March 2008

Someone Dumped Oil Into The Lagoon

by The Editors on March 31, 2008

Special Carlsbadistan thanks going out to who ever dumped their prized used oil collection into a storm drain this afternoon.

A city employee working on a sewer project in the area of Chinquapin Avenue and Long Place first reported a pollutant running from a storm drain at 1:30 p.m. this afternoon, Carlsbad Public Works Department Supervisor Don Wasko said. . . . A few gallons of what looks like used motor oil have so far drained into the lagoon, Wasko said, with much of it being absorbed by special filters that clean-up crews have put in place.

Luckily, if the person was dumb enough to get caught, they’ll be paying for the Agua Hedionda Lagoon clean up. It’s possible.

[Link: North County Times]

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Ummel vs. LIttle Real Estate Update

by The Editors on March 31, 2008

On January 23, 2008 we told you the story of how home-owner Marty Ummel, 60, was suing her Realtor Mike Little because he “hid the information that similar homes in the neighborhood were selling for less because he feared she would back out and he would lose his $30,000 commission.” Eventually, Ummel and her husband even appeared on NBC’s Today Show.

Here is the update:

Tomorrow, Vernon and Marty Ummel, who purchased a $1.2 million home in Carlsbad three years ago, will try to convince a jury that their real estate agent defrauded them when he failed to inform them that similar houses on the same block were selling for more than $100,000 less than what the Ummels had paid. . . . Jury selection is expected to begin tomorrow morning in the Vista courtroom of Superior Court Judge Lisa Guy-Schall.

This should be interesting. Especially for the Real Estate industry.

[Link: San Diego Union Tribune]

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Fisherman Drowns In Pond

by The Editors on March 31, 2008

A 29-year-old man drowned March 30, 2008 when he fell from an unstable dock while fishing in a Carlsbad Pond.

His friends told police they tried to rescue the man, who could not swim, but had trouble finding him in the murky water.

The pond is located at 3004 Sunny Creek Road.

[Link: Fox6.com]

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Carlsbadistan Real Estate Doing Okay

by The Editors on March 30, 2008

Flower Plant

The California Association of Realtors just released their home sales number for the month of February and turns out that Carlsbad is number 11 on the top 10 list for cities with the highest median home sales price. Number one was Santa Barbara at $1,150,000 and we came in right behind San Francisco with a median price of $675,000. We were also fifth on the top 10 list of cities whose median home prices grew the most over February of 2007.

Home sales decreased 28.5 percent in February in California compared with the same period a year ago, while the median price of an existing home fell 26.2 percent, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) reported today.

When you look at how the state did as a whole, we’d say we’re doing pretty well here in Carlsbadistan. Indeed.

[Link: Sierra Star]

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Get Fooled Into Buying Wine By The Glass

by The Editors on March 28, 2008

WinespotIf all retail outlets marketed their products the way wine shops do, there would be coffee sampling at Starbucks, shot putting at Dini’s, and burrito testing at Cessy’s.

Carlsbad’s Wine Spot is no different. Take this weekend for example: from March 28-30, 2008 The Wine Spot is having an event they’re calling an “April Fools blind tasting.”

We are doing a blind taste test in honor of April Fools Day, so come in this weekend and test your knowledge of wines. We will give prizes for the most knowledgable palate or person with the best guesses. No foolin’

What this means is that they will be selling wine by the glass to customers without telling them what they’re drinking. How great is that? Give them money and they’ll serve whatever they want. If this sounds appealing, drop by The Wine Spot at 2801 Roosevelt St. any time this weekend and drink like a fool.

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Ocean Street Apartments Getting Wrecked

by The Editors on March 28, 2008

Oceanst-1

Say good-bye to the classic mid-centuy, tiki stylings of the Ocean Street Apartments overlooking the lagoon at 2303 Ocean Street on Carlsbadistan’s northern border. According to the City of Carlsbad those 50 units are getting demolished so 2303 Investors, LP can put in “35 residential Airspace condominiums” with underground parking.

While neighbors are probably happy to see 50 rental units worth of problems wiped off the face of the map, it will be sad to see the old place go.

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Santa’s Village Alive At Flower Fields

by The Editors on March 27, 2008

Santa's Village

Pieces of the old Lake Arrowhead area Santa’s Village have made their way to Carlsbad’s Flower Fields according to a story in The Press-Enterprise. The old tourist landmark (which opened before Disneyland in 1955) closed in 1998, but a couple pieces have made their way to the beach.

SantaguadThe Flower Fields is another family business. Its CMO, Paul Ecke III, remembered Santa’s Village from childhood and bought many of its structures at auction after it closed. . . .According to a press release, he was bidding against comedian Paul Reubens, of “Pee-wee’s Playhouse” fame. . . . Ecke came away with the Gate House; the Crooked Treehouse; tiny picnic tables with seats made from pouring cement into five-gallon buckets; and many of the giant mushrooms that dotted the landscape.

That explains it.

[Link: The Press-Enterprise]

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Ralph Rubio Remembers

by The Editors on March 27, 2008

RubioIt was 25 years ago that Ralph Rubio and his father founded the Carlsbad-based Rubio’s Fresh Mexican Grill and made fish tacos the official food on San Diego, according to a story in the San Diego Business Journal.

With $16,000 from his father, Rubio, a 1978 graduate of San Diego State University, launched the company that made the fish taco San Diego’s signature dish in January 1983. . . .The idea for Rubio’s Fresh Mexican Grill came from excursions to Baja California, where Rubio and his college buddies dined in cantinas and at little stands lining the avenidas. . . .“My father and I talked about the concept for a long time, and then finally we did it,” he said.

Linking this up this story is making us hungry. Follow the link for the rest of the story, we’re going out to one of their 170 shops for some fresh fish tacos.

[Link: San Diego Business Journal]

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Native American Jewelry at GIA

by The Editors on March 27, 2008

NavjewCarlsbad’s Gemological Institute of America is currently hosting a showing of what they are calling a “Native American jewelry collection.”

The items in the exhibit are on loan from one of GIA’s students, Jamie Steelman, who is currently enrolled in the Graduate Gemologist (G.G.) program. . . .Steelman loaned a Navajo squash blossom necklace made of large chunks of Lone Mountain turquoise, a Zuni thunderbird inlaid ring, and other items from the Navajo and Zuni tribes. . . . “Traditional Native American jewelry is a truly American art form,” Steelman said. “Its beauty lies in its rusticity.”

If you like turquoise, this may be worth checking out. The jewelry will be on display until July 1 2008. Click here for more information.

[Link: Diamonds.net]

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Words On The Street

by The Editors on March 27, 2008

Earlyre

If it was up to us, we’d rather be greeted at Vons by Girl Scouts selling cookies.

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