OB Rag

By Dave Schwab / Peninsula Beacon / Nov. 12, 2025

There’s a new restaurant in Ocean Beach on Newport Avenue, and its name is Latin for its function.

Vinum Locus (literally “wine place”) is owned by native Italian Luigi Agostini, who also owns Pizzeria Luigi, recently opened at 5003 Newport Ave. in a space formerly inhabited by a tattoo parlor.

The new establishment is filling a gap left by the departure of Gianni Buonomo Vintners, which has moved to the Midway District.

“We knew with Gianni Buonomo leaving, there was going to be a little bit of a vacuum, and we wanted to open a wine bar on Newport that was also serving food that is a little higher end,” said executive chef Nicholas Vassari. “So we stepped into that niche.”

Vassari graduated from The Culinary Institute of America, a private culinary school with its main campus in Hyde Park, N.Y. He was also chef de cuisine at Nobu Hospitality.

By Danna Givot / Op-Ed SD Union-Tribune / November 12, 2025 

Three years ago, Mayor Todd Gloria unveiled his “Build Better San Diego” initiative, with an ambitious goal of eliminating inequities between our city’s wealthiest and poorest neighborhoods. Build Better San Diego intended to replace crumbling infrastructure and improve public services in our older and long-neglected communities south of Interstate 8.

But our mayor’s pledge now rings hollow. In fact, recent and upcoming community plan updates will only reinforce the cruel reality of “two San Diegos,” not the “one city” he promised. If the mayor and his planning department get their way, our lowest-resourced, infrastructure-deficient neighborhoods will be burdened by extraordinary levels of up-zoning and density, with no funding for desperately needed parks, libraries, and fire and police stations.

The most shocking example of “one city, two realities” is the proposed College Area Community Plan Update

Plastic in your green bin? Batteries in the trash? City inspectors are checking to see if your garbage is in compliance

By David Garrick / San Diego Union-Tribune / November 11, 2025

San Diego has begun sending teams of trash inspectors to neighborhoods across the city to gauge whether people are using the proper bins for trash, organics recycling and traditional recycling of glass, metal, plastic and paper.

The inspectors — code compliance officers who’ve been nicknamed “lid lifters” — aren’t issuing fines or punishing city trash customers who mistakenly put the wrong items in either their gray, blue or green bins.

Focused on education instead of punishment, the inspectors place either “oops” tags on bins that contain improper materials or “do not collect” tags on bins with dangerous materials like propane tanks or lithium batteries.

Customers who get a “do not collect” tag must remove any dangerous materials and then call the city to send out a trash crew to handle the container.

By Ezra Klein / New York Times / Nov. 10, 2025

Back in September, when I was reporting an article on whether Democrats should shut down the government, I kept hearing the same warning from veterans of past shutdown fights: The president controls the bully pulpit. He controls, to some degree, which parts of the government stay open and which parts close. It is very, very hard for the opposition party to win a shutdown.

Which makes it all the more remarkable that Democrats were winning this one. Polls showed that most voters blamed Republicans, not Democrats, for the current shutdown — perhaps because President Trump was bulldozing the East Wing of the White House rather than negotiating to reopen the government. Trump’s approval rating has been falling — in CNN’s tracking poll, it dipped into the 30s for the first time since he took office again. And last week, Democrats wrecked Republicans in the elections and Trump blamed his party’s losses in part on the shutdown. Democrats were riding higher than they have been in months.

Then, over the weekend, a group of Senate Democrats broke ranks and negotiated a deal to end the shutdown in return for — if we’re being honest — very little.

By Jillian Butler

Ocean Beach has always been more than just a San Diego neighborhood. It’s a community with history, charm, and a deep sense of independence.

Few people embody that spirit more than Denny Knox, the longtime CEO of the Ocean Beach MainStreet Association (OBMA). From helping her in-laws run the beloved Cabrillo Art Center on Newport Avenue to overseeing one of the city’s most active business districts, Knox’s life has been intertwined with Ocean Beach for decades.

In this conversation, she reflects on her early years, the evolution of OB’s business community, and the challenges and triumphs of keeping a small coastal district thriving in an increasingly digital world.

Q:  Please tell me a bit about your personal history–the high school that you went to, siblings, and what your parents did for a living. I am told that you helped your parents run a business in OB and I would love to hear about that.

A: Actually, I was born in New York, lived in Old Greenwich, Connecticut until I turned 13 years old. My folks decided to leave the New York madhouse and moved the family to Scottsdale, Arizona where I attended high school. After high school, I fled the heat and ended up going to Cal Western University [ed: today Point Loma Nazarene University] in 1966 as an English Major.

I absolutely loved the weather and the coastal access and Ocean Beach was my favorite place to go. I met Roberta and Gene Knox in 1968 who owned Cabrillo Art Center on Newport Ave.

City Still Pushing for Answers While NFABC Closely Monitors Situation

From Neighbors for a Better California Board

The proposed 23-story Turquoise Tower project in Pacific Beach remains under review as the city continues to press the developer for additional documentation. On September 24, the City Planning Department issued its second round of questions to the developer.

A project of this size and complexity typically goes through at least six full cycles of questions and responses between the city and the developer before any approvals are considered, so Turquoise Tower is still in the very early stages of review and remains far from final approval.

