by The Editors on November 9, 2010
Personally, we think widening I-5 as a solution to North County traffic congestion is a lot like giving an heroin addict a larger needle to help him kick the horse, but we wanted to point out a couple recent articles that discuss the options from the Department of Transportation’s 10,000 page report. We like how the San Diego Union-Tribune puts it:
After $4.1 billion, nearly 20 years of construction, the condemnation of dozens of houses and businesses, and, for some, years spent commuting through a construction zone, here is what it could all come down to: A car traveling from Oceanside to La Jolla on Interstate 5 in proposed new toll lanes would save 10 minutes over the same car traveling the same 27-mile stretch of highway in 2006. A car traveling the distance in the regular lanes would shave one minute off the clock. . . Will it be worth it?
Our answer? Of course not. But then we’re not the North County Times. They think adding lanes is required:
Doing nothing about Interstate 5 widening —- or hoping that somehow mass transit will save us —- is a pipe dream. . . Indeed, anyone driving south toward San Diego on I-5 in the morning lately knows that it’s often congested from Carlsbad until the recently widened lanes near Cardiff —- so don’t bother with the anti-everything argument. . . Hoping that congestion will force drivers onto the Coaster isn’t a solution.
Well, actually, it is. One only has to look to the most congested streets in the world (Tokyo) to see that traffic congestion actually does force people to use public transportation. And you know what? That makes things better for everyone. That’s why it could be argued that the best solution for North County traffic jams would be to remove a couple lanes from Interstate 5 and add 24/7/365 service on the Coaster.
[Link: San Diego Union-Tribune and North County Times]
by The Editors on November 8, 2010
Carlsbadistan’s New Village Arts Theatre kicks off its November New Play Festival with stop number three of the world premiere of Yury Klavdiev’s I Am The Machine Gunner November 12-14, 2010.
In a poetic, vulgar, violent and aggressive translation, John Freedman presents Yury Klavdiev’s work that transcends time, place and person to capture the struggle of a young Russian gang member trying to find the same honor in his own battles that his grandfather found fighting Germany in World War II. This one man show features Equity actor James Knight, most recently seen in San Diego in ALIVE AND WELL at the Old Globe Theatre and is directed by David M. White.
Tickets for I Am The Machine Gunner are $15 or $39 for a festival pass which includes tickets to Renee Moreno’s Picturing My Sister (November 19-21, 2010), and Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol (November 26-28, 2010). For more information click the link.
[Link: New Village Arts Theatre]
by The Editors on November 8, 2010
It looked like about 100,000 people in the streets of Carlsbadistan for this year’s Street Faire, and that’s what organizers are telling the media apparently. According to the North County Times (who still pays people to write stories about street fairs):
As many as 100,000 people crowded the village streets Sunday to shop at the booths of more than 850 vendors, listen to live music at several locations and bask in the warm weather of a balmy November afternoon. . . “This weather is about as perfect as you can ask for during this event,” said Brian Roth, an event organizer for Kennedy & Associates, working for the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce. “A few days ago it would have been too hot, but things cooled down just enough.”
Luckily, we arrived late and yet were still able to find kettle corn and a jump or two on the huge bouncy houses on the corner of Carlsbad Village Drive and Roosevelt. Follow the jump for more snaps. . .
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by The Editors on November 8, 2010
On a national level, the 2010 elections will go down in history as a populist revolt against big government. But in three North County cities, the year will be remembered as the one in which voters really, truly paid attention.
To their credit, voters in Carlsbad, Oceanside and Encinitas studied the issues, weighed the pros and cons of each side, and made informed decisions, unswayed by who had the most, and prettiest, campaign signs and mailers.
Call it the election of sense and sensibility.
In the Carlsbad mayor’s race, victor Matt Hall was seriously outgunned by fellow Councilman Keith Blackburn in both signs and mailers, thanks in large part of the police and fire unions, which spent thousands of dollars to protect their inflated pensions. The Friday before the election alone, I received no fewer than five Blackburn mailers, including one, sent by the Carlsbad Police Officers’ Association, that hit a new low in sleaziness. Under the headline, “Matt Hall neglected our families’ safety,” the cops blasted Hall for “talking to reporters” after the Kelly School shootings, while praising Blackburn for “humbling” donning his police uniform and helping out behind the scenes.
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by The Editors on November 4, 2010
Carlsbadistan’s 145-unit Homewood Suites by Hilton (located right across the street from McClellan-Palomar Airport) has been purchased by Palm Beach, Florida’s Chatham Lodging Trust for approximately $32 million, according to a press release from the company.
“This is Chatham’s first acquisition in California, a market we know very well and where we have extensive experience,” said Jeffrey H. Fisher, Chatham’s chief executive officer. “We continue to seek other West Coast properties and have an active acquisition pipeline of premium-branded upscale extended-stay and select-service hotels in areas with high barriers to entry.”
The hotel will be managed by Island Hospitality Management, a company of which Fisher owns 90 percent. See, the publicly traded company buys the property, then the CEO’s privately owned company manages it. What a wonderful way to get paid.
