by The Editors on April 20, 2008
Thanks to a crew of volunteers Carlsbad’s Hosp Grove now has 200 more trees as part of its Centennial Celebration, according to a Leigh Ann Dewey story in the North County Times.
The celebration offered the community a chance to observe the birthday of the grove, planted 100 years ago by F.P. Hosp & Partners, which hoped to sell the wood to the Santa Fe Railroad for railroad ties. The wood proved too brittle, so the trees remained. Through a vote of residents in 1987, 53 acres of the grove were acquired by the city of Carlsbad and the entire 74 acres — bordered by Hosp Way, Marron Road, and Jefferson and Monroe streets, became parkland and open space.
[Link: North County Times]
by The Editors on April 20, 2008
Moments after landing at Carlsbad/Palomar airport on Saturday just after 10AM a small jet, “owned by California Natural Products,” skidded off the runway. There were four people aboard and none were injured according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.
It is unclear what caused the Cessna Citation to veer off the side of the runway after landing, said Ian Gregor, spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration.
[Link: San Diego Union-Tribune]
by The Editors on April 15, 2008
If you’re wondering why all the clocks on your appliances were blinking today when you got home, it’s because at approximately 11:08 AM Carlsbadistan power went out thanks to a “suspected problem in the overhead electric system” on circuits AG01 and 0781 according to San Diego Gas & Electric.
Nearly 4,500 SDG&E customers were effected by the morning outage. (Click the image at right for full detail.)
These kinds of outages make it very difficult for us to catch up on the latest episode of The Hills.
[Link: SDG&E Outages]
by The Editors on April 14, 2008
First it was the Mastodon fossil found at El Camino Real and Canon Road. Now, a second discovery has been made at the new Robertson Ranch development.
Late last month, paleontologists monitoring the excavation of Robertson Ranch, which is being developed for homes, spotted a skeleton of a giant ground sloth as earthmovers were grading. . . “We know we have part of a pelvis, part of a front leg and part of a back leg,” Deméré said of the sloth discovery. “There were two ribs we could see and part of a vertebra. . . . They’d been held together a couple of hundred thousand years by mudstone.”
While this giant sloth roamed the Carlsbadistan area approximately 120,000 to 200,000 years ago, experts believe it was likely not one of Mayor Bud Lewis‘ pets.
[Link: San Diego Union-Tribune]
by The Editors on April 13, 2008
The only way things can get any better than this is if the water would warm up a little. Otherwise, another perfect day in Carlsbadistan. We’d say “Wish You Were Here,” however, from the crowd on the beach (and the car-lined streets) we’d say you already are. (Click the photo to see if full size.)
by The Editors on April 10, 2008
According to a story in the San Diego Union-Tribune the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board has “approved an environmental protection plan for the desalination plant,” by a vote of 5-2.
The board voted 5-2 yesterday to approve Poseidon’s first draft of its proposed plan but required it to return in six months with more detail on the number of fish killed, its method to minimize those deaths and how it plans to make up for them.
It appears that the California Coastal Commission is not exactly happy with this vote.
The coastal commission’s executive director, Peter Douglas, had asked the regional water board to delay a decision, saying Poseidon’s plan “would create a real or perceived conflict between the Board’s action and the requirements imposed by the Commission.”
[Link: San Diego Union-Tribune]
by The Editors on April 10, 2008
Yesterday, when the Olympic torch made it’s way through San Francisco a local family got to see it first hand, thanks to SF Mayor Gavin Newsom’s last-minute re-routing.
One family of tourists from Southern California was taken by surprise with the torch relay. Chris Girod, who was visiting from Carlsbad, said he and his wife, Diedre, and children Nelson and Helen didn’t know about the torch events until they heard about Monday’s protest on the Golden Gate Bridge. . . . Still, they were excited to be in San Francisco for the events. “It’s been a great educational experience,” said Chris Girod. “We just thought it was good for the kids to see there’s an opportunity to express your views here.”
