Carlsbad news & stories

Fish and Wildlife squeeze bikers from Carlsbad's Lake Calavera

Locals told "they don’t need to experience it"

Retired firefighter Rick Minnick has been riding and hiking the trails in the open space near Carlsbad’s Lake Calavera for about 25 years now. In the early days, Minnick and his buddies were able to ...

Look for — but don't take — the copper ore remains

Rancho La Costa Preserve was full of mines

The Rancho La Costa Preserve, located in the cities of Carlsbad and San Marcos, is a popular destination for both hikers and mountain bikers. Situated between Batiquitos Lagoon and Lake Hodges, the preserve serves as ...

San Diego County school boards — do they need training?

And should they defer to staff on matters of teaching?

The county’s grand jury put out two reports in May concerning school boards. One discusses elections and term limits while the other points to inconsistent training of both school board members and superintendents. California is ...

Visitors bend rules at Carlsbad's Flower Fields

Enforcement staff wearing dark glasses doubled

“This day (April 8) that you are here,” said Fred Clarke, “is the best absolute day of color right now.” Clarke is the general manager of The Flower Fields at Carlsbad Ranch. “The color is ...

Try the zwiebelrostbraten

Tip Top European lunch on the cheap

“I’m going to send a lot of money here,” I thought to myself as I entered Tip Top Meats. The Eurocentric market and counter service restaurant has been operating in some form since 1967. It ...

Rouleur pedals into Carlsbad

Cycling enthusiast plans a tour de flavor in his brewery

"I'm way into cycling and way into beer," says Rawley Macias, brewer and sole proprietor of Rouleur Brewing Company, the latest craft beer maker to open in Carlsbad's budding scene. While the branding of Macias's ...

Park-starved Carlsbad wins one

Council votes for peaceful place — to be paid for by developer

The Carlsbad city council on Tuesday night (March 14) unanimously approved a settlement plan that will create a new park at the chain-link-fenced Buena Vista reservoir and will resolve a lawsuit against the city over ...

Barrio Carlsbad endures

“People stay here if they can, because it’s a walkable neighborhood with little crime.”

From the beach, walk inland up Carlsbad Village Drive. Pass the beach bungalows that rent for $4000 a month and beach mansions listed for sale at $7 million. Check out the pricey condominiums with floor-to-ceiling ...

North County has less heroin today

Forty-six gang members rounded up

Federal indictments unsealed yesterday (March 1) charge 55 drug dealers and gang members with crimes including money-laundering, robberies, vehicle thefts, burglaries, assaults, and trafficking in heroin, methamphetamine, and firearms. The gang members operated in North ...

The best veggie burger, for real

A vegan, soy-free, scientifically formulated veggie patty. But it’s good.

In my experience, there’s a fair amount of self-deception involved in applying the term “veggie burger” to anything. I mean, can just any mushy puck of vegetable fiber, grains, and/or nuts be slapped on a ...

Bible in one hand and New York Times in the other

Pastor Madison Schockley explains why his church is named "Pilgrim"

Membership: 300 (125 average attendance) Pastor: Madison Schockley Age: 61 Born: Los Angeles Formation: Harvard University, MA; University of Missouri, Columbia, MO; Union Theological Seminary, NY; Claremont Graduate University, Claremont , CA Years Ordained: 38 ...

North County brewer shuts down

Six-year-old On the Tracks got clipped on a technicality

Carlsbad's brewery scene has been on the rise, with two new breweries opening in 2016, and two more due by the spring. However, the North County city lost one in December, when On the Tracks ...

Not your typical industrial park

“Even during the recession, we had 95 percent occupancy.”

A nondescript industrial center near Palomar Airport looks like every other in the vicinity. Yet, the nine-building Carlsbad Gateway Center at 5650 El Camino Real is vastly different. “We have 80 businesses that create, innovate, ...

McDonald's sauce hunters swoop on local restaurants

Big Mac gravy seems a good investment — oh, 2017, you...

McDonald’s pulled off a nationwide marketing stunt on January 26, releasing 10,000 bottles of its Big Mac “secret sauce.” The free 11.4-ounce bottles could only be obtained at few undisclosed restaurant locations and by stating ...

Happy lasagna

Italy in the heart of Carlsbad

My friend Mary suggested we meet at Fresco Trattoria in Carlsbad, and I agreed. My husband doesn’t like to spend money on pasta. After working in the grocery industry for 40 years, he claims that ...

Back to the 1940s

Advertisers got hip and realized that everybody was changing the channel when the commercials came on.

Not a lot of people know this, but I wasn’t actually around in the 1940s. It’s true! I was still waiting for my parents to get born so that I could get born; but I’ve ...

North County wealth study

Poverty lower, incomes higher than countywide

North County is better off economically than the rest of San Diego County, according to a study released yesterday (December 7) by the Center on Policy Initiatives. It used data from the Census Bureau's 2015 ...

