Search: Marshmallow

OB Town Council Calls for Community Members to Sign “Pledge to Mallow Out”

June 17, 2014 by Staff
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RIP OB Marshmallow Wars – 1985 to 2013

The Ocean Beach Town Council hopes to bury the OB Marshmallow Wars this July. And the group says: “Rest in Peace, OB Marshmallow Wars” – you lasted from 1985 to 2013, and now it’s time to bury you.

The Town Council is calling on community members to sign their “Pledge” to “Mallow out”. Plus they’re looking for volunteers for the Peace Patrol that will collect marshmallows in the hours leading up to the Fireworks show. The OBTC will also be devoting part of their next meeting on June 25th on the campaign to end the marshmallow as a weapon and destructive device in OB.

Here’s the Pledge.

Here’s what the Town Council says about their campaign (from their website): …

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Police Are Not Planning on Increasing Their Presence in Ocean Beach on July 4th

June 10, 2014 by Frank Gormlie
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San Diego Police are not planning on having a larger presence in OB on July 4th, Lt. Natalie Stone told the OB Rag.

“We’ll have the same presence as always,” the Western Division police lieutenant said. Maybe, she added, we’ll add a few more people. But that’s it. Nobody is expecting police, she said, to prevent anything from happening.

There had been some fears that an increased police presence at the beach during the fireworks and any aftermath could spark a disturbance with booze-fueled young people. Normally, the police are present, but not in any huge numbers, and usually the officers have smiles and are getting into the spirit of the event, even when their patrol cars are pelted with marshmallows.

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Planning Commission Approves OB Plan Update But With New Language that Guts its Teeth on Variances

May 30, 2014 by Frank Gormlie
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It was embarrassing to observe how the Planning Commission coddled one single property owner while gutting key language regarding variances

By Frank Gormlie

On Thursday, May 29, for nearly two hours, the Ocean Beach Community Plan Update was before the San Diego Planning Commission sitting in the City Council chambers. After having a staff presentation, listening to public comments pro and con, and their own questions and issues, the Planning Commission unanimously approved the Update. However, they approved the Plan with two modifications whose ramifications are not clear.

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Community Plans – Both of OB and Barrio Logan – Discussed at OB Town Council

May 30, 2014 by Source
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by Lois Lane

The OB Town Council meeting on Wednesday, May 28, focused on Community Plans – the one in Barrio Logan under attack and the OB Plan hopeful of approval.

If you have read your ballot by now – A YES vote on Propositions B and C preserves the 2013 Barrio Logan community plan resulting from the city’s community process and approved by the San Diego City Council. Challenged by the shipyard interests, a NO vote will overturn the approved plan.

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After 6 Years – OB Rag Is at a Crossroads

October 28, 2013 by Frank Gormlie
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This past weekend, the OB Rag celebrated its sixth anniversary – and we had a small party and pot-luck complete with a fire-dancer and player piano (and meats catered by the BBQ House).

Ah, yes, six years of being the online ‘news and views’ for Ocean Beach and beyond. We’ve now been publishing for as long as our name-sake predecessor, the original OB Rag, OB’s alternative community newspaper from the Seventies.

It’s been a great run for the Rag, these last years.

But we’re at a crossroads, because the practicalities of continuing to publish are forcing us to face where we’re at and forcing a sober re-assessment and re-evaluation of just what the Rag is doing.

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Report from the Ocean Beach Planning Board Meeting of October 2nd

October 3, 2013 by Source
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Editor: The OB Planning Board held its monthly meeting on October 2nd. Here is a report of that meeting by Sara Huffington.

By Sara Huffington

In news from the OB Planning Board …

New Board Member Appointed

Drew Wilson was unanimously approved by the OBPB as the newest Ocean Beach Planning Board member representing District 3. Newly appointed board member Wilson lives in district 2, has a degree in City Planning and comes from a family of active community members.

Proposal to Raise City Water Rates Explained

The City of San Diego’s Public Utilities Department Brent Eidson provided more information to the Board regarding the City Council’s proposal to raise water rates.