Sometimes vacations just work out that way.
[Link: San Jose Mercury News]
by The Editors on April 9, 2008
When Carlsbad resident Ron Lovick, 58, retired after putting in 23 years with the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department he wanted to do something that would combine his love for flying with the joy of helping others, according to a story in Today’s Local News.
A friend recommended he join Angel Flight West, a nonprofit that arranges free transportation to those with serious medical conditions in the western United States. . . . I was quite surprised because one of my secret passions was to fly missionary flights in South America when I retired,” Lovick said. “Then this little opportunity came up, and I thought, ‘What a wonderful chance to combine my passions,’ one of which is flying and the other is helping people who need to be helped or want to be helped.” . . . Lovick joined the organization in late 2006 and has flown 12 missions since. Patients flown by Angel Flight pilots suffer from such conditions as spina bifida, liver cancer, lymphoma, colon cancer, cleft feet and hands, and Treacher Collins syndrome.
Making a difference, while doing what one loves is really all any of us can hope for. Thanks for the inspiration, Ron.
[Link: Today’s Local News]
by The Editors on April 3, 2008
San Diego Union-Tribune writer Michael Burge gets on the Tamarack Surf Beach parking fee story that we wrote about yesterday with a few additional details.
Technically, a parking fee isn’t new at Tamarack. From 1994 to 2000, the state had permits to charge users, but drivers didn’t know it. The city paid the state about $36,000 a year to cover the fees and maintain the free parking, Jantz said. . . . The City Council hasn’t yet taken up the proposed parking issue, but the delay will give it time to address it, he said. . . . Ketterer said the Tamarack lot can generate $200,000 annually in fees. Part of that revenue will go the state’s general fund, and part to the parks upkeep budget.
The California Coastal Commission’s hearing on the fee request has been tentatively postponed until May 7-9, 2008 when the group will meet in Marina del Rey at the Marina del Rey Hotel. “The State Parks and the City of Carlsbad have requested a postponement on the issue so when it’s really up to them to decide when it gets presented to the Coastal Commission,” said Toni Ross, a coastal planner with the San Diego office of the California Coastal Commission.
When we spoke to Rob Houston with the Carlsbad City Manager’s office he implied that people from the City of Carlsbad are planning attend the hearing and speak out against the proposed parking fees. “We’re checking from the City side,” he said. “But citizens should be heard as well.”
As the Commission members prefer to get comments via the US Postal Service, click here for their addresses and be heard.
[Link: San Diego Union-Tribune]
by The Editors on April 2, 2008
On Thursday April 10, 2008 the California Coastal Commission was scheduled to hold a hearing (and vote) regarding the The California Department of Parks and Recreation‘s request to install a “mechanical fee collection device at Carlsbad State Beach Parking lot” at Tamarack Surf Beach where State Parks hopes to charge a flat rat of $8.00 per day to park in the lot. The hearing has now been postponed according to the Coastal Commission .
We mentioned this the first time on November 17, 2007 when the pending permit notice went up on the Tamarack sign. Now, it looks like it will proceed, as the Coastal Commission staff is recommending approval.
Staff is recommending approval of the project with various special conditions. . . Special conditions include the requirement for a monitoring program to document any impacts to public access, or the development of additional public trails down the coastal bluff. A further special condition has been recommended to approve the parking fees on a trial three year basis.
Obviously, we believe this is a terrible idea for several reasons, most importantly being that it is going to simply push all the people up into Carlsbadistan. When parking on the streets is free and it costs $8.00 to park at the beach, where are people going to park? That’s right: in our neighborhood. We think it is completely selfish of the California State Parks to try to raise funds by packing our streets even more than they already are.
We have contact the Carlsbad City Managers office and will report back as soon as we have any more information.
Thanks to a crew of volunteers Carlsbad’s Hosp Grove now has 200 more trees as part of its Centennial Celebration, according to a Leigh Ann Dewey story in the North County Times.
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