October 2008

Semi Throws In The Burning Towels

by The Editors on October 22, 2008

A semi truck hauling shop towels caught fire on Interstate 5 just north of La Costa Avenue in Carlsbadistan on Tuesday morning at 4:30 AM causing traffic to back up for miles.

The incident was further complicated when the big rig began to spill fluid, which officials feared would leak into a nearby lagoon. A hazardous-materials team was sent out, as were officials from the Department of Environmental Quality. Sixty gallons of diesel fuel spilled, some of it possibly making its way into Bataquitos Lagoon.

[Link: NBC San Diego]

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Stuck Car Hit On Tracks

by The Editors on October 22, 2008

Eddie Maldonado took a wrong turn in his Honda Accord around 9 PM on Monday night and ended up stuck on the railroad tracks at Grand Ave. in the Village just before a train was approaching, according to a story in the North County Times.

Shortly after 9 p.m., a Burlington Northern Santa Fe freight train hit a Honda Civic stuck on the tracks at Grand Avenue, said Cpl. Mark Cook of the sheriff’s rail enforcement team. . . .Carlsbad police officials identified the driver as Eddie Maldonado. They did not have his age or city of residence available.

Maldonado was arrested for suspicion of drunk driving and if that (coupled with having his car hit by a train) wasn’t enough he was also charged with trespassing for driving onto the tracks. The wreck kept both Grand Ave. and Carlsbad Village Drive closed for nearly two hours.

[Link: North County Times]

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Carlsbad House Fire Almost Gets Stoney

by The Editors on October 20, 2008

When a house on Alyssum Road in Carlsbad went up in flames on Sunday, October 20, 2008, firefighters were surprised to find 40 pot plants growing in one of the bedrooms.

Firefighters from Encinitas and Carlsbad found a small fire in an upstairs bedroom of the home. They were able to knock it down in about five minutes, but in the process, they stumbled upon 40 to 40 marijuana plants.

While it appears the plants survived the fire, things may not go so well for the occupants of the house as the scene was turned over to “investigators upon the discovery.”

[Link: CBS 8]

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Rubio’s Reeled In For $49.7 Million?

by The Editors on October 20, 2008

Carlsbadistan’s Rubio’s Restaurants could be the target of a buyout as San Diego’s Kelly Capital investment firm makes an “unsolicited offer” for the company, according to a story in the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Dan Pittard, president and chief executive officer of Rubio’s, said the company’s board will meet next week to consider the offer, which is subject to Kelly Capital obtaining financing. He declined to comment further. . . . The $5-per-share offer by Kelly Capital, made in a letter dated Wednesday, represented a 26 percent premium on Rubio’s closing price that day of $3.97. Rubio’s shares closed yesterday at $4.28.

The way Rubio’s business has been headed lately, we’d take the money.

[Link: San Diego Union-Tribune]

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NRG Bummed On Power Plant Photos

by The Editors on October 20, 2008

Photos that the City of Carlsbad has posted on their website to show what NRG Energy’s proposed new power plants would look like have apparently upset the company, according to a story in the San Diego Union-Tribune.

We don’t think it’s an accurate characterization of the project,” said Tim Hemig, NRG’s project manager for the Carlsbad Energy Center.

Too bad. We don’t like our icon smoke stack getting competition from smaller, inferior stacks. And we really don’t like turning the lagoon into an industrial wasteland.

[Link: San Diego Union-Tribune]

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Get Ready For 10 Digit Dailing

by The Editors on October 20, 2008

Thanks to a 5-0 decision by the Public Utilities Commission we get to keep our 760 area code, but were going to have to dial 10 digits

The new area code will be the third overlay in California, following the 424 area code in Los Angeles and 657 in Orange County. A phase-in period for the new area code is scheduled to begin in May, leading to mandatory use in October 2009.

All new numbers in Carlsbadistan will get the 442. Start programming those phones.

[Link: San Diego Union-Tribune]

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Ted Owen’s Trade Secrets

by The Editors on October 16, 2008

In these tough business times who better to turn to than the president of the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce Ted Owen. In his interview with North County Times Business Editor Jeff Rowe, Owen had this to say:

And a bad economy requires business people to talk to each other more than in a good economy. Much of what we are going through now is fear, which to me is an acronym for “False Evidence Appearing Real.” . . . Greed got us into this trouble; fear is keeping us in it. Small businesses have money and jobs, but they are waiting for a signal that things are OK.

