OB Rag

Times of San Diego

A rise in bacteria in San Diego’s beaches caused by urban runoff from this weekend’s storm prompted the Department of Environmental Health to issue an advisory Sunday, May 7th.

Swimmers, surfers and other beach goers were warned that levels of bacteria can rise significantly in ocean and bay waters, especially near storm drains, creeks, rivers and lagoons that discharge urban runoff.

By Tyson Siegele/

You can now switch to 50% renewable energy with no increase to your electricity bill. Or you can opt for 100% renewable energy, which only costs an additional 1.5 cents per kilowatt-hour. That’s according to the latest prices from Arcadia Power, a nationwide clean energy supplier.

While roof mounted solar is the best way for an individual to help the planet and save money, that approach is not possible for everyone, including those of us who rent

By sloan ranger

Sometimes I don’t see him for weeks and I wonder where he is.

He must cover several miles daily, walking silently up and down Third Avenue, wearing his heavy black peacoat with a hood.

I don’t worry about him in the cold so much, it’s the blistering hot days I think of him most because he has the heavy coat on then, too.

At the last Ocean Beach Town Council meeting in late April, local Craig Klein, a member of the OB Planning Board, got up and raised the issue about the lack of center-line striping down several blocks of Newport Avenue. Newport, of course, is OB’s main commercial street. Klein was very critical of no stripes and asked the Council if they could deal with it.

The Town Council really didn’t have much of a collective response, but the issue of the lack of center-line dashes on the street has bubbled up – where even local mainstream media have gotten caught in it.

By Raymond Bender / San Diego Free Press

San Diego County operates eight county airports, not including San Diego International Airport at Lindbergh Field, which the San Diego International Airport Authority (SDRAA), an agency created by state law, operates.

These airports share one feature: though state and local airport zoning laws control airport land uses, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) controls the airspace near airports.

By Jeeni Criscenzo / San Diego Free Press

The numbers of homeless person in our region counted during the annual Point in Time Count (PITC) conducted January 29, 2017 were recently released.

This is the data that will be sent to HUD to determine how much funding will be provided to the County of San Diego for homeless issues, including emergency shelter and efforts to get people into permanent housing. Last year that amounted to $18 million but under the Trump administration those funds could be significantly reduced.

By Scott

Below is a letter that I sent to the OB Community Development Corporations because I have been unable to attend any of their public forums on the proposed children’s park and workout area at Saratoga Park. I assume the OBCDC will take all public comments into consideration. That said, I thought it might be useful to widen the conversation to OB Rag readers that also were unable to attend the meeting (perhaps a board member could also provide an update).

In Response to Nixon’s Invasion of Cambodia, American Campuses Exploded in Protest in May 1970

Today, May 4th, 2017, is the 47th anniversary of the infamous Kent State Massacre – where 4 students were shot to death and 9 wounded by National Guardsmen during anti-Vietnam war protests on the Ohio campus.

Protests at Kent State were part of a wave of demonstrations that swept the country right after President Nixon’s invasion of Cambodia. Ten days later, 2 Black students were shot to death by police during an anti-war protest at Jackson State.

By Michael Steinberg / Black Rain Press

Nuclear Shutdown News chronicles the decline and fall of the nuclear industry in the US and abroad, and highlights the efforts of this who are working to create a nuclear free world. Here is our April 2017 report:

40 + Nuke Club

On April 18 Patch Media reported “Nuclear Regulatory Commission Finds Oyster Creek Safety Valve Malfunctioned For Nearly Two Years.” The emergency safety valve in question was “inoperable between October 11, 2014 and September 19, 2016” in the New Jersey nuke plant’s reactor, patch.com reported.

Hey OB photographers (and others) – it’s time to enter the annual OB Exposed! photo exhibit and contest presented by the Ocean Beach Historical Society.

This year the Photographic Impressions of Ocean Beach & Point Loma is on May 19th, from 6pm to 8:30pm at the Masonic Center, 1711 Sunset Cliffs Blvd., O.B.

Deadline to submit entries (5 max except for historical photos) is May 17th.

By Brett Warnke

“I talk. I mean, I speak … but she doesn’t hear me,” a tall man in Newbreak told his bearded friend, writing something to himself who didn’t look up.

For a moment there was a breathless silence. The espresso popped, the door creaked and the drawer jingled coins. The bearded friend, feeling he should respond finally spoke.

“Look, she’s going through some problems…”

His voice trailed into nothing.

“But she thinks I do things. I tell her that it’s all in her head. But she doesn’t listen. She doesn’t listen.”

Perhaps I shouldn’t have listened either. I felt I’d intruded, so I stood and left.

But the sadness in the tall man’s voice sat on me like an alp as I walked down Abbott Street through the cool morning.