OB Rag

I’ve lived a life
among children,
as a child initially, obviously,
and who knows how many
young ones there are
with whom I’ve had the honor
of being in their company
as their teacher
or their vice-principal
or their principal
…

By Jon Carr

The bikeshares – or dockless bikes – have caused a stir in numerous communities like Ocean Beach, other parts of San Diego, and around the country. They are noticeable with their vibrant colors and placement in heavily trafficked areas of the town.

Coronado has banned them, Little Italy’s business district is threatening to impound them, and our beach communities are holding forums

By Dennis Romero / LA Times via Reddit / Mar 11, 2018

In case you missed the headlines, Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi of Torrance has introduced a bill to make surfing the official sport of California. Muratuschi, a member of the Assembly’s informal “surf caucus,” announced the proposal at a news conference in Hermosa Beach last month, while standing next to a statue of the 1960s surfer Tim Kelly and wearing a Hawaiian shirt. “Nothing represents the California dream better than surfing,” he said.

What’s Its Significance?

March 28, 1971 was the day of the historic Collier Park Riot in Ocean Beach – 47 years ago. It was probably the wildest day in OB’s history. It certainly was OB’s most violent day.

The riot occurred when San Diego police attacked a peaceful gathering of hundreds of young OBceans and students who had gathered at a site in northeast OB – on what was to become Collier Park – as part of an anti-Vietnam war protest and a ‘clean-up the park’ project. — Collier? D. Charles Collier is the true “father of Ocean Beach”

By Jake Johnson / Common Dreams

In a move denounced by immigrant rights advocates and legal experts as an effort to “undercount communities of color” that could have an enormous impact on the drawing of congressional districts, the Trump administration announced late Monday that the 2020 Census will ask respondents whether or not they are U.S. citizens.

“This is an attempt to racially rig the census,”

For the last several years, the OB Rag has been intentionally increasing our coverage of the Point Loma community.

For example, the Rag sends reporters to cover the monthly meetings of the Peninsula Community Planning Board and of the Midway Pacific Highway Corridor Community Planning Board. It’s very important for Point Loma citizens to know what’s going on with these citizen planners. No one covers these meetings as consistently as we do.

And at least twice a month, we publish a round-up of Point Loma and OB news from a variety of sources – including our own. We consolidate your neighborhood news and put it all in one place, our online platform.

No one else does that. Not one other media outlet or platform or newspaper does that.

Debra Puente, a woman from Linda Vista, went missing one year ago. A week after she was last seen her vehicle was found in Ocean Beach. Both her wallet and ID were found in the car.

Her friends and family are still hopeful she or something will show up.

Puente, 50, was last seen at the Longhorn near Mission Gorge Road and Friars Road on March 28, 2017. A poster with her photo and pleas for help stated:

By Marjorie Cohn / Truthout / March 25, 2018

Over the past week, nearly a year after he tried to have Robert Mueller fired, Donald Trump went on a tweeting rampage against the special counsel. Trump’s escalating Twitter attacks may be a harbinger of Mueller’s impending dismissal — or the president could be trying to preemptively discredit and delegitimize Mueller’s eventual findings against him.

Mueller was appointed special counsel in May 2017.

By Geoff Page

After 15 years in the making, final approval of the Midway Pacific Highway Corridor community plan update is within reach. At their regular meeting Wednesday March 21, the Midway planning board voted to approve the final draft of its community plan. The community plan will go

• to the Planning Commission on April 26,
• to the Smart Growth and Land Use committee on May 24,
• and to City Council for final approval on June 26.

At Wednesday night’s meeting of the OB Town Council, the Council will host a discussion on local concerns regarding the effects of dockless bikes in our area.

As always, city and state government representatives will be in attendance to hear and address issues raised by the Ocean Beach community.

By Paul Jamason / San Diego Urban / March 18, 2018

The meltdown over dockless bikeshare in San Diego is in full swing, but it’s somewhat expected in a city where cars come first – often at the expense of other travel modes. A common argument against dockless bikes has been that the bikes are in the way, which they sometimes are, since many of our sidewalks aren’t wide enough to accommodate a parked bike and pedestrians. But it’s remarkable that pedestrians and bike share users are fighting over the last sliver of public space.

By Gail Powell

For those of you out there not looking forward to life without Nati’s Mexican Restaurant, I have good news to share.

No, it has nothing to do with Nati’s being saved or a change-of-heart to continue the Nati’s traditions, by the new owners. The terrible fate that awaits those of us who love this longtime Ocean Beach eatery, as it’s last days dwindle down, might be assuaged somewhat with the news I am about to share. For I have learned a previous cook who once worked at Nati’s, went and many years ago, opened his own local restaurant.