These cycle reports are one of the tools the city uses to clarify issues directly with the developer. They focus on technical and code-related questions about the project’s design and incentives and do not yet include reviews of public safety, traffic, or other community impacts.

The San Diego City Council will go into closed session next Monday, November 17 to discuss a possible appeal of the recent court ruling on the Midway District height limit.

In a memo from the office of council president Joe LeCava, dated Nov. 10, it announced that council would have a closed session on that date — a conference with legal counsel regarding current litigation, and the first case on the list is Save Our Access v. City of San Diego. The agenda item was described this way:

This item involves litigation related to Measure C, a November 2022 ballot measure to exclude the Midway-Pacific Highway Community Plan Area from the Costal [sic] Zone’s 30-foot height limit. Save Our Access seeks to invalidate Measure C due to an alleged failure to comply with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The City Attorney’s Office will update the Mayor and City Council on the status of litigation and seek direction.

by Beacon Staff and Wire Reports / Peninsula Beacon / Nov. 10, 2025

Ready to watch a rousing game of pickleball?

If so, you’re in luck: The 2025 USA Pickleball National Championships will take place at Barnes Tennis Center in Point Loma from Nov. 15-23.

It will feature elite-level competition, with the most skilled players qualifying to participate in the prestigious tournament.

“Barnes Tennis Center will provide an exceptional backdrop, offering a dynamic atmosphere for both participants and spectators alike,” said USA Pickleball chief executive director Mike Nealy. “We are thrilled to honor the passion and talent within the pickleball community in San Diego.”

The national championships will build on the success of the 2024 tournament, which drew over 2,600 athletes from 47 states and 13 countries, along with more than 10,000 spectators.

Please see an update in a newer post here. 

Basically, faced with tremendous pushback, city staff now recommends $150 a year for residents. 

By David Walters

We have learned that Mayor Todd Gloria’s office has proposed setting annual rates for parking in Balboa Park at $300 for residents and $375 for non-residents. This is an outrageous increase and far above the $150 annual rate proposed by Councilmember Marni Von Wilbert and others as fair and reasonable.

I attended the Balboa Park Commission meeting this week. The Commission, which serves as an advisory body to the Mayor’s Office, voted to recommend annual passes be priced at $99, with discounts for seniors and low-income families.

The final decision on parking fees will be made by the City Council, which is expected to meet and vote on this issue on Monday, November 17, or Tuesday, November 18.

A recent survey of our Redwood Bridge Club members showed that most of them cannot afford parking permits at these prices — and the same holds true for most San Diegans. If the City intends to monetize parking in Balboa Park, it must do so in a way that keeps the park accessible and welcoming to all.

Editordude: The following report by David Garrick has been edited to focus mainly on entry fees for Mission Bay Park and the idea of paid parking at the beach.

By David Garrick / SD Union-Tribune / Nov.2–4, 2025

San Diego City Council members are proposing entry fees at Mission Bay Park, taxes on vacant storefronts, a rental-car tax and other new efforts to boost revenue as they continue an ongoing struggle with the city budget. …

The new ideas come just as debate begins on a new budget for the fiscal year that begins next July…. The council struggled to close a roughly $350 million deficit last spring for the ongoing fiscal year with a variety of cuts, including to library hours, and with new revenues from things like fees to park in Balboa Park and doubling parking-meter rates.

San Diego was also facing a potential deficit of about $10 million during the fiscal year that ended in June. That projected deficit — which could have eaten into the city’s $207 million reserve just when it’s become particularly crucial — was wiped out by a late spring surge in sales tax revenue and some lower-than-expected city expenses.

By Lori Weisberg / The San Diego Union-Tribune / November 6, 2025 

Paradise Point resort, a popular vacation destination on Mission Bay for decades, secured approval Wednesday, Nov.6  from the California Coastal Commission to move forward with a long-delayed renovation that is expected to cost tens of millions of dollars.

The commission’s action comes more than two years after the resort ownership abruptly pulled its plans from commission consideration in the wake of strong opposition from local leaders and longstanding public access violations of the California Coastal Act.

Months of negotiations with the commission’s enforcement staff ensued, leading to a landmark settlement that not only called for removing multiple impediments to public access around the island resort and shoreline, but also extensive new signage and other improvements

by Brooke Clifford / Coronado Eagle & Journal / Nov 6, 2025

In a recent closed session meeting the Port of San Diego Board of Directors rejected Port Coronado Associates, LLC’s proposal to renew their lease of the Coronado Ferry Landing beyond June 30, 2026. The decision also impacts the potential plans to renovate the Ferry Landing that were included as a part of the renewal proposal which Port Coronado Associates (PCA) have spent several years developing design for with input from the community.

PCA has operated the Ferry Landing for nearly 40 years, having initially entered into an agreement with Port and taken on a development project for modernizing the complex in the 1980s.

According to the press release from the Port of San Diego on their decision, the Port is currently pursuing a possible short-term lease extension with PCA for transitional purposes. They have also said that the Ferry Landing will remain open and that businesses will have the opportunity to continue to operate beyond the June 30, 2026 lease expiration date, and that the Port will be communicating further with those subtenants about the situation.