Ocean Beach

San Diego police are investigating the stabbing death of a man who was found early Saturday on a sidewalk in Ocean Beach. A resident discovered the man, prone on the sidewalk in the 1800 block of Bacon Street, shortly before 2:30 a.m. He appeared to have stab wounds in his upper torso and head, police said. The resident contacted police, who called paramedics. The victim was declared dead at 2:45 p.m. The deceased was identified only as Cameron Whitfield Punton, whose age was unknown.

A romantic beach is one of those can't-miss Valentine's Day standbys  - the more pristine the better. And no one knows pristine like Heal the Bay, which has released this guide to the West Coast's most romantic sand. All have received an “A” for water quality. Encinal Canyon, El Matador in Malibu  - The secluded cove won Heal the Bay's online poll, which asked supporters to share their favorite romantic beach along the West Coast. Abalone Cove in Rancho Palos Verdes  - A perfect picnic spot as well as a fine location to watch the migrating whales, this beach was another top vote-getter among Heal the Bay's ocean-loving supporters.

Time was when "beach bum" was a phrase of endearment in laid-back Ocean Beach. No more. This normally quiet neighborhood is being torn by a dispute over the recent emergence of a beach subculture of unkempt young males sleeping in doorways, urinating in public places and panhandling aggressively. The flash point was the appearance of bumper stickers proclaiming: "Welcome To Ocean Beach. Please Don't Feed Our Bums." The stickers — sold at a local landmark business, The Black, better known for the sale of bongs, posters and jewelry — are flying off the shelves and cropping up on shop windows and cars around town.

For years, San Francisco's Ocean Beach has been under assault by such powerful surf that a fierce winter storm can scour away 25 feet of bluff in just days. The startling pace of the erosion near the San Francisco Zoo has compelled the city to spend $5 million to shore up the crumbling bluffs. The strategy has been simple: drop huge rocks and mounds of sand to protect the nearby Great Highway and the sewer pipes underneath from being destroyed by the crashing waves. But as the enormous rocks have piled up, adding to a jumble of concrete — chunks of curb and bits and pieces of gutters — from parking lots that have tumbled onto the shore, so too have the demands that the city get rid of it all and let the coastline retreat naturally.

Ocean Beach will remain closed today while officials reevaluate the effects of Friday's sewage spill. The spill occurred when a four-inch pipe carrying sewage from a Point Loma treatment plant to Fiesta Island ruptured, said Charles Wright, a spokesman with the city lifeguard service. The rupture sent raw sewage spilling into the flood-control channel, which empties into Ocean Beach, Wright said. "There's no estimate when the beach will be reopened," he said.

A woman was shot and killed in an Ocean Beach apartment late Sunday morning, police said. Police, responding to a call about at an apartment complex in the 4900 block of Muir Avenue about 11 a.m., found the woman with a gunshot in the upper body. Emergency crews summoned to the apartment were unable to resuscitate the woman, police said. Homicide investigators were interviewing two people who were reportedly inside the apartment when the shooting occurred.

San Diego police are seeking a suspect in the fatal shooting of an Ocean Beach man early Sunday. The man was found dead with a gunshot wound in his face shortly after 6 p.m. Sunday, a police spokeswoman said. The victim's body was found in his apartment, located behind a liquor store in the 5000 block of Voltaire Street, police said. Residents of an adjacent apartment complex reported hearing an argument and shots fired early Sunday morning, said neighbor Mark Jeannette.

A 21-year-old suspect was in custody Saturday in connection with the stabbing death Friday night of a man in Ocean Beach, police said. The suspect was identified as Manuel Bojorquez, a resident of the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua, police said. The victim, whose identify was being withheld pending notification of relatives, was described as a man in his 20s. Police called to investigate a traffic problem discovered his body about 8:30 p.m.

A 34-year-old Escondido man drowned Saturday while diving with two friends off a boat in Ocean Beach, lifeguard spokesman Lt. Brant Bass reported. Milton E. Smith Jr. was pronounced dead at 1:41 p.m. at the UCSD Medical Center, about 40 minutes after his friends first attempted to resuscitate him. Smith became separated from his friends while diving about a half mile from the Point Loma shore. When the friends surfaced, they found Smith's body floating some distance from the boat.

