OB Rag

by Sal Mineo (@snackdiego)

Hello again, OB. As faithful readers of Table Talk, I’m sure you all remember what we are about here – getting personal with those in our community keeping us well-fed and quenched. Our local food celebrities but before they get huge and have a publicist. Sometimes it’s the restaurant owner; but sometimes it’s the guy, behind the guy, behind the guy.

This is my neighbor, Max. I first met him one average OB day as I rode up the alley to the back entrance of our place, and came upon Max and his friend Talia taking some glamour shots using our fence as a backdrop (it has a cool viney thing growing on it – influencers, come check it out).

The subjects of the photographs were these utterly stunning mushrooms, which even in OB you just don’t see every day. Naturally, I said something brilliant like “what’s that?”, we got to chitter chatter and that’s when I learned I have a neighbor that cultivates these absolute specimens in his grow room right across the alley.

By Geoff Page

This post is a pitch for a really great organization called Project Wildlife. For those who don’t know about them, here is what they do, based on an actual experience I had Tuesday morning.

My wife and I were walking our dogs at Dog Beach. She noticed a bird at the waterline she called a coot. It’s a black bird, sort of medium size. This one was by itself, we didn’t see any others nearby. My wife remarked that she had seen these birds along the river but had never seen one in the surf at Dog Beach. I had to agree.

Just as we were looking at the bird, a dog went after it in the surf.

A Public Service Announcement

By A.J. Herrington / Forbes / Jan.11, 2022

Compounds in cannabis can prevent infection from the virus that causes Covid-19 by blocking its entry into cells, according to a study published this week by researchers affiliated with Oregon State University. A report on the research, “Cannabinoids Block Cellular Entry of SARS-CoV-2 and the Emerging Variants,” was published online on Monday by the Journal of Natural Products.

The Ocean Beach Town Council is holding its elections for the Board of Directors, beginning the latter part of January and is now accepting Candidate Statements. The statements must be submitted by Monday, January 24. Voting by members takes place over the course of the week, from Thursday, January 27th to Friday, February 4th, 2022 .

From the OBTC website on the 2022 election:

There are 15 seats on the Ocean Beach Town Council Board of Directors and OBTC members elect Board Directors for two-year terms. Half of the Board stands for election every year. This year, 7 seats are up for election. If you would like to be considered for candidacy, please submit your Candidate Statement by [going here] by Monday January 24th.

On the eve of his State-of-the-City Address, Mayor Todd Gloria unveiled a stunning turnabout on a major environmental issue – the future of northeast Mission Bay. And it’s sure to win him accolades within San Diego’s environmental community.

On Tuesday, Gloria released his proposal to transform much of northeast Mission Bay into marshland – which has been demanded by environmentalists for years. It is a needed change in Mission Bay which will help fight sea level rise and restore animal habitats destroyed when beginning in the fifties, the huge shallow marshland and lagoon that we now know as Mission Bay, was aggressively dredged to make way for the largest aquatic park on the West Coast (some say it’s the largest in the world!).

For years, environmentalist – led by the Audubon’s ReWild Mission Bay project – have been pushing for more acreage as marshland; t

Restaurant Review

Cocina de Barrio
3924 West Point Loma Blvd
San Diego, CA 92110
760-840-1129

By Judi Curry

Back in mid-December around the time of my friend Steve’s birthday, the restaurant I wanted to take him to had no tables available for the time we needed. I had been to Cocina de Barrio with three others a couple months earlier, but it was for lunch, and because that menu was very different than most Mexican restaurants, I was curious as to what their dinner menu might be like. There was no problem getting reservations and I did call the restaurant directly.

If I thought that the lunch menu was different, I should have been prepared for the dinner menu. It definitely is not for the “gringo,”

By Geoff Page

The two highlights of the Ocean Beach Planning Board’s first monthly meeting in 2022 were clearly a detailed presentation of a Sports Arena redevelopment proposal and drastic changes involving Accessory Dwelling Units, or ADUs.

The regular monthly meeting, that takes place the first Wednesday of every month at 6:00 p.m., was held on-line. The OBPB and most planning boards have not gone back to live meetings yet. The meeting may be viewed on YouTube here.

Land Use Code Changes

The city is planning on implementing the requirements mandated in Senate Bill 9, the bill that calls for relaxing building codes to help allegedly solve the housing shortage in California.

By Amie Hayes / SOHO January-February 2022 Newsletter

The Navy’s Old Town Campus Revitalization project at NAVWAR has the distinction of being the only newly added site to SOHO’s 2021 Most Endangered List. This ill-advised, gargantuan project proposes to build a dense wall of high-rise buildings at 4301 Pacific Highway (known as OTC Site One) and the complete demolition of the Consolidated Aircraft Plant 2 Historic District.

Previously known as Convair, this plant was once a massive manufacturing aircraft production complex that employed thousands of San Diegans during World War II and the Cold War.

by Paul Armentano / Times of San Diego / Jan. 9, 2022

The majority of Californians in 2016 cast votes to displace the illicit cannabis market with a taxed and regulated marketplace — one that would be controlled by licensed businesses, not by criminal entrepreneurs.

Five years later, voters’ desire has yet to become a reality. And while many folks are quick to point fingers at Sacramento and the state’s high tax rates, in many cases, local elected officials are largely to blame. That’s because more than half of the state’s cities and counties prohibit the operation of licensed cannabis businesses.