Dirty gas dream to come true in Carlsbad

State court denies another hearing to prevent power-plant construction

Opponents of a controversial gas power plant proposed along Carlsbad's coast were dealt a blow this week, as a three-judge panel at the state First District Court of Appeals denied a request to have the ...

Hosp Grove Park's east and west trails

An oasis in the heart of the city that many drive by daily never realizing it’s there

The dominant feature of Hosp Grove is the eucalyptus trees that were originally planted by F.P. Hosp in 1908. Believing that the fast-growing drought-tolerant Australian trees would be a great investment, he established the Hosp ...

Next up out of Carlsbad's McClellan-Palomar Airport

“If you’re looking to link up with other airlines, JetSuite is not for you.”

Another new airline took flight out of McClellan-Palomar Airport in Carlsbad on October 17. It is the fourth such airline to try doing business out of the North County airport since United Express pulled out ...

Taking a leap from real estate and tech to coffee

Second career coffee ventures

As the specialty coffee business has gained in popularity, it's become an appealing choice for non-service industry professionals pursuing a second career. A couple such cases have led to new roasting shops in the county. ...

Dine like a revolutionary

See an actual Sam Adams signature while drinking a Sam Adams beer

On the rare occasion David and I make a trek to Carlsbad, it’s usually to go to the European restaurant and store Tip Top Meats (primarily for products by the Hungarian brand, Bende, which is ...

Craft beer burgeoning in Carlsbad

North County natives readying for November brewery launch

The city of Carlsbad hasn't historically made it easy for breweries to open, requiring new businesses to goes through a series of committee meetings in order to obtain a conditional use permit. Case in point ...

Sleeping Tiger, hidden in winery

Witch Creek clears space for roasting machinery and full coffee bar

Sleeping Tiger Coffee launched what may well be the first café sitting inside an active winery. Last year, Paon wine bar owner Mayur Pavagadhi bought Witch Creek Winery, an urban winery operating out of north ...

SeaWorld slapped for plastic litter

Artist investigates source of washed-up detritus

The curiosity of a North County artist and beachcomber recently resulted in a slap on the wrist for SeaWorld, San Diego Coastkeeper is reporting. Janis Selby Jones has long walked the beaches of North County, ...

Massive glass doors and tidal elements everywhere

Home built in 2007; remodeled in 2015. Yours for just $18 million.

Beds: 5 Baths: 8 Current Owner: Christopher and Melanie Huber List Price: $18,000,000 “Welcome to one of the premier oceanfront estates in the world, where no expense was spared,” promise the opening lines of promotion ...

The language of the hammer

Pastor Alvin Helms: “There is going to be a final separation and there is going to be justice rendered.”

Carlsbad Community Church Membership: 400 Pastor: Alvin Helms Age: 55 Born: Houston, TX Formation: Seven Bible College, Houston; Oral Roberts University, Tulsa, OK; Yale Divinity School, New Haven, CT Years Ordained: 25 San Diego Reader: ...

Strawberry season yields a pair of Acoustic Ales

San Diego fruit beer, two ways

Strawberries grow well in San Diego, turning up mid to late spring in great quantities all over the county. With the fruit-beer trend in full swing, it shouldn't be a surprise to see strawberry in ...

Wood beach fires come to an end

Nails and leftover coals prompt state to institute new rule

Effective last week, the California State Park beaches at Carlsbad, Ponto, and Cardiff by the Sea outlawed wood fires on the sand. Banners advising of the new regulation have been posted on most lifeguard towers ...

Old Ponto neighborhood soon to die?

Proposed adjacent development is one more piece of "vision plan"

The small coastal hamlet of Ponto in the area of South Carlsbad may be in its final days. A large townhome project, known as Ponto Beachfront East and Ponto Beachfront West, is slated for 11.3 ...

Burger phase continues in Carlsbad

Worth the Hamilton

“But whatever you do,” he says confidentially, “don’t eat crabs from Southern California.”

Carlsbad's Marty Schwartz is "the number-one online guitar teacher in the world"

I watch that guy!

“It’s crazy,” says Carlsbad resident Marty Schwartz, “so far my lessons have gotten over a half a billion hits on YouTube. Not to sound pompous, but I am the number-one online guitar teacher in the ...

Carlsbad Aloha

Vacuuming up french toast, sausage, and fried rice at Al’s

"Drink this. It’s 9500 years old.” The lady’s thrusting a glass of what looks like water at me in front of this food truck, “California Braise.” Truck’s new around here. And they serve this Carlsbad ...

Eat the record

Visiting North County's Spin Records on Record Store Day

Last weekend marked the seventh time Spin Records has celebrated the annual Record Store Day. “It’s our biggest day of the year,” says Ken Kosta, who brought Spin Records to Carlsbad 23 years ago. “We ...

