by The Editors on December 14, 2009
For weeks we’ve been peeking in the windows of the old Sushi on The Rock location at the Forum At Carlsbad because we knew something good was coming. Today, it’s finally here. The Counter, a build your own custom burger joint that people seem to rave about opened today (December 14, 2009) with 312,120 possible burger combinations.
Founded in 2003 by restaurant industry veteran Jeff Weinstein, Culver City, Calif.-based The Counter is the 21st-century equivalent to the classic burger joint, offering a fresh, unconventional approach to the American tradition of creating the ultimate premium burger. Since opening its original Santa Monica location, The Counter quickly gained national acclaim. In July 2005, GQ magazine columnist Alan Richman named The Counter’s “Build Your Own Burger” to his list of the best burgers in America and “The Oprah Winfrey Show” featured the GQ list shortly thereafter in a segment entitled “20 Burgers You Must Eat Before you Die.”
The Counter, which has 23 locations, isn’t just for the kids. The Forum restaurant includes a new lounge area that features more adult fare like “Fried Goat Cheese Sandwiches, Portobello Sandwiches, Mini Grilled Cheese & Bacon Sandwiches and spiked milkshakes” for the mommies and daddies. We haven’t been in yet, but we’re looking forward to it.
The Counter, The Forum At Carlsbad, 1923 Calle Barcelona
by The Editors on December 14, 2009
Last week the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce helped Santa as he dropped in on Camp Pendleton to welcome 130 Marines home from Afghanistan as part of Welcome Home World Famous Flying Vipers HMLA169 from Afghanistan.
The Marines and their families attended the celebration; 350 people were there total. The event featured a car show, free raffle prizes ranging from big screen TVs to hotel stays, a huge buffet, free chair massages, and a bounce house for kids. Sam’s Club in Vista donated 100 toys and 20 free memberships.
It will be a much Happier Holidays for these Marines. Our thoughts are with those how won’t be home for Christmas.
by The Editors on December 11, 2009
On his blog Aguanomics Economist and Wantrup Fellow at UC Berkeley David Zetland, PhD has an interesting take on the Poseidon Resources desalination plant.
While he points out that there are many people who worry about Poseidon’s track record, or the fact that they’re asking for $550 million in tax-favored public bonds, or that the $700 million plant will cost tax payer more than the “promised price” what has Zetland most worried is the Carlsbad Municipal Water District.
Although these things concern me,** I worry more about Poseidon’s partner, Carlsbad MWD, which has the dubious honor of being the least-competent manager of wastewater in the State. . . .With partners like that, I wonder if Poseidon is really facing a worthy contractual partner that can push back when/if push comes to shove. (This is especially relevant given Poseidon’s friendly relations with local politicians.)
Zetland summarizes by saying: “If Poseidon screws up, will Carlsbad MWD be competent enough to catch them or make sure they pay?” And that is one of the best questions we heard so far.
[Link: Aguanomics]
by The Editors on December 11, 2009
Three enviornmental groups who wanted the California Coastal Commission to revoke a development permit they’d given for Poseidon Resources’ Desalination Plant were denied on Thursday, December 10, 2009, according to a story on KPBS.
The 9-to-3 vote to deny the revocation request came after two hours of testimony at the Coastal Commission meeting in San Francisco. . . “The grounds for revocation are narrow and the Commission cannot reconsider a permit if new information has surfaced after the permit has been issued, no matter how compelling that information may be,” Coastal Commission Deputy Director Alison Detmer told commissioners during the meeting.
Poseidon Resources is obviously happy and the Surfrider Foundation, San Diego Coastkeeper and the Coastal Environmental Rights Foundation have simply filed another revocation request.
[Link: KPBS]
by The Editors on December 8, 2009
Proving that they occasionally spend money on the right projects, the City of Carlsbadistan City Council on December 8, 2009 approved a grant program that will help businesses in The Village upgrade their store fronts.
City staff estimate that, depending on the amounts of the individual grants, the initial allocation of $300,000 will pay for 16 or 17 façade improvements in the downtown Village area, which encompasses some 200 acres in central Carlsbad. Based on the success of the initial allocation, the program could be expanded in the future. . . Funding for the program will come from the Village Redevelopment Operations Fund, which must be used for improvements within the redevelopment area. Only businesses located with the boundaries of the Village area are eligible for the grants.
