OB Rag

By Jennifer van Grove  / San Diego Union-Tribune / Feb. 1-2, 2026

Nearly two years after submitting an initial application to build a mixed-use tower in Pacific Beach, the developer behind the project, sometimes referred to as Project Vela, has made little progress in convincing the city of San Diego that its unconventional application of local and state laws to breach, by an order of magnitude, the neighborhood’s height limit is lawful.

The parties appear at an impasse.

City staff maintain that the project, which calls for 139 hotel rooms and 75 apartments atop ground-floor shops on a 0.67-acre site, is not legal in its current form, primarily because the developer plans to treat the visitor accommodation units as long-term rentals.

In a Dec. 23 letter, San Diego’s Development Services Department said it could not approve the fourth iteration of the project from real estate investment firm Kalonymus Development Partners LLC, citing insufficient and conflicting information.

Matt Awbrey, a spokesperson for Kalonymus, said the developer plans to resubmit the project for a fifth time.

By David Garrick / SD Union-Tribune / Feb. 5, 2026

San Diego leaders are backing away from paid parking at beaches as a solution to the city’s budget crisis, opting instead for more internal audits that can lead to big savings and slashing middle management jobs.

Other ideas discussed Wednesday, Jan. 4, as ways to help close a projected $119 million deficit for the coming fiscal year include a hiring freeze and renegotiating under-market leases of city buildings and properties.

City Council members stressed their opposition to cuts that would affect neighborhoods equally, urging Mayor Todd Gloria to prioritize sparing low-income neighborhoods when he releases a proposed budget April 15.

The former Rite Aid property in Ocean Beach has been sold for a cool $12.6 Millions. The 1.66 acre site at 4840 Niagara Avenue has been a tempting plum to pluck for months since Rite Aid closed and now it has happened. The retail building — which used to be a Mayfair market before Rite Aid — is 20,155-square-feet.

One of the largest  commercial real estate and investment firms in the country — if not the world — CBRE — facilitated the sale, with agents from CBRE (Chase Bank Real Estate) representing both the seller and the buyer in the transaction.

At this moment, we don’t know who the buyer is, but we do have a call into the CBRE media agent listed in the recent announcement dated Jan. 28, 2026.

A senior vice-president of CBRE, Reg Kobzi, was quoted in the announcement:

“This transaction underscores the enduring appeal and scarcity of well-located, parking-rich retail assets in San Diego’s coastal communities. Big-box retail opportunities like this former Rite Aid with on-site parking in Ocean Beach are extremely rare, reflecting strong investor confidence in the area’s fundamentals and tenant demand.”

By Kate Callen / February 4, 2026

A constant reminder of our city’s slow collapse sits in the side yard of my house. It is a beat-up black trash bin, and it isn’t going anywhere.

Weeks ago, without notice, crews swept through my neighborhood to haul away the old black bins. Residents like me who didn’t have them at the curb missed the boat.

Trash collectors told me the bin would be picked up the following week. That didn’t happen. And it didn’t happen the week after that.

When you drive around your community, you might see these stray bins lurking about. Some people leave them at the curb like a defiant middle finger. I belong to the group that hides them. I don’t want my neighbors thinking, “Does she really believe the city will pick that up?”

The funny thing is that my bin had been sidelined for more than a year. Remember how the original bins cracked over time? And people would press duct tape over the cracks?

Dozens of demonstrators gathered in front of the Rady Shell, Monday, Feb. 2, protesting the high electrical rates of San Diego Gas and Electric. It was held outside of DTECH, an annual meeting that bills itself as the largest gathering of utility professionals in the country.

One of the speakers at the meeting’s keynote session at the Rady Shell was none other than SDG&E President Scott Crider.

The protesters, from a number of environmental and community groups, pressed the utility of its high rates, a sore spot among San Diegans who have made their complaints louder lately. A big reason — SDG&E’s plan to increase rates again, which could make San Diego one of, if not the most, expensive cities when it comes to utility rates.

