The sun was setting as Elsa Brum neared the left wing of the Ocean Beach Pier during her stroll on February 16. There she saw what looked like a baby shark gasping for air as …
February 18, 2016
Ocean Beach News & Stories
Shark of least concern caught off pier
In a word, gnarly
About 650 San Diego surfers have volunteered to be lab rats in a study that looks at how closely surfing — particularly during the beach-closure days after rain — correlates with the illnesses they've been …
February 12, 2016
Unlit, ill-equipped and overloaded
Customs and Border Patrol officials, working in cooperation with the U.S. Coast Guard, seized an "unlit and overloaded vessel" packed with undocumented immigrants off the municipal fishing pier in Ocean Beach on Monday night (February …
February 11, 2016
The trees had to go
On February 5, signs were posted on the 4600 block of Saratoga Avenue to alert residents of upcoming tree trimming. On February 8, Atlas Tree Service, under contract with the city, severed the large branches …
February 11, 2016
Sand drifts curtail O.B. street-sweeping
If anyone knows about having to shovel your car out after a winter storm, it’s a guy from Boston. John Hogan of Ocean Beach knows the drill. Back home, where Hogan spent his childhood and …
February 6, 2016
Magic castles made of sand in O.B.
Syd and Spike have been drawing a daily crowd along the seawall in Ocean Beach lately with their impressive sand sculptures. They’ve built an O.B. sandcastle, a mermaid lounging on the wall, and, the most …
February 4, 2016
No fish farm in federal waters off O.B.!
Water-quality advocates with San Diego Coastkeeper announced this week that the group is petitioning the federal Environmental Protection Agency to deny a discharge permit for the proposed Rose Canyon Aquaculture Project, which detractors say would …
January 22, 2016
Here come the cameras, O.B.
A group of Ocean Beach residents, organized under the banner Citizens Against Privacy Abuse, gathered at the foot of Newport Avenue on Saturday afternoon (January 16) to protest the planned installation of ten surveillance cameras …
January 18, 2016
Residents look forward to shoveling sunshine
Bracing for another storm front moving in, my boyfriend and I thought we better get sandbags for the front of our place to keep the rain out. We live a block and a half from …
January 7, 2016
Ocean Beach flood ritual
For the second time in just a few months, the VEER condo complex located on the southwest corner of Abbott Street and Saratoga Avenue flooded following rains on the afternoon of January 5. For years, …
January 5, 2016
Wire you sculpting?
On December 30, I.B. Long was doing his weekly assessment of graffiti and other maintenance issues along Newport Avenue for the local business association. Long had seen the wire man in the sky attached to …
January 2, 2016
Ocean Beach library termite-tented
On December 28, a work crew from Cartwright Termite and Pest Control enveloped the historic Ocean Beach library with a giant, dark green fabric and posted signs alerting to the use of Vikane, a brand …
January 1, 2016
Did the City of San Diego kill Epic Pest Control?
Eleanor and Claude Thedford, owners of Epic Pest Control and Landscape Services, believe employees in San Diego’s Purchasing and Contracting Department are trying to shut down their business. The reason for the vendetta, says Eleanor …
December 30, 2015
Brisket over beef shoulder
I never had a problem with the beef sandwiches at the BBQ House. I sure ate enough of them when I lived in Ocean Beach. Weekly visits earned me Regular status, greeted like a champ …
December 22, 2015
Dog bites owner, both reportedly arrested
I was headed down to the craft fair at the end of Newport Avenue in O.B. on Saturday, December 12, at around 2:30 p.m., hoping to get a little Christmas shopping done. Instead, I came …
December 14, 2015
Red-hot Jose
To hear it from Bill Richardson — aka crooner Jose Sinatra — his destiny was decided by a chance highway encounter. “The Beatles passed my family in a limo as we were returning to San …
December 9, 2015
Renewal of Newport Avenue soon to come
Newport Avenue is the most important commercial corridor in Ocean Beach. The avenue’s historic buildings, bars, eateries, and antique shops rate high on the funk scale, drawing people from all over San Diego and beyond. …
December 8, 2015
O.B. Christmas tree that keeps on giving
When Cheryl, Alex, and their son Lucas donated the top of their enormous Norfolk Island pine eight years ago for the Ocean Beach Christmas tree, they probably never thought they would be donating from the …
December 1, 2015
Big Brother — no Holding Company — for O.B.
Over 35 people crowded into the small office of the Ocean Beach Mainstreet Association's monthly crime prevention meeting on November 17. Attending locals were introduced to the latest effort to curb crime in O.B.: security …
November 17, 2015
Man vs. Plan
On November 9, the San Diego City Council approved the Ocean Beach community plan, which was designed to, in the words of Ocean Beach Head Hippie Marijuana Jones, "serve as the city of San Diego's …
November 12, 2015