If only we had a store with a front in The Village. . . For more information on the grants contact the Carlsbad Redevelopment Agency at 760-434-2810 or visit their web site at www.carlsbadca.gov/redevelopment.
Follow the jump for the entire release.
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by The Editors on December 4, 2009
Carlsbadistan based trading company Upper Deck Co. LLC will lay off 33 employees according to a story in the North County Times.
The company is laying off five associate game designers, two game designers and two information technology product managers, along with 24 other individual positions, according to the notice, posted on the department’s Web site.
Sadly, it looks like they’re not going to get cut until January 2010.
[Link: North County Times]
by The Editors on December 3, 2009
The Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce is apparently happy to announce the launch of their entirely redesigned website.
The new, clean look offers improved navigation and better organization, adding to the already outstanding aspects of the Web site, such as the business directory, which is the most utilized feature. The site also has a new section for attractions and a new calendar that makes it easier to find and register for events, workshops and seminars hosted by the chamber.
The site was designed and built by Carlsbadistan based Lynch Interactive and we have to agree that Jeff Lynch and his crew did a great job getting a lot of information into the site, not to mention putting some social media connections up front and center. Follow the jump for all the details.
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by The Editors on December 2, 2009
New York Press writer Ethan Epstein spends the day at a “You Can Heal Your Life” conference and gives the full breakdown on Carlsbadistan-based self-help guru Louise Hay and how Suze Orman plays into the business.
Hay House is a financial powerhouse. Although Suze Orman and guru Deepak Chopra may be the only Hay House figures that are household names, in 2008 the company grossed over $100 million in sales of its books, CDs and event tickets.This is but a fraction of the larger self-help industrial complex: Forbes has reported that in 2008, “Americans spent $11 billion on self-improvement books, CDs, seminars, coaching and stress management programs.”
If only we could afford all that help. . .
[Link: NY Press]
by The Editors on December 1, 2009
Legoland California owner The Blackstone Group (owners of Merlin Entertainment) has purchased 10 amusement parks from Anheuser-Busch InBev in a deal worth up to $2.7 billion according to as story on MSN’s Money Central.
Busch Entertainment Corp., the second-largest entertainment park operator in the United States after Walt Disney Co. with 25,000 employees and 25 million visitors a year, is now known as SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment. . . The deal includes three SeaWorld parks in Orlando, Fla.; San Antonio, Texas; and San Diego, Calif.; and two Busch Gardens parks in Tampa, Fla., and Williamsburg, Va. It also includes Discovery Cove and Aquatica in Orlando; Sesame Place near Philadelphia, and water parks Adventure Island in Tampa and Water Country USA in Williamsburg.
We first mentioned this back in September. Guess this means we can say goodbye to cheap locals season passes at SeaWorld and hello to biometric profiling at Legoland. Epic.
[Link: Money Central]
by The Editors on November 30, 2009
Carlsbad’s Wastewater Division today Carlsbadistan’s Marie Callender’s manager Juan Garcia to shut down the restaurant or the water would be turned off after a Thanksgiving Day diner smelled sewage in the kitchen, according to a story in the North County Times.
Problems for Marie Callender’s began when newly-minted Carlsbad resident Pete Dimiceli smelled sewage as he sat down to order his Thanksgiving feast at the restaurant on Thursday night. He’d moved to the area three months ago after moving from Bensonhurst neighborhood of Brooklyn. . . . “I got up —- y’know a New Yorker —- I got up and talked to this guy Michael, he said, ‘No, one of the bathrooms backed up,'” Dimiceli said. “I take three steps, look right into kitchen. As sure as God made apples, there was sewage on the floor.” . . Dimiceli said the spill ran approximately 15 feet in length and seemed to be about 3 inches deep. He said waitstaff had to slosh through the puddle in order to bring people their food. He got up and left, and promptly registered a complaint with the Department of Environmental Health.
Does this mean no more “sewer pies” for dessert this week?
[Link: North County Times]
For weeks we’ve been peeking in the windows of the old Sushi on The Rock location at the Forum At Carlsbad because we knew something good was coming. Today, it’s finally here. The Counter, a build your own custom burger joint that people seem to rave about opened today (December 14, 2009) with 312,120 possible burger combinations.
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