And our favorite bit of advice (if only we sold advertising): “Keep advertising and promoting as normal —- if customers don’t see ads, they think the company is out of business.”

Whatever happens, keep advertising. . .

[Link: North County Times]

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The Original Broken Yolk Cafe Moves North

by The Editors on October 16, 2008

Looking for a new breakfast spot this weekend in Carlsbadistan? The Original Broken Yolk is becoming a fast favorite for suburbanites on the Eastern Front.

Normally we don’t go much east of the 5 for breakfast, but when we heard that Pacific Beach’s world famous The Original Broken Yolk Cafe had opened a new restaurant in Carlsbad we had to check it out.

When we arrived there was a line out the door and a 15 minute wait for a table. Having opened on September 2, 2008 it seems word of this new breakfast spot is traveling quickly.

The menu is loaded with breakfast and lunch goodness, and the space is perfect for restaurant. When they say “We’ve got Huevos” they’re not fronting. With more than twenty omelets, it’s a difficult selection process but we opted for The Mom (one of only a handful of vegetarian options): a four-egg omelet featured avocado, mushrooms, bell peppers, onion, and alfalfa sprouts served with a choice of homefries, hash browns, fresh fruit, rice pilaf, or beans and either a biscuit, blueberry muffin, flour tortillas, or toast.

The biscuits were large and dense but still flakey, while the homefries compared well to standard diner fare. Topped with real sour cream and salsa, the Mom was a tasty traditional-style omelette with the sauteed veggies and cheese folded into the center. It was good, but next time we’ll go with the Cisco Kid (Ortega chile and jack cheese) because in our opinion less is more if you’re folding the eggs around the filling rather than cooking them in the eggs.

We also tried the California Breakfast Burrito (pictured left) with two eggs scrambled with bacon, cheddar cheese, home fries, beans and avocado. Served with rice and beans the burrito was a nice alternative to the grease-laden ones at drive-through joints around the county.

In the weeks since opening day, however, The Broken Yolk still had a few things to work out. After waiting more than 25 minutes for our food to arrive, it showed up pretty cool. The side of beans on our breakfast burrito was cold to the touch. From others we spoke to, ours was not the only cool meal to be delivered that morning.

The service personnel were friendly and helpful. Our waiter was quick to get General Manager Cathy Morse when we mentioned our food was cold and she offered to send it back to be re-heated. When we told her that unfortunately we did not have the time to wait she took care of us graciously and politely.

With 29 years in the San Diego breakfast business we’re betting that in the weeks since we visited The Broken Yolk Cafe they’ve sorted out some of their food service issues and are running much more smoothly and if not, we wouldn’t mind, because the food is that good.

The Original Broken Yolk Cafe
www.wevegothuevos.com
7670 El Camino Real (click for map),
Carlsbad, CA
92009
760-943-8182

Price: $$ (Entrees $12-$14)
Breakfast & Lunch: Daily 6am – 3pm

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Invitrogen Stalls Shareholder Meeting

by The Editors on October 15, 2008

The meeting we were planning on attending tomorrow at Invitrogen’s Carlsbadistan headquarters has been postponed until October 28 thanks to some amendments to their Applied Biosystems buyout agreement. The company wants to give shareholders more time to consider the deal.

Phew. There are a few details of the $6.4 billion buyout that we wanted to study up on. (Just kidding.)

[Link: Forbes.com]

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Pizza Port Medals Up At Denver Beer Fest

by The Editors on October 15, 2008

Carlsbadistan’s Pizza Port Brewery came home from the Great American Beer Festival last weekend loaded down with medals, according to a story in the San Diego Union-Tribune .

The Port won five total: silver medals for their Night Rider Imperial Stout and Party Pants Pilsener, and bronzes for Cow Stout, Port Truck Stout and State Beach Blonde.

That’s more medals than any other brewery in San Diego. Nice work.

[Link: San Diego Union-Tribune]

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