Carlsbadistan

The City of Carlsbadistan sprinted full speed into supporting National Bike To Work Day on Friday, May 17, 2013 with five pit stops located throughout the city. How did we know the City was involved? We saw the pit stops while riding our bike to work. Apparently, there were 90 Bike To Work pit stops (click the link to see them all) located through out San Diego County.

If you’re reading this now and you didn’t ride your bike to work, then you missed it. But don’t let that stop you from riding your bike to work next week.

We know that turning garbage and yard waste into nutrient-rich garden soil is possible, but we’re not exactly sure how to do it. If you’re in the same boat then the free Dig Into Composting seminar from the Solana Center For Environmental Innovation might be just what we’re all looking for.

Solana Center workshops will teach you all you need to know to make terrific compost at home. Compost experts will discuss the methods and benefits of composting and vermicomposting (composting with worms). Reduce your environmental footprint and improve the productivity of your soil.

The free seminar will be held on May 18, 2013 at the Calavera Hills Community Center from 10 AM to 12 PM. Click here to register. The Community Center is located at 2997 Glasgow Dr, in Carlsbad, California. For more details, click the link.

[Link: Solana Center]

The City of Carlsbadistan will be celebrating Arbor Day (April 27, 2013) by doing some work in the Calavera Hills Community Park.

Contribute to the community and the environment: help plant trees, restore irrigation basins and pick up litter. Get information on trees maintenance from Davey Tree Experts, West Coast Arborists and SDG&E’s Vegetation Management Department. . . Displays and booths will be set up near the lower parking lot. Volunteer registration begins at 8:30 a.m. Complete a volunteer application in advance and bring to the registration table.

The City has all the tools, however, if you’ve got the soft hands of a poet (or a blogger) then please feel free to bring your own work gloves. Work begins at 8:30 AM and finished at 10:30 AM Saturday, April 27, 2013. Calavera Hills Community Park is located at 2997 Glasgow Drive in Carlsbad.

[Link: City of Carlsbad]

How stoked are we with the latest news from the City of Carlsbadistan? Way. The Carlsbad City Council recently voted to ban smoking from all outdoor restaurant areas were food and/or alcohol are served as part of an update to the City’s ordinance covering smoking.

The ordinance was introduced Sept. 25 and will come before the City Council for adoption, currently scheduled for Oct. 2. The new ordinance will go into effect 30 days after its adoption. At that time, dining establishments will be required to ban smoking in outdoor spaces where they serve food or drinks, and to post signs alerting patrons of the ban. It would also require smokers to stay at least 20 feet away from outdoor dining areas, to prevent second-hand smoke from affecting diners.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Now if we could just get smoking outdoors (including in a car with the windows down) banned in Carlsbadistan, things would be all good. People are aren’t allowed to defecate all over the city’s streets, why should smokers be allowed to stink everything up? Think about it.

For the official word from the City of Carlsbad, follow the jump. Continue reading ‘Smoking Finally Banned For Outdoor Dining’

For those who spend several hours of each day on their bikes riding to and from work the idea of National Bike To Work Day (Friday, May 18, 2012) must seem kind of funny.

Yes, those who ride probably laugh a little with superior mustachioed smirks, at the quaintness of a day set aside when people who usually pilot their monstrous SUVs to work slum it out in the bike lane. But we’re guessing they also smile because they’re happy that “official days” like this get more people thinking about riding their bikes to work every day. And that’s good.

If you need a little encouragement the iCommuteSD website is offering up prizes for people who ride their bikes to work.

Those who register for Bike to Work Day will be automatically entered to win one of many great prizes, including the grand prize — a new bicycle! In addition, every time you bike to work in May, and log your trip in TripTracker at 511sd.com/iCommute, you will be entered for chances to win additional prizes. Register for Bike to Work Day to be automatically eligible for these weekly prize drawings in May. Weekly prizes include San Diego Zoo and Safari Park passes, spa gift certificates, free Car2Go memberships, transit passes, and much more.

Not only that, but if you bike to work on Friday, may 18, 2012 the City of Carlsbadistan is going to help you out with two “pit stops” that will provide free T-shirts, snacks, beverages and giveaways while supplies last. One pit-stop will be on the west side of Carlsbad Boulevard at Pine Avenue and the other at Zone 5 Park on Faraday Avenue and Camino Hills Drive.

For more info on Carlsbadistan’s Bike to Work Day follow the jump. Continue reading ‘Carlsbadistan Bike To Work Day: May 18, 2012′

This Saturday, March 24, 2012 the Lagoon Discovery Center on the Agua Hedionda Lagoon is celebrating World Water Day with a full day of activities and fun for the entire family.

