OB Rag

The bench in front of the OB Library is now “officially” open to be used. It was dedicated Saturday, March 28 by the Friends of the OB Library in the midst of their book sale.

A crowd formed as Judy Collier, the president of the Friends, called people to gather at the bench. She made some remarks and introduced a few of the people that have helped the bench become a reality.

It was a hot Saturday, but hundreds of Mike Hardin well-wishers turned out for his memorial at Petco’s Park in a Park in downtown San Diego. Music was played and videos and stills from Mike “Bossman”‘s life were on the big screen in front of the crowd.

Many OBceans were there but so were many others, …

By Jim Miller

Baseball season is here again and with it comes one of the last times in my only son’s fleeting childhood that I have the opportunity to help coach his team. This brings much joy and more suffering because, as we all know, most of the game involves failure. When you watch young people pitch, they throw balls more often than not. And when they try to hit, they strike out a lot. It’s a house of pain.

Editor: Here below is a chapter from a draft of a novel in part about Ocean Beach. This chapter involved a fictionalized version of the events surrounding the Collier Park riot and includes fictional characters, some of whom have vague similarities with actual people. The main character is Jack Moseley, an OB activist.

CHAPTER 3 – THE PARK

Jack and his roommate Blake were picking their way through the piles of wood by moonlight, making their way towards the front door of the old, dilapidated two story building that once was the home for unwed mothers, the Door of Hope. It had closed years ago and lay in ruins at the top of the hill.

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Originally published March 27, 2015

44th Anniversary of Collier Park Riot Spurs Comparisons

The hour was getting late at the meeting of the Ocean Beach Town Council Board of Directors. It was January 21st in the year 1971 – 44 years ago. The hour was getting late but the meeting was lively as the topic was hot. The subject was whether the City of San Diego would sell off to developers a large portion of land in northeast Ocean Beach called “Collier West” –

Students from Point Loma High Cinematic Arts Class Part of Presentation

Statement of PLHS Cinematic Arts Teacher INSIDE

By Martha Sullivan

On March 24th, the San Diego Unified School Board voted unanimously 5-0 to “encourage Sea World to explore animal sanctuaries for their animal entertainers”. The resolution was sponsored by Trustees Kevin Beiser and Richard Barrera. The Board had been petitioned by local students – including some from Point Loma High School -.

Several students spoke to the Board about what they are learning in school in regards to the treatment of animals, what is humane and what is not.

By Dr. Warren Patch

The weather is definitely changing.

“Warmest Winter on record … driest January in history… Santa Ana winds already blowing pollens from the dessert to the coast in record numbers…”, and we can feel it: dry nose, itchy red eyes, sinuses dripping, non-productive cough, difficulty breathing for some.

“It’s just my allergies,” one might say. What to do? Support the drug industry, or your own health?

First of all, wash your eyes and sinuses daily with simple saline solution. You can buy a bottle of saline nasal spray at the local drug store and just spray it up your nose with a couple big snorts until you can spit it out through your mouth.

Buy an eye wash cup and so the same for your eyes. Just fill it half-way with saline, fit it around eyeball, and tilt your head back and forth a few times. You’ll be amazed how much junk you can wash out of your eyes, and how much better they feel!

By Bob Dorn / San Diego Free Press

I still have my father’s hammer; it’s tough hickory handle, all blackened by decades of use, has never separated from its carbon steel head, which is similarly stained by use. (The grease and dirt buried in that wood, some of it left there by my father, probably is what keeps the hickory from taking on water and rotting.) Let it be a symbol of endurance, persistence, toughness, good design and good material.

Here are some others:

1. Toilet Paper. Has no rivals.

2. Analog Odometers. These, like cheap watches with sweep hands, are mechanical, not digital, so they keep on rolling as long as your wheels do. They’re disappearing because more and more of us like green or red lights on the dashboard, and glowing numbers. When you buy that used Lexus can you be sure the odometer’s sensors …

BikeSD / BikeSD Blog

Tuesday night, March 24, between 200-250 people packed the St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral for a special Uptown Planners meeting. It’s quite possible that that was the most number of people that church has held in recent years.

Sister Gaia Love, summed it up perfectly:

Proof that cars are a religion to some. Ever see this turnout on a Sunday? RT @BikeSD: Packed room with lots standing pic.twitter.com/CWYPBnjFDr

— Sister Gaia Love (@SrGaia) March 25, 2015

All eyes were on Nicole Capretz last night at the monthly Ocean Beach Town Council meeting. She was proposing that the Council join the Climate Action Campaign that she helped found and ensure that the City of San Diego lives up to its commitments under the Mayor’s new climate action plan.

Capretz addressed the Board and the audience of near 60 people on the topic of climate change, the City’s plan, and her group’s efforts to hold local government to be responsive, in terms of creating a viable, legally-binding roadmap for San Diego to follow.

“There is no greater risk to the human race,” she said, “than climate change.” Capretz has been a veteran of City Hall. She years ago, worked for Councilwoman Donna Frye, and more recently for interim Mayor Todd Gloria. She added:

The quality of life will be okay for current generations, but not for the next generations.

By Donna Frye

This past week, March 15 – 21, the annual celebration called Sunshine Week took place throughout the nation. It was started over 10 years ago by the American Society of News Editors, with its goal being to –

“enlighten and empower people to play an active role in their government at all levels, and to give them access to information that makes their lives better and their communities stronger.”

Enough of us have finally taken notice to mention it. Talk about a crack in your local sidewalk – you ain’t got nothing compared to this.

Check it out.

The concrete walkway at the bottom of Sunset Cliffs just north of Orchard Street has taken a beating from Mother Nature and the sidewalk is ‘a-buckling’.

This was all very predictable.

That is, it is predictable that attempts by government and private property owners along the famous and beautiful Sunset Cliffs to corral nature, prevent erosion and stop the gravitational, tidal and wind forces from doing their thing are bound to fail – eventually.

Also, we the citizens of a City like ours with its dismal history of maintaining of public access-ways shouldn’t be too surprised when nature and the lack of City attention take their toll.