Friday, August 31, 2012

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Robinson held on $3 million bail

Stephen [Steven?]Clay Robinson, the suspect in Monday's Herder Lane neighbor feud shooting, is being held on $3 million bail.

Leave it to the San Diego Reader to cover news the U-T and NCT won't:
Prosecutor Aimee McLeod said the two people who were allegedly targeted by Robinson, a man and a woman, were “absolutely terrified” of him. The prosecutor asked the court for a “protective order” and to set a high bail amount, because the alleged victims are “afraid if he gets out they will be dead.”

Every girl's crazy 'bout a sharp-dressed man.  Photo credit Bob Weatherston, San Diego Reader.

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Shooting up your neighbor's house is a time-honored tradition in Encinitas

Some newer residents of Encinitas were surprised at yesterday's Hatfields & McCoys shooting on Herder Lane.

Old-timers know that's just another day in Encinitas.

Union-Trib, April 21, 2005:
A jury acquitted an Encinitas man yesterday of attempting to murder a neighbor by shooting into his home, but convicted him on charges of assault and firing his weapon.

James Craig Darling, 54, faces a sentence of about 10 years in prison, less than the 30 years he would have faced had he been convicted of all charges.

Darling shot into the Encinitas home of Gary Murphy, near Leucadia Avenue and North Coast Highway 101, early May 21. Detectives found at least five bullet holes on the property. Murphy and his adult son, Kyle, were home at the time and were not hurt. Murphy was able to give deputies a description of the van from which the shots were fired and a sheriff's deputy driving to the home found the van with Darling in the driver's seat.

Deputy Kelly Anderson testified Darling pulled out a gun and pointed it at Anderson's head. The deputy lurched backward and fell to the ground, firing his gun at the van as he fell.

Darling drove the van with Anderson and other officers pursuing in a high-speed chase that ended in Solana Beach, where Darling was arrested. A .45-caliber handgun was found in the van.

Darling also was convicted of shooting into an inhabited dwelling, shooting from a vehicle, assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer and evading arrest.
Gary Murphy is still a well-known Leucadian and active community member. Jim Darling? He's in a private prison in Red Rock, Arizona because California can't afford to incarcerate everyone under six-figure unionized prison guards. But Jim's getting near the end of that 10-year sentence, especially with a little good-time credit.

Monday, August 27, 2012

Shooting near San Dieguito Academy



Just days after the Leucadia skate park shooting, more bullets flew near San Dieguito Academy.

Patch:

A 44-year-old man allegedly fired shots at a neighbor's house today, prompting authorities to lock down three area schools for about a half-hour as a precaution, a sheriff's lieutenant said.

Steven Clay Johnson [Robinson] allegedly opened fire about 11:10 a.m. on a home across the street from his residence in the 700 block of Herder Lane near Nardo Road, according to sheriff's Lt. Kenn Nelson. The alleged assailant and his neighbors have been involved in an ongoing dispute, Nelson said.

Deputies surrounded Robinson's home and ordered him to come outside, where he was arrested without incident and booked on suspicion of attempted murder, Nelson said.
The houses involved were reportedly 729 and 732 Herder Lane, but Robinson is listed at 730 Herder Lane in a neighborhood of older multi-family dwellings.

723 Herder sold earlier this year for $400,000 as "situated on a quiet street in Encinitas."

Robinson appears to be related to the Herder family who subdivided and developed the property years ago.

Developing Leucadia

Jim the Realtor cruises north 101, including the good (Surfy Surfy and Dos Palmas), the bad (ten big bombers on an acre overlooking the junkyard), and the ugly (Bar Leucadian).

J&L Pies Kook


Not sure who J & L Pies is. Oddly, they don't have any web presence at all except for sponsoring Tom Smith's Frisco-to-San-Diego ride.

Saturday, August 25, 2012

New Leucadia Art Walk Poster

Gang shooting in Leucadia

... at the skate park on Vulcan.

Completely coincidentally, that's the neighborhood where the city dumps much of its low-income housing.

Art Walk!

Turnout will be lower this year because Jerome Stocks banned the street banners that are the primary means of publicity.



Gaspar heels are out this year, replaced by sensible walking shoes.

