OB Rag

On Thursday, Dec. 8, the Union-Tribune announced:

The city of San Diego and development team Midway Rising have cemented an agreement to negotiate the lease and redevelopment of the city’s 48-acre sports arena site in the Midway District.

Monday, the parties executed what’s known as an exclusive negotiation agreement, or ENA. The milestone solidifies the pairing, and starts the clock on a two-year period that requires the developer to produce important material at set dates and not deviate too far from its winning bid.

by Ernie McCray

Woke up this morning
after a nice sleep
last night
and turned on the news
to a scene
that had me
brimming with delight,
the incredibly beautiful sight
of Brittney Griner
boarding a flight,

By Aliah Fabros / LomaBeat.com / Dec. 7, 2022

A colossal canine skeleton hangs from the ceiling, its jaws cracked open in a toothy grin. This is definitely not Starbucks. Above the espresso machines, a surrealist melting clock ticks an hour ahead. By the entrance, a woman delicately plucks a harp.

Welcome to The Template coffee house, home to any local university student who owns a pair of low cut Doc Martens and Diesel the pitbull.

In a travel website, the Old Point Loma Lighthouse is listed as one of three on the California coast that are “supposedly haunted by their old keepers.”

The Star reports:

What is it about lighthouses that ghosts like so much?

Maybe it’s the mist that often seems to shroud their lonely towers. Maybe it’s their historic role as a beacon to keep sailors safe from shipwrecks.

Whatever it is, up and down the California coast you’ll find lighthouses supposedly haunted by their old keepers – and others on the opposite side of the veil.

From Times of San Diego

San Diego County Regional Airport Authority is celebrating the completion of 5,000 sound-insulated homes through its Quieter Home Program.
The Quieter Home Program is San Diego International Airport’s residential sound insulation program in which certain residences around SAN, as determined by the Federal Aviation Administration, may be eligible for sound insulation treatments to mitigate aircraft noise.

In a nation-wide review of the impacts of short-term rentals on cities, San Diego — and Ocean Beach — are noted. And former OB Town Council prez Gretchen Newsom is quoted.

Business Insiderran a piece on December 7 about how “leaders” in such cities as San Diego and Atlanta are aiming to limit short-term rental activity and that some STVR owners “are pushing back against government regulations.” It is an ironic twist, isn’t it? She is not mentioned, but Councilwoman Campbell could claim to be one of those “leaders.”

Fourteen months after the gang-rape of a then-17-year old woman by SDSU football players, the San Diego District Attorney’s Office has decided not to file any charges. But, the civil suit the victim has filed will move forward.

Plus, SDSU’s own inquiry into the off-campus incident in mid-October 2021 “is still under way,” University President Adela de la Torre stated on Wednesday, Dec. 7. The school has “interviewed individuals from across our community and reviewed a range of evidence.”

Here is the beginnings of a report by Lyndsay Winkley and Teri Figueroa via the Los Angeles Times, Dec. 7, 2022.

The end of the year always summons retrospectives from media pundits and columnists. So, not to be left behind, I decided to share posts and stories of OB from a decade ago, 10 years – from December of 2012 — that were published in the OB Rag. Some of them are amazing.

Let’s start with that first week. (Links are provided.)

OB Pier Closed Due to High Surf – December 1, 2012

Point Loma Navy Dolphins to be Replaced by Underwater Drones

The Ocean Beach Christmas Parade of 2012 and Photo Gallery – December 3,2012

Mission Bay “Zombie Attack” Paid with Homeland Security Funds Questioned as ‘Excessive’

California Gasoline Prices go Haywire, May Have Been Subject to Collusion –

From Peninsula News from PLA

Two weeks ago, in our story regarding the fate of the commercial fishing wharf operated by the Driscoll family since 1992, indications were everything must go. The Port of San Diego chose not to renew their lease. End of the line.

Some things have changed since that report. Minor changes, for sure. But the future is not as bleak as it seemed. The best news involves the recently-opened retail fish markets located in building one on the wharf.

Here’s the official agenda for tonight’s meeting of the Ocean Beach Planning Board — Wednesday, Dec. 7. The meeting will be held via Zoom.

It’s becoming all too apparent, now, that whether it’s community plan “updates” imposed from above like in Mira Mesa or the removal of historic street lamps in Kensington, or the painting of bike lanes in Point Loma, or the killing of palm trees in Ocean Beach, or allowing illegal ADUs in the College area, the City of San Diego is riding roughshod over neighborhoods.

Take Kensington. The City wants to remove 56 antique and historic street lamps and replace them with replicas. But residents say they would prefer to have the antique lights retrofitted, which they claim would cost less than replacing them with new versions.

From San Diego Music Hall of Fame 2022 and Jefferson Jay

4th Annual San Diego Music Hall of Fame in Ocean Beach

Much gratitude to all the wonderful attendees, supporters, & artists who made the SDMHoF’s 2022 in Ocean Beach a smashing success! Check out our recap of Act II below.