At the Ocean Beach library, March 13 marked an occasion no one wanted nor expected to see: the beginning of its third year of complete closure. It's a status shared by only two other locations …
March 25, 2022
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Stories by Tony de Garate
Can't get the staff to open Ocean Beach library
MTS can't get enough bus drivers
Headlines at the website of Metropolitan Transit System or MTS, the agency that operates the buses and light rail in the city, rave about the recent expansion of the San Diego Trolley with nine new …
December 7, 2021
99 Cent Only gets green light for booze
Where else can you get such far-flung gems as 1000-piece bags of cotton swabs, pregnancy test strips, and paperback copies of O.J. Simpson’s If I Did It quasi-confessional for less than a buck? It’s tempting …
May 25, 2018
Ooh, ahh, we need more convention center space
During the month of February alone, 13 custom color schemes were drawn up to project on New York’s 103-story Empire State Building. On February 9, they went with red, white, and blue to honor American …
February 26, 2018
Historic value of O.B. kit home debated
Sears is no longer the retailer it once was, having been beaten to the brink of irrelevance by outlet closures and online competition. But just about anyone over 40 remembers the company’s trusty, phone-book-sized tome …
November 7, 2017
Who, us? Fox News wrongly implicates local union
UniteHere, the union that represents some 6500 hotel, gaming, and food-service workers in San Diego County’s hospitality industry, has never been shy about flexing its political muscles. When the Chargers developed Measure C for a …
August 24, 2017
Ocean Beach may sacrifice high-traffic grass
Is a strip of beach-front grass in a park in Ocean Beach the right location to place a memorial that honors veterans? An important decision looms at city hall. The Ocean Beach Community Development Corporation …
June 28, 2016
Ocean Beach surveillance cameras going up
After months of contention over the use of surveillance cameras along the Ocean Beach coastline, it’s all over except for the signage. The first three cameras — in all, ten are planned — appeared recently …
March 17, 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
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
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.'s best rent deal slated for demo
The days are numbered for a cave used as an illegal shelter that the city says in danger of collapse at the foot of Orchard Avenue in Ocean Beach. By next week, police will dislodge …
October 15, 2015
Who to teach the tots?
Dozens of kindergartners at Ocean Beach Elementary may have to separate from the only teacher they’ve ever known and undergo the uncomfortable task of transferring to another class — just weeks after beginning their public …
October 6, 2015
Get me into the ballgame
Walk-through metal detectors, electromagnetic hand wands, and other new airport-style security measures led to confusion and a slower-than-usual entry for thousands of fans at the Padres’ annual home opener April 9. New security and screening …
April 13, 2015
Last-minute Obamacare scramble
People still scrambling to buy government-mandated health insurance after the February 15 deadline were surprised to find zero-hour assistance February 18 at the weekly Ocean Beach Farmers’ Market yesterday. Tucked between a live reggae band …
February 19, 2015
Zapf’s left turn into O.B.
San Diego City Councilmember Lorie Zapf is a Clairemont Republican, but she can get her O.B. on with the best of them. She enjoys Ocean Beach eateries and taking family and pets to Dog Beach, …
February 7, 2015
Confidence high, but store remains dry
Maybe it’s no Boston, but the city of Lowell, Massachusetts, is not without its charms. It’s the fourth-largest city in the state and has been home to such notables as Ed McMahon, Bette Davis, and …
December 5, 2014
Too much salt of the earth in O.B.