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by The Editors on November 4, 2010
On Sunday, November 7, 2010 the streets of Carlsbadistan will be packed with visitors as the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce presents the world’s Largest One-Day Street Fair— the fall Carlsbad Village Faire from 8 AM to 4 PM in the heart of the Village.
Closed streets will turn our busy Village into a bustling walking mall of pop-up tents featuring arts, crafts, music, food, and a plethora of fantastically absorbent sponges, spectacular vegetable chopping devices, magical mops, and the occasional epic collection of what can only be described as flea market junk.
For the first time, North County Transit Districts Coaster trains will be running on Sunday specifically to make visiting the street fair easier for everyone in San Diego. In fact, people from Carlsbadistan who are planning on driving to the street fair should seriously consider parking at the Poinsettia Coaster Station and riding into the Village the train. It’s also a great option for anyone planning to spend their day in the beer garden.
Click here for previous Carlsbadistan street faire coverage, or here for photos from last November’s Street Faire.
For more info (and a complete Coaster schedule) follow the jump:
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by The Editors on November 3, 2010
With 100 percent of the votes counted the results from Carlsbadistan Election 2010 look like this. First off we have a new mayor (sort of). His name is Matt Hall.
|
Votes |
Percentages |
| Matt Hall |
13,288 |
46.85% |
| Keith Blackburn |
11,360 |
40.05% |
| Glenn Bernard |
2,519 |
8.88% |
| Walt Meier |
1,195 |
4.21% |
And in the City Council race we picked up Farrah Douglas:
|
Votes |
Percentages |
| Farrah Douglas |
17,899 |
45.06% |
| Mark Packard |
13,895 |
34.98% |
| Jon Wantz |
4,753 |
11.97% |
| Bill Jubb |
3,173 |
7.99% |
And in the City Treasurer’s Race it looked like this:
|
Votes |
Percentages |
| Jim Comstock |
14,750 |
65.12% |
| John O’Reilly |
7,902 |
34.88% |
And Prop G was very, very popular apparently:
|
Votes |
Percentages |
| YES |
17,670 |
64.28% |
| NO |
9,817 |
35.72% |
For more election results visit Election San Diego.
by The Editors on November 2, 2010
Students from Carlsbad High School TV are at San Diego’s election headquarters Golden Hall tonight working on their special Election Show and getting a first hand look at the democratic process in action. According to a story on the Voice of San Diego CHSTV had the largest presence in the room.
Its production and reporting team was some 40 strong, and most of them fanned out across the swarming election night headquarters, maneuvering with cameras and microphones through the colorful masses that gathered to watch returns. . . What media organization can afford to send 40 people to a single event, you ask? . . . That would be the ninth- through 12th-grade class of Doug Green, a Carlsbad High School teacher who runs Carlsbad High School TV, an elective class for students interested in working toward careers in broadcast news production.
Nice work if you can get it.
[Link: Voice of San Diego]
by The Editors on November 2, 2010
We heard some people in Carlsbadistan had to sneak by these guys to get to their Polling Place. How did your visit to you local polling place go? Let us know in the comments. Or, click here to check on the local election results (if they ever get updated).
Oh, and there are still 69 minutes left in the voting day. Go Vote!
by The Editors on November 2, 2010
When robbery suspect Edward Power, 58, of Carlsbad (click here for 2005 photo) robbed an Oceanside Wells Fargo Bank yesterday (Monday, November 2, 2010) he claimed to be the Geezer bandit. Now, the FBI is reportedly saying he is not man they’re looking for in all the previous bank robberies according to a story in the San Diego Union Tribune.
The FBI said the real Geezer Bandit, named for his elderly appearance, is still wanted. The last robbery attributed to him was June 24 at a bank in Temecula. Authorities say the Geezer has robbed 11 banks since August 2009.
As Carlsbad Lt. Kelly Cain told us last night, “Why someone would claim to be a guy wanted by the FBI during a robbery, I do not know.”
[Link: San Diego Union-Tribune and North County Times]
Carlsbadistan’s New Village Arts Theatre kicks off its November New Play Festival with stop number three of the world premiere of Yury Klavdiev’s I Am The Machine Gunner November 12-14, 2010.
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Interstate 5: Will Wider Really Be Better?
by The Editors on November 9, 2010
Personally, we think widening I-5 as a solution to North County traffic congestion is a lot like giving an heroin addict a larger needle to help him kick the horse, but we wanted to point out a couple recent articles that discuss the options from the Department of Transportation’s 10,000 page report. We like how the San Diego Union-Tribune puts it:
Our answer? Of course not. But then we’re not the North County Times. They think adding lanes is required:
Well, actually, it is. One only has to look to the most congested streets in the world (Tokyo) to see that traffic congestion actually does force people to use public transportation. And you know what? That makes things better for everyone. That’s why it could be argued that the best solution for North County traffic jams would be to remove a couple lanes from Interstate 5 and add 24/7/365 service on the Coaster.
[Link: San Diego Union-Tribune and North County Times]
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