by The Editors on August 15, 2007
Carlsbad’s annual September barrio street fair won’t be happening this year because of Fiesta del Barrio President Ofelia “Ofie” Escobedo’s health issues.
A well-known community leader in the Barrio area for decades, Escobedo has pretty much been the driving force behind the fiesta since its founding in 1991. She said Monday that she has known for months that this year’s event might be canceled.
According to the North County Times, Escobedo has been fighting to recover from throat cancer.
“I’m still under doctor’s care, but I’m much, much better,” she stressed Monday. “I’m on the way to recovery and I’ve already started going back to my committee meetings.”
We wish Ofie the best and look forward to Fiesta del Barrio 2008.
[Link: North County Times]
by The Editors on August 15, 2007
Seems like this is something that should have happened in the 1970s, but better late that never.
Customers of the Carlsbad Municipal Water District can expect to receive postcards by the end of August notifying them that fluoride will be added to the city’s water supply starting Oct. 1. . . Dentists have long argued that the substance can help prevent tooth decay and reduce the risk of cavities. But while many health care professionals support the fluoridation movement, it has been controversial in recent years.
According to the North County Times, the city of Escondido residents fought fluoride for four years before finally losing out. Carlsbad City Councilman Mark Packard, a local dentist says that it’s about time.
[Link: North County Times]
by The Editors on August 15, 2007
Carlsbad filmmaker Devin Fearn created a blood and guts zombie movie that is reportedly selling out shows in “Northern California. This Friday August 17, 2007, Fearn, a history major living in Santa Cruz, CA is bringing his $10,000 film The Beginning to the Carlsbad Community Cultural Arts Center at 3557 Monroe St. (at the High School) at 7:30 p.m. Erin Glass of the Union Tribune Entertainment guide interviewed Fearns about the film. You can listen to it here. The entire cast and crew will also be on hand to answer questions following the film. Seeing the film will cost you your soul. . . just kidding. Admission is $5 at the door and it is for “mature audiences only.”
[Link: Carlsbad Community Cultural Arts Center via San Diego Union Tribune]
by The Editors on August 15, 2007
Without giving too much away, let’s just say that we get our fair share of train horn sounds blowing in our windows at all times of the day and night (hey, there went one just now), but since the Federal Railroad Administration decided in June 2005 to allow communities to create quiet zones some cities like Sacramento and San Jose have quieted the trains. Now, according to the North County Times Oceanside, Encinitas, and Carlsbad (thank, God) are trying to get the horn blowers to quiet down.
[Link: North County Times]
by The Editors on August 14, 2007

The project application notice on the Burchfield’s Ocean Street residence has been upgraded/vandalized with an interesting stencil. It features a little butterfly in the upper right hand corner and the words: “carlsGOOD” followed by a question mark.
Obviously it’s a play on Carlsbad, but what does it mean? Is it simply someone’s tag? Or a street art project? Is it ironic commentary on a project application notice? Or is it a more general question forcing viewers to ask: “Is Carlsbad a good place to live?” Or is it simply the planning department’s new approval stamp?
We have no idea. If you know what’s going on, please leave a comment.
by The Editors on August 14, 2007
For politicos from other parts of the country, La Costa Resort and Spa seems to be the destination of choice when traveling on the public’s dime. But lately it’s meant trouble for somel. In Knoxville, Tennessee they’re looking a little more deeply into it.
The Ethics Committee, formed earlier this year as a result of state legislation aimed at cleaning up government after the Tennessee Waltz scandal, also wants Kim Bennett, executive director of the county pension board, to explain the La Costa golf trip. . . Commissioner Chairman Scott Moore and Commissioner Ivan Harmon were among four county representatives on the trip hosted by Wilshire Associates, the county’s pension consultant. . . .The trip included a round of golf, which costs up to $205 per person at La Costa. The foursome’s travel was funded by the county pension board.
Nothing like letting the county pension fund pay a couple rounds at La Costa.
[Link: Knoxnews.com]
by The Editors on August 14, 2007

We received an email recently saying that the Agua Hedionda Lagoon is now “a death trap for kayakers, sailors, paddle boarders.” According to this source, the buoys that formerly separated the “passive use area” from the “powerboat area” near the Bayshore Drive public access walkway have gone missing and powerboats are now using the entire back end of the lagoon (in clear violation of lagoon regulations), leaving little or no space for human propelled water craft. The email continued:
Last week a No Fear helicopter filming a wake boarder and another boat that was filming too, ran amuck using every space off the lagoon for over an hour. They we’re going all the way to the back of the lagoon almost capsizing a children’s kayaking class that was in the passive area. . . The police we’re called and did nothing. . . The police have been called to put up the buoys again to protect the area and they have done nothing.
Sounds like the City of Carlsbad needs to step up and get the Police Department out to do some regulating. Or at least put the buoys back up.
by The Editors on August 13, 2007
According to NBCSandiego.com a three-year-old boy was pulled from a shallow children’s pool at the La Costa Resort and Spa this after noon a little before 2 PM.
The child was at the pool with his parents, but was pulled from the water by a woman unrelated to him, according to NBC 7/39. Witness Branden Belford said she saw the woman pull the boy from the water by his arm. The child had water spilling from his mouth, according to Belford.
The child was unresponsive when he was airlifted to Children’s Hospital according to resort officials.
[Link: NBCSandiego.com]
by The Editors on August 13, 2007
Carlsbad’s Laura Ogan was at the beach one day watching people try to fit square towels underneath a round umbrella when she had a thought: “Why doesn’t somebody invent a round towel with a hole in the middle to put their umbrella in.” No one had, so Ogan did. In fact, she filed and received a patent from the United States Patent Office for The O Towel, a round towel with two 100% polypropylene grommets that allow an umbrella to be planted in the sand right in the middle of the towel. Now, with the help of two other women, she is bringing the towel to market.
We took the O Towel out for a test run Sunday after Art In The Village and it worked exactly as promised. In fact, it made us feel stupid for having cut holes in all those old sheets. One thing: if you line the grommets up with the shadow of your umbrella pole, when the sun goes down you can move the umbrella to the hole on the outside of the circle and stay in the shade until sundown without moving the towel at all. And that is the genius behind the two-grommet design.
For more info call: 800.679.7032 and tell them you saw it on Carlsbadistan.
[Link: The O Towel]
by The Editors on August 13, 2007
Carlsbad’s legendary surf photographer LeRoy Grannis celebrated his 90th birthday with 150 of his friends at the Oceanside Community Center Sunday August 13, 2007. And as one would imagine, along with his wife of 67 years Katie, and son John there were a lot of legends in the crowd as well.
Donald Takayama, a five-time U.S. surfing champion and renowned board designer, said he first met Grannis in his native Hawaii. “LeRoy took a picture of me when I was a little kid surfing without any clothes on in Hawaii,” Takayama said. “LeRoy’s been an inspiration to me. (He is) one of the great surfers of yesteryear.”
On glassy mornings we still look outside the lineup hoping to see LeRoy, on his knees with his white floppy brimmed hat paddling by, but he’s not surfing any longer. Happy Birthday, Mr. Grannis. We’ll keep watching for you anyway.
[Link: North County Times]