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June 21, 2018
Point Loma Community News & Events
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PENINSULA NEWS from PLA

It’s Summer!
Officially, summer arrived on the Peninsula at 3:07 this morning. Feel it? Neither did we.
 
Seasons pay little attention to the calendar.
 
People in the Midwest and Northeast sweltered in heat and humidity earlier this week…temps above 100. They’ve already tasted summer! A couple of months ago, these same areas got walloped by winter well after it was termed out by spring.
Midwest motto? Dress in layers. Always a good plan.
On the Peninsula, May surrendered to clouds. June’s been a mix of gleam and gloom. Remember Father’s Day weekend? Saturday and Sunday deftly illustrate the two faces of spring.
Look to the sky for the Full Strawberry Moon at 9:54 pm on the 27th.
Click the berry to learn more. See if you don’t feel instantly transported to movie day in 6th grade social studies.
Fourth of July is racing our way. We can’t predict the weather (never could), but we forecast plenty of people gathering at beach and bay.


Arrive early. Be neighborly. Pick up your trash.
 
Remember, these days wherever you are, someone is watching.
 
Try to feel safe rather than paranoid.
 
Personally, whenever we see eyes in the sky, we feel guilty.
 
Wonder why.
Shelter your dog indoors when the fireworks fly. Frantic pooches can bolt through barriers and run into traffic.
Other dogs sleep through fireworks. Unless a UPS truck shows up.
Are you avoiding

?
Most of us are. When we remember.
Warning signs have been with us since January!
But they promise an end to the disruption by the end of this month! Really? Really!
Really? Will the delays disappear by the 30th? That’s what we asked City engineers using the email address they suggested: engineering@sandiego.gov.
 
Last Monday we received this answer:
“Thank you for contacting the Department of Public Works. This is to advise you that we've received your inquiry and have forwarded to the appropriate project team.”
 
Keep checking our Point Loma Association homepage, specifically the little box on the right side titled, “The Latest…”
When we know more, we’ll report.
If delay-relief is, uh, delayed, maybe things will ease up by next month, according to CBS8.
Lufthansa
In mid-March, German airline Lufthansa inaugurated non-stop service between San Diego and Frankfurt.
 
After 3 o’clock most afternoons, the big plane lifts off headed home. That’s what we think. But we’ve not had much luck getting a photo. Published reports say takeoff is at 3:05, or 3:10 or 3:20. The other day, at 3:29, just as we were giving up again, it roared overhead!
The plane is larger than many rolling down our runway. It’s an Airbus A340 manufactured in Toulouse, France. Glancing up, we can see it has four engines and is a “wide body”, twin aisle plane. It seats about 280 passengers and has a range of 7,300 miles, easily traversing the 5,800 miles from San Diego to Frankfurt.
We can tell all that by glancing up and then calling our brother-in-law the aerospace engineer.
 
Looks pretty cool from down here! Looks even better to passengers up there. Click the Airbus below to see.
Quick! Before it gets away.
What local church
is now a restaurant?
 
The full answer – and it may surprise you – is ahead.
 
First, a few things we recently learned about historic NTC North Chapel, now part of Liberty Station.
On December 5, 1993, respected Union-Tribune reporter Roger M. Showley wrote an article about preparations for the base closure. In it, he quotes David Jon Terry, whose firm, The Terry Group, the Navy hired to study NTC’s historic buildings.
 
Of building #208 Terry said, “The chapel is the only fully intact historic building on the base and would contribute significantly to a historic district.


All the wood furniture, including the pews, pulpit, choir screen, altars, organ grille and balcony railing, were designed with the church building, as were the stained-glass windows, the brick paving at the entry and decorative tile floors inside the entry."

Later in the article Showley wrote, “Out of more than 600 buildings on the 500-acre base, the 44 proposed historic buildings plus the USS Recruit represent a small portion of the millions of square feet built since NTC opened.”
 

With that perspective, it seems even sadder, and sillier that “the only fully intact historic building on base” would need to become a cash cow.

At the end of this month, North Chapel will close to weddings, funerals, two weekly worship services and special events.
 
The owners say it “sits vacant most of the time,” and they are looking for a “long term tenant.”
According to the NTC Precise plan, that could include “assembly and entertainment, eating and drinking establishments, retail, social service institutions and office uses.”
 
We mention that Precise Plan frequently. It is an amazing document. We bet few have read all of it. But it contains a section that might be the best (last?) chance to limit McMillin Companies’ options for a future tenant. Here’s an excerpt:
Regarding our original question about what San Diego church is now a restaurant.
 
