OB Rag

Of course, no one knows who’s doing it, but some of the walls of Sunset Cliffs are getting tagged with spray paint markings.

A roving eye for the OB Rag spotted them and told us that they are visible from the path just north of the old baseball field under Nazareen College.

Attorney General Eric Holder will leave office with a perfect record of not having busted a single senior banker

By John Lawrence

The bank, HSBC, has been involved in criminal enterprises from dealing with terrorists and drug dealers to advising clients how to escape paying taxes. Yet no HSBC banker has gone to jail.

Dealing with drug dealers is nothing new for HSBC, also known as the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation. They have always been associated with drugs. Founded in 1865, HSBC became the major commercial bank in colonial China after the conclusion of the Second Opium War. That’s the war in which European powers forced the Chinese to legalize the drug trade.

By Junco Canche / San Diego Free Press _______________________ Junco Canché Junco Canché, the Chicano Punk Rock Artesano, was born…

Stabbing In Saratoga Park Saturday Night A young, unidentified man was stabbed Saturday night, March 21,

New City Planner for OB Community Plan – Rumored to Go Before Coastal in August Ocean Beach has a new planner from the city

When is the OB People’s Organic Food Co-op’s Election? There will be an election for the Board of Directors for the organic market on Voltaire Street.

VOSD in OB The online publication the Voice of San Diego is planning on taking over the Masonic Center

Beers & Bikes Wheel in OB and Point LomaBikes & Beers will literally wheel into Ocean Beach, Mission Bay on March 28, as the 2nd annual

City Council Approves $750,000 to Restore Crystal PierThe City Council unanimously voted to finish a $1.2 million dollar restoration project

AND MORE, COME INSIDE ….

The Point Loma Peninsula has a pot shop! The San Diego Planning Commission on March 19th voted 4 to 2 to approve a medical marijuana dispensary in the Midway area of the Point.

The Point Loma Patients Cooperative is the 4th such dispensary to be allowed under San Diego’s stringent requirements. It’s located at 3452 Hancock Street.

The other dispensaries allowed include an Otay Mesa storefront that just opened last week, and 2 more – one in San Ysidro and the other in Kearny Mesa. Both are are expected to open this spring. Allegedly, the City is supposed to allow a total of 36 dispensaries within city boundaries.

By Susan Taylor

The flatlanders in San Diego had somewhere between 1-2 inches of rain recently and I hear the call of school gardens asking, “Can we plant something?” Of course we can, so let’s get going.

On a recent stroll along the boardwalk towards South Mission Beach, I dipped into the tiny streets between the boardwalk and Mission Blvd and saw so many interesting growing things.

One idea I’ve already tried is to take a hanging succulent cutting, let it harden off for a couple of days and here’s what’s next–wrap a handful of soil around the root (to be) end and then add some coir or even a paper towel. Moisten the whole wrap and nest it into the crotch of a tree branch.

This Saturday, March 28th, a public memorial and celebration of Mike Hardin’s life will be held at Petco’s “Park in the Park”. Hardin is mostly associated with his infamous Hodad’s OB burger joint.

His eatery was showcased on national television foodie shows, such as the features on the popular TV show, “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” hosted by Guy Fieri.

Hardin died of a heart attack in early February.

The “Celebration of Life” event at Petco Park’s Park in the Park in downtown San Diego runs from 11:11 a.m. until 12:30 p.m.

Saturday’s tribute is being organized by Hardin’s family, employees and friends. The pubic is invited – it’s free to attend and, according to organizers, “open to everyone who ever knew Mike or knew his burgers.”

“OB Time” Sees Common Appreciation of Homeless

By the Old OB Hippie

Yup, that’s right. San Diego cops and the OB Rag finally agree on something. And it has to do with the homeless and how things keep getting repeated.

At a recent Ocean Beach Town Council meeting, two high-ranking police officers were seen and overheard shaking hands and speaking with Frank Gormlie, editordude of the OB Rag, back at the rear of the large room at the Masonic Center before the meeting began.

It turns out, the officers were thanking the Rag for publishing an article about how “good citizens” complained about the hippies back in 1968 and their “aggressive panhandling” and “public urination” – which had then been updated and re-worded; everywhere “hippie” was written in the article, “homeless” was substituted in.

The Ocean Beach Friends of the Library are heralding Spring with a book sale and – importantly – the dedication of the bench the group sponsored and had installed in front of the OB Library. It’s all happening this Saturday, March 28th from 9:30 am to 12:30 pm. And of course, it’s all on the lawn in front of the library, at Santa Monica and Sunset Cliffs Boulevard.

The bench dedication itself will be at 11:00. The Friends will spend a few minutes recognizing the names of the people on the newly installed plaque–Byrna Bicknell, Bryan W. Collier, George Murphy, and the OB Town Council.

Volunteers and Donated Books Still Needed

Volunteers and donated used books are still needed. If you would like to help, volunteers are needed to help set up the canopy at 8:30, to bring books and materials out from the library at 9:00 am, throughout the Book Sale, and clean-up and tear down at 12:30 pm. Volunteers are also needed to sort books on Friday, March 27, from 1:00 pm until finished.

It’s coming up on the 44th anniversary of the most violent day in the history of Ocean Beach – the March 28, 1971 Collier Park Riot. After San Diego police charged a peaceful gathering of hundreds of OBceans, young people and students, street fighting between cops and civilians broke out – and for hours a riot raged in north OB, from what today is Collier Park, all the way to the beach, about a mile.

It was the day that Ocean Beach was – in a real sense – like Ferguson, Missouri.

Due to its interest, the OB Rag’s “OB Gothic” photo contest has been extended all the way to May, to the OB Historical Society’s annual photo shindig and contest, “OB EXPOSED! – Photographic Impressions of OB and PL” – held this year on May 22nd.

You may recall that inspired by the OB Historical Society’s presentation on OB’s cottages back in February, the OB Rag began a photo contest of the best “OB Gothic” image earlier this month.

The only rule is that the photo be taken in Ocean Beach.

At the March 25th public meeting of the OB Town Council, the San Diego-based Climate Action Campaign will be making a presentation on their building support campaign for the City’s Climate Action Plan .

The meeting is Wednesday at 7pm at the Masonic Center, 1711 Sunset Cliffs Bvld. Here is – direct from the OBTC website:

At this month’s meeting of the Ocean Beach Town Council, we’ll be joined by the founder and Executive Director of the Climate Action Campaign.

Based in San Diego, the Climate Action Campaign is building support for our City’s Climate Action Plan and seeks to ensure its successful passage and implementation.