OB Rag

Carl Weidetz – the owner of the OB Hardware store on Newport Avenue – gave this reporter hope that there may yet be a positive end result in the current saga of the future of the store.

On Tuesday, the 8th, as I entered one of the most popular storefronts on OB’s main commercial drag – one that is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year as a business, Carl had a friendly smile and outstretched hand for this reporter.

And in a few minutes of discussion, Carl – who is definitely retiring very soon – told me that there are two possible groups of buyers who want his store. But there’s been a hang-up, he said, in talks between “the lawyers”.

“There’s no sense in buying my business,” he said, “if you can’t get the lease too.”

One of the most famous personages in Ocean Beach has returned to his corner at Newport and Cable – Willie is back. An absolute OB legend, Willie is back in front of his Shoe Shine shack behind the coffee kiosk at the corner.

Having been hospitalized for a year, he appeared to this reporter in good spirits and ready to chat with anyone who stops by to say hello. He told me he was 85 years old. He’s a former Marine and was in Korea in the early -50s. But Willie has been a mainstay on Newport Avenue for decades.

Our Constitution does not give President Trump “emergency powers” and he can’t suspend it whenever he perceives there’s a national emergency. So says Constitutional expert and Dean of UC Berkeley Law School, Erwin Chemerinsky. And I believe him over Trump and any of his sycophants.

If Trump tries to simply invoke emergency powers and build a wall between the United States and Mexico without congressional approval, it would “constitute an unconstitutional and dangerous expansion of presidential power,”

by Ernie McCray

Note: I found an old piece I wrote for the San Diego Tribune in November of 1994, twenty-four years ago. The piece was about Proposition 187, a ballot measure that required me, a school principal, to rat on families who were in the country illegally. And, as I read it, I felt as though we, as a society, had been frozen in time, because what I wrote, with all the talk nowadays about caravans and building walls and such, would speak to these times:

Despite the passage of Proposition 187, my disposition remains the same. I will not, in any way, play a role in willfully hurting another person.

I have sat at the back of the bus. I’ve had someone tell me to get my “black ass” out of a hotel where there were plenty of rooms available. I’ve skaked at the rink on special “Negro” days.

Every year, SOHO – Save Our Heritage Organization – puts out a list of the most endangered historic resources of the county. Here’s their latest:

2018 Most Endangered List of Historic Resources – And one lost site from the 2017 list

SOHO’s annual reckoning with the state of preservation in San Diego County is again a bleak one. This year’s list, which is intended to raise public awareness about landmarks and feasible options, and to bolster political will for crucial historic preservation and restoration, includes 9 significant sites. Two of them—the Villa Montezuma in San Diego and Big Stone Lodge in Poway—did not appear on the 2017 MEL. Tragically, one from last year’s MEL was needlessly demolished by Southwestern College in December 2017. [Ed: for links to each site, go to SOHO here.]

Originally posted Jan. 8, 2019

Ocean Beach is in the very first scene of Murder Mountain – a new docuseries in 6 parts now streaming on Netflix – and we immediately view the iconic image of OB: the Ocean Beach Pier and surfers.

Yet apart from the beauty of the opening, the series is a tragic one – as it follows what happened to Garret Rodriguez, a 29-year old OB surfer – his trip up to northern California to cash in on the marijuana industry, his subsequent disappearance into Humboldt County and murder.

The OB Rag had been following Garret’s disappearance since July 2013 when we reposted an article from Lost Coast Outpost by Kym Kemp. A number of OBceans responded in comments that they recall seeing him around OB. That December we published an update by Kemp – one year after his disappearance. Even then it looked like he had been murdered.

Then the bad news came around mid-December 2013:

Is this the San Diego County we know?

The Sierra Club is claiming victory in a court ruling that came down the day after Christmas against the County’s efforts to allow developers to buy their way out of restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions, while North County slow-growth advocates are ecstatic over what it all could mean for large projects planned for their area.

And in the process Superior Court Judge Timothy B. Taylor rejected the County’s Climate Action Plan as being woefully inadequate in meeting the commitment to reach greenhouse gas emissions reduction standards mandated by the state of California. .

Judge Taylor ruled the County’s plan for developers to be able to use carbon credits, or offsets from outside the County, or outside the state and or even somewhere else in the world, was not only unacceptable, it was unverifiable and unenforceable.

The Old Broad Has Her Say

I Just Remembered Why I Stopped Shopping at Vons

The calls regarding the closing of ACE Hardware, Trader Joes, Vons, Ralphs, have been burning up the wires the past few days. At the request of one of my loyal readers, I decided to do an investigation as to what really was happening.

The first call I made was to ACE Hardware, where they confirmed that the store in Liberty Station will be closing by the end of February. There are all sorts of rumors as to why they are closing, but I was more concerned with the actually closing and did not go further with my questioning.

Then I called Trader Joe’s to find out if it was true that (1) they were closing at Liberty Station and (2) they were going to be moving to the Ralph’s store on Rosecrans. I was assured that neither of the rumors were true. They are staying where there are, and they are not moving to Ralphs.

Then I called Ralphs to see if they were moving. I was told that they were not going anywhere; that the store would be remaining as Ralphs.

Then I called Vons.

By Jim Miller

One of the last bits of big local political news towards the end of 2018 was the resounding defeat of United Food and Commercial Workers, Local 135 President Mickey Kasparian along with his entire slate in their union election on the heels of two years of internal and external conflict.

After refusing to step down from his position as President of the San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council in the wake of multiple workplace and sexual harassment allegations in 2016, Kasparian split the labor movement, sought to divide local progressives, and fought a scorched earth campaign against his perceived enemies.

All of it ended badly with lots of damage being done along the way.

General Rain Advisory In Effect

The County’s Department of Environmental Health has issued a General Rain Advisory for the coastal waters of San Diego County – which includes Ocean Beach – due to contamination by urban runoff following the most rains. This is particularly important for Ocean Beach, as the San Diego River empties at Dog Beach – as it’s a significant outlet for urban runoff.

Swimmers, surfers, and other ocean users are warned that levels of bacteria can rise significantly in ocean waters, especially near storm drains, creeks, rivers, and lagoon outlets that discharge urban runoff.

Cabrillo National Monument is closed to all visitors including pedestrians and bicyclists.

Due to the government shut-down, Cabrillo National Monument is closed to all visitors including pedestrians and bicyclists.

Ocean Beach Appears in Netflix’s “Murder Mountain”

Murder Mountain, a six-part Fusion docuseries now streaming on Netflix, follows the disappearance and murder of 29-year-old Garret Rodriguez, a friendly surfer-boy from San Diego who ventured north to cash in on California’s green rush.

Public invited to Band & Brew Crawl where artists put on show of their careers in Ocean Beach

Springboard West Music Festival, dubbed the “music discovery festival”, is back in San Diego for its third year in a row. For three days, emerging artists from all over the world, industry professionals and locals will gather in Ocean Beach to celebrate the future of music.