OB Rag

By Torrey Bell-Edwards / Munchies / May 12, 2015

I started as a door guy—I wasn’t even bar-backing at first. There was a sense of being entrenched, where you have to earn your stars. You check IDs and learn how to deal with people, how to calm down angry drunks and occasionally put someone in a headlock if shit gets real.

But mostly, you learn how to treat people right and how to make the night go smoothly, which makes it better for everyone. Then they’ll put you on backing up your bartender, and then it’s just busting your ass for hours on end. It’s cool because the amount of money you make is directly proportional to how hard you work, which is not true of most industries.

By Jim Miller

When Proposition 13 was first approved by voters in 1978 it was sold as a protection for single-family homeowners. But what voters were not told is that Prop. 13 contained giant loopholes that allow big corporations and wealthy commercial property owners to avoid paying their fair share of local property taxes.

By Lois Lane

This is my report of the Ocean Beach Community Development Corp (OB CDC) meeting of May 13th, held in the Rec Center.

Commemorative Plaques at Entryway Plaza

The OB CDC regular meeting opened with a discussion on a request for commemorative plaques on the Entryway/Gateway project. There is still space available for 100 bricks. Small ones, 8” x 2”- are expected to cost $200, while the large ones, 12” x 12” – go for $1000.

No phone numbers or advertising are permitted, and the CDC appears to reserve the right to disapprove the engraved wording, just in case you are thinking of funding one that says “In memory of Anthony’s Pizza Parlor.”

Here’s the OB Rag’s “Weekend Sedition” – a round-up of local Ocean Beach and Point Loma news and notes .

*Memorial for Anne Gillin was held on Sat., May 16
* City Atty Office Ordered 10 Medical Pot Dispensaries to Close – Including 1 in OB
*Colony of Cats Fed by OB Joggers and Bikers
*Collier Park Tree Removed after falling
*March vs Monsanto – May 23
*Plum Street House in Perpetual Remodel Under Ultimatum
*Carlsbad May Have Won Fight Against Power Plant
*Overweight, the San Salvador Replica Postpones Official Launch
*Crime report – 52 Crimes 4/24/2015 – 5/3/2015
John Noble of Coastal Sage Adopts a Plot in Balboa Park
*Point Loma Nazarene Extends Nursing Program

By Matthew Wood

This week has been a whirlwind neighborhood tour for Ocean Beach’s favorite band, Slightly Stoopid.

The local boys played an invitation-only show at OB Noodle House Bar 1502 on Wednesday night, then made an appearance this morning with 91X at Nico’s Restaurant.

“You can’t beat being home,” said Kyle McDonald, one of the band’s founders. “It suits us nice to live in the place you want to be.”

The show at Noodle House celebrated the restaurant’s first anniversary. It also helped raise funds for the OB Fireworks Show on Fourth of July.

Originally published May 15, 2015

By Frank Gormlie

The recent spate of violence – the several stabbings down at the beach and the recent fight between bar patrons on Newport that broke the window at Lola Luna – remind me of the rough and sordid underbelly of OB’s history.

For matching OB’s reputation of being San Diego’s “laid-back”, liberal seaside village of tolerance, peace and hipness – there is a underbelly that shows Ocean Beach in a different light and gives it some of its color.

It’s OB’s history of rowdies and ruffians.

And gathered together, the stories of the different brands of rowdiness and ruffian-isms give rise to the view that OB indeed is a colorful and diverse community with quite an interesting, not-oft spoken history, with some of it downright nasty and ugly.

Dear Reader:

Please have patience.

Awesome posts are coming soon …. like, later this morning (Friday)

Such as … the History of OB’s Rowdies and Ruffians,

such as … Interview With Slightly Stoopid,

and a bitchin News Update from OB and the Peninsula

By Norma Damashek / NumbersRunner

I’ve lived in San Diego long enough to remember what things were like “way back when.” And you know what? Not that much has changed!

True, there are more people living here than ever before. More restaurants and bars and multiplex theaters. More monotonous red roofs rimming bulldozed hilltops in the city’s north suburbs. Many more seals and sea lions hauling out on La Jolla beaches.

There are also many more sleek highrises downtown (but, oddly, fewer pedestrians on the sidewalks than you might expect – a mere fraction of what you’ll find in other urban downtowns).

By Jill Richardson / Other Words

I recently checked out an upscale yoga studio here in Madison, Wisconsin and discovered a new and disturbing trend: boxed water.

Boxed water?

OK, I’ve heard of boxed wine — and maybe even drunk a little. But water?

The yoga studio in question appeals to a young, wealthy, presumably eco-conscious demographic. As the skinny, beautiful clients file into the heated room with their yoga mats, they pass a refrigerator case of boxed water and a sign proclaiming its environmental benefits.

These supposed benefits come from packaging water in a box instead of a plastic bottle.

A Documentary Film Screening at Sycuan Showcase Theatre

By Rose Davis /Indian Voices

The Kumeyaay bird singers took the stage prior to the screening and set the mood with their rhythmic chants and methodical, hypnotic rattling of seeds in their gourds. A solemn but vitally important occasion which is why the call and response mood of “Where are our leaders, where are our leaders?” resounded throughout the evening.

This documentary, directed by Sheldon Wolfchild is told from the viewpoint of the original people rather than the conquerors, sets the record straight. Co-producer Steven Newcomb, on who’s book“Pagans In The Promised Land” the film is based, patiently and eloquently explained the need for survivors to know what happened in the past.

By Lois Lane

The City of San Diego Budget hearings are just beginning. OB did get to keep the standard services – trash pickup, beach maintenance, lifeguard services, library and rec center support – all covered under general categories.

What is unfunded is interesting.

The North Ocean Beach Gateway Project (adjacent to Robb Field) Phase II for FY2016 shows no additional funding.

In contrast, FY2015 touts as an accomplishment “Completion of the Ocean Beach Gateway Mini Park.”

OB also did not get the requested library or lifeguard station upgrade in the budget as proposed.

Then Why Haven’t You Put Any Restrictions on Big Oil and Big Ag?

By John Lawrence

Governor Jerry Brown is leading the nation and perhaps even the world in his efforts to do something about climate change and global warming which is causing epic drought conditions in California.

He has mandated that greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced to 40 percent below 1990 levels over the next 15 years. Brown called this the most aggressive benchmark enacted by a government in North America. All well and good.