OB Rag

By Frances O’Neill Zimmerman / March 30, 2023

A lot of Democrats have drowned in water under the bridge since Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher wrote this hopeful piece ten or so years ago. But Lorena is still standing and I personally hope she will reassess her situation and our need and carry on.

Included in the flotsam and jetsam are failed political careers of Democrats that Lorena’s essay mentions as up-and-comers

By Nicole Ueno

When I was nine years old, I went fishing for the first time on the Ocean Beach Pier with my father. We didn’t catch anything, but I didn’t mind – it was the time spent with my dad that I cherished.

Years later, I would often take my children out on the pier and watch their faces fill with wonder as they looked out over the waves and surfers, little hands pointing at pelicans cruising past in a ‘V’ or dolphins playing in the water below. The pier holds many happy memories for my family and for countless others who come to marvel at the beauty of this liminal space between land, sea and sky.

Now the time has come to determine a new future for the OB Pier. A

Whenever I inform out-of-town friends or OB newbies about restaurants in Ocean Beach, I always describe Ortega’s on Newport Ave as the best Mexican eatery in the village.

Now, however, after over 25 years under the same family ownership, Ortega’s Cocina is changing hands.

Brothers Adolfo and Erik Barrientos-Ortega have been operating Ortega’s at 4888 Newport Avenue since the mid 1990s. Over its 27 year tenure, the restaurant has become known

The 3rd annual OB Woman’s Club Hat Contest is back on April 6 from 6:30 – 8 pm at Dirty Birds Ocean Beach.

Start immediately creating your hat.

HATegories include:

• Ode to Mae (celebrating our garden history)
• Most OBcean
• Most Original
• Most Out of This World
• Most LUMINOUS! (Coordinating with The -LUMINOSITY Festival coming to OB in July)

From Press Statement:

The Public Power San Diego coalition will hold a mass FIRE SDGE! rally on April 1st, Noon, in Civic Center Plaza, downtown San Diego.

The event will be the first mass protest advocating a divorce from San Diego Gas & Electric, which charges the nation’s highest electric rates. “This rally signals a turning point.” said Craig Rose, a member of Public Power San Diego’s steering committee.

See this short video by Charles Landon about “Activism in the 70s and 80s” with Kathy Blavatt talking about her book, San Diego’s Sunset Cliffs Park.

Here is the Mt. Laguna Lodge live cam image at 8:52 this morning, Thursday, March 30. Just in case you thought spring was right around the corner.

By Megan Lonsdale / LomaBeat.com / March 29, 2023

Live Justice is an annual Point Loma Nazarene University campus event hosted by the Center for Justice and Reconciliation (CJR). It is grounded in five areas of action where students can live out the principle of justice and create changes with the intention of doing good for people and the planet: Drink, Do, Wear, Eat and Live.

by Cody Dulaney/ inewsource / March 28, 2023

A Superior Court judge could undermine San Diego’s strategy to clear homeless encampments from city sidewalks and parks.

This afternoon, Judge Yvonne Campos is set to hear final arguments in a pretrial hearing for a misdemeanor case against a 59-year-old unhoused woman charged with encroachment. It’s a city law that was intended to prohibit trash cans from blocking a sidewalk, but San Diego police have increasingly used it to break up tent encampments that officials say pose a risk to health and safety.

Ch-Ch-Changes… Evaluating Historic Places

By Bruce Coons / SOHO / March-April 2023

One of the great misunderstandings or myths about the historic preservation of a house or building is that it must be “frozen in time” to qualify for historic designation.

But this is not the case. The National Register of Historic Places guidelines clearly state:

“Additions and changes to a historic building over time need to be evaluated for their own potential significance, and the historical and architectural importance of the building as a whole should be considered.”

By Kathy Blavatt

Photos by Kathy Blavatt

We will remember Winter 2023 as the year we got rain. Months of storms pounded our coastline. On  the upside, there were clear and even sunny days between showers. The clean air provided extraordinary views.

On a clear day, Cabrillo Monument at the tip of the Point Loma Peninsula is the primo local spot for views of San Diego, Mexico, and the ocean.

As I ventured to Cabrillo Monument for a hike, I was tantalized by the juxtaposed details of the far-off mountains that contrasted with the downtown urban center and the Coronado Cays.

Days earlier, at other viewpoints to the North, I could see snow on the mountains as far as Big Bear.