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Final Design of OB Veterans’ Memorial Plaza Made Public

September 19, 2013 by Frank Gormlie
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It’s happened. The final design for the new Ocean Beach Veterans’ Memorial Plaza has been publicly unveiled.

Over the last week and a half, presentations of the new design have been made in front of both the Ocean Beach Mainstreet Association and the OB Community Development Corporation (OBCDC) – the project’s sponsoring organization. And both groups gave green lights to the project that will replace the current memorial, one that has been worn down literally by salt air, sand, ocean water, foot traffic – not to mention marshmallows – .

Yet it may be years before the new memorial project itself is completely constructed.

The OB Veterans’ Plaza has also been in the news for months (for instance San Diego Newsroom ) because of a connection with the developer Sunroad and accusations of ‘pay to play’ monies given to the City, that former Mayor Filner wanted to go to the memorial. (It was mentioned in last weeks San Diego Reader cover story entitled “Did Sunroad pay to play?” )

Once built, the new plaza will have a final design that resulted from a process that involved two community workshops earlier this year and the creative input of the design consultant, and will be located next to the current reserved parking lot south of the main lifeguard station, butting up to Abbott Street. It will have a mosaic walkway from Abbott Street to a gathering plaza next to the sand, and includes four granite walls with the names of the honored vets. A crosswalk at Newport Avenue and Abbott Street is also being considered as part of the design.

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We’ve Gone Surfin’ – Open Thread on Discussion of OB Issues

July 10, 2013 by Frank Gormlie
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We’re going surfing – boogie-boarding to be exact. I have a new board and new fins and plan on meeting JEC down at Tower 2.

In the meantime, here is an open thread – on issues of Ocean Beach. Leave your comments, observations, opinions, and thoughts in the comment section below. And if you don’t like the issues we suggest, raise some of your own.

Here are some discussion points:

  • Marshmallow/ marshmellow wars – Do you think they’re ready to be banned or brought under control some how? And how and who will do this? Who should pay for the clean-up? We personally think that the police should be kept out of it, that volunteers and locals need to deal with it.
  • OB’s new draft Community Plan update. … What? … Yes, the City has issued a new community development plan for OB. All OBceans need to familiarize themselves with the new plan, the old plan, planning issues, and history.
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Ocean Beach Accounted for Three-Quarters of Garbage Collected from Four Beaches

July 8, 2013 by Staff

On the day after the Fourth of July, Surfrider organized a massive clean-up of four beaches: OB, Mission Beach, PB and Oceanside. Hundreds of volunteers fanned out over these beaches in their “Morning After Mess” annual clean-up, and collected a total of 2,372 pounds of trash from the 4 beach areas.

But most of the trash collected off the sand and beaches – over three-quarters of it – was picked up off Ocean Beach.

OB accounted for 1,802 pounds – 76% of the total. 168 volunteers began at 9am near the OB Pier. Over the next couple of hours, the cleaners picked up 2,395 cigarette butts, 407 plastic bags, 131 styrofoam pieces, and 32 pounds of recycling material. The most unusual items collected were a BBQ and marshmallow guns.

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Reader Rant: July 4th Aftermath in OB – Power Washer on Newport Pushes Trash Into Gutters and Storm Drains

July 5, 2013 by Source
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Editor: The following rant and photos were sent to us by a local OB resident who witnessed an early morning clean-up today – July 5th – on the sidewalks of Newport Avenue that disturbed him. He was upset and made the following accusations, which are of concern if true, but they cannot be independently verified at this moment.

Of course, as we all know, the clean-up in OB after the fireworks and marshmallow fight is very staggering and any effort to wash up the mess is applauded. Yet if the Newport trash – including marshmallows, cigarette butts, cans and bottles – is indeed washing down the storm drain – then that is a concern.

By OBracer

The Ocean Beach Main Street Association ( OBMA ) pays for a power washer to clean the sidewalks along Newport Ave after the fireworks.

All night they clean the sidewalks pushing all the trash into our storm drains and gutters.