The U-T reported:

According to the California Legislative Analyst’s Office, average rates for SDG&E, Pacific Gas & Electric and Southern California Edison increased between 48% and 67% from 2019 through 2023. A blog post in 2023 by the Haas Energy Institute at UC Berkeley reported SDG&E had the highest electricity rate in California. …

by Niko Padilla / The Daily Aztec /  January 29, 2026

Along Newport Avenue in Ocean Beach lies The Harp, where you can often hear live music before you even see the bar, as the sounds of funk, rock and reggae music fill the street with life.

As the OB Farmers’ Market takes place over the street on Wednesday nights, you can often see a crowd gathered at the window, listening to the music, as customers, friends, family and sports fans have a drink and play a game of pool inside. These nights offer special opportunities for connection. They are more than just people coming together for a drink, but a unity between the music and the listener.

The Harp is owned by Miles Doughty, lead singer of Slightly Stoopid, Jeremy Diem, CEO of Hodad’s and long-time friends Tyson Green and Steve Ashton, who are familiar faces behind the bars in Ocean Beach. The four friends have taken over the legacy of this longtime local spot for just over a year, as they continue to improve upon what it once was.

“What we’re cooking up over here is something to be enjoyed for years to come,” said co-owner Green. “A quality music venue that people can come, hang out with their homies, and enjoy some intimate music.”

Amid all the crap that we as Americans are having to deal with coming out of the Trump administration, there is good news.

Local communities across the country along with some state and local officials are resisting attempts by President Donald Trump to house thousands of detained immigrants in their areas in converted warehouses, privately run facilities and county jails. These are immigrant prisons.

In red states, red counties and red towns and  cities, people are pushing back so hard that ICE officials are having troubles finding locations for their detention centers. In Texas, in Oklahoma, in Utah, in New Mexico, in Virginia, proposed ICE facilities are running into brick walls by grassroots resistance.

Why is this happening? MSNOW reports:

Federal officials have been scouting cities and counties across the U.S. for places to hold immigrants as they roll out a massive $45 billion expansion of detention facilities financed by Trump’s recent tax-cutting law.

The fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti during immigration enforcement actions in Minnesota have amplified an already intense spotlight on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, increasing scrutiny of its plans for new detention sites.

For instance, officials in Social Circle, Georgia, El Paso, Texas, and Roxbury Township, New Jersey, all have raised concerns about their locales being used and they all cite a lack of water and sewer capacity to transform warehouses into detention sites.

The American citizenry have to withstand a daily barrage of stupid, crazy and frightening declarations that emanate out of the White House — but none are more scary than a recent statement by Trump on a conservative podcast Sunday, Feb. 1, when he said Republicans should “nationalize” American elections.

“We should take over the voting, the voting in at least many, 15 places.The Republicans ought to nationalize the voting.”

Trump was on the podcast of former FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino.

In a MS NOW report of the broadcast from earlier today, writer Steve Benen wrote:

Partway through the interview, Bongino briefly referred to crime rates, to which Trump responded with a meandering rant across a variety of unrelated subjects, including his bizarre beliefs about election administration.

by Ernie McCray

What in the hell is wrong with you
Republican Congressmen and Congresswomen?
How have you
come to losing your way
so dishonorably,
like a ship without a rudder
in foggy weather,
wandering aimlessly,
trapped in a web,
like helpless insects,
at the mercy
of a demented madman of a president
who has you, for one thing,
for instance,

Last week, the City of San Diego announced that 14 roadways and intersections throughout San Diego have been labeled as “high-crash locations” and “will potentially receive safety enhancements.”

Locally, Midway Drive between Kemper Street and Duke Street: Near Sports Arena Blvd has been chosen as one of the dangerous places.

In a statement, the City declared:

The 14 areas were identified after the City of San Diego’s Traffic Engineering team reviewed 2024 collision data and evaluated intersections with five or more injuries or fatal crashes. The data also looks at patterns, street segments with the most injury crashes and intersections with the most pedestrian-involved collisions. …

One of the most recognizable OB establishments, an icon of the counter-culture — The Black — is set to close after 57 years.

If you were a hippie or a hippie-wannabe in the late Sixties or the 1970s, The Black was the place to visit — as long as you asked for “water pipes” and not “bongs.” For a very long time, it was the only “head shop” in OB, as it sold pipes, rolling papers, records, jewelry, hippy and black light posters – and for a while it was the only hip book store in town.