, 2024

Largely hidden within the sprawling Paradise Point resort on Mission Bay are inviting sandy beaches and hundreds of public parking spaces that many locals and visitors are unaware they are free to use.

The California Coastal Commission, which last September fined Paradise Point $1 million for years of unpermitted development that interfered with public access, is close to signing off on a sweeping new plan aimed at ensuring that the public will be able to easily stroll along the shoreline, sunbathe on the beach and park free of charge at Mission Bay — all within the vacation resort.

By Sara Blanche Hayes

The below comment was left on the news story CBS 8 San Diego made about the closing of OB Playhouse.

“Unchecked capitalism and straight up Greed!!! The state needs to cap this sh#t!!! Hopefully that spot sits open and nobody rents it…”

There are many others like it, full of disgruntled San Diegans railing against the lack of rental protections and the landlords who exploit this fact. They toss around phrases like price gouging and profits-over-people, expressing their anger and disappointment.

The board of Wildsong Productions was shocked at the outpouring of anger and love.

“We were hopeful, of course, that mainstream news coverage would help us in some way. We never expected this.” — Kannon Gowen, Technical Director of Wildsong Productions.

By Eric DuVall / Pt Loma – OB Monthly / Jan. 16, 2024

Standing on the southwest corner of the bustling intersection at Saratoga Avenue and Sunset Cliffs Boulevard, the big Methodist church has been a hub of Ocean Beach activity for just shy of a century.

Something is happening on the church campus every day. Weekdays often are even busier than Sundays, at least in the past few years.

By Blake Nelson / San Diego Union-Tribune / Jan. 14, 202

The number of encampments along the San Diego River has risen repeatedly since officials set new limits on where tents are tolerated in the city, complicating efforts to reduce how many people sleep outside. There were 122 active camp sites at the end of last month, according to surveys by the San Diego River Park Foundation. Five months ago, before San Diego’s camping ban took effect, there were 95.

An encampment can include a single tent or several hand-built structures throughout a 25 meter area, meaning multiple people often live at each location.

Please join the Ocean Beach Historical Society on Thursday evening January 18th as they kick off their 30th year of our free monthly lecture series.

Ocean Beach photographer Randy Dible will present a program of his own wonderful photos mixed with the great historic photos of his grandfather, San Diego photographer Robert Thompson, from his travels around the world in the 1920s, ‘30s and ‘40s.

OB Playhouse Being Rebranded as Wildsong Theater & Art Collective

By Perla Shaheen / abc10News / Jan 14, 2024

Navigating Newport Avenue, the Ocean Beach Playhouse may easily slip under your radar. Despite its modest 3,800 square foot size, this venue hosts powerhouse performers, including Cody Ingram, who considers the theater his home.

“This is a very special place for me,” Ingram said. Since 2022, Ingram and a group of other performers have graced the OB Playhouse stage, delivering musical numbers like Cabaret and Secret Garden.

Anthony “Tony” Fleming founded The Harp Irish Pub 20 years ago as a pub and eatery on OB’s main commercial drag, Newport Avenue.

Tragically last October 2023, Tony tried to break up a fight outside the pub but in the process, suffered a heart attack. He subsequently passed away on October 18, 2023, at the young age of 63.

As usual, Colleen’s opinions do not necessarily reflect those of the OB Rag.

By Colleen O’Connor

Odds are against either Biden or Trump being sworn in as President in January 2025. Why?

Already, a majority of voters do not want either Trump or Biden in a 2024 redo.

Put bluntly, Americans want someone, almost anyone, else. The reality is omnipresent.

A notice is attached to the Ocean Beach Pier gate from the City of San Diego’s Development Services Department – and it appears to end the “argument” over the future of the iconic structure — it’s a notice of the “historic designation, demolition and replacement of the Ocean Beach Pier ….”

The date of the notice is February 6, 2024.

Here is a close-up of the text:

Trump Echos Nixon’s ‘If the President Does It, It’s Legal By Definition’

On Tuesday, January 9, 2024, Donald Trump’s lawyer argued a preposterous and frightening legal point in front of a D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals panel: the president could order the assassination of a political rival and get away with it as long as he wasn’t impeached.

Before the three justice panel — incidentally, all women — Trump’s attorney John Sauer was asked if the president would be persecuted if he ordered SEAL Team Six to assassinate a political rival. Sauer’s response made history — as it was the first time such an argument had ever been made inside a high level American court.