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Surfrider Organizing “Morning After Mess” Clean-Up on July 5th – 11a.m. OB Pier

June 28, 2013 by Source
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At 9 a.m. Surfrider Foundation Plans Post-Fourth of July Clean-Ups in Ocean Beach, Mission Beach, PB and Oceanside

From San Diego Surfrider

There’s nothing like celebrating the Fourth of July on a beautiful San Diego beach. However, visit that same shoreline the morning after, and the sight is significantly less lovely thanks to the thousands of pounds of trash left behind.

Trash, plus marshmallows if you happen to be in Ocean Beach after the annual marshmallow fight. Thankfully, the Surfrider Foundation’s San Diego County Chapter will be leading the way in cleaning up the mess.

On July 5, 2013, the nonprofit invites beach-lovers of all ages to join the “Morning After Mess,” cleanup hosted from 9 to 11 a.m. at the following locations:

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Finding “Hope” – Another LA Refugee Discovers the Streets of Ocean Beach

May 13, 2013 by Source
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Amy’s Take ……On life in OB

By Amy Hall

About two weeks ago, I did it.

I finally shot myself out of the LA cannon sailing straight for San Diego. Ten long years was spent clawing and scratching my way through to my goals in the Music Industry. I had a nervous breakdown just to end up taking a good long hard look at who Amy was becoming, in the mirror, in my room, at Motel 6.

My two dogs and I were through with rat race and struggle.

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Surfrider’s Morning After Mess : 77% of Trash on County beaches from Ocean Beach?

July 7, 2012 by Source

Editor: According to this Surfline report of Surfrider’s “Morning After Mess” clean-up of County beaches on July 5th, 77.3% of the “trash” was found on Ocean Beach sands. See for yourself …

From Surfline / July 5, 2012

Over 500 volunteers from around San Diego County arrived at five area beaches this morning to assist in the annual post-Fourth of July Morning After Mess clean-up effort, coordinated by the San Diego County Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation. By midday, Surfrider volunteers had recovered 2,607 pounds of trash and 191 pounds of recycling which otherwise would have been washed into the sea.

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UT-San Diego Recycles Two Week Old Story on Front Page

July 6, 2012 by Doug Porter

From San Diego Free Press

The story on the front page of Thursday – July 5th – daily newspaper looked familiar. So familiar, in fact, that I initially thought the paper had lifted it—at least in part—from some other local source, possibly the Reader or KPBS. The article told the tale of an ascendant duo of mystery writers, Michele Scott and Andrew E. Kaufman, who recently discovered quite by accident that they lived within a quarter mile of each other in Jamul and have now decided to collaborate on a book. The lede to the story was so memorable (“Fresh from the freaky-but-true files:…) that I went ahead and searched the web, thinking surely there must be some kind of plagiarism going on. But that turned out not to be the case. What I discovered was that the story was originally published in the UT-SD on June 19th. In other words, the paper was re-cycling the news.

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O.B. – She’s a Beauty – A Poem by Kathy Blavatt

April 27, 2012 by Source

Kathy Blavatt – a local artist and community activist from Ocean Beach – wrote this poem for the Respect OB forum held on Tuesday the 24th, and she’s letting us publish it here:

O.B. – She’s a Beauty

I’ve loved a lady with sunshine in her hair…

Dolphins swim through blue eyes.

A feminine free spirit… She goes by O.B.

She’s lived life with a checkered past…

A small-town girl in a big city.

She’s a hippie with a degree…

A surfer from way back…

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The future of Ocean Beach

August 5, 2010 by Staff
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This is the future of Ocean Beach. These are the architect’s drawings of what Saratoga and Abbott will look like, once the twelve, 3-story condos are developed.

With the news that the corner site at Abbott Street and Saratoga has been sold (1984-92 Abbott St. and 5113-19 Saratoga Ave.), residents of the community will be confronting the reality that a significant corner of the beachfront will be forever transformed.

Some consider this site, next to Saratoga Park and right on the beach, to be one of the most “important” within OB. Whatever does or does not happen there will help to define this community’s identity.