If one comes to mind, it’s probably the big Methodist Episcopal Church on Fifth near Balboa Park. Right?
Good guess. But that’s not completely correct. The church was built in 1910. In 1984 it became The Abbey Restaurant, for a time. But today it is pretty much what North Chapel at Liberty Station is (for one more week).
 
The Abbey on Fifth is a “private special event facility.”
 
Bookings at The Abbey are handled by Hornblower Cruises. Really! It’s true.
 
Maybe Hornblower could take over North Chapel, keep it intact, let Sunday worship services continue, market it aggressively for weddings and special events as a lower-cost alternative to The Abbey, and everyone could live happily ever after.
If you’d like to express your opinion to the owners of North Chapel, here’s their address:
Liberty Station Market Investors, LLC
2750 Womble Rd. Ste. 200
San Diego, CA 92106

Email their representatives, H2 Public Relations, at prsd@h2publicrelations.com 
Where Am I?
Many gather beside this window. Too easy? Maybe. Read to the end to see if you know where it is. If so, do you know its story?
If you park it, they will take it.
 
Bike thefts are a continuous problem in our neighborhoods. Protected by locks, fences – even garages – cycles still disappear.


Often they end up here, stripped for parts, sold or traded for…?
Bike thieves are seldom caught. If they’re apprehended, the value of the wheels they’ve swiped makes the crime a misdemeanor. Big whoop.
 
But now there’s a Bait Bike on the block.
It looks pretty much like any other unattended, locked bicycle.  
But it’s an expensive model, worth more than $1,000. And it’s being monitored by the cops. 
Steal this baby, and bam!!
Our area’s Crime Suppression Team conducted four Bait Bike sting operations between the program’s launch in mid-April and the 1st of June. They netted four felony arrests, four guilty pleas and a 3 year sentence for one of the thieves.
 
Protecting personal property, locking up criminals, making the Peninsula safer -- all in all, a good start!
Public Safety News
 
Our Point Loma Association Public Safety Committee met recently with Councilmember Lorie Zapf and representatives from the Pacific Beach Clean and Safe Program. It provides work for homeless people. PLA and Ocean Beach leaders are evaluating if such a program could benefit our communities.
 
 
Something we concluded
without a research grant…
 
“Sky-high housing costs are a significant factor behind California’s homeless crisis, according to a new analysis from UCLA.”
 
 
Contact a Cop
In the past, our SDPD Community Liaison Officers have suggested people email them directly to report illegal activity or public safety issues. New rule! Use the City’s Get It Done App. Officers still like being advised, but they say the main point of contact should be Get It Done. Got it?
 
 
Neighborhood Policing
You may have heard the term. San Diego recently created a Neighborhood Policing Division to “more efficiently alleviate quality of life community issues related to homelessness.”
Details here.
Point Loma Neighborhood Watch


Interested in joining or just keeping up on what’s up?
 
Poke the eye.
San Diego County Sheriff’s
Take Me Home Program
 
It assists all law enforcement during contacts with members of the community who have disabilities, including Autism, Dementia, Alzheimer’s, Down syndrome, deafness and other developmental disabilities.

Click the logo for more information.
 
It could be a lifesaver!
Kona Kai
 
If the last time you visited Kona Kai Resort & Spa was at our PLA Dinner Party last fall, and the next time you plan to go is in October for this year's gala, you really should drop in sooner.
Much has changed over the past months!
 
There is a new adult pool near the Point Loma Grand Ballroom where PLA parties. (FYI, we don’t think “adult” pool has exactly the same meaning on Shelter Island as it does in Las Vegas.)
The Ballroom is visible just beyond the pool.





The new pool replaces the large, open deck that frequently hosted parties, weddings and other outdoor events.
Kona Kai hosted a grand reopening celebration recently. It included a very life-like mermaid.
She appeared to be a little more comfortable sitting by the pool than the OB mermaid perched on the Rock.
 
But when last we checked, she also had disappeared
There are new rooms, additional amenities and upgrades at the resort and spa. Browse around!
 
Kona Kai is a Point Loma Association member. And you could join the Kona Kai Club.




Clink (click) the drink to learn more.
Post Haste


The Point Loma Post Office on Cañon Street was born in 1962, the era of Beatles and Beverly Hillbillies.
It hasn’t changed very much at all since then.
Some of us got excited earlier this month when construction began in the PO Box corridor. Foolish. The signs promised only “repairs”, not remodeling or even redecorating.
 