Like a bowl of bad soup, there’s too much salt in the soil at the North Ocean Beach Gateway Project — and the flaw could push into next year the long-awaited completion of the quarter-acre …
November 17, 2014
Biker-friendly holiday
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial, with its two, 247-foot-long stone walls with the names of more than 50,000 Americans who died or went missing in that war, was dedicated in Washington DC this month in 1982. …
November 13, 2014
Ixnay on Plan B, says SDG&E
Moving electricity from one place to another doesn't have to be unsightly. What would Walt Disney do if he was in charge of designing electrical infrastructure? That was the reaction from Kurt Sullivan, vice chair …
September 25, 2014
Drugstore booze permit still in limbo
Two bright red banners at the former Apple Tree market in O.B. read “CVS Pharmacy – Coming Soon” but the future has become unclear because of protests to a pending application to sell beer, wine, …
July 29, 2014
Peaceful bees forcibly removed from Ocean Beach
While the rest of the country was getting ready for the Fourth of July, city parks employees worked to remove a few hundred bees that had collected under a picnic table at Brighton Street Park …
July 3, 2014
Zapf eludes O.B. Town Council
It's not uncommon for a roster of participants in a debate for elected office to include a representative for one of the candidates. Last October, when a previous engagement prevented Nathan Fletcher from attending a …
March 28, 2014
Showers closed at Robb Field Fitness Club
If you break a sweat during a workout at Robb Field Fitness Club — or if you're homeless and looking for a place to clean up — you'll have to find someplace else to take …
March 5, 2014
No drinking water at desert campground
Picnic tables — check. Fire pits — check. Hot showers — check. Flush toilets — check. Wash basins — check. Drinking water — check. Wait — go back to that last one. Turns out the …
March 4, 2014
Ocean Beach hosts visit by David Alvarez
With the mayoral election less than two weeks away, both candidates David Alvarez and Kevin Faulconer say they want to be a partner in the effort to build a new Veterans Plaza in Ocean Beach. …
January 31, 2014
Ocean Beach CVS store a "public convenience or necessity"
CVS Pharmacy, which wants to set up shop in the long-abandoned Apple Tree supermarket in Ocean Beach, can breathe a long sigh of relief following a decision by the San Diego Police Department to not …
January 25, 2014
Stop-sign war in Point Loma’s Wooded Area
The Peninsula Community Planning Board (PCPB) last month voted to remove three stop signs in the Wooded Area of Point Loma, but after allegations that the board violated the the state's open-meetings law (the Brown …
June 19, 2013
New Ocean Beach restroom to close at night?
Should the restrooms at the foot of Brighton Avenue in Ocean Beach be locked up at night? The city has given itself a time extension to decide, and some members of the public are none …
May 27, 2013
Ocean Beach ashcans cut down on cigarette litter
If you're still addicted to cigarettes but you're within easy reach of a place to dispose of that nasty stub, there's a good chance you're in Ocean Beach. Since launching the “Hold On To Your …
May 3, 2013
Ocean Beach residents decide on new sign design
There must be something special about that soaring seagull and that great big red letter O, which, like much of the community of Ocean Beach, leans to the left. The results of a long-awaited vote …
April 30, 2013
Homeless people drawn to former Apple Tree store in Ocean Beach
Police and members of the Ocean Beach Town Council say they're going to turn up the heat on the property owner who once leased to the former Apple Tree market: they say little is being …
April 29, 2013
Community garden at Robb Field?
An unremarkable dirt lot at the extreme northwest edge of Robb Field could make a dandy place for people who want to grow their own vegetables if an Ocean Beach man has his way. Just …
April 1, 2013
San Diego police to be booted from O.B. parking lot?
Should the police trailer in the Ocean Beach pier parking lot go somewhere else? Next week, the people will have their say. The trailer has been in the middle of the parking lot at the …
March 10, 2013
RV parking ban planned for streets west of I-5
An ordinance to ban recreational vehicles, boats, and trailers from parking overnight on public streets west of I-5 is in the works, said Michael Patton, representative for District 2 city councilmember Kevin Faulconer, at the …
March 8, 2013
Bilbray a No-Show, Peters Appreciative at Ocean Beach Forum
Brian Bilbray, Republican candidate for the 52nd congressional district on the November 6 ballot, was a no-show at a scheduled forum hosted by the Ocean Beach Town Council on October 24. With Bilbray absent, Scott …
October 31, 2012
Backyard Chicken Movement Scratches Around Ocean Beach
Would it be okay if an O.B. resident kept a couple chickens in their backyard? Rachel Hiner of the Urban Food Network posed that question last week at the monthly meeting of the Ocean Beach …
July 12, 2011