Coke-Pepsi's discreet war in North County

“No one has ever walked in and asked for a glass of Pepsi. No one!"

“Is Pepsi okay?” are not the words serious Coca-Cola drinkers want to hear in restaurants. So when a Coke-themed diner switched to Pepsi, customers like Oceanside resident Cheri Noel were “not happy.” Last week Noel ...

My Energy Wave, my jail time

Caught selling phony healthcare devices, Carlsbad resident cured of fraud

David Perez, a former Carlsbad resident now living in Oregon, was sentenced to 30 months in custody yesterday (April 4) for selling unapproved "Energy Wave" medical devices over the internet. He admitted to his crimes ...

Hammering away on that mall-crazy Carlsbad City Council

If projections are too low, local traffic will be a nightmare

Ten reasons to vote "No on A" in Carlsbad’s Special Election

Palomar Brewing abandoned for Culver

Rebranded startup to officially open this spring

Last July, the Union-Tribune reported that the City of Carlsbad had approved the application of Palomar Brewing Company to open in the vicinity of McClellan-Palomar Airport. In late December, while researching an article previewing new ...

You sure you don’t want a beer with that?

The Compass is pointing in the right direction

According to the website for Carlsbad Village gastropub The Compass, “Sometimes drunken conversations become a reality.” Not surprisingly, the reality of this two-blocks-from-the-beach restaurant is a full bar plus plenty of wine and a craft ...

The Carlsbad Lagoon Mall and money

How much will it bring to the community?

Carlsbad expected to revel in splendor at the mall.

New beds and no neon

Former Scandia Motel comes to life as Hotel Surf

After floundering for years, what some locals referred to as Carlsbad's version of the Psycho horror film series' Bates Motel, the city’s last Old Highway 101 motor court–type motel has a new life. As reported ...

Marriott to take place of Surf Motel and Armenian Café in Carlsbad

Chain chain chain

Last week, chain-link construction fencing covered with green shade cloth was placed around the Armenian Café and the two-story Surf Motel on Carlsbad Village Drive. Both are scheduled to be demolished. When he signed his ...

Carlsbad’s Julie Harper gets 40 years for shooting husband

Daughter: “I will never call you Mom again.…”

A San Diego Superior court judge told Julie Harper this morning, January 15, “Rather than go through a painful divorce process you took the easy way out.” And then he sentenced the former Carlsbad housewife ...

Exploring the future of energy in Carlsbad

"El Nino isn't going to fix the problem — it'll fix next summer's problem at best."

A group of about 100 Carlsbad residents gathered on the afternoon of January 13 to participate in a forum focused on the future of energy generation and delivery for the region and beyond. A discussion ...

Bassic instinct

Museum of Making Music's new Low exhibit is all about that bass

“Our intent is to reveal the bass,” says Kamau Kenyatta, about LOW: The Power & Beauty of Bass, the newest exhibit at the Museum of Making Music in Carlsbad. “Everyone feels it, so we did ...

Landlord's going to prison

Carlsbad man admits killing his renter

As part of a plea deal last week in San Diego’s North County Superior Court, David Diaz admitted killing a young man who had rented a room in his Carlsbad home two years ago. On ...

Let's fill some swimming pools!

Desalination plant opens in Carlsbad

“Now serving Pacific on Tap” was the slogan of the day December 14, when the San Diego County Water Authority announced the full operation of the largest desalination plant in the Western hemisphere. In actuality, ...

Weekend Carlsbad

Coastal picks in North County: Carlsbad's just far enough to get away.

I love vacations so much that I’ve made the effort to take one every month the past year. But why spend tons of money traveling to far-off destinations when we San Diegans have so much ...

F.O., Sierra Club

Utilities commission disregards petition against Carlsbad power plant

Plans to build a controversial new gas power plant in Carlsbad are moving forward, after the California Public Utilities Commission on Friday (November 6) refused to consider a petition from the Sierra Club to reconsider ...

Pain meds and another jail mattress denied

With Julie Harper's sentencing near, attorney asks judge for comforts

During a hearing today (November 5) the defense attorney for Julie Harper, convicted of second-degree murder in the shooting death of her husband, requested that her sentencing be delayed for two months. A prosecutor has ...

7 men lie about sexual abuse?

Or Jeffrey Barton took advantage of them all as boys?

After hearing evidence for five weeks, on October 29 the jury began to hear closing arguments in the child-abuse case against Jeffrey Barton, the former master of schools at Army and Navy Academy in Carlsbad. ...

Spirits and true-life ghosts abide in The Weir

New Village Arts offers warmth but with a chill at the edges

Jack just picked a winner at the track. He and Jim meet up at Brendan’s pub on a desolate, Irish country road. Life’s a mite bleary for these lonely blokes. But as a westerly howls ...

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