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One year later, Chris Bowd’s assailant still MIA

July 12, 2010 by Frank Gormlie
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It’s been one year since OBcean Chris Bowd was knocked unconscious on July 4th, 2009, and left in a pool of his own blood. He was found leaning up against a telephone pole near the corner of Newport Ave and Bacon Street before midnight. An ambulance took him to the hospital where he remained in a coma for weeks. Upon his revival, he had no memory of what happened to him or who his assailant was.

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Movers and Shakers – Ocean Beach Comedy

April 9, 2010 by Jon Carr
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Originally posted June 17, 2009

Taggers defacing OB, Iranian election upheaval, Homelessness, Carrie Prejean, Bird Porn. While these are all important issues, except maybe Prejean, the overload of bad news can be enough to make you want to take a nice warm bubble bath with your toaster. So if you start to find yourself overloaded with stressful political, social issues, do yourself a favor. Laugh.

And check out Ocean Beach Comedy.

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Looking Back at 2009 – Ten Things We Did at the OB Rag

December 30, 2009 by Doug Porter
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Two thousand nine was a growth year for the OB Rag blog. We added a whole bunch of new voices, posted more often about more things, and still managed to keep a good eye on what was going on in our community. Our readership grew by leaps and bounds and our unique brand of citizen journalism gained significant local and national recognition. We had our hits and flops, made a lot of new friends and a few enemies along the way.

Frank Gormlie and I have been talking back and forth over the past few days, trying to figure out how best to recap the year. We tried collectively writing about all our coverage and it quickly got unwieldy. So here’s my stab at writing about the impressions that reside in my memories of the last twelve months.

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Hey OBceans! Adopt a Fire Pit! …the OB Way!

December 12, 2009 by Frank Gormlie
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OCEAN BEACH, CA. Thanks to OBSteven, we now have documented where OB’s fire pits are. There appears to be eight of them – see map.

Now is your chance to adopt a fire pit. Are you an individual, group, civic organization, store front, business, or church? Rush now to get yours. There’s only eight.

We have numbered them #1 through #8, starting with the most northern one as numero uno. Number eight is the most southern one – the one closest to the main Life Guard tower. Sign up now, fellow OBceans!

One of our vocal commenters, bodysurferbob, has proposed that people adopt them, just like groups and families adopt sections of the freeway. Get your name on the fire pit.

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Ocean Beach Holiday Shopping Guide: An adventure with Jon and Tanya

December 10, 2009 by Jon Carr
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By: Jon Carr and Tanya Joy Brueckner

Ocean Beach is a community well known, and highly regarded for supporting our local merchants. Our “mom & pop shops” have arguably been the backbone of this great village for decades. Obceans take great pride in our local storefronts, and go to great lengths to protect our shores from large corporate interests. It is in my opinion that the single most effective way to preserve our community, keep local businesses thriving and stave off corporate influence, is by shopping local whenever possible.

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Reader Rant: Don’t let them take the fire pits out – you’ll really regret it if you do

December 10, 2009 by Source
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by bodysurferbob

I’m telling you right now, if you allow the City of San Diego to remove OB’s fire rings and pits, you will live to really regret it. Maybe not this summer, but a summer or two down the pike. Or maybe the next time your kids ask you to take them to the beach for a marshmallow or wiener roast. Or the next time you have guests from out of town, and you want to do a beach party.

I’m telling you right now, if you let the City take the fire pits out, part of beach culture goes with them. Part of our beach culture will die.

You’re saying, hey, they’re closing libraries, they’re talking about cutting out school sports and music, the City is laying cops and lifeguards off. These are really dire economic times. How can we worry about fire rings?

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Coastal Commission has last word on removal of OB’s fire pits

December 3, 2009 by Staff
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OCEAN BEACH, CA. There may be a Santa Claus after all – if you like fire pits and rings at the beach. The California Coastal Commission has just informed the City of San Diego that it will need a permit from the state to remove the the fire rings in Ocean Beach, and the other beaches – Mission, PB and La Jolla Shores.

