by The Editors on November 7, 2008

On the heels of all the talk of “the quarry” being a good site for the new NRG Power Plant comes news that The Hanson/Heidelberg Cement Group is hosting a “reclamation plan workshop” on the site of their old quarry on Saturday, November 8, from 10:30 AM to 2:00 PM.
The west end of this valley was acquired earlier this year for permanent, natural open space. The east end is home of one of the highest water falls, closest to the coast, in all of southern California. The City of Oceanside allowed the Quarry Creek shopping center to lay asphalt to within a few feet of the water falls and install a very large WalMart/Kohls sign above it. . . The area in question is in Carlsbad. The same developer wants to develop it. Many people want to acquire it as additional open space, “water falls to the waves” concept. This the stream that feeds the Buena Vista lagoon, the only fresh water lagoon in southern California.
The old quarry is located in the southwest corner of Highway 78 and College Blvd. Travel west on Haymar from College Blvd. past the auto dealer. Turn south at the Hanson sign. Follow directions to parking and workshop.
by The Editors on November 7, 2008
Carlsbad’s James Arthur Handman, 80, went out on a five hour walkabout this morning and was returned unharmed thanks to a utility crew, according to story on 10news.com.
. . . Handman left his house in the 7400 block of Neptune Drive around 9:30 a.m. to take a walk and failed to return, Carlsbad police Lt. Matt Magro said.
Handman suffers from Alzheimer’s and we’re glad he made it home safely. It often doesn’t turn out that way.
[Link: 10 News]
by The Editors on November 7, 2008
Yesterday, November 6, 2008, while a group of moms and kids were playing in Carlsbadistan’s Pine Avenue Park a 20-something Hispanic man “in big baggy shorts and a white tank” ran through the park with a large handbag, accompanied by a friend on a bike.
We called 911 and the Carlsbad police were on it,” reported Carlsbadistan News Tipper witness. “Three different outfits (2 cars and a motorcycle) were circling the park and a very nice female officer came to get the story. . . .The guys were caught, handbag recovered with no missing pieces and it was business as usual all within the hour–very impressive work by the Carlsbad Police. But, scary to know this happened at a busy park in the middle of the day.”
This is a great reminder to everyone to keep their eyes open. Special thanks to the Good Samaritans involved with this arrest and to the News Tipper who sent it in.
by The Editors on November 7, 2008
It was standing room only at the City of Carlsbad sponsored open house and presentation regarding NRG’s proposed power plant, according to a Michael Burge story in the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Joe Garuba, the city’s municipal projects manager, told the audience that NRG’s new plant would not depend on ocean water to cool its generators, as the old one does. . . .“Because this plant is air-cooled, you can move it away from the coast,” Garuba said.
Of course, then it would be in someone else’s backyard. Our question (which we didn’t ask because NRG was not allowed to attend the meeting) is why does this power plant need to be in Carlsbad at all?
[Link: San Diego Union-Tribune]
by The Editors on November 6, 2008
[Editors’ Note: Evan just posted this comment to another story on our site and we thought it deserved to be front and center. Evan worked hard for Carlsbad during this campaign and she did it in a pure way that made the political system look old, tired and corrupt. We are extremely proud of her efforts and of the nearly 4,000 people in Carlsbadistan who were wise enough to vote for her. She is exactly the kind of community worker that Carlsbadistan needs more of. Please follow the jump to read the entire post.]
Thanks, everyone, for your support and votes and especially to Snyder Art, our very cool campaign HQ in the Village, to CarlsbadCrawl.com and Carlsbadistan.com for spreading the word online!
Together we offered another point of view to the election and got some momentum going in a new direction. A good thing about a lot of the ideas that we developed is that they don’t depend on the City or tax dollars to implement: we can get Phantom Gallery and other projects going on our own toward making Carlsbad clean, lean, and green. It’s never been more important for our city and citizens to be fiscally and physically fit. Please join me in keeping Alga Norte Park at the top of the Council’s priority list.
[click to continue…]
by The Editors on November 6, 2008
Carlsbadistan golfer Aaron Goldberg, 22, has been “playing the right game,” according to a story in the Press-Enterprise.
In September, he won the Golden State Tour event played on La Quinta’s PGA Tour West Norman Course. A week later, he played himself into the top five at PGA Tour pre-qualifying on the same course — only to be disqualified after he signed and walked away from an incorrect scorecard.
The scorecard was an accident and he’s the one who reported the problem. Now he is tied for the lead in the California State Open.
[Link: Press-Enterprise]
by The Editors on November 5, 2008

On Thursday November 6, 2008 the City of Carlsbad is hosting an open house and presentation regarding the proposed power plant that NRG wants to put in on the shores of the Aqua Hedionda lagoon.
Since decisions made about this important coastal property will affect Carlsbad for the next 50-plus years, the City of Carlsbad want to ensure its citizen have ample opportunities to provide input to the California Energy Commission.
That’s why we’re encouraging everyone to attend the meeting at 5:30 PM Thursday, November 6, in the Faraday Center, 1635 Faraday Ave. We’ve found that these forums can often be enjoyed (worst case) as the theatre of the absurd. So join, us. Please.
[Link: Carlsbad Connected]
by The Editors on November 5, 2008

We’ll be honest. We’re happy with the results of the 2008 presidential election. We like the idea that we helped move the first African American into the highest office in the nation. We have hope. And we know we can. But we still just don’t really understand all the emotional, crying-in-the-aisle hoopla. America voted him in. What is all the surprise about?
To check out the front pages of newspapers around the world, click the link.
[Link: Guardian UK]
by The Editors on November 4, 2008
At 9:55 PM and only 13 of 77 Carlsbadistan precincts reporting it looks like Ann Kulchin and Keith Blackburn are in the lead. The surprise to us is that Glenn Bernard is actually running in fourth place currently. Hard to believe.
- ANN J. KULCHIN 8221 28.59%
- KEITH BLACKBURN 6659 23.16%
- FARRAH DOUGLAS 6347 22.08%
- GLENN R. BERNARD 3053 10.62%
- THOMAS K. ARNOLD 2886 10.04%
- EVAN DELANEY RODGERS 1584 5.51%
We have a sneaking suspicion this is how this election is going to turn out, however, we’re not experts.
[Link: Sign On San Diego]
by The Editors on November 4, 2008
Our favorite Carlsbad-based life sciences company Invitrogen is getting a new name. After the company’s $6.7 billion purchase of Applied Biosystems goes throught the new company will be called Life Technologies, according to a story on GenomeWeb News.
CEO Greg Lucier said in a memo sent to employees last night that the leadership teams of the two firms said that as they were “working together to define the identity and vision of our combined organization … one word became prominent in our discussions. That word was ‘life’ — a word that we believe truly symbolizes the promise of our combined company,” he wrote.
Sounds like a name straight out of a Philip K. Dick novel, but we like it.
[Link: GenomWeb Daily]