Four San Diego men were stabbed at an Ocean Beach bar late Thursday, and police are still searching for the perpetrators, a police spokesman said. A fight broke out sometime after midnight at the Texas Teahouse on Voltaire Street after the bartender asked two men to leave because they reportedly were harassing a female patron. Police Lt.

Time was when "beach bum" was a phrase of endearment in laid-back Ocean Beach. No more. This normally quiet neighborhood is being torn by a dispute over the recent emergence of a beach subculture of unkempt young males sleeping in doorways, urinating in public places and panhandling aggressively. The flash point was the appearance of bumper stickers proclaiming: "Welcome To Ocean Beach. Please Don't Feed Our Bums." The stickers — sold at a local landmark business, The Black, better known for the sale of bongs, posters and jewelry — are flying off the shelves and cropping up on shop windows and cars around town.

Perry cell 619 977-6391 Standing beside one of those concrete icons of the beach-oriented lifestyle here, Mayor Jerry Sanders announced Monday that the civic scare about the imminent removal of fire pits has been averted — at least for now. Enough money — $120,500 — has been scraped together from private and public sources to keep the city's 186 fire pits burning for the next year, Sanders said. "Fire pits have an impassioned audience," he said. The pits, pending an OK from the California Coastal Commission, had been slated for removal as a money-saving measure.

If you're heading for SeaWorld and miss the offramp, there's no need to be bummed out. Just southwest of the attraction is Ocean Beach, with stretches of sand, a retro downtown and a laid-back attitude. This groovy spot, fondly known as the People's Republic of Ocean Beach, retains its '60s vibe and that era's strong emphasis on community.

*--* ALA MOANA BEACH LAX $715 American, ATA, Continental, Delta, Hawaiian Airlines, Northwest, United SNA 845 United BUR 845 United ONT 845 United *--* *--* DANIA BEACH LAX $318 Airtran Airways, American, Continental, Delta, Southwest, Spirit, US Airways SNA 330 American, Continental, Delta, United, United, US Airways BUR 426 American, Jet Blue, US Airways LGB 318 Jet Blue, US Airways ONT 298 American, Delta, United, US Airways *--* *--* GLENWOOD SPRINGS LAX $254 American, Continental, Delta,

A dozen bonfires kiss the black expanse of sand like faint stars in the night sky. Small groups stand around the dancing flames, their laughter blending with the sighs of the waves, the rattle of ice chests and a guitar's occasional hum. Where the uninitiated eye sees a sublime California experience, National Park Service Ranger Robert Mitsuyasu sees a nightly act of sacrilege on San Francisco's Ocean Beach.

Three beaches and a popular off-road vehicle site reopened Friday at Vandenberg Air Force Base as an endangered bird finished nesting. Authorities closed or restricted access to Ocean Beach, Surf Beach, Rancho Guadalupe Dunes County Park and Oceano Dune State Vehicular Recreation Area near Lompoc for seven months to protect the Western snowy plover. Some 420 birds were spotted at the base this year, up from 76 five years ago, says Nancy Francine, wildlife biologist at Vandenberg.

More than 21,000 gallons of sewage spilled into the San Diego River on Thursday, closing the beach where the river empties in Ocean Beach, the County Department of Health Services said. Rocks and asphalt blocking a sewer main forced sewage to spill from a manhole in the 4200 block of Whittier Street at 7:45 a.m., health department spokeswoman Maricela Ray said. The sewage flowed into a nearby flood control channel that empties into the San Diego River, Ray said.

A move to ban alcohol from San Diego's beaches on the Fourth of July has sparked fierce debates in three coastal communities and revived arguments over personal freedoms and public safety. Many residents of Sail Bay -- an affluent San Diego community at the western edge of Mission Bay -- say their section of the beach is marred by violence, littering and indecency every Fourth of July holiday, and they blame the heavy use of alcohol.

The first time I surfed I was 14. It was in San Diego, on my youngest brother's board, and I was the only girl out there in the dark, choppy waves. I was not exactly surfing legend Lisa Andersen. I fell off a lot, lost the board almost constantly, drank gallons of saltwater. My brother pretended he didn't know me. Still, I loved every exhausting, exhilarating second of it. I also rarely surfed again. It wasn't a matter of desire or ability. At 5-foot-3, I had the body of a small quarterback.