Mayor Jerry Sanders has proposed removing the 186 fire pits in order to save bucks on their maintenance as he grapples with a 179 million dollar deficit.

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OB Oktoberfest 2009 – Surrealism and Silliness Abound

October 11, 2009 by Doug Porter
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The trick to reporting on these events, as I discovered after a few trips around the block, is to either go late or go early. I went early today and missed out on what one my usual sources called “a flood of douchebags” from Pacific Beach. I wonder how he knew? Do PB people have tattoos that give away their douchiness?

Early turned out to be a good call as I got to see OB Oktoberfest with kind of a corny and small town feel…if it were being shot for a Fellini movie.

Over at the Gitmo Memorial Beer Garden, the early drinking crowds were sparse, and the staff was able to have a little fun, dancing around in their “authentic” Germanish costumes and posing for pictures. The best costume of the morning, however, was up on the stage, where the lead singer from a band called Way Cool, Jr. was dressed up like a Deutschland Dominatrix ala Berlin back in the day.

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What Now OB Rag?

August 12, 2009 by Staff
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It’s time to sit down with our readers and discuss where we think our little blog is going. Actually, it’s not that little any more. We started out in October 2007 and for the first six months we averaged a little over 2100 visitors a month.

Now, as we near our second anniversary (October), we’ve reached nearly 23,000 visitors a month. Check out the graph below which shows our monthly visitors for the last year. It’s obvious that we are growing and that our readership from OB is expanding. We feel we have a strong community base, solid legitimacy and a genuine acceptance by the residents and businesses of our seaside neighborhood.

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Reader Rant: Fire Spinners Out of Control at Veterans’ Memorial

August 11, 2009 by Frank Gormlie
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by Concerned OBcean

While my son and I were in town last night having dinner, I saw someone spinning fire Poi at the west end of Newport. Surprised by the boldness of the spinner to be spinning right there in plain sight on a public corner, I pointed him/her out to my son. Thinking, perhaps hoping, it was simply a drunken fool performing a one time event, I didn’t think much of it.

Yet it continued. …

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OB Community Bulletin Board (7/24-7/31/09)

July 28, 2009 by Staff
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This is an Ocean Beach Community Bulletin Board. Please post any news or info that you’d like to share in the comments section. We’ll start it off with the following:

* UPDATE: OBMA HELPS CLEAN UP VETS’ MEMORIAL

* New Medicinal Marijuana Dispensary to Open on Newport …

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Burners and Hoopers: the Police Respond

July 27, 2009 by Mary E. Mann
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by Mary E Mann

Two weeks ago the OB Rag published an article I wrote about burners (people who spin fire at Burning Man), and hoopers (people who dance with flaming hula-hoops). A group of hoopers had been ticketed on June 4th, with fines totaling $2,500. They got these tickets practicing in a small, controlled group at the beach in OB.

The article received a great response, but I started thinking about the voices that hadn’t been heard.

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Blogger Rant: Make Love Not Smores

July 19, 2009 by Dave Gilbert
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by Dave Gilbert

I’m a little more than surprised that 11 days after the Marsh Mallow fights of 2009 have ended, that the mess at Veteran’s Rock still remains.

Well, they say a picture is worth a thousand words so here’s what it still looks like down there after all of that “fun” has subsided.

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A Great Start on the Veteran’s Memorial Cleanup

July 19, 2009 by Jon Carr

by Jon Carr

UPDATE: NEXT CLEAN-UP: SAT AT 10 AM
Hey Ragsters, Jim Grant and I were down at the Veteran’s Memorial yesterday to clean. Here’s the results…
Only two people showed up to help clean the marshmallow mess off the veterans memorial. In the heat of day, we worked for one full hour before calling it quits. The task is simply too large for two people to complete in a reasonable amount of time. However, in just one hour, the two of us were able to make quite a noticeable difference in about 20 square feet. And we learned some good stuff along the way.

First of all, the goop, which now resembles tar, comes up rather easily with just warm water (NO SOAP) a bristle brush, and a scraping tool such as a putty knife.

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