This year’s World Water Day will kick off with a kayak lagoon clean up from 10am – noon. Participants provide their own boat. Like to participate? Contact us to sign up! . . . The World Water Day Festival will feature water-related speakers , water-themed exhibitors, the awesome SPLASHMOBILE, games, crafts, free face painting, and much much more! Family Fun Day…..Free!

The Lagoon Discovery Center is located at 1580 Cannon Road in Carlsbad, California. For more information call 760-804-1969 click to email info@aguahedionda.org or follow the jump for a complete schedule of the day’s activities. Continue reading ‘Celebrate World Water Day At Agua Hedionda’

At first glance it would appear that the California Department of Fish & Game would like people to stop using all the trails in the Carlsbad Highlands Ecological Preserve just south of the Lake Calavera Trails system.

In the past month fences have gone up all over the once beautiful hiking terrain making it nearly impossible to get anywhere without tromping through the bushes. Oddly, few of the fences connect to anything nor block any areas off. Most (like this one) simply stretch across a trail and extend a few yards into the foliage on either side making a dangerous situation for mountain bikers who are used to riding these trails unchecked.

The fences are part of a plan by California Fish & Game to protect the coastal sage scrub, which is prime habitat for the threatened California Gnatcatcher and to generally protect the area from getting destroyed. The project is being financed by a grant from the San Diego Association of Governments, according to California Fish & Game Biologist Warren Wong.

Wong says there is a logic to the way the fences have been scattered through the preserve. “We’ve tried to situate them in a way that they tie in with the vegetation,” Wong said. “If we wanted to close an area we would have to fence off the entire area with very sturdy poles. That’s not financially possible. The costs would be astronomical.”

The reason there is a problem with the trails seems to be more an issue of communication. The webpage dedicated to the Carlsbad Highlands Ecological Preserve is little help. It features nothing more than a map that shows where the preserve is located, a phone number, and some icons suggesting hiking and birdwatching are allowed. We’ve never seen any signs or announcements on site explaining who is allowed to use the trails and/or which trails are officially open. But, apparently, that’s not because they haven’t been posted. “Any signs that we put up in that the area pretty quickly get ripped down,” Wong said.

The good news is that the fences may not have to be permanent. “As long as they do their job, then we can take them down,” he says.

As for the mountain biking, it’s never been allowed in the area anyway. But Wong says he would like to work with mountain bikers. “I’d really like to meet mountain bikers and see if they have ideas about trails,” he says. “We can look. I have rules that I am bound by, but there may be places in this area that could be considered an access road.”

Until then, just know that if you’re riding the trails south and east of the water tank, be careful. There are fences everywhere.

The California Energy Commission is giving several of Carlsbad residents concerns regarding the expansion of the NRG Power Station another look and you can help make the difference.

An Evidentiary Hearing will be held in Carlsbad on Monday, December 12, 2011 to hear additional testimony on six topics. Of primary concern to local residents is discussion of whether the new proposed power plant violates Carlsbad land use rules and NRG’s reneging on their agreement to tear down the aging Encina Power Station.

The hearing begins at 8:30 AM and public comment starts at 5:30 PM December 12, 2011 at the Hilton Garden Inn located at 6450 Carlsbad Blvd. Follow the jump for more details.

Continue reading ‘Stop Industrial Expansion On Our Lagoon’

Carlsbadistan’s electric car start-up Aptera is apparently experiencing some difficult times and is now reportedly in the process of refunding all customer deposits taken for it’s high-mileage small car, according to a post on Triple Pundit.

Unfortunately, the company has experienced numerous setbacks, and the production dates have repeatedly been pushed back. Although originally scheduled to be delivered in late 2008, production deadlines have been missed and moved back as design changes continued to mount and funds dwindled. In 2010, Aptera was denied $184 million, in U.S. Department of Energy loans. The company re-applied for the DOE loans under a revised bill, but those monies have yet to be awarded.

Looks like another bummer for one of Carlsbadistan’s once brightest start-ups. Click here for a complete listing of our past coverage of Aptera.

[Link: Triple Pundit]

This Saturday, June 4, 2011 from 8 AM to 3 PM we’ll be joining the City of Carlsbad Beach Preservation Committee. California State Parks, the Friends of Cardiff & Carlsbad State Beaches, and the Carlsbad Village Athletic Club for the 4th Annual Carlsbad Beach Fest at Frazee State Beach at Pine Ave. You probably should, too.

“The goal of the event is to highlight our coastal playground as an irreplaceable resource, and to show appreciation for its beauty and value,” said Tammy Urie, special events director for the Carlsbad Village Athletic Club which is helping to organize this year’s event.

Click here for photos from last year (and a story) or follow the jump for all the details on the 5K, live bands, and more. Continue reading ’4th Annual Carlsbad Beach Fest June 4′