OB Rag

“Shoeshine Willie” – Willie Washington — passed on Saturday, January 22. Known for his iconic shoeshine shack on Newport Avenue in OB, Willie had become one of several unofficial mayors of Ocean Beach. He maintained his shoeshine business for over four decades.

At his own request, there will not be a funeral service, but some community members are still collecting donations that will be given to local veteran charities in his honor.

Willie was a legend and officially closed his business this past November.

Check out Charles Landon’s latest OB Rag video: an interview with Andrea Schlageter, Chair of the Ocean Beach Planning Board.

By Colleen O’Connor

The best medicine for whatever ails us in politics, sports, business or any unsettling news, is to get outside.

Somehow, some way, either drive, walk, or stare outside. Let the air circulate and breathe. Seriously, the maladies confronting the planet, from extreme weather

by Ernie McCray

Dear Fannie Lou.

You don’t know me.
But I know you.
You’ve been a hero of mine
for a mighty-long time.

I couldn’t help but think of you the other day, after a clown in the Senate tried to make it sound like voting was easy in the USA, that Blacks voted as much as “Americans.”

He laid that nonsense down, knowing full well, being from Kentucky, that voting in America for Black folks and other dark folks has been hell ever since the 15th Amendment gave us the right to vote.

Here is the ReWild Coalition’s statement:

The City of San Diego released an updated Notice Of Preparation for its ongoing De Anza Revitalization Planning process this morning. The information can be accessed at the City’s De Anza Cove Amendment website.

This comes 14 months after the ReWild Coalition supported the City’s proposal at the Regional Water Quality Control Board

By Thursday, January 20, city contractors had begun to set up scaffolding near the end of the Ocean Beach Pier. The plan is to spend $8.4 million to repair two damaged piles.

A city spokesperson told media that the scaffolding might take upwards of two weeks to construct, and depending on the weather, repairs should take about eight weeks. He added the entire OB Pier should reopen once those repairs are completed. By the beginning of summer.

We’re all hoping that the city spokesguy is right, that this money will result in sufficient repairs that the end section can reopen. Our concerns and fears are

By Thomas Ultican / Tultican

San Francisco Mayor London Breed is leading a recall effort to replace three of the city’s seven school board members. Her neoliberal supporters would prefer to replace all seven but the four board members elected in the last election cannot be recalled. If they are successful, Mayor Breed will appoint the replacements. Along with board member Jenny Lam who Breed appointed previously, these new appointments would make four of the seven school board members Breed appointments rather than elected representatives.

A look back at The In-Between in Ocean Beach, a place on Newport Avenue where young people could hang out or find support.

By Eric DuVall / Point Loma – OB Monthly / Jan. 19, 2022

The 1960s were a time of societal upheaval. Popular social and elected leaders were shot down in broad daylight. The only thing about the the U.S. involvement in another war in the Far East that could be deduced with any clarity was that we did not seem to be winning. (Feel free to insert your favorite Country Joe and the Fish lyric here.)

Dear Straight Up with a Twist,

What do you do when you find your partner masturbating? I caught my girl in the act, which wasn’t a big deal except for the fact that she gave me a hard time when she caught me a few weeks earlier. She claimed my masturbating meant that I wasn’t sexually satisfied by her but for some reason she doesn’t think the reverse is true. I said it was hypocritical. Any advice on how to approach this issue?

Sexually Deprived in SD

Dear SDSD, the first part of your query – what to do when you catch your partner fapping – is the easiest question I’ve had to answer since a Jehovah’s Witness knocked o

A Sad Day in OB

By Judi Curry

Several years ago – December, 2016 to be exact, I wrote an article for the OB Rag about one of my favorite restaurants closing – but opening up with the same name and same menu as the original one. That restaurant was Rancho’s– and it would be reopening as Hugo’s Cocina. Many of you remember Hugo – he had been a waiter at Rancho’s for many years, and he was delightful.

A man and woman who were walking across a street Wednesday evening near the San Diego Bay between Liberty Station and Point Loma were killed by a speeding driver, police said.

The unidentified couple, described as being between 55 and 65 years old, were trying to cross from north to south around 6:05 p.m. on North Harbor Drive west of Nimitz Boulevard, according to Port of San Diego Harbor Police Department spokesperson Sgt. T.D. De La Peña.