OB Rag

By Emerson Dameron / UCSD News Center / Apr 21, 2022

Stephen Mayfield, a molecular biology professor at UC San Diego, now has a stake in the business of footwear alongside partners Michael Burkart and Robert Pomeroy from the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. After six years of research and experimentation, these professors are launching the world’s first biodegradable shoe through the company Blueview, of which Mayfield also serves as CEO.

What began as a project to turn algae into fuel shifted into a quest to develop high-performance biodegradable polyurethane foams, which are used as shoe soles.

Straight-Up With A Twist

By Edwin Decker

Dear Readers, since I started writing this “advice” column, I have received a few questions with something in common. They all used some variation of the phrase, “Politically homeless.” By this they meant that, while they have maintained the same political worldview they have always had, they feel that their chosen party has changed its perspective to such a degree that they could no longer relate to it.

What’s interesting is that these queries have come from all sides of the political fence: democrats and republicans; conservatives and liberals; furries and fleshies. And they have all effectively said the same thing: “I refuse to join the opposition party, but can no longer support my current one. What to do, what to do?”

Initially, I hadn’t planned on responding, but after receiving several of these messages, I have decided to answer them in bulk.

Javier Bátiz Will Be Benefiting Deported Veterans Who Live in Tijuana

By Mike James

In Mexico during the 60’s, there was a counterculture movement called La Onda (The Wave), which influenced artistic and political expression throughout Mexico.

One of the major musical influences of La Onda can be traced back to a humble home just a few miles south of the Tijuana/ San Diego international border.

In the mid 1950’s in Tijuana, a young teenager, Javier Bátiz, was woken by his mother in the middle of the night.

Villa Montezuma at 135 Years Old

The Ocean Beach Historical Society presents: The Villa Montezuma at 135 (years old) and its next 50 years as a Museum, Thursday April 21, 2022 at 7 pm at Water’s Edge Faith Community, 1984 Sunset Cliffs Blvd.

Matt Monagan / mlb.com news / February 28th, 2022

“It’s a place you wanna come to work to every day.”

Most people, if they’re being honest, don’t say that about their jobs.

Then again, most people aren’t Steven Riddle; manager of athletic facilities at Point Loma Nazarene University. Most of us don’t get to work in baseball paradise — along the breezy, dreamy Pacific coast of “America’s Most Scenic Ballpark.”

Since the 1970s, the Point Loma Nazarene University Sea Lions have been lucky to call this seaside oasis — dangling ever so gently off downtown San Diego — home. Baseball writer Kevin Kernan gave the ballpark its “Most Scenic” moniker in the mid-’90s — a trademark the school has run with ever since. They put it on their scoreboard and all over their athletic website and, I mean, why not? It fits.

The following is an excerpt from Ricardo Flores’ article in yesterday’s Voice of San Diego. The balance of the article is worth checking out.

By Ricardo Flores

Currently, the city of San Diego is using the California Surplus Land Act – which aims to connect developers who are interested in building more affordable homes on surplus local public land that is both available and suitable for housing development – to lease the 48 acres of taxpayer land within the Midway District.

The goal of the CA Surplus Land Act is “to increase the availability of real property in California for affordable housing development by requiring the prioritization of affordable housing when selling or leasing public lands no longer necessary for agency use.” Public lands should be used for the greatest public good – which in San Diego means housing, housing, and more housing. City leaders have articulated the importance of housing but the real test will be their decision at Midway.

When we first saw these photos, it seemed like a joke. Maybe satire. But nope, they’re real.

Some guy named “Eric” is renting out three tents in his yard as Airbnb rentals. Each with their own private privy “open to the sun.” This is all on the last block of Voltaire, a block from the beach.

The folks at the Point Loma Association online newsletter have done it again. In their witty and irreverent way, they found out about a funny thing that happened in front of Point Loma High School last week. (If you’d like to get Peninsula News, click here)

Here’s their report:

As you cruise by on Chatsworth, we hope you notice the young Torrey Pine trees in front of the school. It will take many years for them to mature and replace those chain-sawed in June, 2019, when construction began on the new additions. So it’s good the trees arrived early in the landscaping process.

The April 20th, 2022 agenda for the OB Planning Board Project Review Committee has 2 projects — located at 4705 Point Loma and 4953 Coronado Avenues. The sub-committee of the Board will also appoint its chair, vice-chair and secretary. Lastly, it will take up the issue of when to return to in-person meetings.

4705 Point Loma Ave. – the Former Ranchos

This is a coastal development permit for the demolition of the existing retail building — the site of the former Ranchos — and the construction of two MDU (multi-dwelling unit) buildings – each with 4 units. The agenda states: “This project is an affordable housing density bonus project of 8 units total.”

According to Caitlin Ostomel, director of public affairs for the U.S. Navy Region Southwest, the Navy has acknowledged a mistake in pursuing a redevelopment model for its NAVWAR site that included “very scary” high-rise buildings and plans for 10,000 housing units.

This means the Navy is no longer going for the project of a massive redevelopment of its NAVWAR site. And it admits the public reaction was so negative that it had to dump the plans.

This minor bombshell was revealed in Voice of San Diego’s April 16 “Politics Report” by Scott Lewis and Andrew Keatts. The Voice quotes Ostomel:

by Ernie McCray

I appeared on the scene
on April 18
in 1938,
and when I reflect
on my 84 years
of aging
I can plainly see
a world today
that’s very much like yesterday.

Our friends at the Point Loma Association newsletter recently looked into what’s happening at the former bank on Poinsettia at Chatsworth. And they filed this brief report in their newsletter (if you’d like to get on their newsletter list, click here):

It’s been two years since the pandemic closed the bank on Poinsettia at Chatsworth, and 17 months since some of us gave up trying to get cash out of the brick wall in the back.