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Encinitas school charity goes to San Marcos for golf fundraiser

Wait a minute. Don't we have a quasi-municipal golf course here in Encinitas? Why did the city get in bed with developer Carltas if we can't even use the golf course for stuff like this?

Patch:
The Encinitas Educational Foundation (EEF) started the school year on a successful note, raising about $9,300 with its Aug. 8 golf tournament. The event, held at Twin Oaks Golf Course in San Marcos, benefitted the nine campuses in the Encinitas Union School District that are served by the private, nonprofit foundation.

The tournament drew 48 participants, including district Superintendent Tim Baird. Several district administrators, district school board members, school principals, teachers and parents also played, donated, or volunteered their time. Sponsors included local businesses such as Pagni Real Estate, Tina’s Deli, Stratford Court CafĂ©, Callaway Golf, TaylorMade Golf, Which Wich Sandwiches, and Adonai Producciones.
Was the EEF turned down by Encinitas Ranch, or did they just not want play on a "goat patch?"

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Crash at the Kook



According to witnesses, this black truck was heading north on San Elijo and turning left toward the Kook. Another vehicle came speeding southbound through the intersection and was hit by the turning truck. That vehicle ended up off the road southwest of the intersection behind the fire trucks.

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Thomas Brophy background

We've covered city council race newbies Bryan Ziegler and Peter Schuh.  Another unknown quantity is Thomas Brophy.

Dr. Brophy is, literally, a rocket scientist.

Thomas Brophy has a Ph.D. from the University of Colorado, was a research scientist at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, Boulder, with NASA interplanetary spacecraft projects, and was a National Science Foundation exchange scientist with the University of Tokyo and Japan Space Program.
He is currently listed as faculty at the California Institute for Human Studies, an unaccredited new-agey hippie school, and has some new-agey views of his own.
Interests in fundamental theory led to broader studies involving the non-calculable and immeasurable aspects of the universe, and teaching Integral philosophy, and his book The Mechanism Demands a Mysticism. [...] Recombining Integral philosophy with astrophysical dynamics led to his studies of the astro-archaeology of pre-historic and proto-historic Egypt, and his book The Origin Map.
Brophy has apparently not been involved in Encinitas issues or politics as of yet. Based on his philosophical leanings, we presume he'd align with Barth/Kranz/Shaffer rather than Stocks/Muir/Gaspar/Forrester.

Saturday, August 18, 2012

Mean town




No cripples allowed, Cottonwood Creek Park, Encinitas 2012

Friday, August 17, 2012

Clown Parade continues: Peter Schuh

Last week we brought you the comedy stylings of Bryan Ziegler, who is on the second round of his quixotic quest to gain elective office without any campaign issues, or, indeed, any campaign.

Today we bring you Peter Schuh.


Photo: Charlie Neuman / Union-Tribune

Peter is most famous for his biofuel equipment business, which is run out of his dad's house in the Bay Area. It is unclear how many (if any) actual sales they have. Prior to that business, he fancied himself a mutual fund manager. He managed more than one million dollars of friends and family money, also out of his dad's house, for a few years before shutting it down after really bad performance.

We don't want to harsh on the gigs of delirious dreamers like Ziegler and Schuh, but if they're going to get in the race and run un-serious campaigns and split the vote and help the incumbents get re-elected, they deserve a little scrutiny. And if these guys knew anything or cared about Encinitas, why haven't they been involved in local issues before?

Silver Surfer Kook





Wednesday, August 15, 2012

The cost of America's global military empire hits home

Union-Tribune:
A staff sergeant from San Diego was one of three Marines who were fatally shot Friday night in the Garmser district of southern Afghanistan.

Scott Dickinson, 29, who attended Horizon Christian Academy in the Clairemont neighborhood, was killed by an Afghan working on an installation shared by international coalition and Afghan forces.

[...]

The shooting was the second of the day involving Marines in Afghanistan’s Helmand province. Earlier Friday, three Marine special forces operatives were killed in the Sangin district by a man wearing the uniform of an Afghan policeman. They were with Camp Pendleton’s 1st Marine Special Operations Battalion.
Many Encinitas families send their kids to Horizon. Will we still be unwelcome military occupiers in foreign lands around the globe when those kids are of service age?



The Leucadia Blog also has its focus beyond city limits today. Global military empire is expensive in treasure as well as in blood.