They are fixing a pipe. (Similar to the Beatles’ Fixing a Hole.)
 
The project is to repair a broken water pipe. More correctly, it’s the final repair to a pipe that has leaked and been duct-taped multiple times according to one clerk.
 
Work began on June 11th. It’s hard to judge progress.
The jobsite is out of view.
 
We wonder how many workers there are and how many hours a day.
 
Earlier this week it was pretty quiet behind the curtain.
 
Maybe they’re waiting for parts. Hope they’re coming by Priority mail!
Once the leak is fixed, the big mailboxes go back in, and everything returns to 1962 new. We were told to expect a little touch-up painting. So that counts as redecorating.






Where will they find paint to match?
Picture this intersection?
Pretend you’re a Google drone…
Got it!
The unique intersection of Talbot Street and Gage Drive is getting a makeover – ADA compliant walkway and crosswalks. It should happen soon. Not sure when. With all the other construction and closures on both of these roads, this minor project will be just a blip. Here’s a rendering of what will be…
Wonder who will maintain the median plantings.
Maybe we need some rules & regs.
Click either bike.
Well, duh!
See, there are some rules.
Platinum Vagabond
Point Loma Association welcomes the Vagabond Inn as a new business member at the Platinum level. Officially the name is Vagabond Inn – San Diego Airport Marina. And that pretty well captures it. Convenient to planes, the Bay, sport fishing and Point Loma Seafood, it’s a welcome location for friends or relatives visiting the Peninsula. Here’s a link.
Welcome, Vagabond. You’re home!
See this?
 
Small grab bag of whimsy.
Some you might have seen, others maybe not.

 
Along Bayside Trail
Spotted and photographed by Jane Loveday. Thanks Jane!
 
 
Spring day at NTC Park
Doggie! Come back! Was it something I said?


Dockless Bed


Home $weet Home
Trading Titles
 New Year begins July 1st for Point Loma Association. That brings changes in leadership. Beginning next month, Dave Martin – current Vice-Chair – will become Chairman of the Association. Outgoing Chair, Clark Anthony Burlingame, will serve as Dave’s Vice-Chair for the 2018-2020 term.
It’s obvious that these two leaders are young at heart. Obvious to Dave and Clark is, two years from now PLA will need young-in-other-ways leaders to step up. The good news is, those talented, motivated younger Directors are on deck!
 
In our next e-Newsletter, publishing July 12th, we will introduce you to our newest Board members and acknowledge several seasoned Directors who are retiring after contributing immensely to our mission.
 
At June’s Board meeting, Clark got a super one-of-a-kind Point Loma Association cap!
Dave has much better hair, so caps are less of a necessity for his noggin.


That said, maybe you would like to have a cap like this.
 
We could make more!
           Lordy, child. Put on some sunscreen!
 Triathlon Time
Coming to a neighborhood near you…
this weekend!
By now you would know if you are participating, so this alert is for spectators – willing and accidental.
 
The big events are this Sunday, June 24th.
 
Catalina, Canon, Locust, Scott, Avenida De Portugal – those names sound familiar? Expect traffic delays on those roads especially between 7-10 am.
 
Seems we’d be safe forecasting that most every day! But this weekend the issue won’t be construction, it’ll be bicycles racing from Spanish landing to Cabrillo National Monument.
Anyway, we’ve been warned!
Running takes place on Harbor Island and we’re assured swimming will be confined to water, so here’s the map we need.
It shows the cycle course.
Next Week At
Where Am I?
The Answer
We’re hoping this one was easy to answer.
The colorful creation is at the Point Loma Assembly on Talbot Street.
The window is a gift to the Assembly from Dorothea Laub. Dottie designed it as a tribute to her husband, Dick, who passed away in May of 2013.
Dick loved the ocean. He had a passion and remarkable skill for sport fishing. His nickname was, “The Laubster.” Note the figure in the lower right corner of the window above the dedication.
Dottie chose Dicks favorite colors for the design, depicting his dream of sailing around the world in a three-masted ship.
Dorothea Laub continues the Laub family legacy and is a true treasure to our community.
Archived we are!

Here’s a great way to turn back time and check out previous editions of our Point Loma Association e-Newsletter.
It's also an easy way to send a link to a friend.


Visit our PLA e-News Archives

Thanks for letting us into your day.  Have issues, comments, suggestions or story ideas? Please let us know.

 
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Point Loma Association · PO Box 60212 · San Diego, CA 92106-0212 · USA

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