Monday, August 13, 2012

Your August 2012 HoodLink is up

HoodLink is a long-running Encinitas publication written anonymously in the great American tradition of Publius.

Your August 2012 HoodLink is up here, and, as usual, it's a good one. This issue covers council races and upzoning.

Please share with your Encinitas friends and family.

Flash Gordon Kook



RIP Dr. Allan Snavely. Too young.

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

This Man Wants to Clean Up Your City Hall: Bryan Ziegler



NC Times:
Bryan Ziegler, an attorney who recently made an unsuccessful bid for a San Diego County supervisor's seat, become the first person Monday to file candidacy paperwork for this year's Encinitas City Council races. [...]

Ziegler, a San Diego County government attorney, couldn't be reached for comment Monday afternoon. His website tells Encinitas voters that he is their candidate if they are "tired of voting for career politicians that are only interested in furthering their own career and getting rich."

The website also says that Ziegler is a Christian and a tea party Republican who supports Occupy San Diego's efforts "to take the power back from Wall Street and Corporate America."



Interesting guy... too bad he's so ignorant and/or compromised on pensions.

Thursday, August 2, 2012

A few thoughts on the council candidates so far

The Leucadia Blog has the list of candidates who have taken out (but not yet filed) papers to run for City Council.
Bryan Ziegler
Kevin Forrester
Mark Muir
Tony Kranz
Lisa Shaffer
Barbara Yost
Shoja Naimi
Here are a few initial thoughts, which I reserve the right to amend and retract.

Jerome Stocks will file unless he gets a good-ol-boy seat with good pay on a do-nothing government board.

The more yahoos who enter, the less likely the incumbents get tossed. Every unknown name added to the ballot splits the Dump Stocks vote and makes Stocks / Muir more likely to be re-elected.

Bryan Ziegler ran for Supervisor and lost badly, taking a distant 4th place, apparently with little or no campaign organization. Encinitas City Council looks like his consolation prize. He calls himself a "Tea Party Republican," but he doesn't seem to think pensions are a problem:
The employees pay for their pension just like other people pay for their 401K [WRONG - employees sometimes pay a modest amount into pensions which is almost never anywhere close to enough to cover the benefits they are guaranteed].

[...]

The County's pension is 100 percent paid for and is a model for the rest of the country. [WRONG - it's only 52.2% funded].
It would be a huge mistake to elect someone so dangerously uninformed on pensions when Encinitas' own pensions are so severely underfunded, but let's not stop there. What kind of person keeps running for elective office with little or no campaign and little or no public support? Has Ziegler ever been involved in any Encinitas civic issues? He strikes me as someone who wants to BE a Council Member for the title but doesn't have any idea or interest in DOing anything for the people of Encinitas. Read his Patch interview and see if you disagree.

Kevin Forrester is an attorney for real estate developers. He has a very good Constitutional / property rights link list, including SCOTUSblog, Volokh, and the Castle Coalition. He is an ally of Stocks-Muir-Gaspar.

Mark Muir is, well, Mark Muir. The guy who rose to the top of a demanding physical profession while morbidly obese by buttering up the right power brokers. And now a set-for-life-at-55 pension beneficiary who will receive millions of dollars from Encinitas taxpayers over his retirement.

Tony Kranz is back after losing last time to Gaspar's huge outside money campaign and that little confrontation with the Obama=Hitler guy. Kranz has a web site up and is actively involved in civic life, frequently speaking at City Council and seen at most local events. He is an ally of Teresa Barth and in opposition to Stocks-Muir-Gaspar.

Lisa Shaffer seems the most serious of the challenger candidates, with the most content on her web site and an active calendar of events. She has been active in writing commentaries in the Coast News and on Patch and speaking on good government issues at City Hall. She is a UCSD professor. She is allied with Barth and Kranz.

Barbara Yost lives in Olivenhain Village Park [but she could throw a rock to Olivenhain], doesn't have a web site up, and hasn't been active in Encinitas affairs that I know of.

Shoja Naimi is the owner of Roxy, and is involved in 101 DEMA. I do not know whether he would be allied with Stocks-Muir-Gaspar or Barth-Kranz-Shaffer.

Please correct me where I am wrong.